Health is generally defined as the state of mental and physical well-being in which all parts and organs of the body are intact and function without restriction.

Health therefore also means quality of life as well as joy and active participation in life. We often only become aware of this when we are temporarily ill or suffer from chronic complaints. There are various aids that support us so that we can recover faster or not get sick at all. Such health helpers can be of a natural, technical or professional nature.

Natural health workers

Everyone wants to lead a painless life without complaints and to stay as healthy as possible. Diseases burden the quality of life. Some of the illnesses and complaints that impair your enjoyment of life can be fended off with natural means. The right diet, exercise and relaxation will help you to achieve better health and well-being.

Healthy and balanced nutrition

A healthy and balanced diet is the be-all and end-all for maintaining health. It provides the body with all the important nutrients it needs for good functionality. Carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals and trace elements must be absorbed in sufficient quantities via the diet.

Only then is the body efficient, healthy and able to build up a strong immune system. In this way you can give your body the necessary strength and improve your quality of life with high-quality food. Fruits and vegetables provide the necessary vitamins. Vitamins C and E in particular stimulate your immune system, as do secondary plant substances and minerals.

Carbohydrates and fats are the main sources of energy. In order for the body to be able to use the energy supplied as efficiently as possible, you should pay attention to high-quality food. For the carbohydrates contained in bread, pasta, potatoes and rice, whole grain varieties are always the better alternative. The body can make better use of these foods.

A distinction is made between animal and vegetable fats. Unsaturated fatty acids, from which vegetable fats are mainly derived, are suitable for optimal use. Oils such as linseed or rapeseed oil and nuts contain many healthy fatty acids, but also lean meat and fish.

There are also some herbs and spices that can improve your health. A large part of the herbs helps with problems with the stomach and intestines, among other things. These include basil, dill and parsley. Chives have an antibacterial effect and prevent arteriosclerosis.

Exercise

Those who exercise regularly do something good for their body in several ways. When exercising, you can really let off steam and release all the tension that has accumulated over the course of the day. Even if it sometimes takes some effort to do sports and still be active after a long day – it’s worth it.

Exercise stimulates the circulation and keeps the cardiovascular system healthy. Endurance training in particular strengthens your heart muscle, which improves the performance of your heart and makes it work more economically. This ensures that more blood can be pumped through the body at once and that the heart has to beat less overall.

Relaxation

Just as important as exercise and sport is relaxation, because rest periods have a positive effect on your health. They improve the body’s own immune defence, because the body gains new strength during breaks and can thus defend itself much better against pathogens. An important point to keep you healthy is to give your body regular breaks.

Sleep

Sufficient sleep is extremely important for maintaining your health and well-being. At night, the body uses its resting state to recover from the stresses and strains of the day. In addition, the immune system is now working at full speed to ward off pathogens that have crept in during the day. Sleeping keeps you healthy in many ways.

Stress, physical exertion and others are also managed during sleep. This is very important for your general health, because stress is known to make you sick. A permanently increased level of stress hormones reduces the performance of the immune system, which makes you more susceptible to illness. But stress also affects the psyche. Too much stress therefore causes not only physical, but also mental illnesses.

Technical health helpers

In some cases, a healthy diet may not be enough to keep away anything that could harm your wellbeing. Then technology is called for. Nowadays, there are many technical means and digital methods that maintain our health and even save our lives in an emergency.

Today, almost everyone has a smartphone, which has become an everyday item over the years and which has long since been able to do much more than just make phone calls and send text messages. Smartphones are also becoming increasingly important as health aids.

There is a wide range of health services and apps to help you monitor your health and fitness in a variety of ways. Some applications for smartphones and tablets, for example, record your personal health status in a kind of patient diary. So you can use your smartphone’s or tablet’s built-in sensors or connect medical devices to them and have the measured data analyzed.