Charity Number 1087415

UPBEAT - HEART SUPPORT IN WEST SUFFOLK

Healthy Living

Whatever your age, fitness level or body shape, its never too soon or too late to start thinking about living healthily. Healthy living doesn’t mean you have to take out an expensive gym subscription or exist on a diet of raw vegetables – you can take a step towards healthy living by making a few basic changes to your daily life.

Simple changes to start now

• Walk more Take the stairs instead of the lift; use your lunch hour to have a half-hour walk; walk instead of driving short distances to buy a newspaper or take the kids to school. Walking the way to health promotes the benfits of walking and aims to get more people walking in their own communities, especially those who take little exercise or live in areas of poor health
  
  
• Eat better Try to eat more fruit and veg and less fat, salt and sugar. It is good to ensure that you eat a good amount of starchy foods (rice, bread, pasta and potatoes) and some protein-rich foods like meat, fish, eggs and pulses. Eat well, be well provides guidance on making healthy eating choices
  
  
• Cut salt Most of us are eating far too much salt through bought soups, sauces, biscuits, cereals and ready meals. We only need 6 grams of salt a day – a teaspoonful. Too much salt can raise your blood pressure which leads to increased risk of heart disease or a stroke. Salt - watch it provides advice a salt calculator, and advice on healthy eating and cutting down salt intake.
  
  
• Drink more water Our bodies need six to eight glasses or two litres of water every day to ensure everything is in good working order. Drink up! Eat well, be well provides advice on drinking enough and what to drink.

Diet and nutrition

What you eat is important. Your diet can affect how well you feel. If you eat the right foods, you can protect yourself and decrease your chances of getting ill – from minor ailments to more serious illnesses.

Follow the links to find out how to make your diet healthier:

• Five-a-day In the UK, we eat an average of three portions of fruit and veg per day. For our bodies to be as healthy as possible, we really need to have five daily portions. Eat well, be well offers ideas on how you can add more fruit and veg to your diet easily. here for Further information on '5 a day' is available from the Department of Health.
  
  
• Food essentials It can be hard to figure out what our bodies need for a healthy, balanced diet – especially when fad diets are given a lot of attention. To clear away all the myths and find out what the experts think, see Eat well, be well .
  
  
• Nutrition If you want scientifically-based nutritional knowledge, look no further than the British Nutrition Foundation’s site, which is full of informed articles and advice.

Exercise

You don’t need to invest in expensive sportswear or equipment to start exercising more. Walking short distances instead of driving them, and taking the stairs instead of the lift are just two ways of building exercise into your daily life.

Exercise has many benefits besides making you healthier. It can boost self-esteem, be great fun, and introduce you to a different bunch of people. There are plenty of recreational ways for you to keep fit and healthy:

• Upbeat Exercise Sessions.
  
  
• find out about leisure centres, swimming pools, sports clubs and more in your local area from your local borough.
   St Edmundsbury Borough Council  Babergh Council  Forest Heath District Council

Stopping smoking

Do you want to quit smoking? There’s a wealth of advice, support and information available to help you kick the habit – whether you’re thinking about quitting or have already given up and simply need to boost your motivation.

• The NHS offers professional help with its Giving Up Smoking site. You can explore different ways of giving up and what could work best for you, ask an expert your questions and find out how local NHS Stop Smoking Services helped over 204,000 people give up smoking in one year.
  
  
• Action on smoking and health (ASH) is a charity working for a comprehensive societal response to tobacco aimed at achieving a sharp reduction and eventual elimination of the health problems caused by tobacco
  
  
• QUIT is an independent charity aiming to save lives by helping smokers stop. They offer a helpline, an email counselling service and more.
  
  
• quitsmokinguk.com is an online community for quitting smokers by quitting smokers. It is a mix of book recommendations, latest scientific developments but also helpful information on issues related to quitting such as how to avoid weight gain.

Sun care

We all need to exercise caution in the sun. Whether you’re in your local park on a sunny day or tanning yourself on the Costa del Sol, remember to:

• stay out of the sun between 11am and 3pm
• cover yourself up as much as possible with a hat or long-sleeved t-shirt
• use factor 15+ sunscreen
• take extra care of children
• make sure you don’t burn.

Further advice and tips on staying safe in the sun is available from

• Cancer Research
• BBC Health

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