Basic and Preventative Health Care for a Better Life!
We’ve all heard recently that we should take a more active role in our own healthcare, but where do we start? To begin with, let’s cover the basics of good health; nutrition and disease prevention.
Your body is like an engine; it needs fuel to keep it running efficiently. But, like an engine, if you use the wrong fuel you’ll seriously compromise your health, happiness and performance! A balanced diet with the emphasis on vegetables, fruits, minimally processed grains and reasonable amounts of proteins and meats is essential to keep your body at peak health. Too much of anything will lead to poor health; excess sugar, lack of carbohydrates, too much or too little protein will all throw our bodies out of kilter. The most important rule of healthy nutrition is moderation in all things!
But even the optimally nourished body can sicken from germs and bacteria and this is where prevention comes in! The first and easiest preventative action we can take is washing hands our after using the restroom, before and after handling food, and after doing normal household chores. Germs and bacteria also thrive in food kept at the wrong temperature, so reading the labels on food packaging is a simple but very effective way to stay healthy. Fresh air and exercise is another valuable weapon in our quest for good health. Again, moderation is the key!
When we do fall ill or have aches and pains that are unusual or strike suddenly, it pays to research our symptoms both before and after seeing our physician. Why? Because healthcare professionals are human and they occasionally make mistakes due to our mis-communication with them or their own distraction or overwork. So let’s explore some ways to research, become involved and take some control of our healthcare.
Let’s use Swine Flu as an example. We could just “google” the keywords “swine flu” but unless you have some rudimentary medical knowledge, the sheer volume of results will stun you. So we need a few good sites to investigate the symptoms of the flu, how they differ from a cold (which a doctor can do nothing about) and the best way to treat them.
One of the best places to start is http://www.webMD.com. WebMD has informative articles, a tool to help you explain your symptoms and look at possible causes and treatments and explains different types of tests that your doctor might order. The site also allows you to look up commonly prescribed medications so that you can understand exactly what to expect from your medicine and side effects to watch for. The site will also let you know which medications and foods you should not mix with the medicine your doctor has given you.
The Center for Disease Control http://www.cdc.gov/ is another excellent site to research illnesses and preventive health care. With the latest research and medical advances at their beck and call, the CDC specializes in preventing diseases, treating them when they do occur and controlling the spread of disease. It is also an excellent source for information on healthy living, among so many other subjects.
Good health is so important and with proper nutrition, prevention and involvement in our own healthcare we can live our lives to the fullest!