10 everyday ways to avoid serious health problems

It’s never too late to lower your risk of disease. All you need to know is what to eat plenty of and what to avoid. Some simple lifestyle changes now can help your long-term health. Here are ten changes you can make today.

The negative impact of alcohol on long-term health is well-documented. Alcohol messes with your blood sugar levels. Chronic drinkers are at risk of glucose intolerance and diabetes.

What you can do: If you choose to drink, do so only in moderation and always with a meal. If you are watching your weight, remember to include the kilojoules from any alcohol you drink in your daily kilojoule count.

“Eat your spinach,” mum always said. Now studies show that dark greens are essential for our health. The chlorophyll that gives them their colour is loaded with magnesium, which some large studies have found lowers the risk of colon cancer in women. Just half a cup of cooked spinach provides 75mg of magnesium, 20 percent of the recommended daily intake.

What you can do: Next time you’re choosing salad fixings, reach for the darkest varieties.

It is essential to limit your intake of trans fats such as those found in processed foods in order to reduce the risk of heart disease. Many snacks — even those labelled “low fat” — may be made with oils containing trans fats.

What you can do: Always check your labels. One clue that a food has some trans fat in it is the phrase “partially hydrogenated” in the ingredient list. Use healthier alternatives such as olive oil in moderate quantities for your cooking needs.

Vegetables are nature’s most perfect foods and are also the most abundant foods on earth. But cooking food destroys much of the natural enzymes in your food that are needed to break down nutrients. So eating plenty of fresh fruits such as apples, oranges or bananas and fresh vegetables like carrots, broccoli, or green vegetables every day will have a wonderful impact on your heart.

What you can do: Try to eat one portion of raw or steamed vegetables, and fresh fruit every day.

It’s no secret that smoking is a dangerous habit. Smoking is the biggest cause of preventable illnesses (such as emphysema, mouth, throat and lung cancer, and heart disease). Smoking increases your risk of various diabetes complications, including heart attack, stroke, nerve damage and kidney disease. In fact, smokers who have diabetes are three times more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than non-smokers are.

What you can do: Contact your doctor. The sooner you quit, the better.

Stress can have a severe effect on your body. Scientists in Canada performed a study and found that people who had heart attacks and returned to a stressful career were twice as likely to have a second attack as those who held down reasonably stress-free jobs.

What you can do: If you lead a stressful life, make time for yourself to relax. You could take up a hobby, chill out with friends after work or give meditation a try.

Sure, it’s difficult to go straight to the gym after work every day. But an hour a day or two hours every couple of days, will keep you fit, tone your muscles and help lower the risk of serious disease.

What you can do: Go for a walk! Even moderate exercise such as brisk walking two hours a week cuts risk of breast cancer by 18 percent, research has found.

Drinking plenty of water and other liquids may reduce the risk of bladder cancer by diluting the concentration of cancer-causing agents in urine and helping to flush them through the bladder faster.

What you can do: Drink at least eight cups of liquid a day.

High dietary sodium salt intake can lead to high blood pressure, which may in turn trigger cardiovascular diseases and heart ailments. Try to limit your salt intake to less than one teaspoonful a day (less than 2g of sodium salt).

What you can do: Avoid processed foods, such as sauces, chips, deep-fried snacks and soups, which can be laden with salt.

We all know that being tired all day hurts your performance, but did you know that too little sleep can have some poor effects on your blood pressure and heart. A study from the University of Warwick Medical School found that people who sleep less than six hours per night and have disturbed sleep stand a 48 percent greater chance of dying from heart disease and 15 percent greater chance of dying from stroke.

What you can do: Although it varies for everyone, doctors suggest that you should get about eight hours of sleep per night.

Refined grains, such as white flour, have the bran and germ removed from the grain, and don’t have as many nutrients as whole grains. Evidence suggests eating whole grain foods regularly can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease and diabetes by between 20 to 40 percent and colon cancer by up to 40 percent.

What you can do: Opt for whole wheat flour, oatmeal, wholegrain bread, brown rice, or any other whole grain products, because they are rich in vitamin B, vitamin E, as well as a lot of minerals that are highly beneficial for the heart.