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Small Things You Can Do to Improve your Health

A Few Tips to Strengthen Defenses and Fight Disease

Oct 1, 2008 Lisa Annunziato

Doing small things to improve your overall health doesn't have to be tedious or overly time consuming. Some small practices can make all the difference!

In this culture of self improvement, people want to achieve their best health without having to take time away from other opportunities. Unfortunately, some quality things that are critical to wellness go by the wayside as a result of not having enough time in life to cram in all the daily things that need to be done. But, with a few tweaks, you can fit in some really effective steps to improving the very thing that makes you more efficient in helping you function at your best in the day-to-day grind.

Don’t Neglect Your Mouth

Brushing and flossing your teeth not only makes your smile and breath better and prevents the dentist from having to perform painful and often expensive dental procedures, but one of the world’s leading health institutions, the Mayo Clinic, states that, “Gum disease can let bacteria enter your bloodstream and wreak havoc elsewhere in your body.” This is especially true of people who already possess other serious diseases where the immune system is already weakened and proper oral hygiene is essential to making sure the body is not given more than it can handle in the way of bacteria. A quick trip to the bathroom at work for two minutes of flossing followed by brushing can make all the difference in decreasing risk for serious and often life-threatening diseases associated with gum disease.

Keep Up with Preventative Measures by Visiting Your Doctor

There are so many diseases that can reduce quality of life and sometimes even put an end to life. The best way to prevent possible serious problems is to make time to see the doctor, even when you aren’t sick. Many doctors even have evening and weekend office hours for those who simply can not take a sick day from work, so there are no excuses not to see the doctor. Disease progression can be stopped or slowed by catching early signs that things are amiss. A yearly trip to the primary care physician to check cholesterol, thyroid and liver function, and discuss any issues that may have arisen is a minimum. An annual trip to the gynecologist for women past an age of sexual maturity, as well as receiving mammograms after age forty can prevent certain cancers from becoming life threatening to women. And, once age fifty hits, getting a colonoscopy is a must.

Exercise

Even if you are strapped for time and/or naturally have the most fabulous physique known to man, everyone should be exercising to some degree. You don’t have to exercise vigorously for a long time, but even something as simple as twenty to thirty minutes of brisk walking on most days can strengthen your heart, lower cholesterol, prevent or manage type two diabetes and the serious complications associated with it, prevent osteoporosis, and even combats certain types of cancer. According to the Mayo Clinic, exercise also helps you sleep better and boosts your mood. Besides the obvious physical benefits, the right exercise to suit your personality can be fun!

Relax

Besides smoking and obesity, stress is one of the top causes of disease onset. When you are stressed, immunity is lowered, and this causes more susceptibility to catching illnesses. You have probably noticed that during a time when you were not sleeping as well as usual, you felt more run down and probably caught a cold. Imagine this same kind of effect on your body long term. Something as simple as getting enough sleep every night or taking time to sit outside in the garden and read a book may be what replenishes your body’s defenses.

References:

MayoClinic: Exercise

MayoClinic: Dental

The copyright of the article Small Things You Can Do to Improve your Health in General Medicine is owned by Lisa Annunziato. Permission to republish Small Things You Can Do to Improve your Health in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.