Health sometimes seems to be all about the numbers: Your weight, age, body mass index (BMI), and blood sugar levels, plus your consumption of calories, grams of sugar, fat, protein, etc.
These numbers are important in understanding your overall health, but there are other measurable factors that have just as much – if not more – of an overall impact on your health.
Important Health Numbers
The following factors are vitally important to maintaining your body’s optimum health:
1. Eat Various Food Types
Calorie-counting and weighing your food doesn’t do as much as what was once believed. Dieticians and nutritionists suggest that consuming the right proportions of the various food groups are more important to promoting good health and proper weight.
Think of how delicious this sounds: One-half of your plate should consist of colorful vegetables you enjoy. One-quarter of your plate should be full of protein-rich foods such as fish, poultry, or beans. And the final quarter should have healthy grains like quinoa or rice.
2. Enjoy a High-Fiber Diet
Adults should consume about 25 to 35 grams of fiber every day in order to support digestive and overall health. Fiber helps to keep cholesterol and blood sugar levels low, prevents certain cancers, assists with healthy digestion and elimination, and makes you feel fuller longer – so you’re less likely to overeat.
On average, most Americans only consume about 16 grams of fiber per day. Consider this a wonderful opportunity to find one or two high-fiber foods you love – like strawberries, bananas, and apples – and eat them more often!
3. Get Plenty of Sleep
We need about seven to eight hours of sleep every night. Getting the proper amount of sleep promotes better judgment, decreases the risk of accidents, increases positive moods, and improves the ability to retain information.
Sleep deprivation over time can put you at risk for obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. Consider sleeping in longer in the morning or going to bed earlier – another 10 minutes of sleep every night equals an extra hour of sleep over the course of a week, which is beneficial to your overall health.
4. Get Plenty of Exercise
Everyone should get at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day. This can be spread throughout the day in 10-minute increments, which is more doable for most people.
Do exercise you enjoy, such as playing fetch with your dog or walking around your block. A little bit of regular exercise produces big health benefits.
5. Check for Proper Glucose Levels
Your doctor can test your glucose level after you’ve been fasting for at least eight hours. A normal reading should be less than 100 mg/dL.
Anything higher than that could be a sign of Type 2 diabetes. The glucose level for prediabetes is typically between 100 to 125 mg/dL, while diabetes is 126 mg/dL or more.
6. Maintain a Healthy Blood Pressure
Optimum resting blood pressure should be 120/80 mmHg or below. (You’ll hear your doctor say “one-twenty over eighty.”) Monitoring your blood pressure is incredibly important.
Having high blood pressure can increase your risk of a heart attack or a stroke. If you have elevated blood pressure, which is 121-129/80, you should monitor it and speak to your primary care physician to be safe.
If you have high blood pressure, which is >130/>80, you’re at risk and should speak to your primary care physician to get it back to a normal range. Your doctor may prescribe certain medications or make recommendations.
Concierge Physicians in Maryland
Our highly skilled doctors and staff at Rockville Concierge Doctors prioritize your health concerns, and we aim to respond to every issue quickly and efficiently.
Contact us today to find out more about our 24-hour service and the wonderful benefits of concierge medicine. Call (301) 545-1811 to request a free, no-obligation meet-and-greet; our existing patients can also request an appointment here. We look forward to helping you enjoy a healthful lifestyle.
