Ask any centenarian and they will tell you their secret to long life. It has to do with taking care of their body, mind, and soul. In today’s society that can be a challenge with the rising cost of health care. Learn to protect your health before you need a doctor.
Healthcare is a big issue in this country. Many people are uninsured or under-insured. Prescription costs have gone through the roof as well. It becomes increasingly harder to get the treatment one needs to keep on living.
One way to foster the idea of longevity is to prevent illness before it starts. We all were at one time reasonably healthy. The gist is to protect our health by maintaining that level of good feeling in our bodies.
You can start right now. If you don’t need a doctor in your current health state, let that be ground zero. Work your way up to a healthier body, mind, and soul from this point forward. Here are a few tips to help you do just that.
1. Get regular checkups. These are included in most healthcare plans. A dental visit every six months including one set of bitewing x-rays is almost always covered. A yearly physical has a modest or sometimes no co-pay at all depending on your insurance carrier. Even a yearly eye exam has a negligible cost. If you can afford the health insurance, use it to maintain or elevate the status quo.
2. Get regular exercise. This pops up a lot, but it is a major factor in living longer. Fresh air and sunlight especially provide Vitamin D to the body. Stretching those muscles even for thirty minutes a day stimulates the metabolism. You don’t have to join a gym. Housework, gardening, riding your bicycle, or mowing the lawn are all forms of exercise.
3. Play a few games. The newest medicine for your brain is neurobics. It trains your brain to create new synaptic pathways and prevents degeneration. Playing crossword games, Sudoku, cards, chess, backgammon, speed games, word searches, and memory games all keep those neurons in tip top shape.
4. Drink plenty of water. If you don’t like water, add some flavoring like a Crystal Light stick to change the taste. Our bodies are made up of water for the most part. Drinking a glass of water can ease a headache and also help with weight loss. A body that is hydrated properly runs better.
5. Take time out for yourself. It could be morning meditation, going on a walk, going to church, taking a scenic drive, listening to music, or any activity you choose as long as it cultivates your inner soul. Time to renew the mind aids in the body’s renewal.
No one knows how long they will walk this earth. The one thing we don’t want to do is shorten those days due to an unhealthy body. Take care of yourself today in order to see many tomorrows.
Healing Herbs for Common Conditions
The medicines that we have today are a miraculous gift. Healing is a miraculous gift. The medicines we use came from humble beginnings. Their precursors were herbs and medicinal plants that had served civilizations for thousands of years. Many of these herbs are still in use today.
What do we do when we have a cut, scrape, or a headache? We reach for the medicine cabinet. That is all well and good but some medicinal treatments are not all they are cracked up to be. People have turned back to their roots (no pun intended!) and started using herbs to treat common bodily ailments.
One reason for this reawakening is the lack of side effects on our bodies. Many herbs act like medicines and should be taken carefully, but the ingredients are all natural. We don’t have to be worried about getting blood work done every three months for any evidence of harmful side effects on our system. Most herbs are relatively easy to find and don’t cost as much as brand name medicines.
Healing herbs work with the body and not against it. The effects of the cure may not be immediate but the herbs are effective. We see some of the not so great effects of medicines like antibiotics all over the news. Our body’s invaders are becoming resistant to certain antibiotics because we use them so frequently. This is not great news when you are trying to fight an infection.
Healing herbs can be eaten, placed in a poultice, steeped for tea, ground into powder, or made into a cream. Some herbs are used as they are to speed the body’s healing process. Here are just a few of the more popular ones you may or may not have heard of.
- Cinnamon – lowers blood sugar and cholesterol
- Ginger – prevents motion sickness and nausea
- Turmeric – helps with arthritis pain
- St. John’s Wort – creates a stable mood in mildly depressed people
- Garlic – lowers blood pressure and risks of some cancers
- Red yeast rice – lowers cholesterol
Except for the St. John’s Wort and red yeast rice, we have most of these items on our kitchen shelves. Adding a little to your food each day can assist with these conditions without even causing an upheaval in your routine. Other helpful substances include: apple cider vinegar and Aloe Vera.
All natural herbal formulas are a milder alternative to some mainstream medications. Before using any type of herbs for medicinal purposes consult your doctor. The last thing you want is a drug interaction with something you are currently taking. Treat all herbs as medicines and do your research before beginning an herbal supplement routine in order to get the most from them.