Healthy lifestyle

Healthy lifestyle

Whatever your age, fitness level or body shape, its never too soon or too late to start thinking about living healthily. Healthy living doesn’t mean you have to take out an expensive gym subscription or exist on a diet of raw vegetables – you can take a step towards healthy living by making a few basic changes to your daily life.

Simple changes to start now

• Walk more Take the stairs instead of the lift; use your lunch hour to have a half-hour walk; walk instead of driving short distances to buy a newspaper or take the kids to school. Walking the way to health promotes the benfits of walking and aims to get more people walking in their own communities, especially those who take little exercise or live in areas of poor health
• Eat better Try to eat more fruit and veg and less fat, salt and sugar. It is good to ensure that you eat a good amount of starchy foods (rice, bread, pasta and potatoes) and some protein-rich foods like meat, fish, eggs and pulses. Eat well, be well provides guidance on making healthy eating choices
• Cut salt Most of us are eating far too much salt through bought soups, sauces, biscuits, cereals and ready meals. We only need 6 grams of salt a day – a teaspoonful. Too much salt can raise your blood pressure which leads to increased risk of heart disease or a stroke. Salt - watch it provides advice a salt calculator, and advice on healthy eating and cutting down salt intake.
• Drink more water Our bodies need six to eight glasses or two litres of water every day to ensure everything is in good working order. Drink up! Eat well, be well provides advice on drinking enough and what to drink.

Diet and nutrition

What you eat is important. Your diet can affect how well you feel. If you eat the right foods, you can protect yourself and decrease your chances of getting ill – from minor ailments to more serious illnesses.

Follow the links to find out how to make your diet healthier:

• Five-a-day In the UK, we eat an average of three portions of fruit and veg per day. For our bodies to be as healthy as possible, we really need to have five daily portions. Eat well, be well offers ideas on how you can add more fruit and veg to your diet easily. here for Further information on '5 a day' is available from the Department of Health.
• Food essentials It can be hard to figure out what our bodies need for a healthy, balanced diet – especially when fad diets are given a lot of attention. To clear away all the myths and find out what the experts think, see Eat well, be well .
• Nutrition If you want scientifically-based nutritional knowledge, look no further than the British Nutrition Foundation’s site, which is full of informed articles and advice. www.london.gov.uk/london-life/health-and-social-care/healthy/lifestyle.jsp - 17k -