Imagine you have had a flight booked to your dream vacation spot for months and took a week off from work. It is super exciting to get away from all the stresses of life and explore the world.
A day out from your trip, you wake up with a high fever, a sore throat with a wrenching cough, and deep congestion. Your vacation is ruined. No amount of medicine the doctor gives you will fix this problem.
What can be done about it? The only way to get out of this sickly situation is to avoid falling ill in the first place.
Preventive medicine is the best form of medicine. Taking action before disease strikes is the best way to rid yourself of illness. If you do end up sick, you will likely be less ill and heal faster than if you never took the precautions.
The four main types of disease are infectious, deficiency, hereditary, and physiological. There are many ways you can go about combating different diseases, but among the most important are sleep, diet, exercise, stress management, hygiene, sun, and water.
Sleep More
Getting the proper amount of sleep each night ensures your body is able to fully repair itself. It allows the body to focus on cell replication and detoxification of the body, as well as replenishment of neurochemicals in the brain.
When you are not sleeping enough your body is constantly in a compromised state. This can lead to lower levels of neurochemicals, hormone imbalances, build up of toxins, and lower cell regeneration in the body. Side effects would include higher levels of stress and lower levels of energy which will create a higher risk of different types of disease over time.
Improve Your Diet
A proper diet regime is a very powerful tool in preventing essentially all diseases. Be sure to consume a sufficient caloric intake as well as the full range of nutrients to support the many functions of the body.
A lack of calories in the body will cause lower energy levels and slower cell regeneration. The likelihood of falling ill is higher while in a caloric deficit for long periods of time.
Having a rich nutrient profile is needed to support all bodily functions including a strong immune system. Your diet should include enough vitamin A, B12, D3, C, zinc, and iron as well as many others. Eating a diet filled with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, and whole proteins will ensure you are consuming a wide variety of nutrients. Though, vitamin D3 levels in the body are mostly sustained through getting sunlight.
Sun Bathe
The sun is a vital part of life that is often overlooked. Essentially all life on earth requires some amount of sunlight to flourish.
For humans, sunlight is the primary way to raise the levels of vitamin D3 in the body. D3 is often said by many medical professionals to have as much impact on the body as hormones do.
Sufficient D3 plays a large role for many functions of the body like skin hair and organ health, energy and strength levels, disease prevention, etc.
D3 can be supplemented if you do not spend enough time in the sun, but the best way to get it is straight from the original source.
Not only does it raise your vitamin D3 but it also regulates your circadian rhythm. This is your body’s internal clock. Its role is to help regulate sleep cycles by releasing the proper hormones and neurochemicals at the correct times.
Try to spend at least twenty minutes a day in the sun with as much skin on your body exposed as possible. This will keep your vitamin D and circadian rhythm optimized. Just make sure to stay hydrated!
Drink Lots of Water
Our body is made of 60-70% water so when you are not drinking enough, you are lacking the main component your body is compiled of. Oftentimes people are living in a compromised state of being and do not realize as a result of not drinking enough water.
Staying hydrated helps flush toxins out as well as keeps your cells hydrated and working at their highest potential.
A key factor to consider is having a reliable source of clean water. The more polluted your drinking water is, the more energy your body will need to spend cleaning toxins out of your body.
So water can be a double edged sword; it flushes out toxins and bacteria but may also add more. If your drinking water is polluted and you are made of 60% water, this means 60% of your body is in a suboptimal state. This shows how valuable it is to have clean water and how it can keep you from getting sick.
Get Moving
There are countless benefits to exercise. Increased blood flow, weight loss, muscle tissue generation, and lower stress are just a few examples. All of these benefits will significantly aid in preventing disease as well as speed up the recovery from them.
Increased blood flow helps expedite the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to different organs and cells of the body.
Exercise helps aid in weight loss. Shedding extra pounds prevents and reverses obesity which contributes to heart disease. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the world. The risk of heart disease will lower tremendously with exercise.
Building muscle tissue helps increase longevity by supporting bone structures throughout the lifetime. This leads to less aches and pains down the road and reduces risk of bone fractures.
Working out not only lowers stress but increases the ability to deal with high stress loads which results in your body functioning better in times of disease.
Lower Your Stress
Stress management is an essential part of preventing disease. Stress is one of the leading causes of disease. Everything already mentioned will help reduce levels of stress in the body. Other ways are meditation, saunas, cold plunges, vacation, traveling, nature.
High stress levels leave your body in an inflammatory state which hinders your ability to function properly. Keeping levels low is going to be the best way to prevent disease and illness.
Routine Hygiene
Personal hygiene is another great way to avoid getting sick. Making sure you wash your hands every time you use the bathroom, go to the gym, into public places, or shake hands with strangers will ensure your hands do not carry disease causing bacteria and viruses.
Avoid touching your face as much as possible when in public settings. This will help you avoid the transfer of any virus or bacteria into your eyes, ears, mouth or nose.
While avoiding germs is a great way to not get sick, the body is actually home to over 10,000 safe bacteria and microorganisms. Many of them actually help you avoid disease and ailment so it is important to keep them healthy.
Exposing yourself to microorganisms found in nature can help you become accustomed to them and help prevent illness.
Having a strong oral hygiene regime is very valuable. Brushing your teeth and tongue regularly helps to rid your mouth of any hidden bacteria. Using mouthwash may also help with this.
As you can see, there are plenty of powerful tools to help prevent and combat nearly all diseases, many which you can work on today. There are countless others that haven’t been covered here, but what is mentioned here is some of the most important and applicable.
If you are interested in learning more about how you can prevent disease, subscribe to our email list for updates on new content!
