How to stay HEALTHY, HYGIENIC and ACTIVE: A Complete Guide

As the title suggests, this article will analyse all the probable ways to stay healthy and active. This article is more focused towards teenagers (age 10 years to 22 years) as they must stay active and healthy.

This article is proofread by my friend, Anil Kumar, currently a (final year) student of M.Sc. Medical Physics from Bharathiar University, Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), India. I have cited all the sources I used to gather this information in this article.

Please also note that none of the information in this article is trivial. I have not included any information of low importance. Every sentence is important in this guide to stay healthy.

Exercise and Yoga

So this is the first section of the guide. I see many teenagers in today’s time (mostly in cities) who spend most of their time in mobile phones and, more precisely, playing PUBG! I also see teens who are just stuck to their desk studying for their exams. Some also do both the things in balance.

But, there is no one playing cricket or football in the parks, grounds etc.

Many people have ‘desk jobs’. They have to sit in front of computers for hours.

All the above situations are very dangerous. It can ‘jam’ your body. You should EXERCISE REGULARLY in order to stay healthy.

Exercising regularly can have serious benefits:

1. Add years to your life. One researcher found that incorporating 30 minutes of cardiovascular activity three to five times per week into your schedule can add six years to your life.
2. Boost your energy. Life can be hard, and our days tend to be long and jam-packed with responsibility. Why, then, add exercise to the mix? It will boost your energy and help you feel less stressed as you wend your way through the day.
3. Improve your mood. Exercising releases endorphins that help elevate your mood. If you have a history of depression, exercising can have similar effects to taking antidepressants in the fight against your symptoms. If you currently take prescription medication for depression, consult your health care provider before substituting exercise as treatment.
4. Strengthen your mind. The more you work out, the more you stimulate proteins in your brain that may help form new cells. Your brain is a muscle that, like any other, can weaken over time if you don’t exercise.
5. Ward off viruses. After each workout, your body’s level of immunoglobulin increases. This protein can temporarily strengthen your immunity to infections, such as the common cold and influenza, for approximately 24 hours after exercising.
6. Combat chronic disease. Researchers across the board agree that exercise can prevent or help manage high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, osteoporosis and cancer. Roughly one third of all cancer deaths in the United States each year can be linked to obesity, poor diet and inactivity, according to the American Cancer Society.
7. Improve blood pressure. A workout can help lower your blood pressure for as many as 16 hours afterward. And with regular exercise, you may begin to shed pounds, which can help lower your risk for developing high blood pressure.

You can do any ‘exercise’ you want. Whether it is playing some (outdoor) game like cricket or football, or running or walking.

If you sit many hours in front of laptop or mobile phones, you should do shoulder and neck exercises to remove tension from your muscles.

On the other hand, doing yoga, especially ‘Pranayamas‘ can add a number of years to your life!

Pranayama increase the amount of oxygen in your body which can be an effective to prevent conditions like cancer because cancer cells mostly make their food in absence of oxygen.

Firstly, you should do SURYA NAMASKAR daily five times. Here is how to do it.

Step 1. Pranamasana (Prayer pose)

Stand at the edge of your mat, keep your feet together and balance your weight equally on both the feet. Expand your chest and relax your shoulders. As you breathe in, lift both arms up from the sides, and as you exhale, bring your palms together in front of the chest in prayer position.

Step 2. Hastauttanasana (Raised arms pose)

Breathing in, lift the arms up and back, keeping the biceps close to the ears. In this pose, the effort is to stretch the whole body up from the heels to the tips of the fingers.

Tip to deepen this yoga stretch:
You may push the pelvis forward a little bit. Ensure you’re reaching up with the fingers rather than trying to bend backward.

Step 3. Hastapadasana (Standing forward bend)

Breathing out, bend forward from the waist keeping the spine erect. As you exhale completely, bring the hands down to the floor beside the feet.

Tip to deepen this yoga stretch:
You may bend the knees, if necessary, to bring the palms down to the floor. Now make a gentle effort to straighten the knees. It’s a good idea to keep the hands fixed in this position and not move them henceforth until we finish the sequence.

Step 4. Ashwa Sanchalanasana (Equestrian pose)

Breathing in, push your right leg back, as far back as possible. Bring the right knee to the floor and look up.

Tip: How to deepen this yoga stretch?
Ensure that the left foot is exactly in between the palms.

Step 5. Dandasana (Stick pose)

As you breathe in, take the left leg back and bring the whole body in a straight line.

Tip to deepen this yoga stretch:
Keep your arms perpendicular to the floor.

Step 6. Ashtanga Namaskara (Salute with eight parts or points)

Gently bring your knees down to the floor and exhale. Take the hips back slightly, slide forward, rest your chest and chin on the floor. Raise your posterior a little bit. The two hands, two feet, two knees, chest and chin (eight parts of the body) should touch the floor.

Step 7. Bhujangasana (Cobra pose)

Slide forward and raise the chest up into the Cobra pose. You may keep your elbows bent in this pose with the shoulders away from the ears. Look up at the ceiling.

Tip to deepen this yoga stretch:
As you inhale, make a gentle effort to push the chest forward; as you exhale, make a gentle effort to push the navel down. Tuck the toes under. Ensure you’re stretching just as much as you can and not forcing your body.

Step 8. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward facing dog pose)

Breathing out, lift the hips and the tailbone up to bring the body into an inverted ‘V’ pose.

Tip to deepen this yoga stretch:
If possible, try and keep the heels on the ground and make a gentle effort to lift the tailbone up, going deeper into the stretch.

Step 9. Ashwa Sanchalanasana (Equestrian pose)

Breathing in, bring the right foot forward in between the two hands. The left knee goes down on the floor. Press the hips down and look up.

Tip to deepen this yoga stretch:
Place the right foot exactly between the two hands and the right calf perpendicular to the floor. In this position, make a gentle effort to push the hips down towards the floor, to deepen the stretch.

Step 10. Hastapadasana (Standing forward bend)

Breathing out, bring the left foot forward. Keep the palms on the floor. You may bend the knees, if necessary.

Tip to deepen this yoga stretch:
Gently straighten the knees, and if you can, try and touch your nose to the knees. Keep breathing.

Step 11. Hastauttanasana (Raised arms pose)

Breathing in, roll the spine up. Raise the hands up and bend backward a little bit, pushing the hips slightly outward.

Tip to deepen this yoga stretch:
Ensure that your biceps are beside your ears. The idea is to stretch up more rather than stretching backward.

Step 12. Tadasana (Mountain pose)

As you exhale, first straighten the body, then bring the arms down. Relax in this position and observe the sensations in your body.

This completes one set of Surya Namaskar. Complete the round by repeating the steps. Only this time, start with taking the left foot behind in step number 4 and bringing the right foot forward in step number 10. Once done, you would’ve completed one round of Surya Namaskar.

READ THIS BLOG POST FOR SOME AASANAS YOU SHOULD DO DAILY

READ THIS BLOG POSR FOR SOME PRANAYAMAS YOU SHOULD PRACTICE DAILY

Food Habits

This is a very important part in making your health.

Despite confusing news reports, the basics of healthy eating are actually quite straightforward. You should focus on fruits, vegetables and whole grains and keep red meat to a minimum. It’s also important to cut back on bad fats (saturated and trans fats) and choose healthy fats (polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats) more often. Taking a multivitamin with folate every day is a great nutrition insurance policy.

Tips

• Make fruits and vegetables a part of every meal. Put fruit on your cereal. Eat vegetables as a snack.
• Choose chicken, fish or beans instead of red meat.
• Choose whole-grain cereal, brown rice and whole-wheat bread over their more refined counterparts.
• Choose dishes made with olive or canola oil, which are high in healthy fats.
• Buy a 100 percent RDA multivitamin that contains folate.

You should also eat some ‘fast food’ at least once in two weeks. It is something like ‘vaccination’. Eating fast food in this routine will immune your system to many diseases.

Please note that ‘FAST FOOD’ refers to food like Burgers, Pizza etc. It doesn’t refer to packaged foods like packaged potato chips, biscuits etc

You should also avoid eating too much fatty food like cookies and fried chips. Eating 5 cookies in a day is sufficient! One ‘packet’ of fried food once in three days is enough.

According to ‘SITEMAN CANCER CENTER’,

Moderate drinking of alcohol is good for the heart, as many people already know, but it can also increase the risk of cancer. If you don’t drink, don’t feel that you need to start. If you already drink moderately (less than one drink a day for women, less than two drinks a day for men), there’s probably no reason to stop. People who drink more, though, should cut back.

SITEMAN CANCER CENTER

Tips

Choose nonalcoholic beverages at meals and parties.

Avoid occasions centered around alcohol.

Talk to a health-care professional if you feel you have a problem with alcohol.

SITEMAN CANCER CENTER

Personally, I don’t drink any alcohol.

You should also mantain a ‘good weight’ to stay healthy. Keeping your weight in check is often easier said than done, but a few simple tips can help. First off, if you’re overweight, focus initially on not gaining any more weight. This by itself can improve your health. Then, when you’re ready, try to take off some extra pounds for an even greater health boost. To see where you fall on the weight range, click here.

Tips

• Integrate physical activity and movement into your life.
• Eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
• Choose smaller portions and eat more slowly.

Clothing Habits

Of course! Your clothing habits can greatly effect your health.

Firstly, for ladies, they should not wear heels. They are never good for health. They can cause serious knee pain and knee problems. This because of the angle at which they are inclined and how gravity works at this angle.

The second thing is that in summers you should wear almost pure cotton clothes. When you are at home don’t wear too tight clothes. A cotton T-shirt and a lower (pyajama) works fine. Cotton will help to take the sweat away from your body, hence making your body clean and hygienic. Avoid bermudas or half pants as they will not cover much of your legs and you will be prone to dust and dirt.

Next thing is I will describe will be treated of low importance by many people, but it is definitely not. I already said that the article contains (reviewed) content of high importance.

You should be conscious about foot care. Yes. Of course. Think about it.

If you go out of your home, and your feet uncovered in only slippers or sandals, that will not be a good thing. Your feet are very prone to dust, dirt and germs as they are at bottom and have more than 250,000 sweat glands!

You are inviting germs if you are doing this.

To prevent this you should wear a pair of socks. Even if you are inside your home, you should still wear socks. In summers, wearing cotton socks will keep the sweat and excess moisture from your feet away and prevent your feet from dust and germs. Cotton and Nylon socks will not make you feel warm, but they will regulate the feet temperature in summers, if your feet remain too hot or warm in summers, they will cool down your feet and if your feet are cold, then they will make your feet warm. It is like wearing T-shirt or Pyajamas in summer days.

For winters, you should wear woolen clothes (merino wool) and of course, wollen socks.

You can wear socks all the day long (it is obvious that you will take them off while bathing!).

Also, remember when you go out of your home, whether for buying groceries from nearby shop or anything else, put on shoes with socks. Some people think that caring too much about hygiene can make you ‘crazy’, but it is definitely not the case. As I stated, every single sentence of this article is important. Doctors accept that foot care is an essential part of health and hygiene

You should also wear socks while sleeping. There are some myths that wearing socks can increase your BP. But, that is really not the case. A research paper published in Journal of Physiological Anthropology states that wearing socks while sleeping increases the sleeping efficiency and gives a more complete sleep. Wearing socks can help to sleep 37 minutes earlier when you lay down to sleep.

Doctors give suggestions to insomnia patients to wear socks while sleeping.

In summers, as stated above, you should wear breathable cotton/nylon socks and in winters, woollen socks work well.

Some people, mostly teenagers, have a complaint of cold feet even in summers.

The common reason of cold feet is stress and tension. Sometimes it may occur without any particular reason, like a genetic problem. Stress can lead to poor blood circulation and this can lead to laziness. This is why many teens feel ‘lazy’ and ‘dazed’ throughout the day. Socks can heal this problem as they regulates the blood circulation. Anyone experiencing cold feet should follow the process below:

To overcome this, 30 minutes before going to bathe, massage your feet with mustard oil. After bathing, apply a moisturizer on your feet and put on a pair of cotton/nylon socks (summers) or wool socks (winter). Anyone with cracked heels should follow the same process.

Sleeping with socks on also have some other serious benefits like healing this problem of cold feet, cracked heels, foot blisters, hot flashes, Raynaud’s disease etc and providing complete sleep.

Personally, I also wear socks all the day in all seasons, including sleeping and it doesn’t feel bad, it feels normal.

Sources and Suggested Readings

READ THIS BLOG POST FOR SOME AASANAS YOU SHOULD DO DAILY

READ THIS BLOG POSR FOR SOME PRANAYAMAS YOU SHOULD PRACTICE DAILY

READ THIS BLOG POST BY ZEE NEWS TO SEE BENEFITS OF WEARING SOCKS IN SUMMER

READ THIS RESEARCH PAPER OF SLEEPING WITH SOCKS

READ THIS ARTICLE BY SITEMAN CANCER INSTITUTE TO PREVENT CANCER

READ THIS ARTICLE BY TIMES OF INDIA TO MAINTAIN HYGIENE