Total Health

How to Maintain Total Health

The first key component to total health is nutrition. Proper nutrition ensures that your body is getting the vitamins it needs to maintain a healthy physical state. Proper nutrition requires an individual to eat portions of grain, dairy, protein, vegetables, and fruit every day. Grains are found in bread, pitas, or wheat crackers. Dairy intake usually comes from milk and cheese. Protein is obtained by eating meat, soy, or tofu. Fruits and vegetables can be consumed in raw, cooked, or juice form. Fresh fruits and vegetables are always the best and most natural nutrition choice for your body!

Another integral part of total health is physical exercise. The obvious outward benefits of exercise include a lean, trim figure, extended stamina through the day, and healthy skin. However, the inward benefits of regular exercise are even more important. Muscles in the human body are constantly in a state of either expanding (strengthening) or atrophy (weakening). If you do not consistently exercise your body muscles, they will be in a state of slow atrophy. Considering the outward muscles of the arms and legs, this realization is scary enough! More importantly, most of the organs in the human body are also muscles including the heart and lungs. If you do not exercise your heart and lungs on a regular basis, those organs are getting weaker and weaker over time! In addition, if a person packs on some extra pounds due to lack of exercise, the fat cells not only attach to the outer muscles visible under the skin (which is what you see when people are overweight), but these fat cells also attach to internal organs, restricting the ability of those organs to operate properly in the body. The recommended minimum amount of exercise is 30 minutes a day for 4-5 days a week to keep your muscles strong.

A final component of your total health is that of teeth maintenance. Many people underestimate the importance that teeth play in the overall health of the individual. Neglecting your teeth can cause major problems to the rest of your total body health. The upper jaw is just inches away from your brain, and a simple tooth infection can quickly travel up into the brain causing irreversible damage. The weakening of your teeth could cause you to change your diet, cutting out foods and the vitamins you need for proper nutrition. If tartar breaks loose from the teeth, it can create blockages in your heart! Psychologically, teeth that begin hurting or having problems radically affect the mood and functionality of the rest of the person and their body. To ensure your total body health, maintain dental health through consistent flossing and brushing your teeth, as well regular visits to the dentist for checkups.

The body you now have is the only body you will get in this lifetime. It is imperative that you take the necessary steps to keep your whole body in shape, including proper nutrition, regular exercise, and routine dental maintenance! If any of these components is currently missing from your regular routine, now is the best time to make a minor (or major) change to get your body totally healthy!