#HealthFix | Tips For A Healthier And Happier You

Eat A Rainbow: If you have been trying to seek out the hot, new, disease-fighting nutrients in veggies and fruits (lutein to fight blindness, sulforaphane to fight breast cancer, lycopene to fight prostrate cancer) you need to redecorate your diet with the Rainbow Plan. With this plan, you eat a fruit or vegetable from each of seven colour groups everyday. According to David Heber, MD, PhD, (author of What Color Is Your Diet? And director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition) by following the plan you automatically get the gamut of nutrients that researchers say will change your health. Simple rule of thumb: If you haven’t seen white in the rainbow, then why have it in your diet? White in the rainbow represents refined flour, salt, sugar and other simple carbs which we should avoid.

Stay Stress-Free: Keep bottles of aromatherapy oils such as peppermint and lavender handy. A perfume of similar scent will also work. When you’re stressed out, spray lightly on yourself. The olfactory structures of the brain that process smells are wired to emotional centres.

Do The Walk Of Life: Walking is a powerful fitness tool according to experts. A Harvard University study showed that women who walked 4.8 kmph, 3 days a week reduced their risk of heart disease by 40%. Research done by walking experts like Catrine Tudor-Locke of Arizona State University shows you can lose at least a kilo a month if you walk briskly for an hour every day.

Warm Up, Cool Down: Any form of aerobic workout should be preceded by a warm up and ended with a cool down for about 5-7 minutes. The many benefits of a warm up include—increased oxygen supply, reduced workload on cardiac muscles, and prevention of soreness and strains. A cool-down, on the other hand is essential as it helps reduce the accumulation of lactic acid.

Sleep Easy: As your body ages and melatonin levels drop, you spend less time in deep sleep and wake up more frequently. To assist your sleep hormones to kick-in, eliminate all light sources in your bedroom: Hide digital clocks, ditch night-lights, and draw the curtains.

Collated from articles previously published in Prevention magazine

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