Health is wealth. You can always bank on the benefits of a healthy lifestyle to keep you energised through the hardest of days. However, between family, work, and errands you might have no time to design a healthy lifestyle for yourself.
It is quite difficult for most of us to invest long hours at the gym, with a dietician, or on the internet surfing through hundreds of health-related articles.
But is there something easy that you can do that might have an immediate positive effect? Are there any low-hanging fruits in the pursuit of optimum health?
And the answer is yes. With a few scientifically proven health hacks that take almost no time away from your busy life, it is possible to achieve a lifestyle of optimum wellness.
Therefore, to bring you one step closer to a healthy life in the easiest way possible, we have curated a list of the quickest ways to improve health. To make things smoother for you, we have divided the list into 3 sections, each catering to a separate area of health hacks: Lifestyle, Nutrition, and Supplements.
Lifestyle hacks for better health
1. Take the stairs
This is a highly underrated health hack. Stairs are available just about everywhere we go. Yet somehow most staircases remain empty. Taking stairs instead of the elevator is a great way to squeeze in some much-needed exercise.
So the next time you watch your peers hop on an elevator, make the brave but rewarding choice of taking the stairs. As a result, you may even inspire others to do the same.
2. Walk to the grocery store
Walking is an effective and easy way of getting in some quick exercise. This is because it requires no equipment. Therefore, you should always try to walk your way to nearby destinations. A quick walk to the grocery store followed by carrying your groceries back home can help you build stamina as well as strength.
The next time you run out of groceries, I suggest you put on some nice tunes on your headset, slip into a comfy pair of joggers and take an energizing walk to the store. Oh, and get a backpack if holding bags is too cumbersome.
3. Put away all gadgets before going to bed
A friend of mine suffered from insomnia. Fed up with her perpetual lack of sleep, she went to a specialist. The specialist suggested parting from all screens for at least an hour before bedtime. She found it hard to follow the suggestion at the start. However, after a few days of adhering to the specialist’s advice, she saw significant improvement in her sleep.
The specialist was right. Putting away phones, laptops, and smart tabs before bed can significantly improve our sleep patterns. This is because the blue light emitted by phone screens can hamper the production of melatonin – a hormone that regulates our sleep-wake cycle.1 Lastly, keeping screens away from before bed can declutter your brain and induce a night of deep and seamless sleep.
4. Do squats whilst brushing your teeth
Wait, what? Sounds absurd, right?
Actually, pairing small sets of strength training with everyday tasks helps you work your body out regularly. You are never going to miss brushing your teeth. Pair that certain event with a set of squats and you will never miss doing your squats either!
Similarly, you can develop other clever habits like doing lunges whilst the microwave heats your food or flossing while you watch something on your computer.
5. Chew gum
Studies have shown that chewing gum can: burn calories, fight sleepiness, improve memory and eliminate nausea. However, it is important to apply caution. Know how much to chew or when to discard the gum etc.2
6. Start the day with warm lemon water
Detox waters are all the rage in the health and lifestyle space. But who has the time to wake up and add a long list of ingredients to water, just to quench their thirst? Introducing, quick, and easy…
Lemon water.
Starting your day with a cup of lukewarm lemon-infused water has numerous health benefits. These include hydration, digestion, weight loss, prevention of kidney stones etc.3
7. Get handy and healthy by doing basic household repairs yourself
A sedentary lifestyle can be more harmful to you than you realize. Therefore, opting to do your own home maintenance and repairs instead of hiring help, can not only keep your body moving but also help you save some money.
Personally, I find tinkering around the house with some nice background music to be quite a therapeutic activity as well.
8. Wear a comfortable pair of shoes
This one might sound odd, but switching your heels or loafers with a good pair of sneakers is healthy for many reasons.4 They can:
- help you walk, jog and run with ease
- prevent injuries and shoe bites
- pay off in the long run by ensuring good ankle/knee health
9. Add a 5-minute HIIT workout session to your mornings
Many of us struggle to follow a strict workout regime due to a lack of time. A one-hour session at the gym can take a total of up to two hours if we include commute and prep time. Therefore, most people work out either a few days a week or none at all.
But there is a more time-effective way to burn more calories than a regular workout.
HIIT or high-intensity interval training is a type of workout that focuses on burning a high amount of calories in just 5-15 minute workout sessions.
For people with time constraints who enjoy a quick but sweaty workout, HIIT is a lifesaver. You can start your HIIT journey with beginner level workouts like the one below.
10. Perform your skincare routine in the shower
Not many people relate skincare with health. But keeping our skin healthy is an important part of cultivating a healthy life.
Dermatologists argue that maintaining healthy skin is the best way to protect ourselves from various infections and injuries. More importantly, the risk of a serious disease like skin cancer can be reduced severely by taking due care of our skin.5
Many of us don’t really have a daily skincare routine. If you’re guilty too, try this health hack: Add a few skincare steps to your regular cleaning process.
The benefits are two-fold:
- To help you get two things out of the way at once and to make sure you never forget to do either.
- A radiant skin that leaves you feeling healthier inside out.
Here’s a video to help you understand a bit more about having an in-shower skincare routine.
Developing habits that only take a few minutes a day can leave you always feeling your best!
Nutrition hacks for a healthy lifestyle
11. Glide your hand further across the bread shelf and choose brown bread instead of white
We can find healthy alternatives for just about every tasty food product in the world. For example, whole wheat brown bread has more nutrients and fibre than its white counterpart. Additionally, it tastes just as good. So try to substitute your brown bread for white bread and take the guilt out of relishing them.6
Other healthier substitutes include zucchini noodles instead of regular noodles, lettuce buns instead of regular buns, and sweet potato fries instead of regular fries.
If you are finding it difficult to switch to healthier alternatives, try doing so using half quantities. For example, what might work is if you made a sandwich with a slice of normal white bread and another slice of brown bread.
12. Chuck some vegetables in a blender
We have all heard the slogan: ‘Eat your greens!’. This is because vegetables are one of the most concentrated sources of nutrition. But most of us still struggle to eat bitter and often unsavoury veggies just like when we were children. The easiest solution for this is to juice our vegetables. 7 Gulping down a somewhat unpleasant but highly nutritious juice is much easier than chewing on raw vegetables.
But the upsides don’t end there. Firstly, juicing helps us blend and consume several nutritious vegetables at once. Secondly, juices are low-calorie options that fill you up quickly. Thirdly, juices help in quicker detoxification. The list goes on.
Important note: There are some downsides to juicing too.8 For example, juicing vegetables drain all their fibre. It is important, therefore, to keep your fibre intake in check whilst binging on green smoothies. A fun way to do this is to eat lots of fruit. Check out the next hack for this.
13. Put fruity snacks on your desk
A few years ago when I was a student at my university, I developed a nasty habit of drinking sugary sodas or nibbling away on crisps while doing my homework. However, that relatively mindless snacking quickly turned into harmful binging. So I just stopped buying the junk and instead started keeping a bowl of fruit on my desk. And it really helped!
Binging fun snacks like frozen grapes or peanut buttered apples can take all the guilt out of guilty pleasure.
Most fruits contain a high water content that fills you up quickly. Pair that with the fact that fruits are rich in vitamins and minerals, and voila! you have the perfect snack to gnaw on.9
14. Use smaller plates for portion control
None of us are strangers to the feeling of having eaten too much. But what is the best way to know how much is too much? It is simple. Use smaller plates/bowls for your next meal.
Opting for a smaller dish is a great method for regulating our portions. If you’re still hungry by the time you’re done, you can always go for a second helping.
15. Set a water-drinking reminder on your phone
It is advised for the average person to drink up to 2 litres of water a day. But how many of us can claim to have met that mark? Not many. This is because sometimes, especially during winters, it is hard to keep track of your hydration. The best way to deal with this is to set a simple reminder on your phone to drink water. Set your reminder now to always stay hydrated!
Fun Fact: There’s an app called ‘Plant Nanny’ that reminds you to drink water in an adorable new way. Every time you drink water and log it into the game, a digital plant grows in size. Download the app here.
16. Fro-yo is the new ice cream
Everyone loves to top a nice meal with some delicious and decadent dessert, like ice cream. But ice cream isn’t the most nutritious dessert option out there. Therefore, Fro-yo!
If you don’t already know, Fro-yo or frozen yoghurt is a great pro-biotic substitute for ice cream.10 Compared to the classic milk-based dessert, curd-based fro-yo has many health benefits. It has even been proven to help with anxiety and depression.11
Bonus: It is extremely fun to say the word Fro-yo.
17. Eat calories that BURN calories
The prospect of ‘burning calories whilst eating calories’ sounds as suspicious as a pyramid scheme. But what if I told you it’s true? Well, it is!
Lots of foods are known to increase your metabolic rate, thereby helping you burn more calories. Apple Cider Vinegar,12 Oolong tea,13 coffee,14 etc. are some of the many great weight loss agents available in the market. Including these in your diet will practically help you lose calories as you eat them. How cool is that!
By the way, if you are looking for more ways to increase your metabolism, we have a similar list of hacks that are targeted towards speeding up your metabolism.
18. Never go grocery shopping on an empty stomach
This hack requires little explanation or scientific backing. The logic is simple.
Buying groceries on an empty stomach increases the chances of impulsive shopping. A hungry mind can drive you to buy lots of unhealthy food. This is because it seems appetizing at the moment. Steer clear of this mistake. Make it a point to never shop for groceries, on an empty stomach.
19. Fill up on salad before meals
The journey towards a healthy lifestyle consists of baby steps. If you are someone that is facing trouble quitting unhealthy food altogether, start with this simple hack. Prepare a quick filing salad to eat before your meal. Once you’ve already eaten a filling salad, you’re less likely to eat junk even when you have the freedom to.
If that’s a high effort task, you don’t even have to prepare a salad. You can just grab bags of salad from your grocery store until you build up the habit and then transition to homemade salads.
Organic supplements to quickly improve your overall health
Maintaining a balanced diet is not easy. More often than not, our diets lack the nutrients we need to live a healthy life. So what is the easiest way of making up for our dietary deficits?
The answer is health supplements. We have enlisted some of the best organic health supplements below. Include them in your diet for a healthier life.
If you have any health issues, please consult a trained professional before adding supplements to your diet.
20. Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha is an ancient medicinal herb.
Benefits:
- Increases energy levels15
- lowers blood sugar15
- lowers cholesterol16
- might have anti-cancer properties17
21. Liquorice Root
Liquorice root is an anti-oxidant with several health benefits, albeit a few downsides. It can be consumed in the form of a sweet medicinal drink.
Benefits:
- reduces inflammation18
- helps treat respiratory illnesses,19
- soothes sore throats20
22. Aloe Vera
Aloe vera is a hydrating plant-based supplement. It can be consumed in the form of a drink or applied directly to the face and hair.
Benefits:
- can be used to treat skin-burns21
- helps repair scar tissue21
- reduces inflammation21
- boosts immunity21
- can be used to treat indigestion21
23. Gooseberry
Gooseberry or Amla is a small nutrient-rich fruit consumed heavily in South Asia. It can be consumed in the form of fruit, juice, or a savoury dish prepared with other vegetables.
Benefits:
- promotes immune function22
- enhances liver health23
- lowers cholestrol24
- could stimulate hair growth25
24. Shilajit
Shilajit, also called mineral pitch, is the result of a long process of breaking down plant matter and minerals. It is a sticky, black, tar-like substance that comes from rocks in high mountain ranges.
Benefits:
- can help control cognitive disorders like Alzheimer’s26
- has anti-aging properties27
- might reduce the risk of liver cancer28
25. Triphala
Triphala is a herbal concoction of three plants found in India. It can be consumed in the form of capsules or digestive powder.
Benefits:
- can prevent cervical cancer29
- reduces uric acid levels in the body30
- can improve dental health31
- may aid weightloss32
Allow us to take the pressure off you
A healthy lifestyle isn’t easy. It’s hard to identify what changes to make. It’s even harder to start making those changes and then ensuring that you stay on track. But the fact that you are here and reading this post means that you are ready and eager to begin!
Our health test comes with your personal health data dashboard which has all your health scores, your health trackers, and more importantly, a completely personalised action plan towards your chosen health goals.
The groundwork of all happiness is good health. Take the ElevateMe health test today and join a community of people working towards living their happiest and healthiest lives.
