Make Me Healthier UK

Today, with an astounding number of reports about increasing obesity rates, diseases and conditions related to being overweight and out-of-shape, it is impossible to ignore the importance of fitness and well-being in our lives. Health professionals attribute cancer, diabetes and mental issues such as depression to deficiencies in fitness and well-being.

While concentrating on exercise and diet can help people suffering from these diseases, you shouldn't wait until you develop an illness to begin a health and fitness routine. Recent studies have identified as many as 75% of adults as overweight or obese. Only about 26% of adults participate in vigorous physical and/or leisure activities three or more times a week.

Obese people have a 10–50% increase in premature deaths from all causes compared to individuals with a healthy body weight. The majority of these premature deaths are attributed to cardiovascular causes.

However, diabetes rates are climbing in parallel with these obesity statistics. The five years between 1997 and 2002 saw a 27% increase in the number of diabetes cases. In addition, while diabetes is affecting more and more individuals, it is also affecting individuals at a younger age as well.

With the constant threat of numerous health issues caused by obesity, it is obvious that everyone should be conscious of their personal fitness and mental well-being. The only way to achieve a healthy and fit lifestyle is to make the necessary changes to your everyday life. These changes do not have to be drastic to begin with, and should be things you enjoy and look forward to doing. The most important thing is to make an effort at improving all areas of your personal fitness and well-being, even if changes are gradual.

Nutrition

The importance of providing our bodies with the proper nutrition cannot be overstated. Simply put, the human body requires the appropriate balance of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, proteins and fat on a daily basis to function optimally and disease-free. In other words, we are what we eat.

Pune-based nutritional therapist, Dr. Vijaya Sathe, a medical doctor in Natural Medicine and founder of the Commonwealth Institute of Acupressure and Natural Medicine in London, says “give the body what it needs and the body heals itself.” Furthermore, Dr. Vijaya Sathe believes “it is the hurry and worry of modern life, compounded by improper eating habits, stress and pollution, which is telling on human health”. The food we consume, as stated by Hippocrates, “is our medicine.”

Nutritional Food Items
Several medical professionals believe that virtually every illness is based on some form of nutritional deficiency. When the human body is consistently deprived of one or more nutrients, the human body breaks down and is more susceptible to contracting a disease or, at a lesser level, a group of unhealthy symptoms (i.e. fatigue, muscle soreness, indigestion, etc.).

However, when nutritional deficiencies are eliminated through appropriate changes through dietary intake and the addition of vitamin and mineral supplementation, the symptoms either disappeared or were severely diminished. This being said, it only makes sense that the body requires a high level of nutrients to efficiently perform the various bodily functions that are required to sustain life, ward off disease, and support proper mental function.

Consuming the appropriate nutritional foods facilitates the human body’s ability to strengthen its immune system, hence allowing the body to perform optimally, free of disease, and at an increased level of energy.

Finally, by allowing the human body to heal itself through a healthy, nutritious and fit lifestyle, the body will operate at a level that may not require the continuous use of medical drugs.