Look after your health by playing a sport

Published: 02/04/2010 - Updated: 09/11/2018

Surely many times you have heard that the sport is health. Well, if you are not yet convinced of this, I propose here to open your eyes, read this article and put you to work to regain your health and wellbeing doing sports.

Better to be safe

As you know, sport is one of the best ways to prevent health problems. This is directly related to training the heart because it reduces the risk of heart disease and all types of cardiovascular disease. It is proved that a sport must be accompanied by a diet low in fat and a life without snuff, and it could help prevent cardiovascular problems.

The facts speak for themselves: the practice of moderate exercise or sports with the observation of other health habits have a direct impact on reducing risk factors like diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerosis, obesity and hypercholesterolemia. Furthermore, with the sport we lower cholesterol in general and raise the HDL (good cholesterol). It also have benefits in patients with type II diabetes by increasing the sensitivity of cells to insulin.

Moreover, exercise improves the organizational capacity of the heart, reducing the need for oxygen and reduced blood pressure with which the drug is less needed and improves quality of life.

Thus it is advisable to do some aerobic exercise three to five times weekly for at least 30 minutes, controlling the heart rate so that it remains within moderate levels.

The most recommended activities are walking fast or running at a leisurely pace, biking and swimming. The intensity should be moderate and must move large muscle groups.

Tips to start walking

To make the walk a good habit, keep in mind these tips:

  • Start slowly, enjoy watching surroundings and gradually increase the walk up to the recommended half hour.
  • Wear right clothes and shoes.
  • Drink a glass of water before and after walking.
  • Avoid long walks after meals.
  • Keep an easy pace at the beginning and end of the ride.
  • If you have any heart or any serious illness, consult your doctor before doing an exercise program.
  • If you experience chest pain, dizziness or nausea while walking or exercising, stop and see your doctor.
  • Remember that walking with others can be much more pleasant than walking alone. Invite your friends to lead a healthy life.

Sport & Health = More balanced diet

We mentioned that the sporting activity must be complemented by a good and balanced diet. So if you follow a low fat diet, you will not only be healthy but also you will lose weight!

Here I offer you tips for losing weight:

1. Make 5 meals a day: three complete and two snacks (mid-morning and mid afternoon). Eating increases your metabolism and burn more calories.

2. Get up of the table when you notice you've sated your appetite. The stomach also educates and you can avoid turning it into a bottomless pit. It is not the same be satisfied that full.

3. Season your foods with herbs (parsley, tarragon, thyme, bay), aromatic spices (onion, garlic, lemon, vinegar) and various spices (cinnamon, curry, saffron).

4. Meat and fish should be stewed or grilled with spices and little oil.

5. Remove salty foods "by nature" from your diet. Avoid cheeses, meats and fish smoked or preserved in cans. Forget the canned vegetables, sauerkraut, salted butter, anchovy paste, capers, pickles and celery salt.

6. Drink a glass of some citrus juice (orange, lemon or grapefruit) before eating, rather than later. It has been proven to help keep the line because, among other things, detoxifies the digestive system and decreases appetite.

7. It is essential to eat plenty of vegetables, rather crude: it contains many minerals and vitamins, provides calories and quenches. Prefer potatoes (boiled), lettuce, onion, fennel, asparagus, squash, green beans, peppers and mushrooms. But the cabbage should be avoided.

8. Drink lots of water because it removes waste products and residues of salt stuck in your body. It is ideal to drink a glass of water before bed, and diluting the uric acid and another in the morning to treat constipation.

9. For cooking vegetables, use the pressure cooker that best preserves the flavors.

10. If you're going through a crisis, try to fill your refrigerator with low calorie foods.

About the author
  • Jorgelina Reyente

    Expert in healthy cooking recipes and healthy lifestyle habits. She has a degree in communication sciences from the University of Buenos Aires.  She has completed postgraduate training in social sciences at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University - Paris III, France.

2 Replies to “Look after your health by playing a sport”
  • Edward says:

    Good article, I?m thinking on making a program to start a diet with some exercises and I was just thinking in walking, it is good and easy so now I?m to get up early and walk to the work instead of taking the bus, it?s like 20 minutes from here so it?s a good way to start, thanks for all the recommendations, I will keep them in my mind

  • Stacy says:

    Getting involved with sports has changed my life. And most definitely for the better. Growing up I was always involved in music (and music is still a beautiful form of expresison and creativity for me) but now I have the other side of the coin – the physical. For years I looked over physical intelligence, thinking that it was inferior to emotional consciousness…but we cannot separate the physical from the spiritual if we want true enlightenment.