Three Real Hunger Games For a Healthier You

I meant to post this a few weeks ago after the hunger games movie came out.  Better late then never i guess! The following tips are useful for improving health because they turn basic yet forgotten health concepts into games that keep you on track. The main problems affecting the health of many individuals include eating too much, eating too fast, eating an excessive amount of junk food, not eating enough variety, not drinking enough clean water, and not chewing food enough prior to swallowing.

These bad habits are extremely detrimental to health but are often disregarded by most people, health professionals included.  Using the following tips can be an effective method of improving your daily routine and health.

Health Tip/Game 1:  Eat the rainbow

When I say eat the rainbow I am not referring to fruit loops, fruity pebbles, or lucky charms cereal.  Eating the rainbow refers to the color pigments of various whole foods you may or may not eat during the day already.  This game addresses the issues of lack of variety and too much junk food.  If you make an effort to eat the rainbow every day utilizing whole fresh fruits and vegetables you will not only get a significant amount of variety of nutrients in your diet (different plant chemicals, vitamins, and minerals) but you will also end up weeding out junk foods naturally from your diet as a result.  This game will help you minimize risks for nutrient deficiencies and improve overall health.    

Health Tip/Game 2: Water Bands

Many people are chronically dehydrated. Dehydration is detrimental to health for many reasons.  The human body is 60-70% water and water is an essential compound in every energy producing reaction in the body ( either directly or indirectly) and adequate water intake is necessary for mineral and fluid balance. Dehydration can cause many side effects including decreased energy and decreased mental clarity (brain fog), and a feeling of hunger. Dehydration can also lead to biomechanical abnormalities over time due to changes in the spine and body tissues.  When organs get dehydrated they do not function as efficiently as when properly hydrated.  Also, the Inter-vertebral disks are 70% water content and dehydration of these disks can lead to decreased volume which puts pressure on the vertebrae.  Over time this pressure can cause the bones to rub together and cause bone spurs, herniated disks, and other problems.  Most people do not drink enough high quality water.

Maintain proper hydration actually goes far beyond simply drinking water.  It includes avoiding foods and drinks that deplete water from the body and obtaining the proper minerals in the proper ratios to promote healthy fluid balance.  However, most people do not get enough water in general. So adding in eight, 8 oz glasses of water can be beneficial to most people.  A good way to keep track is to wear 8 bracelets, elastic bands, livestrong style rubber bands, or even hair ties (something you will see and keep track of). After each glass of water you drink take one band off and put it in your pocket.   The point of this is keep yourself accountable and aware of how much you are actually drinking throughout the day.  More often than not people think they are drinking enough water but are actually falling short. It is very revealing when you are still wearing 4 bands at the end of the day!

Health Tip/ Game 3:  Chew your food time trial.  

Most people do not chew their food enough. Swallowing poorly desiccated food can be extremely hard on digestion.  If you do not chew your food enough your stomach has to work harder to churn and break down foodstuff.  Also, Hydrochloric acid (stomach acid) is also not as effective/ efficient when food is in large chunks as opposed to small particles.  Chew your food 50 times with each bite. Make a game out of it by chewing as fast as you can but always chew 50 times.  This will not only help you digest you food better and alleviate bloating and other issues but will also help you eat less.  It typically takes about 20 minutes for hormones to adjust and a feeling of satiety to kick in.  By chewing your food more you spread out the time you are actually consuming food and will get a better signal from your body regarding when you are actually full.

Leave a comment if you have any other health promoting tip, tricks, or games.