Getting healthy is a life-long goal and lifestyle choice that can be daunting to work towards, but ultimately so worth it. Don’t worry, everyone starts from somewhere and when it comes to your long-term health, it’s always better late than never.
To help you learn more about getting healthy, we’ve written a quick educational guide to get you started on the right track. Keep reading, to learn more about the three foundations, healthy diet tips, supplementation, and more!
The three foundations for getting healthy
When it comes to getting healthy, learning the three foundations and how they impact your body is a good place to start. These three foundations compound on each other so it’s important to get them right and cover them as holistically as you can for your long-term health.
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Nutrient adequacy
Food is integral information for your body, with each meal sending signals that may influence your gut bacteria and overall wellbeing. Over the span of your life, these signals accumulate in your body and may impact your general health. And as such, getting enough nutrients in your daily diet is imperative to your long-term health.
A healthy diet is one that includes both macronutrients and micronutrients to sustain your energy and physiologic needs, and body development and metabolism respectively. Macronutrients include carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, while micronutrients include vitamins and minerals.
A good balance of both can produce a number of positive effects for your body, including:
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Feeding your gut microbiome: fibre-rich whole foods may help support gut health as part of a balanced diet
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Regulating your blood sugar: choosing the right carbs that come with fibre, water, and other nutrients can help stabilise your blood sugar rather than spiking it
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Providing raw materials your body can use for repair: protein is a macronutrient that helps rebuild muscle and tissue and other micronutrients run various enzymatic processes in your body
While nutrient adequacy is incredibly important to the health of your body, it’s often hard to maintain, and in the case of inadequacies, difficult to resolve. Eating habits and food accessibility are key factors that determine whether your body is nutritionally adequate, and even your mindset for getting healthy plays a large role.
If you’re serious about getting healthy through your diet, the first step is to work out whether you have any deficiencies (either through blood tests or professional dietary analysis) and build to balance healthy macronutrients and micronutrients in your long-term diet.
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Restful sleep and recovery
Sleep is not an optional activity - it is an irreplaceable need that sustains your body for the long term. Playing a role in a wide range of processes that support your general health and wellbeing, sleep is actually one of the most biologically active periods of your day.
Research shows that most adults need seven or more hours of sleep per night on a regular basis to promote optimal health. Skipping or not getting enough sleep causes sleep debt, which like a poorly-maintained car, degrades often exponentially over time.
Getting enough quality sleep on a regular basis may help support:
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General cognitive function: Sleep is commonly associated with mental clarity, focus, and the ability to retain and process information throughout the day
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General immune health: Adequate sleep is widely regarded as an important part of maintaining healthy immune system function
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Muscle recovery: Sleep is a key part of any recovery routine, and is even more important for athletes and active individuals
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General hormone balance: Sleep plays a role in normal hormone function and balance
Learn more about sleep, sleep debt, and how it can contribute to general tiredness in our blog here.
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Regular movement
According to the World Health Organisation, people who are insufficiently active have a 20% to 30% increased risk of death, compared to people who are sufficiently active. Regular physical movement is hence regarded as one of the most important lifestyle habits for your long-term health.
Our bodies have long evolved to be moving constantly, and the modern sedentary lifestyle is a phenomenon our bodies are not made to adapt to. Exercise and movement isn’t just about achieving the ‘perfect body’ or burning fat, rather it’s an organic way to support your body’s long-term general health and independence.
Participating in regular movement may help support your:
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General cardiovascular health: Cardio is commonly associated with supporting heart health
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Muscle and bone maintenance: Strength-training commonly recommended as an exercise type to help maintain your body’s muscle mass and bone density, especially since you lose muscle mass as you age
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Mood: Exercise may raise dopamine and serotonin, helping to improve your mood and general wellbeing
Ready to start moving? Here’s our 4-week training guide targetted at building muscle to help you get started.
Tips for a healthy diet
As mentioned previously, nutrient adequacy is one of the most important foundations to getting healthy and your diet obviously plays a huge role in achieving it.
Here are some quick tips that can help get you on the right track:
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Eat a diverse range of different whole foods as possible (ideally 30)
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Aim to try a new vegetable, grain, or legume every week
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Eat food from the most nutrient-dense categories, including dark leafy greens, organ meats, and fatty fish
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Eat eggs daily (one of the most complete single foods available with B12, choline, vitamin D, zinc, and protein)
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Incorporate legumes such as lentils, chickpeas, and black beans for iron, magnesium, and fibre
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Snack on nuts and seeds that are high on micronutrients such as pumpkin seeds (magnesium and zinc), almonds (vitamin E and magnesium), and walnuts (omega-3s)
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Eat colourful vegetables and fruits, where each colour represents different protective compounds, for example, orange and yellow foods deliver beta-carotene, red foods deliver lycopene, and green foods deliver chlorophyll and lutein
Where supplements can help
Supplements can genuinely help you get healthy if you’ve been diagnosed with a particular nutrient deficiency and are taking specific supplements to fill up your stores. Depending on what your doctor recommends, supplements can help your body get back to healthy levels of macronutrients and micronutrients while being convenient and easy to take. For example, if you’re diagnosed as iron deficient, taking iron supplements may help support normal iron levels as part of a treatment plan recommended by your doctor.
Some supplements that are generally good for your wellbeing are:
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Vitamin D supplements, especially if you’re not adequately exposed to the sun
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Magnesium may help with sleep quality and recovery as part of a balanced diet
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Omega-3s are important if you don’t eat fatty fish regularly
Got more questions on supplements and how they can help you get healthy? Get in touch with our friendly customer service team - we’re always more than happy to help.
When to see a doctor
As with all concerns related to your health, it can be a good idea to get a professional opinion from a doctor before you commit to taking daily health supplements, or want advice on restful recovery and movement tips. This way, you’re guaranteeing personalised professional advice, and building on your foundational knowledge with health tips that apply directly to you and your body.
