How Eating More Fruits And Vegetables Benefits Your Health?

 A diet rich in nutrition is needed to keep the body healthy and reduce the risk of health conditions like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer, and digestive problems. Consuming fruits and vegetables help in lowering blood pressure and sugar, and also keeping them under control. Not just that, eating vegetables and fruits even promotes weight loss. 

The health conditions that can be prevented with a diet full of fruits and vegetables:

Cardiovascular diseases: studies have shown that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables can help in lowering the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Green leafy vegetables like lettuce, spinach; cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage; citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, grapefruits are most helpful in reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Cancer: eating fruits and vegetables can protect you against cancer too. Non-starchy vegetables like lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, garlic, and onion have the ability to prevent several types of cancers, including oral and stomach cancers. 

Diabetes: fruits such as grapes, blueberries and apples can reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes. However, consuming the fruit in the form of juice can increase your risk of diabetes. 

Weight management: increased consumption of fruits and vegetables can make you lose extra fat and help in managing a healthy weight. Berries, pears, apples, soya, cauliflower are some foods that are associated with weight loss. On the other hand, starchy vegetables such as potatoes, peas, and corn can result in weight gain. Another important thing to remember is that consuming all these fruits and vegetables along with refined carbohydrates and sugars won’t help your health journey.

Vegetables and fruits are sources of vitamins, minerals, and dietary fibre such as folate, vitamin C, potassium, and more. They also help in maintaining a healthy gut, thereby preventing digestion issues. Apart from eating a nutritious diet, you also need to screen your body’s health to know about its functioning. Your full body health checkup report helps you in understanding what you should be including in your diet. Know more about health checkups.

5 Easy Tips To Keep Your Lungs Healthy And Breathing

 

Your lungs are an important part of your body, and like you, they also age with time. As they age, they lose their flexibility and strength, making it difficult to breathe. Modifying your lifestyle habits can help you keep your lungs healthy.

Follow these daily lifestyle modifications to boost the health of your lungs:

1. Quit activities that affect your lungs - especially smoking

Smoking cigarettes is the major cause of lung cancer, and also chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Smoking narrows the air passages in the lungs, making it more difficult to breathe. It also causes chronic inflammation or lung swelling that can then lead to chronic bronchitis. 

2. Prevent infections

Frequent cold and respiratory infections can turn into serious lung issues. Protect yourself against infections by following good body hygiene practices. Keep your hands clean - wash them frequently with soap and water. Use alcohol-based hand sanitizers when you don’t have access to the water/washing area. Keep yourself hydrated with water, and consume fresh fruits and seasonal vegetables.

 

3. Have a daily exercise regime

Exercising helps in keeping your lungs healthy. Exercising increases your heart beat and makes your lungs work harder. To fuel your muscles, your body needs to make more oxygen. When you exercise, your lungs work harder to supply that oxygen and at the same time removes the additional carbon dioxide.

4. Avoid exposure to pollution

Pollutants, whether indoor or outdoor, can damage your lungs. Avoid being exposed to chemical fumes, secondhand smoke, and air pollution.

5. Get regular full body health checkups

Health checkups help in early detection, therefore preventing diseases. They help in detecting diseases that keep developing without signs, even when you don’t feel sick. Lung diseases mostly go undetected until they become serious. Book your complete body health checkup now. 

How To Reduce Your Genetic Risk Of Heart Disease?

Heart disease is one of the lifestyle conditions that causes high fatalities across the world. Who is at risk? People who have a family history and/or genetic risk for heart disease, or health issues like high cholesterol, coronary artery disease, etc.

The role of your genetics and your lifestyle in the development of heart disease

Your genes encode your life - they can be referred to as the blueprint of life. One’s genetics is determined at the time of their conception. Hence, you can know your genetic risk level for heart disease and other health conditions but cannot alter your genes.

On the other hand, your lifestyle habits act as the tool that you can use to lower or increase your genetic risks. How? Because, your health is a direct product of your lifestyle and genetics, wherein genetics is a constant. Your lifestyle includes your food, exercise, sleep pattern, amount of stress levels, etc. Therefore, following a healthy lifestyle can help you manifolds in reducing your risks for developing heart disease.

 

How to know your genetic risk for heart disease?

A genetic test can give you a complete picture of your genetic risks towards various health conditions including heart disease, traits related to wellness, and habits. The test kit can be ordered online, and your DNA is extracted from your saliva sample to give you the report with lifestyle modification recommendations and genetic counselling. Based on the risk levels in your report, you can personalize your lifestyle and reduce your disease susceptibility.

 

Ways to reduce your risk of developing heart disease

Adhering to a personalized lifestyle based on your genetic recommendations can help in lowering your risk of heart disease. Your lifestyle choices influence your risk for heart disease. An overall healthy lifestyle includes:

• Not smoking or consuming tobacco 

• Maintaining a healthy body weight/BMI

• Exercising on a regular basis

• Consuming a nutritious diet - fresh fruits, vegetables, avoiding processed meat, and  reducing sodium in food

• Knowing your family history

• Understanding your genetic risks and acting on the recommendations suggested by the counsellor

• Personalizing your lifestyle and your health checkups according to your genetic test report

Know how to make your genetic test report your lifelong guide for your good health.