Lately, people around me have been down with illnesses of different shapes and sizes. When you fall sick, you’re often not the only one who is feeling miserable. Closed ones around you will feel equally bad because they can only watch you suffer in agony without being able to do much about it. It was this sense of helplessness that gave me the idea for this article.

Each year, we are bombarded with countless number of health studies done by top-notch scientists. In one day, you could even get two reports talking about the same thing but drawing totally different conclusions. If researchers, given their trainings and knowledge, couldn’t agree among themselves, what about laymen like us?

Luckily, good health is not about keeping up with the latest news, popping the newest miracle pills or following a special diet. There are some timeless ground rules that worked ever since humans popped into existence and are just as applicable today. If you’re someone who doesn’t smoke and binge drink, and yet your health leaves much to be desired, then perhaps this article would serve as a good refresher.

1. Do Anything You Want, But Don’t Skip Sleep

Just as your cellphone requires a periodic recharge to work well again, we also need to recharge ourselves to stay productive and maintain good health.

Adequate quality sleep in this case is how our body recharges its internal battery. We need an average of six to eight hours of sleep each day in order to wake up feeling afresh and energized.

Studies have shown that people who consistently incur high sleep debt are at a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and premature death.

So no matter how tight your schedule may be, make it a point to respect and keep to your regular sleeping hours. After all, pushing beyond your usual sleeping time will not only negatively affect the quality of your work and your productivity, it will also cause disruptions in the body and lay the seeds for long-term health problems.

If you’re suffering from chronic insomnia or poor sleep, tackle the cause of your sleep problem as soon as can. While some causes can be resolved quite easily (such as using a white noise machine to mask intruding noises), other factors will either require professional assistance (for instance, depression) or a change in lifestyle (for example, changing to a job that doesn’t require you to work night shifts).

2. Eat Anything You Want, But Eat Moderately and Mostly Minimally Processed Foods

There is no one food that can supply us with all the essential nutrients that we need. To maintain good health, it’s crucial to eat a wide variety of food. In short, barring any food allergy or intolerance, eat anything you want.

But like every simple wisdom in life, there’s always a catch. The hidden rules are, you can eat anything you want, as long as you eat moderately and choose mostly foods that are minimally processed.

Eating in moderation simply asks you to be a generalist rather than a specialist. Think like a seasoned buffet customer. Take a bit of everything and never let yourself overindulge in any particular dish at the expense of all the other good foods out there.

What is eating ‘mostly minimally processed foods’ about? In other words, feed on whole foods that are close to their original forms. A good rule of thumb practiced by many is, if you can’t recognize where the food comes from, don’t eat it. The reason being, post-processing of foods will always strip the foods of their natural goodness, removing as high as 90% of them, and introduce additional stuff such as artificial flavoring, sugar and MSG that we don’t need or have very little need for.

But, there are exceptions to the rule of course. There are certain kinds of food which must be processed first before they are even edible. Good examples will be the Asian staple, brown rice, and its Western equivalent, oat.

Then there are also the probiotic foods which, in a certain way, must be ‘processed’ first by humans and later by beneficial bacteria before the nutrients in the foods become more readily available to us.

These are what I called the high-quality processed foods, as opposed to the lower quality ones such as white flour and products made from it, that should be not be totally omitted from one’s diet.

At the end of the day, what we really want to achieve in our diet is a good mix consisting of mostly minimally processed foods plus a controlled portion of high-quality processed ones.

3. Live Out Your Style, But Don’t Live Out of Sync with Yourself

What does it mean by living out of sync with yourself? Some illustrations will help: Eating foods that consistently make you sick, skipping and having irregular meals, wearing inappropriate clothing for the weather, saying ‘yes’ even though you’re already crushed under a mountain of work, reporting for work even when you are unwell, and living in a perpetual state of stress and anxiety.

Our life rhythm is not a straight line that stays at a constant high all the time. It’s a dynamic curve that consists of several peaks and troughs that have a direct impact on our energy levels, concentration levels, moods and health.

You might be aware that at certain times of the day, you may feel more alert and productive, while during other periods in the year, you’d become more prone to bad temper or diseases.

When we do not respect, or live way out of sync with our genetic make-up, our internal life rhythm, our current state of being, and the nature around us, the only thing we can possibly expect is trouble.

Besides sharing the collective basic needs for clean water, fresh air, nutritious foods and a reliable shelter, each of us also has a set of unique needs and requirements that call for individualized care rather than a one-size-fits-all approach to good health.

Say, if you’re allergic to nuts, you’d obviously have to cut out nuts from most, if not all, of your food sources even though every health book says that nuts are superfoods.

Another example: if you are born with a darker skin, you may need more frequent exposure to sunlight than those who are fairer, or may even require supplementation if sunlight is intermittent, in order to get an adequate dose of vitamin D.

Our uniqueness is not limited to our body, but is also evident from the way we respond to external stimuli.

Take for example, some people can’t work without blaring music in the background, while others prefer total silence. There are people who see new things in life as opportunities and challenges, while others resist change and would become extremely upset and stressful when things change all of a sudden.

Knowing what makes you tick and how much you can take before shutting down will help you to create an environment that allows you to thrive, not just scrap through.

4. Watch Your TVs, But Don’t Forget to Work Out a Sweat

Yes, exercising is what I’m going to harp on next. How many times have you heard about the benefits of exercises, and the age-old advice: exercise at least three times a week, and how exercising is sometimes better than drugs?

Philip Holmes, a neuroscientist who compared the effectiveness of exercising with antidepressants, concluded: “It occurs to us that exercise is the more normal or natural condition and that being sedentary is really the abnormal situation.”

But why are there still so many people leading a sedentary lifestyle and having a hard time keeping to a regular exercise regime?

Lack of time is a common reason cited for not exercising. But it is hardly the real reason. The lack of exercise usually indicates a non-exercising culture at home, or a misplacement of priorities, rather than a time management problem. Just observe what those who proclaimed they don’t have time for exercises do when they’re free. They’re probably sitting in front of the TV or surfing the Net for an hour or more when they could just use thirty minutes for exercising.

Exercising doesn’t, and shouldn’t, require the act of God or the need for immense willpower. It should be an enjoyable time and one which you look forward to. It doesn’t need to involve costly equipment either.

Walking is one simple, cheap and yet equally effective exercise which almost anyone can do. You just need to dedicate half an hour to walk 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) a day. If possible, recruit your family and friends with you and get to spend some quality time with them while you’re exercising. If walking isn’t your cup of tea, there are still plenty of other options you can choose from.

So, the next time you’re tempted to give exercising a pass, ask yourself: Do I want to spend this half hour doing something good for my body, or do I prefer to be sick and spend more time feeling miserable in bed? Always work for me.

With these basic rules to good health, I wish you good health always!

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