
Ask HN: Any Tip ( without side effects ) for healthy life? - chauhankiran
Nowadays it is become hard to stay healthy. So, asking you any tips that you follow to stay healthy but that should not have any side effects. Such as I drink tea to overcome headache but with tea I also consume a lot sugar so that is not good right.<p>Some of the tip from my side:<p>1. Eat foods based on seasons. Such as Grapes, Watermelon and so on in summer.<p>2. Eat less in evening especially in night.
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badrabbit
Eat less. Whatever your diet,eat small portions and not very often. Whatever
type of foods you like,learn how they affect your body and balance accordingly
(for example I wouldn't eat pizza more than once a year or fast food ever).

Don't sit too long,get a standup desk if you must work/code for hours non-
stop.

Yes,of course you should work out. But what matters the most is doing it
persistently as a matter of habit. When I skip a workout I feel as if I
skipped showering or brushing my teeth for that day. Make it a daily habit.
Why waste money on energy drinks when you can work out? 30 pushups > can of
red bull.

~~~
deanmoriarty
Just curious: why would you say not eat pizza more than once a year? Isn’t
that on the very extreme side?

Go to Italy and you’ll find people eating pizza and pasta at least weekly, and
they are generally fit and healthy. But obviously they don’t drink half a
gallon of sugar water with their pizza.

~~~
cyberpingu
We are generally not that fit, but nowdays not many people smoke anymore due
even to the cigs' cost compared to tips (nobody get a jobs before 30 :P). And
then sure, we're not that used to drink colas and such things. I'm strange as
Italian, because I don't like pasta and I like eating pizza just once a month:
anyhow it depends on what you put on pizzas. If it's a margherita, it's just
tomato sauce and mozzarella on something like bread. If you start putting on
it tons of fried potatoes, wurstels, sausages, half a kilo of mayonnaise, pork
ribs, half beef and you drink 4 beers, then yes: you'd be better eat it even
less than once an year.

To improve life quality I'd go swimming. It's doesn't make you lose kilos, but
it does fit you: you move every part of your body in an ambient with low
gravity (and it's a benediction for your back), makes you learn do breath the
right way, and makes you relax as hell (depending on the style, ofc).

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m0ck
Few things I started to do, which I can't recommend enough.

\- Sleep well. If it's possible, you should never have to use alarm clock for
waking up for school, or work, instead you should wake up naturally (because
you went to sleep early enough).

\- Dumb down your phone [1]. I recently purged all time-sinking apps from my
phone, including the "supposedly useful" ones, like Hacker News, or local
newspapers. You will feel way better, without the endless overwhelming flood
of information coming at you everywhere you go.

\- Eat clean and drink only water. Trick that works best for me, is that I do
all my shopping on Monday and I plan every breakfast and dinner for the whole
week in advance, so when I have cravings, there is simply nothing in my
kitchen I can binge on (I realize this solution does not work for everyone,
especially if you are not living alone). Of course, I still buy ice cream or
some other sweet after lunch ~ once a week, or go for couple of beers with my
friends time to time, but it feels a lot better, when it is really a treat and
not ordinary, everyday thing.

[1] [https://nomasters.io/posts/dumber-
phone/](https://nomasters.io/posts/dumber-phone/)

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jamesmarks
Regular exercise.

I used to have an idea that successful people had their life under control to
a degree that they could find time to exercise 3-4 times per week.

After I started running regularly and saw the change in myself, I've come to
think successful people are successful in part _because_ of their exercise,
not the other way around.

It gives a lift to everything you do. It motivates you to be the best version
of yourself you can be, starting a virtuous loop of eating better, continued
education, big picture thinking and other self-improvement.

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ajaxaddicted
Go vegan! With 1 move, you reduce or greatly eliminate all the saturated fat,
cholesterol, antibiotics, hormones(from any farmed animal, which is 95% of
all), heavy metals and pollutants(concentrated in sea creatures due to
bioaccumulation), you reduce the risk from the typical western diseases -
cancers, heart problems, toxic reactions and autoimmune diseases. The
environmental and ethical benefits are a bonus.

~~~
m0ck
As a relatively big person, doing heavy exercise several times a week, I
simply cannot image how would I get all proteins I get from eating meat, eggs
and dairy products (I can,but it involves eating huge amounts of expensive
vegan food).

~~~
ajaxaddicted
As I mentioned - you also get all the toxic baggage from the animal products,
which kind of negates the other side - you exercise because you want to stay
healthy.

Also - you may have heard that excessive amounts of protein ages you faster -
most protein heavy foods are also pro oxidants and oxidative stress ages your
cells.

The expensive vegan foods - meat, eggs, dairy are processed plants. So what
you are saying is - if you eat the plants directly, they will be more
expensive compared to filtering them through an animal and then eating them.
Does not make sense.

For the heavy exercise - they are now ultra marathon runners, power lifters,
etc that are vegan. Where do they get their protein?
[https://www.ranker.com/list/athletes-who-are-vegan/people-
in...](https://www.ranker.com/list/athletes-who-are-vegan/people-in-sports)

~~~
StriverGuy
Toxic baggage...I get the feeling you haven't spent much time reading into the
actual science of omnivore diets.

~~~
ajaxaddicted
Maybe I have not. Can you get back to me with some information debunking the
following claims: Meat - loaded with trans fat, cholesterol, antibiotics. Milk
- full with estrogen(it is from a mammal after all), Casomorphin, which makes
it addictive, antibiotics, cholesterol and trans fat, just like meat. Eggs -
full with cholesterol and choline, illegal to advertise them as healthy or
safe in the US. Fish - full with heavy metals like Lead, Mercury, antibiotics.

~~~
vram22
>Eggs - full with cholesterol and choline, illegal to advertise them as
healthy or safe in the US.

Is this really true?

~~~
ajaxaddicted
Yes, it is: [https://nutritionfacts.org/video/who-says-eggs-arent-
healthy...](https://nutritionfacts.org/video/who-says-eggs-arent-healthy-or-
safe/)

~~~
vram22
Thanks, will look at that.

~~~
TheKIngofBelAir
[https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2018/05/07/-eggs-
not...](https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2018/05/07/-eggs-not-linked-
to-cardiovascular-risk--despite-conflicting-adv.html)

~~~
vram22
The article says, at the end of it:

>The research was supported with a grant from Australian Eggs; they had no
role in the research design, conduct, analyses or writing of the manuscript.

Not sure what to make of that ...

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DoreenMichele
Walk more. A lot more.

Unless you are literally wheelchair bound, it is something basically anyone
can do and you need no special equipment. It helps to have decent shoes, but I
live in cheap sandals year round and I gave up my car more than a decade ago.
I mostly walk to get around, plus I occasionally take public transit.

You breathe better when walking. It moves lymph, which is how the body takes
out the trash. It is the single best exercise for losing weight and
maintaining a healthy weight.

You can start doing just a little more everyday and gradually build more
stamina. If handled that way, there are no dramatic side effects.

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inertiatic
Eat less animal products, eat less processed food, drink less of that as well.
Lift weights once or twice a week, moderate effort, walk as much as you can.
Take a multivit, get checked for deficiencies and supplement those as well. My
personal stack is multivit, zinc tablet, couple of grams of creatine and a D
vit cap. But you know better.

Worry less as you will die regardless.

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ApolloRising
It is not hard to become healthy. It is hard to be healthy while eating a lot
of crap food and not exercising. Your body recovers incredibly well once it
fed and exercised properly. You need to adjust your mindset and get away from
the gimmicks. Do an exercise program like starting strength or 5x5 and it will
work wonders in weeks.

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tugberkk
Paul Chek has simplified this, 4 doctors: Dr. Quiet, Dr. Movement, Dr. Diet,
Dr. Happiness.

So; meditate regularly. exercise regularly. eat organic, non-junk food. keep
away from stress.

Of course these are not easy to do but a simple and great guideline.

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noobly
Physical health is the easy part, imho. I'd be interested to hear tips about
upkeeping a mentally healthy mind and social life. Though, of course, a solid
foundation for mental health is physical health.

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762236
Bike, hard. Support that with Becoming a Supple Leopard, to avoid injury.

~~~
godelmachine
What's a Supple Leopard?

~~~
hluska
[https://www.amazon.ca/Becoming-Supple-Leopard-2nd-
Performanc...](https://www.amazon.ca/Becoming-Supple-Leopard-2nd-
Performance/dp/1628600837)

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orcs
Sleep and rest = no bad side.

Exercise, swim and cycle. Both low impact and really good cardio.

Strength training, go body weight all the way. Muscles are built to work in
groups not isolation.

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mathieubordere
yoga - everyone I know of that at least tried it, is enthusiastic about it.
Flexibility + strength + relaxation, it changed my life.

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bsvalley
Nowadays it’s actually much easier to stay healthy isn’t it? We have access to
more information and we made a lot of progress with technologies and medicine.
People use to live up to 40 max. Regarding the negative side effects of things
like tea, you could look at reducing your exposure to screens instead. Also
try to exercise more or keep researching and trying out different tips like
you mentioned. Consulting a real specialist (doctor) is the first step of
course.

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pixeldeveloper
* Make exercise a part of your daily routine to the point you’re not thinking about it, ie cycling to and from work.

* Eating clean. So cooking all your meals with fresh ingredients.

* Get involved in a sport you enjoy doing. I notice people punish themselves, ie running when they don’t like it. It’ll never work long term. Climbing seems to sit well with the IT crowd. Find what works for you.

* It takes time. Potentially years to get where you want to be. Being patient is important.

On the more extreme side

* Move country. I had a healthier lifestyle in Indonesia than I did in London. Lack of alcohol and chocolate snacks is something you get used to when it’s not accessible.

