Health And Hygiene-A Very Important Topic
HEALTH AND HYGIENE
INTRODUCTION –
Health and Hygiene, the very important topic, the whole world are chasing for this. Every year we celebrate World Health Day on 7th April every year.
In spite of this, we don’t maintain hygiene and don’t know how to become healthy, consequently, we fall ill. When people got infected with diseases, that would be inherited to their generation through the gene. Kindly don’t ignore it.
Health refers to physical, emotional, psychological well beings. Whereas hygiene refers to good practices that prevent disease and lead to good health. Hygiene can be on a personnel level and a social level.
HEALTH-
If you are reading any health article, the first and foremost thing which is coming to your mind, how to become healthy. How to stay healthy But can we stay healthy without food?
It is obvious, for daily doing activities we need energy but the question is- From where we take this energy…
yes food, we eat, which gives us energy.
But the food we eat is good or sometimes we feel ill. If we do not take good food, so how we will stay healthy? Have you ever think about it. What is the reason behind it?
If food, we are taking is healthy or having good nutritive value, then its a lesser chance that we will be prone to some common disease in our day-to-day life.
Now the question is what are those foods? Which food we have to take? You have heard about the term balance diet. So let’s talk about the balanced diet in my topic health and hygiene.
BALANCED DIET –
A balanced diet is a diet that contains a sufficient amount of calories and nutritional value requires by a person.
It provides all the nutritional needs of a person without getting over recommended calorie intake. People don’t need to take junk food or any other food without nutritive value.
A balanced diet includes nutrients like carbohydrates including starch and fiber, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants. The food which contains these nutrients are-
FRUITS-
It is also a very important part of the balanced diet chart. It is the source of Sodium, Potassium and other minerals along with Vitamins and Fibre. The best thing is that if you take seasonal fruits, It can boost your immune system and can protect you from various diseases.
VEGETABLES –
Vegetables are also good sources of vitamins, minerals, fibers. It contains low calories like fruits. It helps to protect from cancer and depression whereas Vit. B and Folic Acids help to produce red blood corpuscles.
PROTEIN FOOD –
It is required for the body to the maintenance of muscles and healing of wounds.
It contains animal proteins and plant proteins. Sources of animal proteins are red meat like Beef and Mutton, poultry like chicken, fish like salmon and other oily fish and eggs.
It is highly recommended not to intake processed meat as it leads to cancer and other severe diseases.
whereas plant protein sources are soy products, tofu, beans like rajma, moong green gram, soybean pulse, etc. almonds, walnuts, lentils.If you are vegetarian so you should eat plant protein sources that will also fulfill your body’s protein needs.
Soy products and beans are an excellent alternative source of meat. Nuts, beans and soy products are good sources of proteins, fiber and other nutrients.
DAIRY PRODUCTS-
It includes all the milk products that come from mammals. Mammals, cattle-like Cow, Buffaloes, Goat, etc. containing dairy products like milk, yogurt, paneer are good sources of proteins, calcium, and vitamin D.
Although our body byself makes vitamin. D in presence of sunlight but the people who are working and the people living in those areas where they can not get proper sunlight can also take the dairy products which contain vitamin D, which is useful for absorption of calcium.
For those people who are not taking dairy products, some dairy-free products are soy, oats, flaxseed, oats, coconut which are an excellent source of calcium and other nutrients.
GRAINS –
Whole grains are the best source of fiber, vitamins, minerals. Oatmeal, barley, millets, brown rice are a good source of whole grain. Try switching from rice, white bread, pasta to these above-suggested things.
FATS AND OIL-
Fats are very necessary for making cell healthy and it gives energy too But is all fats necessary for us?.here we will discuss it.
TRANS FATS –
You should avoid trans fat as it has no nutritive value. The processed food, bakery goods and fried and refried food contain trans fats. It leads to high cholesterol levels which in turn leads to high cardiovascular disease. Trans fats are harmful to your health and are not safe to eat.
SATURATED FATS –
Saturated fats molecules are tightly packed due to a lack of hydrogen bond. These are solid at room temperature like butter, chicken, mutton, cheese, heavy cream, coconut oil, palm oil. These fats also lead to a high risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 disease.
UNSATURATED FATS –
These fat molecules are loosely packed and are liquid at room temperature. These are of two types;
1)MONOUNSATURATED FATS –
Olive oil, peanut oil, most seeds, and most nuts lead to a lower risk of heart disease.
2)POLYUNSATURATED FATS –
These are of two types :
a)Omega 3 fatty acids-
It is beneficial for heart health. for example fatty fish, chia seed, walnut, sunflower seed, hemp seeds, soybean, flaxseed.
b) Omega 6 fatty acids-
These fats contain omega 6 fatty acids. for example canola oil, sunflower oil, scaffold oil, corn oil, soybean oil, walnut oil. Consuming more omega 6 fatty acids leads to inflammation of your body and some health-related disease and obesity.
FOODS TO AVOID –
These foods you should avoid. These have no nutritive value and are harmful to health.
1.High processed food
2.trans fat
3.alcohol
4.red meat
5.refined grains
6.added sugar and salts.
Do you genuinely think that reading health and hygiene articles and eating above mentioned healthy food is sufficient to stay healthy?
No.
Imagine, you are taking above healthy food. You don’t know about your weight. So how would you know, how many calories you have to take on a daily basis?
Do you know about yourself that you are overweight or underweight? how would u know these?
BODY MASS INDEX(BMI) &MAINTAIN WEIGHT –
Yes, you should know about your body mass index to know either you are healthy or not, then according to that you should focus on your diet preferred by a dietician ( how much amount of particular calorie or nutrition u lack or u need to take).
You can calculate your BMI by yourself.
BMI = height ( in kg. ) /weight(metres square). You have to divide your weight by your height m2. A normal BMI ranges between 18.5 -24.5. If your BMI range is between 25 to 30 then you are overweight, if it is more than 30 then you are obese.
This BMI calculation rate is slightly different from children and teens because they grow continuously and their mass varies according to their age.
According to your BMI rate, you can select your diet chart and maintain your weight. If your BMI rate comes in the normal range it is less chance to be susceptible to any kind of disease like B.P. high/ low, hypertension, diabetes, etc.
The food we are taking, if our body is not able to get energy from this, then our BMI can not be in the normal range and there will be no benefit of taking a balanced diet.
So it is necessary our food would break down properly and we will be able to get energy from the healthy food for doing various activities.
So knowing the balanced diet and BMI RATE is not sufficient to know about stay healthy. You should go through the term metabolism.
METABOLISM-
The food we take, our body uses this, get converted to energy by chemical reactions, through the process of metabolism. The energy we get, used in various functions we do activities in our daily life, or the hidden activity when we are at rest like for our internal body functions like breathing, circulations of blood, adjusting hormonal level, growing and repairing of cells.
The number of calories your body uses to carry out these basic functions is known as the basic metabolic rate, and that is called metabolism.
Health and hygiene not only tell you about a balanced diet and BMI but it focuses on metabolism too, which we can not deny the importance of.
Metabolism is divided into 2 categories :
1)CATABOLISM-
It begins with the digestive process. In which larger food molecules break down into smaller molecules like carbohydrates into monosaccharides, lipids into fatty acids and glycerol and proteins into amino acids.
When an old cell is broken down and damaged and energy is released in intracellular catabolism.
2)ANABOLISM-
In this process, these above smaller molecules combined to form large complex molecules like glycogen, hormones, enzymes whatever body needs to grow and Maintenace of cells and tissues. Unlike catabolism, this process uses energy to form larger molecules.
Metabolism is the process, which leads to chemical reactions in our body.
If your metabolism is not accurate, there is a chance that your body organ will not function correctly this will lead to severe diseases.
So if you want to stay healthy you need to have good metabolism which will be followed by an accurate BMI rate followed by a healthy diet.
HOW WILL YOUR METABOLISM WORK GOOD-
Now the question is how we will improve our metabolism better ?. So I am giving you certain tips here which will guide you to stay healthy.
Although you can take a variety of tips to boost your immune system from the internet but here I would like to tell you some basic common tips to boost your metabolism-
DO NOT SKIP MEALS-
Eat regularly at the interval of 3 to 4 hours for maintaining a normal metabolic rate. If you skip your meal your body will not burn your calorie and will store fat cells in the body.
EAT BREAKFAST-
You should take a substantial breakfast. It will always boost your metabolism especially if you are taking protein and fat sources. A higher fat breakfast helps the body burn more carbs and fat for the rest of the day.
EAT WHOLE GRAINS-
You should include whole-grain food items in your meal.
AVOID PROCESSED CARBS-
Refined carb is mostly sugars and processed grains. They are empty calories and lead to rapids spike of insulin and blood sugar level.
DRINK GREEN TEA-
It contains oxidants catechin which raises resting metabolism by about 4%, which means you will be burning about 80 more calories per day.
IMPROVE YOUR THYROID FUNCTION –
To increase your metabolism, the thyroid needs to functions at its best. Support your thyroid functions normally, you should include seafood, nuts, seeds in your diet.
These foods are high in selenium, Vit. E, iodine and zinc and copper, essential for the thyroid.
GET A GOOD NIGHT SLEEP –
Getting good sleep at the right time can protect you from many diseases and helps you keeping in mental peace, physical health, safety, quality of life. It also boosts your immune system.
If you are not feeling well, feeling lack of energy the quality of sleep gives you relief and makes you brimful of energy and enthusiasm.
CHOOSE SWEET POTATOES-
They are not just tasty. These are high in inflammatories and helps to regulate blood sugar and positive effect on life.
TURN UP THE BURN WITH CHILIES-
Chilly stimulates the nervous system and improves metabolism after the meal. It also curbs your appetite so you eat less. Chilies –metabolism-boosting ability works best if eaten regularly.
FUEL UP WITH WATER-
Everybody knows the importance of water. It is necessary for the internal normal functioning of your body, even if you are mildly dehydrated, your metabolism may slow down.
EAT FIBROUS VEGETABLES-
Cauliflower and Broccoli boost your metabolism by keeping your digestive system overdrive. Although it requires more energy to break down the tough fiber, being less calorie and more minerals vitamins containing food, vegetables always remain your health-friendly.
FOCUS ON A BALANCED DIET-
As already I have told you in this content which food you should take, why it is necessary. A proper balanced diet helps you to stay healthy.
WALKING FOR MINUTES-
Do not have a sedentary lifestyle. Walking and doing regular exercise helps your metabolism increases the demand for energy, which actually increases your metabolism.
LAUGH AND STAND MORE-
Laughter is the best medicine. If you are happy, your stress goes away from you. So try to laugh. Keep good friends having high humour so that you can laugh and feel positive.
Sitting every time is just putting you in a bad mode, you sit in the office, at home, in your vehicles. For doing these activities, it requires less energy, consequently lower metabolism.
GOOD LIFESTYLE & BE STRESS-FREE–
This means a healthy lifestyle you have to follow. Wake up early in the morning, and do some physical activities, meditation followed by healthy diets and go to bed early and take proper sleep.
In between, for mental health reading books and doing your hobby and connections with your favourite one enhance your lifestyle.
DIETING –
If you are overweighted then you can cut off unhealthy food along with exercises. But if you are taking some control to eat healthy food then it can cause problems for you.
People generally don’t take healthy food, in fact, they don’t take their meals in the name of dieting.
It is the trend in college-going girls who do dieting to look good, consequently, they lose their skin glow and many more health problems.
They prefer to not take food even it is highly nutritious, which leads them to in danger. You should avoid taking unhealthy foods like junk foods, trans-fat, high cholesterol-causing foods.
HYGIENE-
Children, ignoring above these facts appear to be more prone to diseases, infection and lower performance. They also seem as poor academic growth, a high infection rate, poor physical, mental, emotional growth.
As already mentioned above, hygiene is categorized into two category
Personnel level and social level:
1)PERSONNEL LEVEL-
One of the best ways to maintain overall health and well-being is to keep your personnel hygiene. It helps you to stay clean, boosts your confidence and imparts positively on your personnel relationships. It also reduces the risk of disease. You should maintain the following things-
WASH YOUR HAND FREQUENTLY –
Washing your hand is one of the effective ways to reduce infections or diseases and maintain health and hygiene. Wash your hand before and after you eat.
Wash your hand after coming from the washroom or being in contact with a sick person.
1)You should wash your hand with clean water and should apply soap properly.
2) Rub your hand thoroughly.
3)Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds.
3) Rinse your hand properly.
4) Dry your hands with a towel.
BATHE –
Cleaning your body washes away dead skin cells and dirt and helps to fight the spread of disease.
BRUSH YOUR TEETH TWICE A DAY –
Make sure you are brushing your teeth twice a day to maintain oral hygiene along with regular dental checkups.
TAKE CARE OF YOUR NAILS –
Cleaning and trimming your nails reduces the risk of hangnails and infected nail beds.
WEAR CLEAN CLOTHES –
After you wear cloth, wash them with detergent and dry them immediately after rinsing. Dirty clothes help the production of bacteria which leads to body odor and skin irritation.
COVER YOUR MOUTH WHEN YOU COUGH OR SNEEZE –
It is important to cover your mouth when u sneeze or coughs to prevent the spreading of disease.
GET RESTFUL SLEEP –
It is necessary to take good sleep to boost your immune system or to maintain your health.
CREATE A ROUTINE –
A routine must be there to maintain yourself in a healthy position and evaluate from time to time.
VISIT THE DOCTORS –
Visiting your doctors regularly can help you to catch infections and illnesses early and making it easier to treat them.
In addition to above these points, your all rooms should be neat and cleaned including kitchen and washroom where cleanliness matters a lot.
2)SOCIAL LEVEL-
It is very necessary to protect yourself from disease-prone areas, especially public places. You know very well, that public places are full of germs, contamination, infections.
Every surface you touch and the air you breathe is full of bacteria and pollution. You might be astounded that people who come from the restroom do not wash their hands. Some people sneeze without covering their faces.
Health and hygiene topic will tell you the following things to follow on the social level.
SHOWER TWICE A DAY –
Yes, it is important to take shower before leaving the house, as it refreshes you and prepares for the day. But it is also very very important to take bath after coming from outside.
As you were in the exposure of germs, pollution, dirt, bacterial infections, etc.. you must pour the drops of antiseptic Liq. into your bathing water.
USE HAND SANITIZER AND WIPES OFTEN –
Always keep sanitizer with you. Its use is not only important in corona period but always you should use it because there is a lot of bacteria and germs outside in the environment. While traveling, along with a sanitizer, please carry paper soap with you. It will help you to protect yourself from different disease sources.
STAY AWAY FROM PEOPLE SNEEZING AND COUGHING-
Many people have a bad habit that they don’t cover their face while they are in the trap of cold and cough and also they don’t sanitize and wipe their hand. So it’s better to keep a distance from them.
STAY SAFE FROM PETS –
Yes, I know many people are fond of pets. You know very well that keeping a pet makes you healthier, reduces your stress level and improves the quality of your life.
But pets are also the sources and carriers of different diseases. Even they don’t show any symptoms but you can get infected with them.
Pets carry bacteria and germs in their paws, fur and mouth. Some of the germs Salmonella, staphylococcus they carry can infect to the human.
So practice hygiene makes you aware of how to keep going safe along with pets. Don’t allow them to enter your kitchen, bedroom, washroom and your dining area.
When you touch them, make sure you wash your hand. Try to make their separate room of living. Routine check-ups of pets must be there.
Vaccinate them regularly and always keep in touch with your veterinary doctor. By using these tips you can maintain your health and hygiene.
CURRENT NEWS & OVERALL DATA OF COUNTRY-
We are talking about health and hygiene and how could it possible that we will not discuss the pandemic disease CORONA.
Everybody knows how to be safe in this period (wearing a mask, using sanitizer, maintain social distancing), Practice hygiene and eating immune-boosting healthy diets will make you safe.
You all know very well that how we are suffering from the second wave of covid -19 directly or indirectly.
The ambiance of the outside is not safe for us. we are just passing our time. We are doing many things but not seems good and fruitful somewhere. It is just like apathy and spoiling the years of our life.
I am requesting to all those my readers kindly stay at home and be safe. It is in our hands to save us and our loved ones.
No one is separate from us. All are one. If one would get infected, automatically it will spread all over the world quickly. Please help to needy in your own way by keeping yourself safe.
CONCLUSION-
Now after reading the article, you came to know how important is to maintain health and hygiene. This topic is not only fact-based but also daily life useful things are there to discuss in this topic health and hygiene.
Kindly don’t ignore it. Read and follow these things. If you want to know some knowledge about any topic then let me know by writing in the comment box.
Thank you
Read also…