Hello Good morning/afternoon/evening to one and all present here today. Today I will be sharing about healthy lifestyle and its importance. The occurrence of lifestyle disorders has become very high these days and that made me wonder as to why the percentage of mortality and morbidity is this high. The reason to why it is more now than ever is because of imbalance between our diet and our lifestyle. Healthy lifestyle has therefore become a very important factor for our well being. When I say healthy lifestyle, it not only means diet and exercise but also includes our sleep cycle, stress and the amount of water we drink on daily basis. And therefore, the first steps we should take to bring about a healthy change in our lifestyle are healthy diet, regular exercise, proper sleep, proper hydration and control over stress.

1. Healthy diet

When we hear the word healthy diet, the first thing that strikes our mind is something expensive or fancy, but it is not. The normal food that we usually eat on a daily basis is the healthiest sans the amount of red meat we consume.

Consuming more of seasonal and local fruits and vegetables in the way we Naga people cook, I would say is very healthy.

Some very common mistakes that we make on daily basis which I would like to emphasize on are:

1. Use of refined products which includes refined flour, refined oil, refined sugar and salt.

Refined food product means that it has undergone a lot of processing before it has been packaged, which means it has lesser nutrients left in them because more processing, lesser nutrients. Some examples are bakery products, noodles, fast food items and ready to eat food items.

• Starting the day right with warm water, lemon water, a fruit or some soaked seeds and nuts and not with tea is highly recommended. Tea consumption first thing in the morning can cause acidity and heartburn as it is acidic and also dehydrate the body as it acts as a diuretic.

• Regular consumption of red meat and highly processed food items. For example ready to eat food products, fruit juices, soda, processed meat, packaged soups and deep fried food products.

• Consumption of fruits after meal.

The habit of fruit consumption after meals is commonly seen in our society but it is not recommended because it hampers the absorption of nutrients and also leads to acidity and heart burn. Fruits and raw vegetables are best when consumed half to 1 hour before meal.

• Regular exercise

Regular walk of at least 30 minutes or more per day is necessary for a healthy mind and body. Sitting in the office for prolonged period is also a leading cause of weight gain. Standing and walking around for some time after lunch is highly recommended for those people who are on jobs that require prolonged sitting to prevent accumulation of excess fat in the abdominal area.

The best time to go for a walk or a jog is 1-2 hours after sunrise or 1-2 hours before sunset.

• Proper sleep

An adult requires at least 6-8 hours of sleep for proper functioning and maintenance of our body. Lack of sleep is linked to major lifestyle disorders like diabetes, obesity, hypertension and PCOD/PCOS. Regular exercise and proper night time routine can help to induce sleep on time.

• Adequate Water intake

There is no set limit of water that we need to drink on a daily basis unless there is some underlying health condition. We need to drink water every time when we feel thirsty. Some people say they do not feel thirsty and so they do not drink water but the main cause of not feeling thirsty is sedentary lifestyle. When we start to exercise and move around staying active, our body start to feel the need of water.

 Drinking water while sitting and in sips than when standing and gulping down huge amount of water at once because when we gulp down water in huge amounts, it goes down directly to the small intestine and it does not give body the time for proper utilization and absorption.

• Keeping stress levels at bay

Stress has become very common in this day and age and which is one of the leading causes of lifestyle disorders like Diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and also obesity. Stress is inevitable and I cannot advice anyone to be stress free, but knowing how to channelize or control our stress is very important in keeping ourselves healthy and away from all the disease that are caused due to stress. Regular exercise, breathing exercise, spending time on the things we love doing are some stress busters that can help us channelize stress.

For me personally what helps is sit, cool myself down and think to myself about whether me being stressed about the particular situation is making the situation any better or not. And most times it’s a negative answer, and that helps me think about the solution. If I can find a solution for it, I go about doing that but if not I leave it in the hands of time and let go because after all its doing more harm than good for me.