World Health Day: Our Health Tips

Sleep Deprivation

Poor sleep, lack of or even just interrupted sleep can be detrimental to your health. Not only do you spend the next day yawning and feeling lethargic, your alertness and awareness levels are lowered, meaning poor performance. It’s also dangerous, when you consider driving and all the other responsible tasks.

Aside from this, sleep and mental health are intimately linked. After a sleepless night, we can feel a bit tired and irritable, but people who suffer from chronic sleep problems have more difficulty recognizing and managing emotions, and are at double the risk of developing depression and anxiety.

We advise speaking to your doctor or health professional if you suffer chronically. But for those who struggle every now and again, look at setting a sleeping pattern and routine to regulate your body. Vitamin supplements high in magnesium are said to help too, as is the scent of lavender as you climb into bed.

We recommend a good relaxing bath before bedtime, no technologies or screens an hour before winding down, and to invest in a Lavendar products, like thisWorks Sleep Spray. Spritzed onto pillows and bedding, it’s got a lot of positive reviews for improving sleep.

Mouth Hygiene

Sometimes it’s common to neglect the health and hygiene of our mouths, especially across the smokers out there. However, keeping on top of mouth health is actually pretty simple, you just need to follow a regimented mouth care routine and stick to it!

Also, any habits like smoking or drinking copious amounts of coffee can play havoc to your teeth and breath, so perhaps look at ways to limit. Green tea is also an unexpected trouble causer, which is rumored to stain teeth more deeply than some red wine and black coffees!

The best regimen is to use a whitening toothpaste, but one which fights plague and gum disease. Any mouth diseases which arise can encourage bad breath or discoloration of the tongue, so making sure your toothpaste is of high quality is essential. Brush twice a day, and follow with mouthwash to fight any other bacteria that may be present.

Hair Loss

Hair loss and thinning hair can sometimes be a sign of poor health, especially if it all of a sudden happens. Although as we age, it can be expected, sometimes poor diets, becoming anemic, loosing weight or severe stress can elevate this.

First of all, look into the cause of the problem. If you have recently had a baby, or an operation, sudden hair loss and shedding can be expected and can last around 3-6 months. But it can also be caused by poor hair habits, such as bleaching, poor scalp conditions and a harsh hair care regimen.

Give any dormant hair follicles the kick they need by investing in a hair growth boosting range of products. Make sure they all compliment each other, from a scalp stimulating shampoo to a daily hair growth helping supplement. Remember that protein is great for healthy hair too – encouraging the re-building of weakened hair and kick-starting re-growth.

Bad Skin

When your body is suffering, it can show across your skin. It’s not always in the form of acne and spots, it can also be red patches, flaky skin, increased oiliness or even the development of eczema or dermatitis if your body goes under severe stress.

Remember to keep your stress levels as low as possible for optimum skin health. When your stress levels rise, cortisol is increased within the body, which can cause havoc with your skin. So look at ways to calm your mind and senses, whether it’s in the form of yoga, calming sprays, or herbal teas. A poor diet also shows across your skin quite quickly too, so take a look at what you are regularly consuming.

Lower stress levels, lots of water, a balanced diet and a clear, happy mind can sometimes be all your skin needs to look its best. In the meantime, invest in a clarifying and balancing skincare regime to keep your skins stress levels down as much as possible.

Obesity

When your health is spiraling out of control, eating more – or eating more poorly – can happen. However, obesity can cause a series of health problems, from heart troubles to breathing difficulties, so it’s important to curb obseity before it gets worse.

Look at cutting out (or at least reducing) the amount of sugar and fat you consume as a number one priority. Then, look at ways to exercise more and keep yourself active. Getting your body to a healthy weight doesn’t mean intense gym sessions and excessive dieting – it’s all in moderation and making amendments to those bad habits you have developed.

Remember, when you do start to loose a little bit of weight, your skin can start to retract, causing dimpling – otherwise known as the dreaded stretch marks. You’ll often find a slight sagging of skin too, especially if weight loss happens quite quickly (which we don’t recommend – slowly and surely is the key!).

Make sure you have a range of skin firming and tightening body care products to hand to nourish your skin with daily. With regular use, you’ll see an improvement in skin texture and tone, and some products these days can actually enhance those body contours!

The above are just a couple of examples, so make sure you look into your own health and analyze what really needs working on. We only have one body – so nurture it.