Intro to Health - Physical Health

Physical health refers to body health, and is the result of regular exercise, proper diet and nutrition, healthy habits and proper rest for physical recovery. This is also influenced by the standard of living and quality of life.

Running in water

Physical exercise: is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health. It is performed for many different reasons. These include strengthening muscles and the cardiovascular system, honing athletic skills, weight loss or maintenance and for enjoyment.
Frequent and regular physical exercise boosts the immune system, and helps prevent the "diseases of affluence" such as heart disease, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and obesity. It also improves mental health and helps prevent depression.
Childhood obesity is a growing global concern and physical exercise may help decrease the effects of childhood obesity in developed countries.

The diet: In nutritional terms, diet is the sum of food consumed by a person or other organism. Dietary habits are the habitual decisions an individual or culture makes when choosing what foods to eat.
Although humans are omnivores, each culture holds some food preferences and some food taboos. Individual dietary choices may be more or less healthy. Proper nutrition requires the proper ingestion and equally important, the absorption of vitamins, minerals, and food energy in the form of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.
Dietary habits and choices play a significant role in health and mortality, and many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet.

Healthy habits: The devastating effects of substance abuse on the organism are so well documented, that there shouldn't be any doubt as to what our choices should lead to. But this is a common phenomenon among many and it is important to include substance abuse avoidance as a prerequesite to achieving better physical health.
Although the term substance can refer to any physical matter, substance abuse has come to refer to the overindulgence in and dependence of a drug, alcohol, tobacco or other chemical leading to effects that are detrimental to the individual's physical and mental health, or the welfare of others.

Overview of the biological circadian clock in humans:

The biological clock affects the daily rhythm of many physiological processes. The diagram above depicts the circadian patterns typical of someone who rises early in morning, eats lunch around noon, and sleeps at night (10 p.m.). Although circadian rhythms tend to be synchronized with cycles of light and dark, other factors - such as ambient temperature, meal times, napping schedule and duration, stress and exercise - can influence the timing as well.

Researchers at the University of Warwick and University College London have found that lack of sleep can more than double the risk of death from cardiovascular disease, but that too much sleep can also be associated with a doubling of the risk of death, though not primarily from cardiovascular disease.
Professor Francesco Cappuccio said, "Short sleep has been shown to be a risk factor for weight gain, hypertension, and Type 2 diabetes, sometimes leading to mortality; but in contrast to the short sleep-mortality association, it appears that no potential mechanisms by which long sleep could be associated with increased mortality have yet been investigated. Some candidate causes for this include depression, low socioeconomic status, and cancer-related fatigue. …In terms of prevention, our findings indicate that consistently sleeping around seven hours per night is optimal for health, and a sustained reduction may predispose to ill health.

Sleep Hygiene Tips: The promotion of regular sleep is known as sleep hygiene. The following is a list of sleep hygiene tips which can be used to improve sleep:

• Go to bed at the same time each night and rise at the same time each morning.
• Make sure your bedroom is a quiet, dark, and relaxing environment, which is neither too hot or too cold.
• Make sure your bed is comfortable and use it only for sleeping and not for other activities, such as reading, watching TV, or listening to music. Remove all TVs, computers, and other “gadgets” from the bedroom.
• Physical activity may help promote sleep, but not within a few hours of bedtime.
• Avoid large meals before bedtime. 

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