(WL) Cancer, Heart Disease, Obesity and Common Nutrient Deficiencies Lesson

Cancer, Heart Disease, Obesity and Common Nutrient Deficiencies

Strategies for Prevention

Below are a few strategies to prevent certain illnesses.

Cancer

  • Eat a healthy diet. This includes eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, choose fewer high calorie foods and limit processed meats.
  • Don't use tobacco. Using any type of tobacco puts you on a collision course with cancer. Smoking has been linked to various types of cancer as well.
  • Maintain a healthy weight and be physically active.  Maintaining a healthy weight might lower the risk of various types of cancer. In addition to helping you control your weight, physical activity on its own might lower the risk of breast cancer and colon cancer.
  • Protect yourself from the sun. Skin cancer is one of the most common kinds of cancer — and one of the most preventable.
  • Get immunized. Talk to a doctor about immunization against Hepatitis B and Human Papillomavirus.
  • Get regular medical care. Regular self-exams and screenings for various types of cancers — such as cancer of the skin, colon, cervix and breast — can increase your chances of discovering cancer early, when treatment is most likely to be successful.

Heart Disease

  • Don't smoke or use tobacco. Smoking or using tobacco of any kind is one of the most significant risk factors for developing heart disease.
  • Exercise for about 30 minutes a day. Physical activity can help you control your weight and reduce your chances of developing other conditions that may put a strain on your heart, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.
  • Eat a healthy diet.   Eating a healthy diet can reduce your risk of heart disease. Two examples of heart-healthy food plans include the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan and the Mediterranean diet.
  • Maintain a healthy weight.   Being overweight — especially if you carry excess weight around your middle — increases your risk of heart disease. Excess weight can lead to conditions that increase your chances of heart disease — including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.
  • Get enough sleep. Sleep deprivation can do more than leave you yawning throughout the day; it can harm your health. People who don't get enough sleep have a higher risk of obesity, high blood pressure, heart attack, diabetes and depression.
  • Get regular health screenings. High blood pressure and high cholesterol can damage your heart and blood vessels. But without testing for them, you probably won't know whether you have these conditions. Regular screening can tell you what your numbers are and whether you need to take action.

Obesity

  • Eat more fruit, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains.
  • Exercise, even moderately, for at least 30 minutes a day.
  • Cut down your consumption of fatty and sugary foods.
  • Use vegetable-based oils rather than animal-based fats.
  • Eat breakfast everyday and get plenty of Calcium.
  • Eat high fiber foods.  Eat raw and leafy green vegetables.  

A nutrient deficiency, or shortage over time may result in poor health or lack of energy.  The effects of some nutrient deficiencies may take a long time to become visible. For example, if you do not get enough calcium now, your bones may break easily when you get older.

Many nutrients are absolutely essential for good health. It is possible to get most of them from a balanced, real food-based diet. However, the typical modern diet lacks several very important nutrients.  Below are seven common nutrient deficiencies.

Prevention of Nutrient Deficiencies

Below are some strategies to prevent nutrient deficiencies.

  • Add fiber to your diet
  • Get adequate Vitamin D
  • Eat healthy fats and omega 3 fats
  • Boost antioxidants
  • Eat lean and plant based protein
  • Choose whole grains
  • Drink plenty of water
  • Eat calcium rich foods

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