Lifestyle – We explain what a lifestyle is, the origin of this concept and examples of healthy and harmful lifestyles. Exercise is a central part of a healthy lifestyle. What is a lifestyle?
It is a sociological concept approximating human communities’ ideas, values and behaviours. The concept emerged in the 1910s and is attributed to the Austro-Hungarian psychologist Alfred Adler (1870-1937), who initially defined it as “the system of rules of conduct developed by individuals to achieve their goals in life.” Today, it is understood more as the path chosen to live.
The use of the concept became enormously popular after 1928. It mainly associated with particular gastronomic idiosyncrasies (the Mediterranean lifestyle, the American lifestyle, etc.).
Consequently, at the end of the century, it also began to be associated with longevity and disease rates, to the point that today there is much debate about which habits are healthy or harmful for a healthy, long and active life that is, which are the healthy lifestyles and which are the harmful ones.
Vigorous lives
A balanced diet, that is, eating foods from all the groups of the nutritional pyramid in adequate proportions and portions only sufficient to sustain us without losing How long should you exercise according to your goals: be healthy, lose weight or gain muscle weight but without gaining it. This means we ought to consume 30-40 kilocalories per day of importance.
Bestowing to the following circulation: 50-55% sugars, 15-20% monounsaturated fats (5% polyunsaturated and no more than 7-8% saturated) and 10% protein. This includes the daily intake of 20-25 grammes of vegetable fibre.
- A physical exercise routine generally implies 30 minutes of physical activity a day to burn excess energy (fat) and strengthen muscles and bones.
- Good personal hygiene, which embraces body washing, hand washing (especially before eating), oral and alveolar consonant hygiene, and the hygiene of the milieu in which we live. These situations will help us get
harmful lifestyles
Just as healthy lifestyles, there are also harmful ones that threaten health, Leading to a shorter existence, more plagued by diseases and ailments. In general, detrimental lifestyles include
- Sedentary life, that is, total and prolonged lack of exercise, which promotes fat accumulation, weaken muscle tissue and further complicates the consequences of a poor diet. Hypertension and obesity directly linked to a sedentary lifestyle.
- Excessive consumption of tobacco and alcohol, among other substances with a harmful impact on the body, whose link to the disease well proven.
- Smoking is not only a factor of cancer and coronary diseases but also a destroyer of the oral mucosa, while alcoholism ruins liver cells and contributes to aging. That is not to mention illegal drugs, whose effect on life is disastrous, given their addictive component.
- Lack of hygiene, both in the body, dental and about the environment, since this promotes the appearance of diseases and contributes to the deterioration of living conditions.
- This is a significant factor in countries with poor public service infrastructure, as is often the case in the so-called third world.
- Social isolation, because being gregarious animals, humans wither in solitude and the absence of significant social contacts: love, friendship, brotherhood, etc. In the words of the English thinker John Donne, “no man is an island”.
- Chronic stress often referred to as the “silent killer, ” does not seem to impact people’s quality o significantly. Still, inbut in the lo, ng run a life model with high and sustained levels of stress affects hypertension and leads to problems such as insomnia, which in turn have negative consequences on the psyche and metabolism.