A healthy lifestyle: why is it important?

What is a healthy lifestyle?

A healthy lifestyle is a good balance between nutritious food, regular physical activity, sufficient sleep, and drinking enough water. It doesn’t mean you have to eat perfectly all the time or exercise intensively every day, but it does mean making healthy and conscious choices that fit your life and personal circumstances.

In the Netherlands, we have the National Prevention Agreement. In this agreement, the government, together with more than 70 organizations, made commitments to reduce the number of people who smoke, are overweight, or drink excessively by the year 2040. The government actively encourages people to adopt a healthy lifestyle, as 20% of the total disease burden in the Netherlands is caused by unhealthy behavior.

Why is a healthy lifestyle important?

A healthy lifestyle can help prevent diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer. It also contributes to your overall well-being and the way you feel in daily life. With a healthy lifestyle, you often feel fitter and have more energy. You are also generally better able to cope with stress because your overall health is stronger. Healthy habits essentially ensure that your body and mind function at their best.

Source: RIVM

Effect of a healthy lifestyle on your heart

By eating healthily, exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep, you can reduce your risk of heart disease. It helps keep your blood pressure and cholesterol at healthy levels and lowers the risk of heart attacks and strokes. 

Smoking and your heart

Smoking is extremely harmful to your heart and blood vessels. It increases the risk of cardiovascular disease because it damages your arteries and raises your blood pressure. Quitting smoking is therefore one of the best things you can do to maintain good heart health. On the website of the Dutch Heart Foundation, you can request a free brochure with more information about quitting smoking. 

Cholesterol and your heart

High cholesterol can lead to cardiovascular disease. Bad cholesterol (LDL) can narrow your blood vessels, increasing the risk of heart and vascular problems. By eating healthily and exercising regularly, you can help maintain healthy cholesterol levels.

The danger of high cholesterol is that it often causes no noticeable symptoms. Only a blood test can reveal whether your cholesterol is elevated. High cholesterol can have several causes, such as being overweight, unhealthy (high-fat) nutrition, hereditary factors, diabetes, or an underactive thyroid.

Alcohol and your heart

Too much alcohol can be harmful to your heart, just like smoking and an unhealthy diet. It can raise your blood pressure, which may lead to cardiovascular diseases.

The Trimbos Institute states on its website that the exact percentage of heart and vascular diseases caused by alcohol in the Netherlands is unknown, but they do provide an overview of related statistics:

• Nearly 1 in 5 alcohol-related deaths is caused by heart or vascular disease.

• Heart diseases resulting from arterial calcification (atherosclerosis) or abnormalities in the coronary arteries are, in high-income countries such as the Netherlands, the leading cause of alcohol-related mortality.

Effect of a healthy lifestyle on your skin 

A healthy lifestyle can also have a positive impact on your skin. Healthy nutrition, enough water, and sufficient sleep help your skin look fresh and radiant. Reducing stress and not smoking also contribute to maintaining good skin condition. Research into lifestyle factors that affect the skin to varying degrees highlights several points: 

• People who are sleep-deprived have significantly more wrinkles, a paler complexion, more dark circles under the eyes, more puffiness, and drooping eyelids. 
• Smoking leads to more severe skin aging. Smokers often have a yellowish skin tone and more impurities. 
• People who experience high levels of stress produce less collagen in the skin. Lower collagen levels lead to deeper wrinkles and thinner skin. Stress can also trigger pimples or red patches. 

Effect of a healthy lifestyle on your blood

A healthy lifestyle helps keep your blood pressure and cholesterol at healthy levels. This reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Regular exercise and healthy nutrition play an important role in this. Unhealthy food high in salt can cause your blood pressure to rise.

After the age of forty, the likelihood of developing high blood pressure increases, making a healthy lifestyle even more important. When your blood pressure is high, your blood vessels are under increased strain, which can cause damage not only to the heart but also to the eyes and kidneys.

Smoking and your blood health

Smoking reduces the amount of oxygen in the blood, which increases the risk of blood clots. When a vein becomes blocked by a blood clot, thrombosis can occur. If a clot blocks an artery, this is called arterial thrombosis, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke. Smoking also causes inflammation, raises blood pressure, and increases heart rate.

Source: Hartstichting

Cholesterol and your blood health

High cholesterol can lead to blockages in your blood vessels. LDL-cholesterol (Low-Density Lipoprotein), also known as “bad” cholesterol, can build up in the blood vessels, which may cause blockages and heart disease. HDL-cholesterol

(High-Density Lipoprotein), also known as “good” cholesterol, helps remove excess cholesterol from the blood vessels and transports it back to the liver, where it is broken down.

On the website of the Dutch Nutricion Centre, you can find a brochure that lists foods that may help lower high cholesterol levels.

Alcohol and your blood health 

Too much alcohol can, just like smoking, lead to increased blood pressure. Alcohol also causes your blood to clot more slowly. This is due to its effect on platelets: with excessive alcohol consumption, fewer platelets are produced, they have a shorter lifespan, and their function diminishes. As a result, platelets clump together less effectively, meaning the blood remains thinner. 

If you drink alcohol only occasionally, you have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease compared to someone with a heavy drinking pattern. You are considered a heavy drinker if you drink 4 glasses (women) or 6 glasses (men) of alcohol on a single occasion at least once a week.

A healthy lifestyle is important for your overall health

By consciously choosing a good balance between healthy nutrition, physical activity, sufficient sleep, and reducing stress, you can significantly lower your risk of diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer. Healthy habits not only help you become physically healthier, but they also often make you feel mentally better.

By quitting smoking, keeping an eye on your cholesterol levels, and drinking alcohol in moderation, you give your heart and blood vessels the best chance to function well. A healthy lifestyle forms the foundation for a longer, healthier, and happier life.