The first time I heard about the health benefits of laughing was at a health seminar. The story went like this:
A man heard from his doctor that further treatment of his cancer was of no use and that his life prospects were about 3 months. He had a lot of money and no heirs, so he decided to spend his last days as pleasant as possible.
He took up residence in a penthouse of a hotel with full board and access to the Humor Channel and watched funny movies and stand up comedians all day long.
Why is eating healthy important? In these days of confinement this question gets far more attention. That is because to sit at home all day comes with the imminent risk of over-eating and under-exercising.
It takes quite some self-discipline to eat healthily and to stay in motion when locked up inside four walls.
But what is ‘to eat healthy’? Does this mean that we have to eat healthy foods and drinks? Most dietary professionals also suggest certain food consumption behaviors. For example, we need:
For years I browsed the internet and read books about how to sleep better and faster. Although I am still not the gold medal winner of sleepers, my sleep did improve. And now that I am aging I am more and more convinced it is very important to sleep deep and long enough.
One of the fears of a lot of aging people is to get dementia. It sure is one of my fears. My father, grandmother and an aunt had Alzheimer’s.
One of the reasons people can get it is through sleep deprivation. My father has been in shift work for years. Of course, nobody knows if this was the cause why he got the disease. Yet, it is mentioned in the list of risk factors.
Healthy eating habits? In the Netherlands, when we were children, we ate 2 sandwiches with chocolate sprinkles or peanut butter for breakfast. The same for lunch. And at the end of the day between 5 and 6 pm the warm meal: potatoes, meat, and vegetables.
The same every day.
Later, when Tom and I had our son and wanted to be a healthy family, we changed some of these habits. Only fruits for breakfast, sandwiches with cheese for lunch, and more variation for the evening meals, alternating the usual Dutch food with rice, pasta, salads, and such. Changing the time to a hipper 7 to 8 pm.