10 Life Changes To Make To Help Improve Your Overall Health

10 Quit smoking

It’s one of the most common promises we make to ourselves, but it’s also one of the hardest to see through to completion. Stopping smoking is hard work but the benefits to both your physical and financial health are immediate – and it’s never too late to stop. For advice on how to quit smoking, visit the NHS’s dedicated stop-smoking portal, nhs.uk/smokefree.

9 Start an exercise programme that works for you

It really doesn’t matter what, so long as it raises your heart rate. When you do that, you initiate a process called collateral circulation, whereby new blood vessels form in the arteries of your heart. This increases blood flow to the heart and boosts your overall fitness, and even helps to offset the effects of heart disease.

8 Leave the prescription medication in the bathroom cabinet

Of course, some medication is essential to help manage ongoing conditions. But others, such as diabetes and cholesterol treatments, could be cut out with changes to your diet and lifestyle. Some foods could also be an alternative form of treatment: there is some research into the benefits of dietary beetroot juice having a positive effect on sufferers of high blood pressure. For more information on the pluses of eating well, visit nhs.uk/livewell. You should always consult your GP before modifying any course of treatment.

7 Carry out a food audit

We all experience cravings for naughty foods – those snacks chock-full of sugar and fat. And if they’re within reach, it’s all too easy to give in. So throw open those cupboard doors, inspect your fridge-freezer and get rid of the pizzas, the crisps and the chocolate. Replace them with fruit and nuts as snacks that will release energy over a longer period of time.

6 Talk to your GP

Going to see your doctor is to be commended – not everyone is comfortable doing so. But once you’re in the consultation room, are you able to explain exactly what you want out of your session? By stating, “This is what I’d like to change. How can I go about doing it?” you get the problem and your desired response out into the open simply and clearly, leaving the rest of the time open to discussing next steps.

5 Cook for the week at the weekend

Avoid those ‘what shall I cook moments?’ on a weeknight, where you may be tempted to plump for the easy, less healthy option. Spend a couple of hours at the weekend cooking up a vat of soup or chilli as fallback options.

4 Know your traffic lights

Do you know what those coloured labels on your food’s packaging means? This Food Standards Agency guide will fill you in and help you choose healthier foods.

3 Crush those cravings

Rice cakes, air-popped popcorn, dried fruit. All of these will help when cravings strike. Just remember – cravings don’t necessarily mean you’re hungry, just that you’re used to eating something at that time.

2 Don’t avoid all fats

Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are actually good for the heart, and are found in foods like tuna and olive oil.

1 Heart disease can be turned around

By making some of the changes listed above, you can combat heart disease and cut the chances of suffering a heart attack.