College Humor

We all know the value of exercise, but is it the defining factor when it comes to real health? The truth is although exercise is a major part of being fit, what we consume is the single most important aspect for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

It is the food we eat that will enable us to exercise properly and to ensure that the muscles will recover between workouts. In the same way that a car will not perform efficiently with inferior fuel, so it is with the human body.

So what constitutes healthy eating?

Didn't your parents tell you to eat your vegetables? They may have been wrong about a lot of things, but they definitely got this one right! The more vegetables (and fruit i might add) we eat, the healthier we get - it's that simple. They are chock full of vitamins & minerals and also most provide a great source of carbohydrates, the body's prefered energy source. Fruit and vegetables should make up the bulk of our diet. Of course organic is the way to go, but just making a conscious effort to eat more greens is going to dramatically affect your health for the better.

Lean meats and dairy are also really important, along with wholegrains such as brown rice & dark heavy breads.

99 Percent Fat Free??

Everytime I see or hear advertising with this or something similar it makes me want to scream! As a rule these pseudo-foods are generally loaded with processed sugars, artificial sweeteners and other nasties to make up for the lost flavour from the fat...

Fat plays such a vital role in healthy living - in fact some vitamins are classified as fat-soluble because they rely on fat to function. Just be sure to go easy and please, please stay away from trans fats (such as margerine).. These are pure poison. Great sources of good fats include oily fish like salmon & mackeral, animal fat from organic grass-fed meat, avocados, nuts & seeds and organic dairy products.

Putting It All Together

So now it's time to put real healthy living into action! If you combine good food with an effective exercise plan, I guarantee that not only will you look and feel great, but also your resistance to common illness will be extremely high as a result of your Conan-like immune system!

Good Luck:0)

Dave Jales is an outspoken advocate of a healthy lifestyle, an avid martial artist and all around fitness nut. Currently he is studying to become a personal trainer. For a fantastic guide to proper nutrition and fitness check out http://www.helpyourbelly.com

You might be having difficulty finding low cost health insurance simply because you've missed some really great ways to cut down your cost. I'll explore some of such ways in this article...

1. It is profitable to stay with the same insurer. You'll attract discounts of up to 5% on your health insurance if you remain with the same insurer for up to three years. The longer the years you've been loyal to an insurer the bigger discounts you can get.

2. No-appointment ambulatory care centers or emergi-centers will as well help you lower your costs. This is especially correct if you are always healthy and find it tough to pay for regular health insurance. They cost far less than using an emergency room in a hospital.

3. The pharmaceutical industry has big brand names. If you buy such drugs, your premium will go up. But will you believe it if I told you that all generic drugs are required by law to have the exact same percentage of active agents as brand name drugs? Where the dissimilarities start and end are in their choice of inactive ingredients.

This simply implies that what you get from brand name drugs is also what you get from generic drugs of similar specification. Nevertheless, check this with your doctor before making this decision.

4. Your premiums might be tax-deductible if you're self employed. You may as well be entitled to a tax break if your employer offers a flexible spending account. Ask your tax professional.

5. You'll be given lower rates if you make your payments by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). This authorizes your insurer to automatically withdraw your premiums from your account when due. This reduces administrative costs like those incurred when mailing payment notices. This is why this attracts more affordable premium.

6. Get and compare quotes. Visit at least five quotes sites. Using at least five quotes sites raise the chances that you'd receive better health insurance quotes. This is because insurers not covered by one site will be covered by another.

And, you know that because your chances of receiving lower health insurance quotes is tied to the range of quotes you receive, the more insurance companies you receive quotes from, the higher your chances will be.

Here are great pages for health insurance quotes...

InsureMe Health Insurance Quotes

Health Insurance Quotes

Chimezirim Odimba writes on insurance.