5 healthy and FREE habits you can start today to feel better
In our fast-paced world, maintaining your health can feel like an uphill battle – especially on a tight budget.
When you recognise the importance of your health, you soon realise the cost of improving it. Organic food, gym memberships, clean water... these all require you to spend. While there is no doubt that you should invest in these, what if I told you that some of the most powerful and healing tools are free and available to you right now? And that you can embrace a healthier lifestyle and have more energy without breaking your bank?
Here are 5 of the most overlooked and disregarded health habits that have a strong impact on how you are feeling in your everyday life.
1. Sunlight
Exposing your skin to sunlight is a simple and incredibly effective way to boost your overall health.
Sunlight triggers the body’s production of vitamin D and helps your mitochondria recharge and replenish (the human equivalent of charging your phone battery).
The most important tip is to be outside during sunrise and sunset. This helps your body recognise whether it is time to prepare for the day, releasing cortisol to get you awake and ready, or an evening release of melatonin to help your body rest and recuperate through the night.
When you do this, you'll have more energy, sleep better, and reduce the risk of vitamin D deficiency, which is incredibly common nowadays.
Two things to consider:
Windows:
Glass in windows can mitigate key spectrums of the light waves emitted from the sun's perfectly balanced light. When man-made creations get between it and us, it generally reduces the healing effect. The simple solution is to open your windows when you have direct sunshine coming through.
Sunglasses:
Can prevent your eyes from recognising the true level of sunlight that you're outside in, which means your body thinks it's cooler than it is, leaving you likely to burn. The eyes also benefit greatly from receiving the full spectrum of light from the sun without interference. Use glasses sparingly, not all of the time!
2. Grounding
Also known as earthing (or taking your shoes off). Grounding is a technique that involves connecting your physical body to the Earth's natural electrical energy. This practice aims to restore the electrical connection with the Earth, which is believed to have been lost in our modern, industrialised society.
This can be achieved through various methods, such as walking barefoot on grass, sand, dirt, or by using specialised grounding tools like mats, wrist or ankle bands, sheets, adhesive patches, or grounded footwear.
The potential health benefits of grounding have been explored and referenced for centuries, with many scientific studies released and available to read.
Reported benefits:
Improved mood | Better blood flow | Reduced inflammation | Improved sleep |
Boosted metabolism | Pain reduction | Anti-inflammatory | Reduce anxiety |
Grounding also holds a spiritual significance for many, promoting a sense of connection with nature and inner peace. There are no definitive guidelines on the ideal duration for grounding, but consistent practice and exposure over time is always beneficial unless the ground is too cold.
Grounding can be easily incorporated into daily routines, whether through outdoor activities or the use of indoor grounding tools, making it an accessible and cost-effective way to aid overall well-being.
We are electrical beings, surrounded and inundated by electronic radiation from our phones, computers, lights, cars and many other electrical appliances. Grounding is an excellent and simple counteract many of the worries caused by these EMF fields, as it helps release the stored electricity emitted from these devices onto us, into the ground.
While the dangers of EMF are often smeared as ‘woo-woo’, significant research is shining a new light on the negative effects of these previously thought harmless signals.
If you’d like to learn more about EMFs, I would highly recommend Arthur Firstenberg’s book, The Invisible Rainbow
3. Caffeine
If you're like most people, your day doesn't truly begin until you've had that first sip of coffee. Caffeine, the world's most widely consumed psychoactive substance, is an integral part of our daily routine. But have you ever wondered if regular caffeine intake could be impacting your health?
Contrary to popular belief, coffee doesn't directly provide energy to the body. As the body perceives caffeine as a toxic substance, the boost of energy we experience after consuming coffee is actually the result of the body's defence mechanism kicking into overdrive to combat the threat posed by the caffeine.
When the body detects a foreign substance like caffeine, it recognises it as a poison and activates the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the fight-or-flight response. This response mobilises the body's resources, releasing stored energy reserves and increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and metabolic rate.
In essence, the perceived energy boost from coffee is not a direct result of the caffeine itself but rather a by-product of the body's attempt to neutralise and eliminate toxicity. The body draws upon its own energy reserves and ramps up its metabolic processes to deal with the perceived threat posed by the caffeine, causing you to feel more energised.
Long term this can lead to adrenal fatigue, high irritability, poor focus, dependance and other chronic ailments.
MRI images taken before and after 1 cup of coffee showed a decrease in blood flow to the brain by 45%, and there are other examples where the effects of caffeine show a highly damaging effect on the brain here.
Caffeine stays in the system for many hours and directly affects the quality of your sleep, so if you fancy a coffee or tea, have one no later than lunch.
Caffeine is found in:
Chocolate (dark is the strongest)
Cola
Cacao
Many teas
Energy drinks
And of course, coffee
4. Sugar
There is sugar that is good and natural, and there is sugar that is not. The truth is, we often over consume both.
Your body is an incredibly designed system and can process and deal with bad sugar to a degree, but you must be mindful not to over-consume and put your body into overdrive.
Granulated sugars are highly processed and cannot be broken down by the body with ease, causing great stress to your system. Over a prolonged period of exposure, this stress creates imbalances in your system, leading to disease.
Bad sugars are found in:
Chocolates
Sweets
Sauces
Cakes
Store bought desserts
Sugar is found in almost everything and it is a real problem in our modern world, especially with it being one of the most addictive drugs on the planet.
Excessive sugar can cause:
Heart disease
Weight gain
Type 2 diabetes
Accelerated ageing
Increased likelihood of depression
Poor dental health
And many many more.
That being said, there are sugars that are beneficial to our health that can help to heal the body. Unheated, raw honey is also a truly healing food that can be consumed in good quantities as it provides healthy vitamins and enzymes that help your body to function properly
Unprocessed natural sugars are also found in fruit. Dates are an excellent alternative in many recipes to replace processed sugars in baked goods.
Sugar is a powerful influence on the body and it is always better to err on the side of caution with how much you consume on a daily basis.
5. Sleep
I’m sure this will not come as a surprise to you reading this, but the importance of ensuring you get quality sleep is vital for your long term health, if you want to feel better and have more energy.
There are many behaviours and habits that hinder sleep quality. From excessive caffeine (especially in the evening), to excessive sugar consumption (a tasty dessert after dinner), or late night screen usage (nothing like a doom scroll while lying in bed).
These habits trick your body into thinking it is time to be alert rather than time to rest, and it is an issue. When the sun sets and your body is in tune with it, it naturally begins to release the necessary hormones to prepare the body for its rest and recuperation phase during the night, but these unnatural inputs can disrupt this from happening as it should.
Essentials for a better sleep:
No caffeine after lunch
No sugar after dinner
No screen time for at least 30 minutes before bed
Replace bright blue LED lights with tungsten/red flicker free lighting
These tricks for a better sleep may be simple to implement, but they do require a little willpower and dedication to get the habits to stick but if you can manage them, they will improve your sleep and it will a compounding effect on every other aspect of your life.
Recap
You don't have to break the bank to feel better about your life. Just focus on the daily basic habits and behaviours that you can control. When you do this you will become more disciplined, healthy and have more energy to enjoy your everyday life.
When it comes to living healthfully, the most important step that you take on this journey is your first. Once you decide to make positive changes in your life, there are truly no limitations on how much you can progress and heal.
Thank you for reading.
Did I miss something you would consider crucial? Let me know in the comments!
Until the next time,
Samuel Harris