4 Ways To Avoid Chronic Disease Building Up Under The Surface Of Your Body

Through research, studies have found four ways to prevent chronic diseases and empower your health.

The Best Cure Is Prevention 

“It isn’t our genes that determine our lifespan and life’s health, but rather how we communicate with our genes,” says Dr. Jeffrey Bland, the father of functional medicine and author of The Disease Delusion. 

Fortunately, science has advanced throughout the years, allowing us to understand how our genes and our environment connect. This discovery reflects on how we’re dealing with chronic illnesses and diseases during a pandemic. While many still rely on medical practice, the key factor in avoiding chronic diseases is to transform our entire approach to our lifestyle. These changes include creating a new model of care that will personalize treatment to the individual’s particular genetic makeup, environment, lifestyle, and diet. 

The key factor in avoiding chronic diseases is to transform our entire approach to our lifestyle. 

Today, we’re offered better lifestyle approaches for ourselves and our families, but we have to implement them in our daily activities and diet. While we Americans have the potential to become the example of attaining health and wealth, unfortunately, we’re quite the opposite. 

Our Lifestyle Choices Dictate Our Lifespan 

According to the CDC, 71.6% of U.S. adults are overweight and 39.8% are obese. These numbers have been steady over the past 50 years. 18% of children are obese, and 19% have a diet-related chronic condition. More than one million Americans die every year from heart disease and cancer, conditions widely referred to in the medical profession as “lifestyle diseases.” And lastly, a shocking 115 million Americans are diabetic or prediabetic. What does that tell us? As Americans, we are the cause of why our health declines, based on our lifestyle choices and what we permit our bodies to digest.

The chronic diseases of today are far more preventable and even reversible than most doctors realize. As an expert in nutritional wellness, it became my purpose to highlight this topic because I want people to know how powerful their bodies truly are when it comes to self-preservation. The good news is, as a consumer, we hold the power to make drastic changes in order to gain longevity. 

71.6 % of U.S. adults are overweight and 39.8 % are obese.

What is chronic disease? It’s a long-lasting disease that requires medical attention, limits you from living your life to the fullest potential, and sadly, doesn’t improve over time. When the body suffers from dietary deficiency and toxic lifestyle habits, choosing prescription drugs may not be the best solution. Despite the negative backlash of adapting natural and organic prevention methods, I’m optimistic that as humans, we can apply the change now and influence others to make the powerful lifestyle shifts needed to prevent generational diseases. 

Based on my expertise in health and nutrition, here are the four ways you can improve your health without relying on medical practitioners. 

Eat More Plants

Everything begins with the core of your body, your GUT!

Human bodies come in all shapes and sizes, but that doesn’t mean all bodies are equally healthy. As a health expert, I can tell you that gaining weight is often the leading cause of why chronic diseases arise. The importance of maintaining a healthy weight is vital to a person's lifespan. When the body is not properly fed with whole food, plant-based meals, it begins to generate diseases and illnesses that the body can’t fight. 

Gaining weight is often the leading cause of why chronic diseases arise.

One of the important elements in providing the body with energy, vitamins, minerals, and nutrients is understanding how a proper calorie diet impacts your health. You can begin by eating whole or unprocessed plant-based foods and by minimizing the consumption of meat, fish, dairy, and eggs. Plant-based eating increases your energy and performance for exercise and helps the body shed excess weight. Adjusting to the plant-based lifestyle can save you years of sickness and money. 

Exercise

Exercise has been shown to improve cardiovascular health, reduce blood sugar, improve bone health, and increase one’s overall sense of well-being. Exercise is also important for your brain health. Some forms of exercise are more effective in stimulating mitochondrial biogenesis than others—specifically, cross-training between aerobic cardiovascular conditioning and anaerobic strength conditioning. 

Exercise improves cardiovascular and bone health, as well as reduces blood sugar.

It’s highly recommended to practice a variety of exercises, such as moderate-intensity aerobic exercises like jogging, canoeing, paddleboarding, bicycling, swimming, stair-climbing, rowing, and dancing. That doesn’t mean you should leave out anaerobic activities like weight training, isometrics, heavy calisthenics, or any resistance training done at high intensity — these are incredibly important for your body to gain strength.  A balanced combination of activities can target all the muscles in the body. Remember, even a short daily walk is better than no exercise at all. 

Stress Management

When stress affects a person mentally and emotionally, the body reacts in a negative way. The immune system and organs become weak due to a lack of stress management. Chronic stress can lead the body to become obese or diabetic, and even foster deadly heart conditions. 

Stress also can cause insomnia, and sleep is crucial for optimal health and well-being. Incorporating relaxation techniques has a profound ability to reduce systemic inflammation, decrease pain, and improve overall vitality. They’re also accessible to anyone, have great side benefits, and won’t interact with medications. 

Relaxation techniques can reduce systemic inflammation and pain, and improve overall vitality.

Consider incorporating some of the relaxation techniques below into your daily routine:

• Deep breathing

• Meditation

• Sleep

• Qigong

• Tai chi

• Yoga

• Art therapy and music

• Regular, moderate exercise

• Time in nature

• Lavender essential oil

Lavender — as aromatherapy, topically, or taken internally — relaxes the nervous system to quell anxiety and stress while promoting sleep. Also, don’t take tea time for granted because it can help you decompress. 

Support and Love

The human body reacts to its environmental changes. At a time like this, when stress levels are high, it’s important to maintain healthy surroundings. The brain reacts positively when a person is given love and support. It’s important to identify any toxic triggers and avoid any difficult personalities that can affect your mental and emotional health. Love is the gasoline that humans need in order to surpass any difficult moments. 

Love is the gasoline that humans need in order to surpass any difficult moments. 

Surround yourself with healthy support and life-enhancing behaviors. Keep a tight-knit community that consistently reinforces the same and your health can improve immensely. Love others, and they will give back! 

Closing Thoughts

Chronic disease symptoms arise from the lack of proper dietary, environmental, and positive lifestyle habits. The impact leads to a chemical imbalance within our bodies. Yes, there are, in some cases, genetic and environmental factors beyond our control. However, we can attain more control over our health if we focus on making the right decisions in our eating habits, activities, and mental health. Transition into a better lifestyle, and your body and brain will thank you!