Want a health boost? Manage one of four pillars – sleeping, eating, exercising, coping with stress – to improve the others
- Mayo Clinic doctor Safia Debar says our four health pillars are intertwined: stress impacts sleeping, eating and exercising – and they in turn impact stress
- She offers tips for improving these aspects of your life – and suggests five questions to ask yourself to figure out what to change and where to begin
Sleeping enough, eating well, exercising and coping with stress are all components of good health, but focusing on all four at once while managing a hectic schedule may seem impossible.
Dr Safia Debar, an expert in tailored medical exams at Mayo Clinic Healthcare in London, explains how giving a little extra attention to any one of these areas can improve the others.
“By pulling any of these levers, you can have a big impact on your health,” Debar says.
It all starts in the brain, she says. It can be in a state of “rest, repair and relaxation”, in which, assuming general good health, the body is functioning optimally. Or the brain can be in a stress state, in which the body’s primary concern becomes handling one or more perceived threats, and other physical needs are relegated to second place.
“Our brain does not distinguish. The perception of threat and real threat are the same, so once that button is pressed, the same cascade ensues,” Debar says.