Energy, Vitality and the biochemical reactions - About Health | Blog

When we think about our energy and vitality, quite often we are thinking about being able to do what we want to do. It’s about maintaining our independence no matter our age and continuing to get out and about either locally or abroad.

The challenge has always been, how do we maintain this independence as we age, how do we ensure that we don’t have to rely on others. This is where a healthy diet and keeping moving is important.

 The main reason for losing independence is the loss of our mobility from serious joint issues and inflammation.  The inflammation of joints is one of the key areas to the degradation of our health and wellbeing, as it occurs we find we don’t move as much, weight is gained, social connections are harder to keep due to not being able to get out as much, simple activities become a chore, and our mood and outlook decline. We can also feel consistently tired, and in time inflammation can cause other serious conditions.

The good thing is, rather than focusing on fixing each little piece in puzzle we can start with the route problem or prevent the problem in the first place. Here are some simple tips to reduce inflammation:

Diet

There are some foods that can increase inflammation, and some that help to reduce it. Here’s a little helpful list.

Increase Inflammation	Decrease Inflammation
Sugar	Fruit
Deep fried foods	Cruciferous Vegetables
Refined carbohydrates	Oily Fish
Excessive alcohol	Turmeric
Processed meats	Nuts & Seeds
Food Addatives	Garlic

Exercise

It’s not about hitting the gym, or getting out to run a marathon, but if that is your goal then by all means we applaud. For many, the simple act of getting out of the house for a walk, going shopping, or visiting our favourite places can be a challenge, little and often is the key here, especially if you haven’t done anything for a while. Using things around the home, like a couple of cans for resistance, and vacuuming for cardiovascular can help make a difference.

Stress Less

Reducing stress is important to help reduce inflammation. The more we stress the higher the levels of stress chemicals, like cortisol, course through our body.  Though this is great when we are in fight or flight mode, its not great when we should be relaxing. Take time for you, do something you enjoy, even if it is only for a short time each day. Have a period where you can remove some of those things that increase your levels of stress.

Sleep

Ensuring you get a quality night’s sleep is vital to helping the body combat all sorts of challenges.  When we have broken sleep, or constantly wake up feeling tired, we can be sure that our body isn’t working at it’s optimum. Deep, restful sleep helps the body to regenerate, and do what we want to do during the day.

Supplements

There is a vast array of supplements out there. The thing to remember is that not all supplements are created equal, and consideration should be given to tried and tested products.  Look for well researched, independently tested products that support your specific needs. Ensure what you are taking, is what is described on the bottle, and always check the use by date.