This is from a article by me in the press for a local youth magazine. But the content is relevant everywhere, so i am sharing it here too..

Health Tips for the Leaders of Tomorrow!

What is Health?

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. (WHO)

Where is the time to think about your health?

Life is hectic. Yet healthy behaviors, like nutritious eating and regular physical activity, may help you meet the challenges of your life. In fact, healthy eating and regular exercise may help you feel energized, learn better, and stay alert in class. These healthy habits may also lower your risk for diseases such as diabetes, asthma, heart disease, and some forms of cancer.

Obesity

One of the non-communicable lifestyle diseases affecting mankind is obesity. Obesity can lead to Type-II Diabetes and Heart disease, leading to decreased quality of life.

Dieting is not the answer, and incorrect dieting can cause weight gain!! Many youngsters turn to unhealthy dieting methods to lose weight, including eating very little, cutting out whole groups of foods (like grain products), skipping meals, and fasting. These methods can leave out important foods. It also risks growth and emotional problems. Other weight-loss tactics such as smoking, self-induced vomiting, or using diet pills or laxatives can lead to health problems.

The best way deal with obesity is to eat healthfully and be physically active.

Eating Healthy

Eating healthfully means getting the right balance of nutrients your body needs to perform every day. This includes fruits and vegetables (eat everyday), fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products, lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts and whole grains, but low in saturated and trans fats, cholesterol, salt and added sugars.

10 Food Tips

Moderation

Any food can fit into a healthy diet as long as it is eaten in moderation. Many studies show that people will eat the quantity served. Hence, be careful of what portions you buy. Also, never eat in front of the TV as you will have no idea of how much you ate watching that favorite show!

Never Skip Breakfast

A healthy breakfast increases attention span and memory, makes you feel energetic and less irritable and restless. Studies show that eating breakfast may also help control body weight.

Plenty of fuids

You need at least 8 glasses of fluid a day, more when it’s very hot or when you are exercising. Water is a good choice, but fresh juices are good occasionally. Aerated drinks should be kept at a minimum as they contain empty calories and artificial sweeteners. The benefits of moderate intake of both tea and coffee are proven, but those suffering from migraine may want to limit coffee intake.

Snack Smart

Snacks are a great way to refuel. Choose snacks from different food groups – a bowl of cereal with milk, banana etc. If you eat smart at other meals, biscuits, sweets and chips are okay for occasional snacking.

Count your calcium

Calcium is required for growing bones and for muscles. The best sources of calcium are milk and dairy foods, such as cottage cheese, hard cheese, ice cream, yogurt, sesame seeds and green leafy vegetables.

Fruits and Vegetables

These supply carbohydrates for energy plus vitamins, minerals and fiber. A small glass of juice can substitute for one serving of fruit, but beware of juice sold at juice shops as they may be low in real juice, but high in sugar.

Power up with protein

Protein builds and repairs body tissue like muscles and organs. Eating enough protein can help you grow strong and sustain your energy levels.

Whole grains

Whole grains give energy and are more nutritious than refined flours. The fiber in them gives a feeling of fullness and adds bulk to your diet leading to better bowel movements.

Know your fats

Fats are an important food-group! They contain fat soluble vitamins and are required for cell growth and maintenance, skin, hair, growth etc. Less than 25-30% of total energy should come from fats, and it may be best to avoid saturated fats as compared to mono and poly-unsaturated fats. Avoid artery-clogging trans-fats at all costs. Trans-fats are not found in nature and are produced by hydrogenation of fats (done to increase shelf life).

FATS	Notes	Found in:
Unsaturated	Unsaturated fat can be part of a healthy diet – not too much though!  Essential fatty acids are part of unsaturated fats	olive, canola, safflower, sun-flower, corn, and soybean oils fish like salmon, trout, tuna, and whitefish nuts like walnuts, almonds, peanuts, and cashews
Saturated	Can clog your arteries and raise your risk for heart disease	primarily animal products, fatty meats butter, full-fat cheese, whole milk coconut, palm, and palm kernel oils
Trans-fats	Bad for your heart	baked goods like cookies, biscuits snack foods like chips, fried foods

Iron

In boys, iron supports rapid growth and in girls, it supports growth and replaces blood loss. Iron is found in fish and shellfish, lean beef, iron-fortified cereals, enriched and whole-grain breads, cooked dried beans and peas and spinach among other sources.

Physical Activity

Physical activity is a good way to feel great, look good and stay fit!

It can help control weight, build lean muscle & reduce body fat, strengthen your bones, increase flexibility and balance and reduce risk for chronic diseases. Emotional and social benefits include improving your self-esteem and mood, decreasing feelings of anxiety and depression, helping you do better in studies and improving your teamwork skills through sports.

But how? Just make it part of your daily life. Play sports, exercise (warm-up, work-out, cool down). Try walking or bicycling to nearby places where you would usually go in your vehicle. Music and dance are a great way to get enough physical exercise. But first, turn off that TV. Young people should aim for 60 minutes or more each day of activity.

Sleep

Sleep is extremely important yet oft-ignored aspect of healthy living. Young people need enough sleep to excel in studies and other spheres of line.

It has been shown that short-term sleep deprivation causes decreased daytime alertness, impaired memory & cognitive ability, doubles the risk of sustaining an occupational injury and causes impaired immune system leading to diseases. Long term sleep deprivation increases the risk of major illnesses like cancer, heart disease, diabetes & obesity and causes psychiatric problems (depression, mood disorders). Loss of just one and half hours sleep can result in a 32% reduction in daytime alertness.

Don’t Kill Yourself

I am talking about smoking here. It is a very important cause of early morbidity and mortality.

Smoking is extremely addicting – 90% of those addicted get hooked to it before the age of19 years. The physical portion of the addiction is to nicotine. The psychological part of the addiction is to the relaxing, familiar sensation of handling the cigarette, watching its curling smoke, the deep and relaxing breathing associated with inhaling and exhaling, the taste, and so on.

Quitting is extremely difficult – 85 out of every 100 quitters using the nicotine patch or gum go back to smoking within a year. Once you are hooked, there’s just no easy way out. With no program, statistically smokers have only a 5% chance of success. With a program, the average quitter’s chances increase to 15%.

Smoking damages virtually every organ and eventually kills 4 out of 10 smokers.

So don’t fall for that advertisement, unless you want to give up lacs of rupees (no I am not joking) and 5-10 years of your life and health to the tobacco companies.

Kerala’s Scourge

Alcohol consumption has been Kerala’s scourge for long with the highest per capita consumption – over 8 liters/year.

The short-term effects include inappropriate behavior, loss of inhibitions (assaults, domestic violence & fatal road accidents), coordination, vision, speech & balance problems, unconsciousness and coma and increased choking hazard. The long term effects include liver/brain/heart damage, gastritis & pancreatitis, high blood pressure, various forms of cancers, seizures and impotence/infertility.

Equally worrisome are the psychological and social effects. Psychological effects include increased anxiety, depression, memory loss and dementia, sleeping problems, mood-swings and tendency to violence & suicide. Social ills include an increased likelihood of being divorced, domestic violence, unemployment and poverty and unhappy relationships.

Meditate and Reflect

Meditation reduces stress and brings peace of mind and happiness. It has numerous health benefits also. It helps control your thoughts, anger and gives time to reflect on the purpose and goals of life.

Enjoy a healthy life..