by Sophie S Smith

Created on: February 20, 2011

Lifestyle choices can affect your physical, emotional and mental health either directly or indirectly. What you eat, where you live, where and how you work, how much you exercise, how much you drink or smoke, and how you deal with stress are some of the lifestyle issues that can have short-term or long-term effects on your health. Some of these you cannot always choose, but the more control you have over your lifestyle the more you can take responsibility for your health.

How Diet Affects Health

What you eat and drink, and how you eat and drink, has an effect on your health for better or for worse. You don’t have to be wealthy or a master cook to eat a balanced, nutritious and healthy diet: healthy food is surprisingly cheap. Your health is affected by both what you eat and how you eat it: do you find time to sit down for a meal with the family or with your friends, or do you always grab a sandwich and force it down as fast as possible while running between meetings or to pick up the kids. What you eat daily has an effect on your weight, your cholesterol levels, your blood pressure (and your heart), your digestion and even on your emotional health.

How Exercise Affects Health

Exercise, or lack of it, affects your energy levels, your weight, your heart, your posture, your overall fitness and health, and also your mood. Physical activity stimulates certain brain chemicals that are sometimes called “happy hormones” for making you feel happier and more relaxed. According to the Mayo Clinic article 7 benefits of regular physical activity, exercise can boost your confidence, help you to calm down after a stressful day and even help prevent depression.

How Stress Affects Health

Another major factor in how lifestyle affects health is stress. Stress can be caused by work, problems at home or relationships, but also by the environment you live in. Living in a noisy, polluted are where you spend hours every day in a traffic jam or where you constantly worry about crime, for example, is eventually going to have an effect on your stress levels and your health. Constant or recurring stress can lead to sleep problems, heart disease, digestive problems, depression, obesity and many other health issues, so if your lifestyle is making you stressed, it is time to find ways to cope with stress and to prevent it.

Sources:
Mayo Clinic:
Nutrition and healthy eating
Exercise: 7 benefits of regular physical activity
Stress: Constant stress puts your health at risk

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