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The importance of a healthy diet and exercise

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Healthy Living Guide 2020/2021

A digest on healthy eating and healthy living.

Cover image of the Healthy Living Guide downloadable PDF

As we transition from 2020 into 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect nearly every aspect of our lives. For many, this health crisis has created a range of unique and individual impacts—including food access issues, income disruptions, and emotional distress.

Although we do not have concrete evidence regarding specific dietary factors that can reduce risk of COVID-19, we do know that maintaining a healthy lifestyle is critical to keeping our immune system strong. Beyond immunity, research has shown that individuals following five key habits—eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, keeping a healthy body weight, not drinking too much alcohol, and not smoking— live more than a decade longer than those who don’t. Plus, maintaining these practices may not only help us live longer, but also better. Adults following these five key habits at middle-age were found to live more years free of chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

While sticking to healthy habits is often easier said than done, we created this guide with the goal of providing some tips and strategies that may help. During these particularly uncertain times, we invite you to do what you can to maintain a healthy lifestyle, and hopefully (if you’re able to try out a new recipe or exercise, or pick up a fulfilling hobby) find some enjoyment along the way.

Download a copy of the Healthy Living Guide (PDF) featuring printable tip sheets and summaries, or access the full online articles through the links below. 

In this issue:

  • Understanding the body’s immune system
  • Does an immune-boosting diet exist?
  • The role of the microbiome
  • A closer look at vitamin and herbal supplements
  • 8 tips to support a healthy immune system
  • A blueprint for building healthy meals
  • Food feature: lentils 
  • Strategies for eating well on a budget
  • Practicing mindful eating
  • What is precision nutrition?
  • Ketogenic diet
  • Intermittent fasting
  • Gluten-free
  • 10 tips to keep moving
  • Exercise safety
  • Spotlight on walking for exercise
  • How does chronic stress affect eating patterns?
  • Ways to help control stress
  • How much sleep do we need?
  • Why do we dream?
  • Sleep deficiency and health
  • Tips for getting a good night’s rest

Printable bingo card for the Healthy Living Bingo Challenge

Healthy Lifestyle and Eating Essay

Healthy eating is the process of keeping the body clean, strong, and healthy at all times (Allen, 1926). Healthy living, on the other hand, means that one should be able to eat the right food, get enough exercise, and maintain cleanliness (James, 1907). Unfortunately, many people do not keep track of these requirements. Thus, they end up with serious health problems, which can be difficult to treat. Prevention of these problems can be accomplished through maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Such a lifestyle is achievable by eating the right food and adhering to all the requirements of healthy living.

The human body needs a balanced diet, which includes enough minerals, fats, vitamins, fiber, and carbohydrates (Albrecht, 1932). These substances are required by the body to facilitate the growth and functioning of body tissues. Low energy foods such as vegetables and fruits have small amounts of calories per unit volume of food. Therefore, it is advisable to eat this combination of foods in large volumes as it contains fewer calories, but has nutrients that are essential for optimal body functionality. Incidentally, one should take food that is free from unhealthy fats, but should ensure that whole grains and proteins go alongside fruits and vegetables.

Apart from choosing the best foods for the body, it is also advisable that people should maintain moderate quantities of food intake. For instance, it is prudent to eat less of unhealthy foods such as refined sugar and saturated fats and more of healthy foods such as vegetables and fruits. This pattern of eating has massive health benefits to its adherents. As such, people should strive to develop good eating habits that can sustain them throughout their lives.

Further, it is recommended that one should eat a heavy breakfast an hour after waking up. The breakfast needs to consist of carbohydrates, healthy fats, and proteins in balanced proportions. It should then be followed by light meals throughout the day. This requirement is important since breakfast helps to initiate the body’s metabolism. The light and healthy meals thereafter help maintain a high body energy level that keeps one active throughout the day (Allen, 1926). People should avoid eating late at night. Early dinners are advisable followed by an average of 15 hours of no food until breakfast time the next morning. Past studies show that this pattern helps regulate body weight (James, 1907).

People who are diagnosed with lifestyle diseases such as anemia, high blood pressure, and diabetes among others are advised to follow diets that are rich in fruits and vegetable content (Allen, 1926). Depending on the stage of illness, such people should strictly watch what they eat. For example, high blood pressure patients should cut down on sodium, which is mainly found in salt. They should also avoid foods that have high cholesterol and saturated fats since diets of this sort prompt a high risk of artery clogging. Consequently, it increases the risk of heart attacks and blood vessel diseases (Albrecht, 1932). Further, they need to control the amount of carbohydrates they take.

Carbohydrates should only account for 50% of their daily calories (Allen, 1926). Finally, they are discouraged from foods with a high phosphorous content since they may lead to bone diseases (Allen, 1926). Overweight people constitute another special needs group. They should reduce weight to be healthy. Consequently, they need at least 30 minutes of rigorous physical exercise everyday and a lean diet.

In conclusion, all these groups of people should increase their water intake. Water is essential in the human body since it facilitates the regulation of all body functions. As such, it enhances body health. In this regard, people should strive to take at least eight glasses per day. Apparently, healthy living calls for discipline and commitment. If people foster these two values in the lifestyles, the world will be full of healthy people.

Albrecht, Arthur E. (1932). About foods and markets : A teachers’ handbook and consumers’ guide . New York City, NY: Columbia University. Web.

Allen, Ida C. (1926). Your foods and you or the role of diet . Garden City, NY: Doubleday Page & Company. Web.

James F. (1907). How we are fed: A geographical reader . New York, NY: Macmillan. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2023, October 31). Healthy Lifestyle and Eating. https://ivypanda.com/essays/healthy-lifestyle-and-eating/

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IvyPanda . 2023. "Healthy Lifestyle and Eating." October 31, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/healthy-lifestyle-and-eating/.

1. IvyPanda . "Healthy Lifestyle and Eating." October 31, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/healthy-lifestyle-and-eating/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Healthy Lifestyle and Eating." October 31, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/healthy-lifestyle-and-eating/.

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Diet and Exercise: Choices Today for a Healthier Tomorrow

Lifestyle choices you make today can lead to a healthier future. Learn how eating a healthy diet and exercising can help control or delay age-related health problems.

To share the image, right-click on it and select "save image as" to save the file to your computer. We encourage you to use the hashtag #NIAHealth in your social media posts to connect with people and organizations with similar goals.

Choices Today for a Healthier Tomorrow. Full transcript below.

You may also be interested in

  • Reading about maintaining a healthy weight
  • Understanding food groups for healthy eating as you age
  • Exploring the four types of exercise

Eating a healthy diet and exercising often can help control or delay health issues associated with aging, like high blood pressure and diabetes. Set short-term goals to achieve and maintain a healthy diet and exercise routine.

Make these five tips a priority every day:

  • Try to be physically active for at least 30 minutes on most or all days of the week.
  • Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.
  • Choose foods that are low in added sugars, saturated fats, and sodium.
  • Pick whole grains and lean sources of protein and dairy products.
  • Practice all four types of exercise—endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility.

For more information about healthy eating and exercise .

nia.nih.gov

An official website of the National Institutes of Health

Importance of Exercise Essay

500 words essay on exercise essay.

Exercise is basically any physical activity that we perform on a repetitive basis for relaxing our body and taking away all the mental stress. It is important to do regular exercise. When you do this on a daily basis, you become fit both physically and mentally. Moreover, not exercising daily can make a person susceptible to different diseases. Thus, just like eating food daily, we must also exercise daily. The importance of exercise essay will throw more light on it.

importance of exercise essay

Importance of Exercise

Exercising is most essential for proper health and fitness. Moreover, it is essential for every sphere of life. Especially today’s youth need to exercise more than ever. It is because the junk food they consume every day can hamper their quality of life.

If you are not healthy, you cannot lead a happy life and won’t be able to contribute to the expansion of society. Thus, one needs to exercise to beat all these problems. But, it is not just about the youth but also about every member of the society.

These days, physical activities take places in colleges more than often. The professionals are called to the campus for organizing physical exercises. Thus, it is a great opportunity for everyone who wishes to do it.

Just like exercise is important for college kids, it is also essential for office workers. The desk job requires the person to sit at the desk for long hours without breaks. This gives rise to a very unhealthy lifestyle.

They get a limited amount of exercise as they just sit all day then come back home and sleep. Therefore, it is essential to exercise to adopt a healthy lifestyle that can also prevent any damaging diseases .

Benefits of Exercise

Exercise has a lot of benefits in today’s world. First of all, it helps in maintaining your weight. Moreover, it also helps you reduce weight if you are overweight. It is because you burn calories when you exercise.

Further, it helps in developing your muscles. Thus, the rate of your body will increases which helps to burn calories. Moreover, it also helps in improving the oxygen level and blood flow of the body.

When you exercise daily, your brain cells will release frequently. This helps in producing cells in the hippocampus. Moreover, it is the part of the brain which helps to learn and control memory.

The concentration level in your body will improve which will ultimately lower the danger of disease like Alzheimer’s. In addition, you can also reduce the strain on your heart through exercise. Finally, it controls the blood sugar levels of your body so it helps to prevent or delay diabetes.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Conclusion of Importance of Exercise Essay

In order to live life healthily, it is essential to exercise for mental and physical development. Thus, exercise is important for the overall growth of a person. It is essential to maintain a balance between work, rest and activities. So, make sure to exercise daily.

FAQ of Importance of Exercise Essay

Question 1: What is the importance of exercise?

Answer 1: Exercise helps people lose weight and lower the risk of some diseases. When you exercise daily, you lower the risk of developing some diseases like obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and more. It also helps to keep your body at a healthy weight.

Question 2: Why is exercising important for students?

Answer 2: Exercising is important for students because it helps students to enhance their cardiorespiratory fitness and build strong bones and muscles. In addition, it also controls weight and reduces the symptoms of anxiety and depression. Further, it can also reduce the risk of health conditions like heart diseases and more.

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Healthy Eating and Exercise Plan, Essay Example

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The nutrition results that were obtained will help me develop a suitable eating plan to make it healthier than it is currently.  While my budget constrains my ability to eat healthy, there are some easy ways that I think I can do to eat healthier.  Additionally, I plan on implementing an exercise program in addition to nutritional aspects of my plan.  The results provided some valuable insights into what I can do to improve in these areas.

Current Eating Habits and Health

My current eating habits revealed what I was doing well in and how I need to improve.  According to the results from MyPyramidTracker (United States Department of Agriculture 2010), I need to improve in regards to vegetables, milk, and meat and beans.  It also notes a higher intake of sodium than what is listed.

Exercise is also important.  In conjunction with my healthy eating plan I hope to run three to four times a week and lift weights two to three times a week.  This will help me lose weight as well as keep my muscular build.

Recommendations for Eating Habits

The results demonstrated areas in which I need to improve.  First the areas that are acceptable should be noted. Grains, fruits, total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol are among these areas of nutrition.  In these areas I come reasonably close or above the recommended amount, or goal.

The first of the four main areas of improvement is found in vegetables.  Of the 3.5 cups recommended, I only have 1.5 accounted for, which is of course less than half of the recommended amount.  This is one area that is notably constrained by my budget, though some ways to get around this must be considered if I wish to eat healthy.

The next area of improvement is that of milk.  Of the recommended three cups, I only drink one-third of this amount, with one cup.  This is another area that is related to my budget, as milk is certainly not inexpensive.  However, once again, milk must be taken into consideration for nutritional purposes.

Meats and beans represent the next area of improvement.  This is perhaps the most crucial area of improvement, at least in terms of how much more I need to intake to reach the recommended goal.  Less than 30% of this amount is reached, as I scored with 1.8 oz of the 6.5 oz recommended.

The final area of improvement is that of sodium.  I scored roughly 600 mg over the 2300 mg recommended over three days.  Other sources advocate a higher daily limit, such as the Canadian Government’s 1500 mg per day recommendation, which is argued to be necessary to “promote good health” (Canadian Government).  Perhaps this is not as big of a deal as the other recommendations.

Overall these four areas represent those that I need to improve in in terms of my diet.  Vegetables, milk, sodium, and meat and beans should be areas that I focus in when I outline changes to my diet, which will helpfully help me lose weight and maintain my target weight.  These proposed changes will be identified in the subsequent section for my eating plan.

Implementation of Changes

My healthy eating plan must be accommodated to add these changes.  Nutritionally there are some ways that I believe I can allow myself to eat better.  I think identifying ways to add these items to my diet and implement them into my eating habits is a start.  Also, budget concerns are of course relevant for me as well, which I must also keep in mind while identifying such changes.

Addressing each area individually, vegetables as the first category will certainly not be easy.  There are many practical disadvantages with vegetables.  Shelf life and budget concerns are certainly seen.  Also, they must become a part of one’s diet to eat the right amount.

One way to eat more vegetables is to take into account budgetary concerns, at least in my situation.  Paying more attention to what is in season will allow me to purchase quality vegetables for a reasonable price.  Also, paying attention to those vegetables that are normally pretty reasonable will be valuable to me, such as carrots, onions, and cucumbers, at least generally speaking.

Practical considerations also apply, especially in eating the right amount of vegetables for me.  As I eat less than half of what is recommended in that of vegetables, incorporating them into snacks is one way to go.  Carrots make for a great snack.  Homemade salsa is also a great way to compound vegetables for a great-tasting snack, though of course I would need to be careful with sodium if I am eating chips.  Adding a meal on a consistent basis that has a good amount of vegetables, such as vegetable soup, will allow me to eat more vegetables on a consistent basis, I believe.

Milk is also another area in which I need to improve.  Price isn’t exactly negotiable here, such as different prices in vegetables.  However, if I can save money in other areas, perhaps I could buy milk more often.

Adding milk to my eating plan may not be that difficult.  As a snack and for breakfast, cereal would be a healthy choice to consume more milk.  There are also healthy shakes that I could try to enhance my milk intake.  Of course, just simply being more cognizant of drinking milk may be the best way to drink more milk.

Meat and beans represents the main final area in which I need to accommodate in my eating plan, at least in regards to actual foods.  In terms of budgetary concerns, I may just have to be more careful in terms of eating meat, by cutting out unnecessary purchases.  Beans can be reasonably priced, which I could include more into my meals.  In terms of implementing it into my diet, there are not as many options as in the case of vegetables, in my opinion; I will have to get used to having meals centered on these two important areas.

Sodium must also be taken into consideration in my diet.  Although sources vary, I should be careful to eliminate those foods that are high in sodium in my diet.  Perhaps I could exchange these meals and snacks for low-sodium alternatives, such as those that incorporate missing food groups, like vegetables, meat, and beans.

Along with these changes is my exercise plan.  It would be ideal if I could run for twenty minutes a few times a week.  On off days, I would be able to lift weights as well.  This is a high priority along with eating well.  With these two forms of exercise, I feel that they will greatly amplify my ability to reach and maintain my target weight.

Running a few times a week will help me in burning off body fat.  This I believe will go a long way to becoming more fit, by gaining cardiovascular ability.  Running is something that I want to make a more permanent part of my lifestyle, in order to develop healthy exercise habits.  Running is something that will be crucial to my ability to reach and keep my target weight that I have set for myself.

Weightlifting will help keep me toned.  It will also be important in my ability to develop my build, allowing me to keep my muscular build.  Weightlifting will allow my body to become stronger and to stay toned.  I feel that weightlifting will be a great addition on the days that I am not using some sort of cardiovascular exercise; it will also be a distinct part of keeping myself in shape.

These additions to my healthy eating plan are easy to implement.  They are perfectly able to be done regardless of the season, and I can switch them with other ideas as well, such as using other cardiovascular equipment, or boxing equipment to replace weights, for example.  Running and weightlifting are important to my goals, in conjunction with my ideas for a healthy eating plan.

Other general changes can help me accommodate a better eating plan.  For instance, limiting the amount I eat out would be great.  The money saved there alone could allow me to buy foods that I wouldn’t previously.  Though it is a more general consideration, I think keeping an eye out for prices would help me considerably.  Even something as simple as buying frozen vegetables would be good, which are almost as good as fresh vegetables.  These types of general considerations could help me take into account all of these factors, and not put too many constraints on my budget.

Implementing these changes could go a long way to transforming my current diet for the better.  Even simple changes, such as eating carrots as a snack can help me each much healthier.  It is interesting to note how many of these considerations has a lot to do with discipline, such as found in budgeting, eating out, and planning healthier meals.

The results obtained offered some unique insights into my current eating habits.  Vegetables, milk, sodium, and meat and beans are the areas in which I need to concentrate for my diet.  After examining some easy ways to implement them into my eating plan, I should be able to eat healthier.

With this plan losing 15 pounds to reach my target weight should be attainable.  Running and weightlifting will be important in order to help burn fat and maintain my muscular build.  These exercises are able to accommodate changes in my lifestyle, seasons, and fitness level as I become better in shape.

Moving past these barriers is something that I will have to concentrate on to succeed.  It can be expensive to eat healthy, but there are some ways to work around the high price of such eating habits.  However, by budgeting everything and choosing foods that I enjoy for better prices, I feel that I can accommodate these initial drawbacks.

I will also have to use my time wisely in regards to my exercise program.  This has previously been another drawback to staying consistent with an exercise program for myself.  However, by getting a schedule to adhere to will help me make time for exercise.  At any rate, I feel confident in these changes nonetheless.

These changes should allow me to reach my goal.  Eating healthy and exercising should allow me to reach my target weight and maintain this level.  It will not only help me in the short run, but it will help me with healthy eating and exercise habits that will carry me to later stages in life.

Canadian Government. 2008. ” It’s Your Health – Sodium.” Retrieved from http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/food-aliment/sodium-eng.php.

United States Department of Agriculture. 2010. “MyPyramidTracker.” Retrieved from http://www.mypyramidtracker.gov.

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Premium Content

An illustration of a transparent woman doing biceps curls. Her large intestines are highlighted.

  • MIND, BODY, WONDER

How exercise can help—or hurt—your digestion

Your workout can have profound impacts on digestion. In rare instances, these effects can be dangerous but experts say a few tweaks can help most of us perform and feel better.

Ricardo Da Costa’s first job out of high school in the 1990s in Portugal was as a professional triathlete—competing in races that required him to swim, then bike, then run. One of the biggest problems he and his fellow athletes shared was gastrointestinal issues, but no one was doing anything about it.

Some athletes experienced nausea and stomach pain so severe they couldn’t drink water or take in nutrients during races, forcing them to drop out. While light or moderate exercise can enhance our digestion, our stomachs and intestines aren’t designed for high-intensity workouts. That means that athletes don’t just need to train their muscles; they also need to train their guts to process the water and food they need to stay hydrated and fueled during a long race.

“They thought, ‘Oh it’s just part of the sport,’” says Costa. But that answer didn’t satisfy him. To figure out the root of the problem, he decided to pursue an academic career and now, as an associate professor at Monash University in Australia, he explores how food and nutrition influence performance in sports.

Costa studies how exercise interferes with digestion, and how athletes can calm their   guts and compete to the best of their ability. He’s become a sought-after expert with amateur and professional athletes from around the world visiting his laboratory for assessment and treatment.

He’s learned a lot over the past 15 years. Even if you’re not a professional endurance athlete, exercise can have profound impacts on digestion, which depend on the timing and intensity of your workout. In rare instances, these effects can be dangerous, but for most of us, a few tweaks to our routines can help.

How digestion works

Digestion begins before you even open your mouth, explains Arafa Djalal , a gastroenterologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.

Just thinking about food signals the brain to fill your mouth with saliva and digestive enzymes. When food enters the mouth, those enzymes—together with chewing—break it down so you can swallow it. It travels through the esophagus into the stomach. For the next two to five hours the stomach relaxes and contracts while releasing digestive enzymes that break down the food until it slides down into the small intestine, then the large intestine and finally, one to three days after eating, the undigestible remnants are excreted.

When the food enters your intestines, your body can sense it pushing on the walls, which stimulates the secretion of more digestive enzymes and peristalsis—the wave-like contractions that gradually move food through the intestines. The process requires energy, blood flow, and communication between cells.

Moderate exercise

If you go for a walk or do a low intensity workout while your digestive system is working, the exercise may help move things along. Contracting your abdominal muscles, for example, can help stimulate peristalsis in your intestines.

"Your biceps or your triceps, that's skeletal muscle, and that's on a voluntary control, which means that you can flex your bicep or you can contract your hamstring voluntarily,” says Robynn Chutkan , a gastroenterologist in Washington DC and author of four books on gut health. “While the GI tract [gastrointestinal tract] is smooth muscle. It's under involuntary control.” But physical activity can still speed up the process by getting your blood flowing and helping to contract and relax these smooth muscles that serve as the passageway of the digestive system.

Over the long term, exercise helps maintain a healthy gut, allowing you to better absorb nutrients, says Florence-Damilola Odufalu , a gastroenterologist at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine. Physical activity increases our production of a chemical called nitric oxide, which helps relax the muscles in our intestines and prevents inflammation.

Working out also is well-known to promote mental health. Your intestines are lined with nerve cells that communicate with your brain and respond to stress via neurotransmitters . Many researchers now consider irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) a disorder of the gut-brain interaction that is frequently triggered or exacerbated by stress, anxiety, or depression.

While people with digestive disorders may not be able to exercise comfortably during flare ups, when they can get physical activity in, it’s likely to be beneficial. It can reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety that trigger digestive flares.

“It should really be emphasized that there are a lot of beneficial effects on the body, the bones, mental health,” of exercise, says Djalal, all of which can improve outcomes in digestive disorders such as IBS and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

High intensity exercise

While light or moderate exercise is almost always helpful for digestion, intense exercise requires some caution.

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“There's an increase of blood flow all along the GI tract to allow the digestion to happen,” explains Djalal, and “when you exercise, the demand is elsewhere. It's in your muscles, it's in your lungs and it's in your heart.” Essentially, your digestive system, your muscles and respiratory system start competing for blood flow.

When you’re exercising at a lower intensity, all the systems can share your blood flow and function effectively at the same time, but as the workout becomes more intense, your muscles, lungs and heart require more and more blood, leaving little for your digestive system. This makes it difficult for your body to digest anything during your workout.

When you’re exercising at a high intensity, your body is processing the oxygen from your heavy breaths to create energy, or ATP. In doing so, it also creates metabolic byproducts such as lactate and hydrogen ions . During light exercise, your body can easily clear these byproducts before they cause any problems, but as you start pushing yourself harder, eventually your body can’t keep up. Your digestive system might try to get rid of these byproducts by making you vomit. Costa explains that’s why you might see someone throw up even after a very short, but very intense, sprint race or you might feel nauseous after a particularly challenging workout.

Heat, dehydration, and bacteria

Heat can exacerbate digestive problems brought on by exercise. As your core temperature rises, blood flows away from your internal organs and out toward your skin to help cool you down.

Plus, any hard workout will make you sweat. If you’re unable to replenish the fluid and electrolytes you’re losing quickly enough, you’ll end up under-hydrated. This thickens your blood, slowing its movement and worsening digestive symptoms, explains Costa.

Costa also has found that exercise can damage the lining of your intestines . Usually, if the exercise is not overly intense for the individual, it’s not a serious problem.

“It’s similar to your muscles. You do exercise. The muscles get microtears. After 24 to 48 hours you recover,” he says. If you exercise so intensely that there’s too much damage for your intestines to repair quickly, you can start to have more serious problems such as gut bacteria escaping into your bloodstream.

The immune system can handle a few rogue bacteria in the blood stream that escape during exercise. But, if you have a weak immune system or you work out at higher intensity than your body is accustomed to for hours (as you might when competing in an ultra-distance triathlon, for example), the bacterial leakage could make you extremely sick or even kill you.

What you can do

Most people know it’s usually a bad idea to eat a large meal immediately before exercising, but contrary to what you might expect, Costa and Djalal say that for most people, the easiest solution is making sure you eat something small 30-60 minutes before your workout, such as a banana, a piece of toast, or a carbohydrate drink.

Carbohydrates and sugars are ideal, explains Djalal because they’re rapidly absorbed as fuel. As those nutrients move through your system, they’ll send signals to your stomach and intestines that they need to keep working and recruiting a bit of blood flow.

For endurance athletes, it’s important not only to eat and drink before exercise, but during it as well.

Costa once worked with a professional triathlete from Spain. He’d been racing shorter triathlons for years, but when he decided to take on the classic Ironman Distance (a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26-mile run), his digestive distress got so bad throughout the race that he could no longer keep any water in his stomach. He’d have to drop out of the race due to dehydration.

He flew to Australia to work with Costa, who found that the athlete was losing far more fluid through his sweat than his stomach could handle taking in while he was racing. Whenever he got close to drinking enough liquid, he’d full feel and regurgitate some. Over the next three months, Costa guided him to gradually increase the amount of fluids and fuel he took in while training. He wasn’t just training his muscles, but his digestive system.

At the end of those three months, he completed in an ironman triathlon . Another three months after that, he competed again. He not only finished but placed third in his race.

Related Topics

  • DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

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Home / Essay Samples / Health / Physical Exercise / Nutrition and Exercise: The Keys to a Healthy Life

Nutrition and Exercise: The Keys to a Healthy Life

  • Category: Food , Health
  • Topic: Dieting , Eating Habits , Physical Exercise

Pages: 3 (1223 words)

  • Downloads: -->

Reference List

  • DeNoon, D. (2013, April 26). Benefit to improving diet and exercise at the same time. Retrieved November 9, 2019
  • Ducharme, J. (2019, February 6). Exercising Might Help You Make Healthier Food Choices, Study Says. Retrieved November 1, 2019
  • HHS Office, & Council on Sports. (2017, January 26). Importance of Good Nutrition. Retrieved November 1, 2019
  • Kilroy, D. S. (2019, February 21). Eating the Right Foods for Exercise. Retrieved November 7, 2019
  • Schuna, C. (n.d.). importance of Exercise and Eating Healthy. Retrieved November 1, 2019

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