Ever look at the job titles of each of these and wonder how they differ? Don’t health coaches and wellness coach do the same things and have the same scope? There’s great variability between job titles – even if the scope is the same or has overlap with another professional title.
The immune system is influenced by a number of factors, and we need a well-structured plan when trying to strengthen it. In order to boost the immune system, we need to exercise regularly, eat a well-balanced diet, manage stress, get enough sleep, and reduce exposure to environmental pollutants and products with harsh ingredients. Remember, a healthy lifestyle is equal to strong immunity. [Read more…]
Heart disease remains the leading cause of mortality in the US. One-fourth of all deaths occur due to a heart problem. Each year about 610 000 people die of the condition, and half of them die due to coronary artery disease caused by arterial plaques. Total deaths due to cardiovascular diseases are around 859 000 when we add deaths related to stroke to these numbers. Another, 735 000 Americans have a heart attack each year.
Most people are aware of the symptoms of the condition like chest pain and discomfort, pain in the arm, stomach, shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, cold sweats, and so on.
Heart disease may occur due to many reasons, and most of these causes are modifiable and preventable. High blood pressure remains the most significant contributor to heart disease, followed by high cholesterol and smoking. Other underlying causes of cardiovascular diseases are diabetes, obesity, poor diet, physical inactivity, and alcohol abuse.
Not all heart attacks are avoidable, but a considerable number of them can be prevented or delayed by several years with mere lifestyle interventions. After all, 80% of all heart diseases are due to preventable reasons. CDC says that about 200,000 deaths each year are preventable through lifestyle modification, and in many more cases, such events can be delayed significantly.
Heart health can be improved by non-pharmacological means is a proven fact and not just an opinion. From 1972 to 1992, just in a period of 20 years, Finland was able to reduce mortality due to coronary heart disease by as much as 80%. Ireland reduced mortality due to heart disease by 48.1% from 1985 to 2000.
Many people may think that taking a statin or low-dose aspirin may help prevent a heart attack. However, they are partially wrong. Lifestyle changes are the primary way to prevent cardiovascular diseases, and medications are just adjuncts. No, medication can help as exercise, dietary corrections, quitting smoking, and so on. In fact, medications may not even work if such changes are not carried out. This means that natural methods are superior in prevention to pharmacological drugs.
Regretfully, many people think that medications alone can save them. One of the reasons for such a mindset is that popping up a pill or two a day is much more comfortable than sweating out for an hour in a gym, or planning a diet, cooking at home, and so on.
This is not to say that medications have no value in preventing heart diseases, but they should always be used along with lifestyle interventions. Undoubtedly, controlling blood pressure, diabetes, dyslipidemia, with the help of medications, will make a considerable difference.
Preventing heart disease, improving heart health naturally, will only work when one combines a number of elements into the disease prevention program. Doing one of two things will still help, but not as much as one would like. So, healthy heart program should include dietary changes, daily exercise, stress management, reducing substance abuse, and so on. [Read more…]
As coaches, we know that we have a specific role and function in support of our clients who are trying to be healthy and well. We also know that we are part of something bigger – a service to the global community that is constantly trying to maintain optimal wellness. With this task, we are usually working one-on-one in session, as we encourage and support each client on a journey of behavior changes, and all that is required to be well. [Read more…]
For thousands of years, people believed that stress made you sick. Up until the nineteenth century, the idea that the passions and emotions were intimately linked to disease held weight, and people were told by their doctors to go to spas or seaside resorts when they were ill. Gradually these ideas lost favor as more concrete causes and cures were found for illness after illness. But in the last decade, scientists like Dr. Esther Sternberg, director of the Integrative Neural Immune Program at NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), have been re- discovering the links between the brain and the immune system. [Read more…]
The social component to wellness is one of the more significant parts of your client’s profile that is most directly under the influence of behavior and personality. In this dimension of wellness, your client takes a direct part in how they shape their world and how they manage lifestyle factors, such as interpersonal communications, meaningful relationships and important friendships for themselves. In doing so, they build wellness into their lifestyle.
For your client, social wellness includes those supportive, intimate relationships, as well as fostering a general connection with everyone within their social group. It’s also about learning how to balance social living with personal life pursuits.