Go Green! The best colour for your heart!
By: PGH, Preferred Global Health
Green is the colour of growth, nature, vibrancy, and renewal. When we see and think of green, we are reminded of the outdoors, of breathing, moving, of life. This could be why the colour of the heart chakra is green.
The colour that represents prosperity, vitality, and calmness can guide our decisions in how we nourish ourselves and protect our health.
When thinking about your lifestyle and the impact of your choices on your wellbeing and that of the environment, try going green!
One easy way to do so is by consuming vegetables that give us vitamins, plant protein, fibre, and many disease-fighting properties through their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant qualities.
Green tea, a plant-based drink, is well recognized as one of the most beneficial drinks, with data and research linking this tasty beverage to better heart health.
It can help prevent heart attacks and stroke and lowers the risk of death in people who already have heart and cardiovascular disease. Its cancer-fighting and heart protective qualities are thanks to its antioxidants and flavonoids (ฟลาโวนอยด์ ).
Flavonoids help prevent the development of heart disease, diabetes, and cancers like colorectal, prostate and breast cancer. They also prevent sickness because of their proven antibacterial and antiviral effects.
To best way to get the six types of flavonoids in your diet is to consume a range of fruits and vegetables and plant-based foods.
Remember, it is the green tea that provides the positive benefits. Adding sugar or condensed milk (that is high in calories) in large amounts actually jeopardizes your health by increasing weight gain and risk of diabetes.
Ways to stay green and protect your heart:
• Aim for a plant-based diet. You don’t need to eliminate meat entirely. You can still make a big impact by choosing to eat plant-based more often, for example try swapping ingredients like plant-based milk and having a no-meat day. This will help your body and the planet. Livestock has a big negative impact on the environment, in greenhouse gas emissions, use of chemicals and pesticides, and loss of forests and biodiversity.
• Drink 3 to 5 cups of green tea a day or more. Traditional medicine and contemporary medical knowledge agree that green tea has many positive effects. Tea is quite a sustainable crop. If you get rid of the tea bag (which has some traces of plastic) it is even more environmentally friendly.
• Get moving! Whether you spend a lot of time standing or sitting, movement, from walking and stretching to more intense physical activities helps our bodies, our minds, and our wellbeing. Movement helps us connect to the world outside and to the world inside. You will feel the benefits in physical like strengthening muscles, joints, better blood circulation, improved coordination, better sleep, and feel-good endorphins in the brain.
• Stop smoking. Smoke from tobacco is a terrible toxin for your lungs, heart, skin, teeth, bones, fertility. It leads to cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. It is also a major air polluter. In every form, tobacco use is the opposite of green.
• Cut back on alcohol. Alcohol in its least harmful effects makes us feel hazy and giddy, not clear and aware. More seriously, even moderate regular drinking is poisonous, contributing to heart problems and cancers.
• Keep a healthy weight. Being overweight or obese is associated with a reduced quality of life and many serious health conditions. Get to know your healthy body weight range which takes into account your muscle mass, height, bone density, and gender. Body Mass Index is one useful measure.
• Go outdoors! Spending time in nature helps us restore. Over the pandemic, so many people living in cities remembered how important it is to connect with the natural environment, not just during vacation getaways but in our regular lives. There are many ways to get close to nature. Try walks in the park, weekend outings, forest visits, getting close to water, or gardening.
• Lessen your stress. Keeping balance with our inner and outer worlds is important for the health of our bodies, our minds, spirits, and our communities. Many practices help us regulate and create space when stress, anxiety, depression, burn-out and mental health conditions tell us something needs attention and change. For example, meditation, mindfulness, tai chi, walking, playing, yoga, exercise, talking, and nature!
PGH, or Preferred Global Health, is an independent global patient organization. PGH is the valued partner and service provider to Tune Protect for myEliteDoctor. expert second medical opinion service.
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