World Health Day is a great time to evaluate your current habits and consider if there are any tweaks you could make to improve your daily life and overall health. 

Making a change can often feel like a daunting task, so it is important to remember to take it one step at a time by starting with small goals you can build from. When it comes to living a healthy lifestyle it doesn’t have to be about perfection, but rather about balance and progress. 

A healthy lifestyle is much more than having the perfect morning routine or eating all the “right” foods. When it comes to adopting a healthy lifestyle it is important to find a balance that works for you while also setting you up for long-term health. A healthy lifestyle includes the foods you eat, hydration, sleep, movement, and stress. 

Here are some great tips to include in your healthy lifestyle:

Try one new veggie each week
Have you ever heard the saying “eat the rainbow”? Having variety in your diet, especially when it comes to fruit and vegetables, can be a great way to diversify the good bacteria in your gut microbiome, help ensure you are getting a variety of nutrients each day, and can even make meals more fun. Artichokes for instance are rarely consumed even though they are a great source of fiber, polyphenols, and are loaded with other nutrients. Aim to switch up your diet by rotating one vegetable or fruit weekly. 

Take a daily multivitamin
Each person will have slightly different micronutrient needs. Typically, a well-balanced and varied diet can allow you to get the micronutrients you need daily. While a food-first approach to nutrition is recommended, it's not always feasible to get all the micronutrients your body requires from meals and snacks alone. With this in mind, a daily multivitamin may greatly benefit you if you’re someone who has a more restrictive diet, certain health conditions, or if you simply have a harder time eating well-balanced, nutrient-rich meals by bridging those nutrient gaps. 

Eat fatty fish weekly
Including fatty fish in your eating pattern helps ensure that you are getting essential omega-3 fatty acids. On top of that, fatty fish is filled with beneficial nutrients such as protein, vitamin D, and iodine. A few examples of fatty fish you can include in your eating pattern are salmon, mackerel, tuna, and cod. The average adult should aim for at least 8 ounces of fatty fish each week.1 Studies have shown that eating fish weekly can help support your heart health and brain function, among other things.2,3

Hydration
If you weren’t already aware, staying hydrated is essential for numerous body functions. Being properly hydrated can positively affect your energy levels, brain function, bowel movements, digestion, and kidney function. A good guideline is to aim for ½ of your body weight in ounces of water each day. Consuming hydrating foods also counts, so include fresh fruits and vegetables such as cucumber, lettuce, tomatoes, watermelon, and strawberries into your diet to help reach your goal!

Prioritize sleep
Sleep is often neglected in place of more hours to work, squeezing in another episode of your favorite TV show, or maybe just taking some time for yourself. However, getting enough sleep is vital for productivity, heart health, metabolism, and immune health. It is important to aim for 7-9 hours of sleep each night.4 This may mean prioritizing winding down at night and turning off your screens even 30 minutes earlier. 

Get outside daily
You don’t have to spend your entire day outside to get the positive benefits of the outdoors. According to a study from 2019, spending just 120 minutes outside each week was shown to significantly improve health and well-being.5 Whether it’s taking a walk around the block, going for a jog, or biking, getting outside has been shown to improve sleep, mood, and emotional well-being. 

A healthy lifestyle includes the foods you eat, hydration, sleep, movement, and stress. By incorporating these healthy habits into your routine you will be setting the foundation of a healthy lifestyle. 

Since consuming a well balanced and varied diet can be challenging, including a daily multivitamin can be extremely beneficial when it comes to filling any nutrient gaps. If you’re ready to ditch your one-size-fits-all drugstore multivitamin, order our at-home DNA test or upload your existing DNA data to begin your personalized nutrition journey. In just a few weeks, you’ll have access to your unique personalized supplement formula. 

1. Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. “Questions & Answers from the FDA/EPA Advice on Eating Fish.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, https://www.fda.gov/food/consumers/questions-answers-fdaepa-advice-about-eating-fish-those-who-might-become-or-are-pregnant-or#II. 
2. Zheng, J., Huang, T., Yu, Y., Hu, X., Yang, B., & Li, D. (2012). Fish consumption and CHD mortality: an updated meta-analysis of seventeen cohort studies. Public health nutrition, 15(4), 725–737. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980011002254 
3. Raji, C. A., Erickson, K. I., Lopez, O. L., Kuller, L. H., Gach, H. M., Thompson, P. M., Riverol, M., & Becker, J. T. (2014). Regular fish consumption and age-related brain gray matter loss. American journal of preventive medicine, 47(4), 444–451. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2014.05.037 
4. Hirshkowitz M, Whiton K, Albert SM, Alessi C, Bruni O, et al. The National Sleep Foundation’s sleep time duration recommendations: methodology and results summary. Sleep Health. 2015;1(1):40–43.
5. White, M.P., Alcock, I., Grellier, J. et al. Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing. Sci Rep 9, 7730 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44097-3