"why do you live in your body like you will be given another? as if it were temporary." - Warsan Shire.
*The above quote is from a beautiful poet that we both love (poetry post to come soon).
But truthfully, we are blessed with one body for this life and yet we live out our days with health being a priority for tomorrow. Islam takes a holistic approach to health and emphasizes spiritual, emotional, AND physical well being. Without one, the others can suffer and to become stronger in belief and in worship, we must prioritize health in all three realms. Below are some health tips that we have found helpful:
1. Anxiety- symptoms of anxiety or stress can be seen literally all over your body. From lethargy, back pain, headaches, stiffness, nausea, hair loss, and numerous skin problems. Mental health is often unacknowledged in many families/societies/cultures, but it is tremendously important and can create or destroy a person. In the clinic that I volunteer at, at least 75% of the patients present with some sort of mental health issue, whether that be anxiety, depression, stress, whatever. The prevalence is devastating and the lack of awareness is even more alarming. Please please please examine sources of stress and anxiety in your life and try to mitigate them as much as possible. Small changes like eating better, exercising, and sleeping can all help!
1. Anxiety- symptoms of anxiety or stress can be seen literally all over your body. From lethargy, back pain, headaches, stiffness, nausea, hair loss, and numerous skin problems. Mental health is often unacknowledged in many families/societies/cultures, but it is tremendously important and can create or destroy a person. In the clinic that I volunteer at, at least 75% of the patients present with some sort of mental health issue, whether that be anxiety, depression, stress, whatever. The prevalence is devastating and the lack of awareness is even more alarming. Please please please examine sources of stress and anxiety in your life and try to mitigate them as much as possible. Small changes like eating better, exercising, and sleeping can all help!
2. Exercise- object of too many love/hate relationships. But exercise helps increases your muscles' ability to uptake glucose from your blood. Over long term, it also enhances your body's ability to store glucose. Amongst a number of other benefits, exercise can also help reduce your risk of developing diabetes! I'm not hyping it up, yall; get moving.
3. Honey - it truly deserves a post for itself but I have personally found it to work wonderfully on skin. It has lots of minerals and antibacterial properties that work together beautifully as an all-natural cleanser and detoxifier. It also helps purify complexion, increase moisture, and makes your skin feeling smoother. I use just a bit on moist skin and then wash it off but you can mix with yogurt or olive oil for a mask. Also, if you have seasonal allergies, a coworker told me that she goes to the local bee hive farm to get raw honey, which she finds protects her from the pollen season's unintentional havoc. Stick to raw honey, pasteurized honey is not too different from refined sugar, and loses much of its blood pressure stabilizing, anti-fungal, expectorant, and anti-inflammatory properties.
4. Relax- Recently, I read a study on how relaxing more will actually increase productivity. Doing more constantly doesn't yield productivity - spending more time to do less allows us to be more productive, so we don't need to go back and constantly redo. At work, I am sure to squeeze my lunch break in and I find myself thinking a little clearer (though, still running around like a fiend). So don't skip breakfast. and don't skip sleep. Prioritize and establish a schedule that allows time for relaxing. For those med students that say all-nighters are a necessary part of school....I call shenanigans.
5. Slow de sukker
You definitely do need sugar to survive. Your brain uses more glucose than your body (if you use it), so always have some fruit and protein while you study. It is okay to indulge in an unnecessarily sweet dessert every now and again, but too much sugar results in acne now, and puts the person at risk for diabetes in the future, along with weight gain, and all the fun that comes with that. Though sugar can give you temporary energy, too much makes you crash afterwards. I have also read studies that show a link between chronically high sugar diets and kidney stones. 250 grams of sugar a day showed that the kidneys in healthy people began releasing increased levels of a substance indicative of kidney distress. Before you worry, 250 grams of sugar a day is quite a lot. A slice of chocolate cake has 25 grams. Keeping your sugar intake under 45 grams is reasonable, just be careful with processed snacks and juices. Stick closely to natural sugar, like fruit because of all the vitamins and benefits that come with it.
5. Slow de sukker
You definitely do need sugar to survive. Your brain uses more glucose than your body (if you use it), so always have some fruit and protein while you study. It is okay to indulge in an unnecessarily sweet dessert every now and again, but too much sugar results in acne now, and puts the person at risk for diabetes in the future, along with weight gain, and all the fun that comes with that. Though sugar can give you temporary energy, too much makes you crash afterwards. I have also read studies that show a link between chronically high sugar diets and kidney stones. 250 grams of sugar a day showed that the kidneys in healthy people began releasing increased levels of a substance indicative of kidney distress. Before you worry, 250 grams of sugar a day is quite a lot. A slice of chocolate cake has 25 grams. Keeping your sugar intake under 45 grams is reasonable, just be careful with processed snacks and juices. Stick closely to natural sugar, like fruit because of all the vitamins and benefits that come with it.
-S & A
Post Comment
Post a Comment