You are what you eat
‘Although our community affects our overall health and well-being; we have a massive role to play by choosing healthier choices and adjusting our lifestyle’
I have been carried away by my success at attaining a self-styled weight loss programme, not only have I dropped 2 dress sizes, I feel more energetic and positive. I have gone back to wearing the dresses I wore over 10 years ago but left them in my suitcase because they no longer fit.
But this is an ongoing process and I know I should keep my eye on the ball, because if I lose focus I would add weight again.
I decided to understand how our lifestyle and choices can affect our health and wellbeing and so I completed a course in Health promotion and lifestyle management with the Sheffield Hallam University.
There are social determinants of health that would affect our health and wellbeing which includes our environment and the facilities/ opportunities we have. Although our community affects our overall health and wellbeing; we have a massive role to play by choosing healthier choices and adjusting our lifestyle.
Coming from a tropical country we have a lot of bananas and I got used to eating bananas, they are my best snack, During my undergraduate days, I used to eat up to 5 bananas with a handful groundnut which is one of my favourite snacks.
Recently at work, I told a nurse in my place of work that I eat at least 2 bananas per day, and she said I should keep an eye on my potassium level, later that evening I had to check the potassium level of banana and I discovered that 1 medium sized banana (7” to 7–7/8” long, 118g 105 calories) contained 422.4 mg of potassium
Potassium is one of the most important minerals in the body. It helps regulate fluid balance, muscle contractions and nerve signals. What’s more, a high-potassium diet may help reduce blood pressure and water retention, protect against stroke and prevent osteoporosis and kidney stone but too much potassium in your blood is not good. The body needs a delicate balance of potassium to help the heart and other muscles work properly, too much potassium in your blood can lead to dangerous, and possibly deadly, changes in heart rhythm.
It is important we understand the calorie, mineral and vitamin content of every food we eat. Maintaining a healthy weight and healthy diet should be a form of lifestyle and I am willing to continue with the lifestyle.
Having suffered acne since my teenage years, eating healthy also makes my skin glow; I am strongly against the use of harmful chemicals on the skin which I campaign about all the time,
But I also love my skin to glow and be free from blemishes and one way I achieve that is to exercise regularly, eat healthy, drink up to 4 litres of water per day and take my multivitamins.
Adaku Efuribe is a Clinical Pharmacist, Health &Wellbeing coach who spends her time advocating for the SDGs, Good Governance and better healthcare systems in Nigeria
