10 Easy Ways to be Healthier.

You could have all the money in the world but you still couldn't buy good health. You can pay for medical insurance, invest in private health care or purchase medical equipment and medication, but that wouldn't make you healthy. It may help you deal with an ailment or combat symptoms of a diseases you may have, but that does not make it the same as being physically well.

To be truly healthy you need to ensure that your body is in harmony with it's natural working processes. The workings of human anatomy are so intricate and balanced that it is soon able to let you know when something is wrong and when one thing or another requires attention.

Thankfully our bodies have an exceptional capacity to heal itself, if you cut yourself and bleed your blood will clot, form a protective barrier and the skin underneath then begins to regenerate. After just a few days, the scab will fall off and you have new skin cells that have replaced the injured ones and healed over. If a bone gets broken, that too will fuse back together in time.

Working with your body and listening to it's signals will give you an invaluable insight into what you need to retain or achieve better health. Here are just ten of the easiest ways to be healthier everyday, there are of course many more.

Go out and breath in some good clean fresh air. Oxygen is such an essential ingredient for our existence, yet we take it for granted so often and because the inhale and exhale of our lungs occurs without us giving it any thought at all, we tend not to give it much consideration. Yet it is beneficial to all areas of our body, from the blood that runs through our veins to the condition of our skin.

The buildings in which we work, live and socialize in our filled with a plethora of electrical gadgetry and our environments are filled with positive irons. Being in front of screens for extended amounts of time can impact on our vision, being in artificially heated or cooled rooms affects the air we breath and synthetic lighting contributes to feelings of lathery. Embracing nature and treating our physique both internally and externally will do wonders for your health and general well being.

Drink more water, just water. Unmixed, unaltered, just pure and perfect water as nature intended. That does not mean that you suddenly have to go out and buy litres and litres of bottled water, the stuff that comes out of your tap will be more then adequate.

Our whole being consists of mainly water, we lose unimaginable amounts of it all the time, it needs to be replenished so that we can function properly. Dehydration can cause the body to trick itself into thinking it's hungry, when in fact often a glass of water is all your body is asking for. Lack of fluids can be responsible for mood swings, insomnia, lethargy, headaches and lack of focus, amongst other problems.

If you are fortunate enough to live in a country that provides you with clean, safe and readily available drinking water. It pays to think about just how lucky you are and to consider refreshing yourself with it for the sake of your health.

The government in Britain recommend that you eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, it doesn't sound a lot and yet most of us still don't achieve this. Also the guidelines are the minimum requirement we should be eating far more. There is also a lack of people meeting their minimum recommended daily allowance of fibre and most of the essential vitamins. Omega three oils should be part of a healthy diet as well as grains, wheat and low fat dairy. Yet there is diminishing levels in these areas to. So what are we eating? Well according to government health officials, too much saturated fat, processed food, sugar and salt. If you can cut down on any of the later mentioned and increase those mentioned in the former, you will pay real dividends to better health.

Sleep is absolutely imperative to our survival, if you went long enough without any sleep you would die. Lack of sleep is linked to obesity, depression, lack of concentration, headaches, lowered immune system and can decrease a persons sex drive. And these are just a small selection of examples of all the detrimental effects that sleep deprivation can cause.

When you sleep your whole body is recharging, healing and resting. Your body is as prone to wear and tear as much as any other conceivable object would be. You have to let it recover from everything it is put through every single day. Seven hours of solid, deep sleep will give your body the optimum amount of time to do everything it needs to do, to be well prepared enough, to work at it's best for you the following day.

If you have been out in the unpolluted air, you have sipped on some clean, pure water, eaten a healthy snack, taken a brake and you are still feeling drained and fatiguing. Your body is telling you that you need to sleep, if you can take a power nap, if you can't get an early night. It is not paying your mind or body any dividends if you are stretching yourself to far.

You can only do so much before you burn out. Your body knows it's limits and it will let us know it's had enough, we get ill, feel frustrated or we end up in pain and yet we still keep pushing ourselves. We override the natural signals we have been given and go against the appropriate and the natural paces of our bodies.

I know that life can be demanding and you often feel like you need to stretch yourself pretty thin at times, but that does not mean that you should be making yourself unwell or doing yourself damage mentally or physically. It is OK to say no and it is ok to ask for help. If you are struggling to do it all, then it maybe time to stop tying to do it all. Choose your battles carefully and prioritise, you can not perform at your best if you are stretching yourself beyond your limits.

Sexual health is big on the political agenda at the moment, latest health figures have shown that sexually transmitted diseases have risen again. Wearing a condom will greatly improve your chances of avoiding catching a sexually transmitted disease, they are not expensive but they are effective. Contraceptive Injections and pills will help prevent conception but they do not prevent sti's or std's, only a condom will do that.

There is also still curious misconceptions that these kind of medical issues are reserved for the young or the homosexual, this is not true. It does not care how old you are or what sexuality you are. It is important to look after your body in all manor of way's and this is one of the most important.

Smoking kills, tobacco is filled with a plethora of toxic and poisonous chemicals. If you were to inject all the chemicals from a single cigarette, instead of smoking them you would die almost instantly. Smoking is linked to all cancers, including cervical. (I know this from experience.) Passive smoking is dangerous to those around you and scientists have recently discovered that third hand smoke, (the smoke that penetrates objects and furniture etc) can also cause health problems for those around them.

There are many different techniques that can be applied to giving up smoking, patches, gum, sprays, hypnotherapy and support groups. Because after all it is an addiction.

Many of us like to treat ourselves to the odd drink, or two or three. But have you ever considered how much you drink? If you drink a bottle of wine at the end of the day, you could be drinking over eight times your recommended daily allowance of alcohol and that would also classify you as a binge drinker! Shocking really isn't it. Alcohol damages the liver, the brain and if it gets out of hand your social life too.

If you like the taste of wine but don't want to be clocking up the units there are now plenty of alcohol free alternatives on the market. They taste just as good but thay are much better for you and you may do well to do a swap every now and again, or even just to try them out, you maybe pleasantly surprised.

Exercising is without a doubt one of the best things you can do for you health, as little two hours a week can greatly impact your health and exercise can be fun. There are so many forms of fitness activities out there that their is bound to be one that you will enjoy. For instance hula hooping is about to become a popular past time for health, maybe that was something you enjoyed doing as a child and you may want to take it up again as an adult?

Here are some other ideas;

• Zumba
• Martial arts
• Dance
• Swimming
• Cycling
• Rowing
• Boxing
• Walking
• Zorbing

Any of these sound appealing? Whatever you try and decide to do on a regular basis, stick with it you will see and feel the benefits and see results.

When we talk about health, we should also think about are mental health and are general well being. Happiness is an aspect of health and plays a part in our fitness too, including the need to spend time with and be around other people. Social contact is advantageous for so many reasons and being interdependent is of far more use then being completely independent of other people. Verbal communication is vital for the activity of the mind and their are even chemical advantages of experiencing a hug.

Humans are social creatures and spending time with other people on a regular basis, maybe the health boost you need.

These are all very basic and easy ways to achieve a healthier lifestyle. But do not dismiss them because they seem obvious. They Will all have positive implications to your health if they are applied. Thank-you for reading and I hope you are blessed with a long and healthy life.