The UK is experiencing a heatwave this week and it is particularly hot where I live. Today is especially hot and sticky and I am doing all I can to keep cool.
Heatwaves like this can be dangerous for us because we are not used to dealing with these high temperatures.
Risks Associated with Hot Weather
Dehydration
Heat stroke or exhaustion
Sunburn
Strategies to Avoid Problems
Keep out of the sun between 11am and 3pm.
When outdoors keep in the shade, apply sunscreen and wear a hat.
Wear light, loose fitting cotton clothing.
If the sun is streaming in through the windows close the blinds or curtains to block it out.
Drink plenty of water to keep hydrated.
Relax. Avoid too much physical exercise during the hottest part of the day.
After writing the article, A Few Extra Pounds May Help You Live Longer, I was worried that people would take this as an excuse to not lose weight or even gain weight. However, my article was not intended for this purpose.
What I was trying to stress is that people who are a few pounds overweight who eat healthily and take regular exercise can be healthier than skinnier people who take very little exercise and do not take care with the food they are putting inside of their bodies.
A figure on the bathroom scales or a BMI chart is far too simplistic in regards to health. Although most doctors believe that BMI is a good indicator of a person’s health it is not foolproof. Exceptions occur especially in regards to athletes who have built up more muscle mass than average and so have a BMI score which puts them in the obese category.
Real obesity does have negative consequences on a person’s health. It has been identified as a cause for many different diseases but having a healthy BMI score does not guarantee one is healthy either.
People who do not look fat on the outside can be hiding internal fat which surrounds vital organs like the heart, liver and pancreas and doctors now think this internal fat could be as dangerous as the more obvious visible fat.
Dr. Jimmy Bell, a professor of molecular imaging at Imperial College, London has undertaken research funded by Britain’s Medical Research Council. He and his team scanned nearly 800 people with MRI machines to find out where they were storing fat. They discovered that as many as 45 percent of women and nearly 60 percent of men with normal BMI scores had excessive levels of internal fat. This has lead doctors to worry that thin people may falsely assume they are healthy because they are not overweight.
There is much more to being healthy than just being a healthy weight. As I stated in my previous article, it is also important to make good food choices, take regular exercise and keep blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar under control.
It is interesting that Dr. Steven Blair, an obesity expert at the University of South Carolina is quoted as saying. “Normal-weight persons who are sedentary and unfit are at much higher risk for mortality than obese persons who are active and fit.”
Therefore, when attempting to be healthy it is not enough to just watch how much you are eating to maintain a BMI score in the healthy weight range. It is also important to watch what you are eating and, arguably even more important, to take regular exercise in order to maximise your health.
Start your week off healthily by making sure you do some form of exercise today.
Being obese, defined as having a body mass index of 30 or more, is bad for one’s health but a new study reported in the New York Times states that being a few pounds overweight could protect people, especially the elderly, from an early death.
Researchers found that while underweight and obese people die earlier than people of normal weight, those who are overweight actually live longer than people of normal weight.
From this study it looks like keeping a healthy lifestyle is more important than losing a few extra pounds. However, the researchers are keen to emphasise that they are not encouraging people to put on weight as there are many negative health consequences associated with being overweight and obese.
In order to enjoy better health it is important to choose a healthy lifestyle by making good food choices, taking regular exercise and keeping blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar under control.
Perhaps we should all stop beating ourselves up about being a few pounds overweight and concentrate more on achieving a healthy lifestyle if we want to improve our overall health rather than just concentrating on what the scales tell us we weigh.
One big thing that is often overlooked in the pursuit of good health is the importance of happiness.
Dr Derek Cox, Director of Public Health at Dumfries and Galloway NHS in Scotland believes that happiness could be more important than smoking in determining our health. Like doctors everywhere he tried to promote health by advising his patients to give up smoking, eat correctly and take more exercise but he found that this had very little effect on the mortality rate in his area.
If you are happy you are likely in the future to have less in the way of physical illness than those who are unhappy
Andrew Steptoe, the British Heart Foundation Professor of Psychology at University College London, has found that happier people also have greater protection against things like heart disease and strokes. Studies in the USA have found a similar correlation between happiness and health. Research by Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough show that people who kept a daily gratitude journal had higher levels of emotional and physical well-being.
Sometimes it is difficult to have control over our environment and it is not always possible to take control and direct things in ways we think will make us happy. Financial worries, especially in the present economic climate, effect us all too. However, I think it is important to take a more positive outlook on life.
My sister has recently recovered from breast cancer and she is the most positive person I know. She has had a very difficult time this last decade but she always looks for the positive things in all situations, refuses to dwell on the bad things which have happened or may happen in the future, is grateful for what she has now and actively goes out to find the things which give her pleasure instead of waiting for happiness to find her.
I think we all have a lot to learn from my sister. We alone are the creators of our own happiness. Our happiness should not depend on other people, the material possessions we have or do not have, places or events in our lives. Grab life the way it comes and make the best of it. Count your blessings every day and hopefully we will all live much healthier lives as a result.
I am not a medical professional so the content on this website is my own personal opinions and beliefs. It consists of the things I do, or wish I could do, to improve my own health and lifestyle. Everyone is different and what works for me may not work for you. If you have any medical concerns you should talk to your doctor and not rely on anything you may read on this site.
June 30, 2009 4:32 pm | 
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