Primary Times Leicestershire May edition
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<strong>Primary</strong> <strong>Times</strong> <strong>Leicestershire</strong> & Rutland<br />
PRIMARY TIMES EXCLUSIVE<br />
Inspiring<br />
Whole Body Health<br />
A recent BBC article stated “the overwhelming majority of adults in England are so unhealthy they put their lives at<br />
risk”. It has also been documented that children with unhealthy parents are more likely to be unhealthy themselves.<br />
You just need to look around and see that<br />
as a nation we are becoming larger, more<br />
sedentary, unhappier and are sleeping less. The<br />
NHS is spending more money on curing our<br />
ailments caused by our daily choices, but surely<br />
prevention is better than cure?<br />
DR ME: Diet, Resilience, Mind and Exercise,<br />
has been created to inspire people to make<br />
small changes to their lives, which will instantly<br />
improve whole body health. For example, if you<br />
exercise more, you sleep better, encouraging<br />
you to make healthier food choices the<br />
following day, directly promoting a more<br />
positive mind-set.<br />
Diet – eat the rainbow<br />
You are what you eat is an old cliché but one<br />
that is very true. I often liken the body to a car,<br />
if you put sub-standard fuel into a car, it won’t<br />
run as efficiently as when you supply it with<br />
premium fuel. This is true also for our bodies. If<br />
we feed our body a wide variety of food cooked<br />
from scratch (then you know what exactly is in it)<br />
your body and mind will work optimally. Recent<br />
research concerning the digestive system<br />
suggests the micro-biome contain millions of<br />
microbes (bacteria, fungi and viruses) that form<br />
a complex ecosystem in your gut. They are<br />
responsible for weight regulation, enhancing<br />
the immune system and hormone creation….<br />
all of which are vital for a healthy life. By eating<br />
a variety of colourful foods you optimise the<br />
activity of the micro-biomes, thus improving<br />
your whole body health. Therefore every day<br />
you should aim to eat a plant-based portion that<br />
that is red, yellow, orange, blue/purple, green<br />
and white.<br />
Resilience – sleep to<br />
reset body and mind<br />
Mother nature designed humans to spend one<br />
third of our lives asleep. For adults this equates<br />
to 7-9 hours per night, 10-13 hours for 3-5 year<br />
olds, 9-11 hours for 6-13 year olds, and 8-10<br />
hours for 14-17 year olds. Sleep is a forgotten<br />
necessity…. It is responsible for so many vital<br />
processes (both physiological and psychosocial)<br />
that allow the body to function to its optimal<br />
capability. The benefits of a sound night-time<br />
routine involving calming the body and mind<br />
prior to getting into bed, will not only help you<br />
drop off to sleep but stay asleep for longer too.<br />
Mind – focus on the positives<br />
Mental health has been a taboo subject for<br />
many years but thankfully recent ambassadors<br />
are publicising it. Most people are affected<br />
by mental health at some stage of their lives<br />
as ¼ adults in the UK suffer every year, with<br />
numbers continually growing. It is very easy<br />
to be swept up with the busy rat-race that is<br />
modern day life, but by taking time to appreciate<br />
our environment gives us chance to be thankful<br />
and positive. Instil variety into every day; whether<br />
that be walking a different route to school, or<br />
trying a new activity helps you appreciate your<br />
surroundings more. There is also a need to<br />
recognise that life isn’t always easy, and we<br />
need to perfect our coping strategies in order to<br />
ride out negative situations. ‘A problem shared<br />
is a problem halved’ encourages people to talk,<br />
which in turn can be the start of focusing on the<br />
solution, not the problem.<br />
Exercise- Move your body<br />
Exercise is where my passion for health<br />
originated. We have been designed to move<br />
but unfortunately inventions in the last 150 years<br />
have made it easier for us to be sedentary. The<br />
benefits of exercise have been documented for<br />
years, although, what needs to be highlighted<br />
is that there isn’t a one size fits all strategy.<br />
Exercise needs to be enjoyed and needs to be<br />
incorporated into your daily routine, so whether<br />
that means dusting off the bike for the school<br />
run, or join thousands of people on a weekend<br />
Park Run, my advice is to move your body more,<br />
otherwise you’ll lose the capability to do so.<br />
By educating individuals early, we can<br />
encourage children to make healthy choices,<br />
thus having a positive effect on making their<br />
lives happier and healthier.<br />
By Claire Willsher<br />
www.doctor-me.co.uk<br />
14<br />
MAY 2019 | www.primarytimes.co.uk/<strong>Leicestershire</strong>
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