Column by Dr. Ann Hollingsworth
I recently saw a lecture by Dr. Oz on five ways to empower our health for higher quality living. I thought these worth passing on.
First, the real best normal for adult blood pressure is 115 over 75. Since many of us struggle with the 120 over 80, that might seem especially challenging. But if we line up well with the other four suggestions, that will help our blood pressure.
Secondly, exercise at least 30 minutes two times a week. Resistance training is especially helpful in which the body pushes against (resists) some external source. This could be weight training at a gym, but can also be things at home like push-ups (even against the wall), home items for weights such as cans of food or tools, and of course if you have a computer and internet – there are many YouTube videos that you could follow along with.
Third is a healthy diet that is easy to love. With as many food choices that we have available, it should be easy to find healthy ones that we like ok and are convenient for us to eat.
Stress control is an ongoing essential. While we cannot remove a lot of the stress around us, we can choose how much we are around it and we can choose things to do on purpose for relaxation.
Last is to curtail addictions. While we might not all be alcoholics or hooked on some street drug, probably each of us has something that we just can seem to live without – coffee, shopping, a television show, etc. With addiction, the key is not really the use, but the misuse – does it control us or do we control it.
Health is precious and it really is easier to have good health than we might think. The biggest thing to help us live healthy lives is to choose to do so. When we choose and act on our choice, positive results can happen.
