Ever wonder what the secrets to a healthier lifestyle are?
When mom started to experience panic attacks in addition to her Parkinson’s Disease, everything turned dark for our family. Everything was driven up to the roof; hospital bills, anxiety, stress, frustration, pain, and tears. Too focused on PD, I put my full trust on mom’s doctors to make her well again, after all I am not a doctor. But months, years have passed with little to no improvement (don’t get me wrong, mom’s medical team are lovely people and knowledgeable in their field of training, just not natural holistic health). Mom’s crying days are still so long, she was only getting few minutes of relief a day and it was so painful to watch. We then decided to incorporate some changes in mom’s daily routine. These changes magnified important natural health notes for us.
Below you will find the top 4 important things to pay attention to when it comes to health, concluded from my observations of mom.
Table of Contents
HYDRATION
| WHEN HYDRATED | WHEN DEHYDRATED |
| Regular bowel movement | Severe constipation that looks like goat poop |
| Less off period (cramps/neuropathy) | More frequent off period |
| Less stiff (less frozen) | Feeling more tense (stiff) |
| Better blood pressure measurement | Blood pressure is high |
| Better mood (More laughters) | Mood swings (Almost like bipolar moods) |
| Better skin health | Wrinkly and dry skin |
I’ve noticed that drinking fruits and veggies, even broths hydrates better than just water. Chia seeds work well for us, we love mango or banana chia pudding. Mom loves watermelon, I prefer coconut juice.
Read more on Natural Ways To Avoid Constipation
Read about Dehydration And Its Distressing Impact To Health
EXERCISE
| WITH VIGOROUS EXERCISE (Minimum of 30 minutes) | WITHOUT EXERCISE |
| Regular bowel movement | Severe constipation that looks like goat poop |
| Less off period (cramps/neuropathy) | More frequent off period, panic attacks |
| Manages stress better | Takes hours to recover from off period |
| Less stiff (less frozen) | Feeling more tense (stiff) |
| Better blood pressure measurement | Blood pressure is high |
| Better mood (More laughters) | Emotionally sensitive, anxious |
| Better sleep | Difficult falling asleep and staying asleep |
| More energy | Restless/Fatigue |
I am convinced that vigorous exercise is the best remedy for immediate results. The times that mom skips a day of exercise after religiously exercising for a week, no symptoms show until the following day or two (2). If she gets back on her exercise schedule the following days, no symptoms will show. But if she continues skipping, symptoms show up like hungry wolves.
NUTRIENTS
| WITH PROPER NUTRIENT | WITHOUT PROPER NUTRIENT |
| High fiber foods help regulate bowel movement, thus more frequent. | Severe constipation that looks like goat poop |
| Manages stress better | Takes hours to recover from off period |
| Better mood (More laughters) | Emotionally sensitive |
| Better sleep | Difficult falling asleep and staying asleep |
| More energy | Restless/Fatigue |
As much as I want to believe that food has everything our body needs, it’s just not accurate nowadays. The soil that our plants grow in does not have enough nutrients to pass to the plants. And the number of processes our food goes through, minerals and vitamins left is just not enough for our bodies. As disappointing as it is, it’s almost like supplementing is necessary, unless you eat a whole load of organic non-GMO vegetables and fruits each meal.
My brother and I both have full time jobs so preparing healthy meals is a great task. We try, but we are not perfect. There are days where time and money just love to run away from us. So to keep us healthy, we chase supplements, tinctures and that sort of stuff. Our favorite brand is Earthley.
I’ve listed some of the supplements that we take here: Top 10 Nutrient For A Healthy Mind
Read more about Healthy Diet For Parkinson’s Disease Patient’s: Top 10 Foods
SLEEP
| WITH AT LEAST 8 HOURS OF SLEEP | BELOW 8 HOURS OF SLEEP |
| Less off period (cramps/neuropathy) | More frequent off period, panic attack |
| Manages stress better | Takes hours to recover from off period |
| Less stiff (less frozen) | Feeling more tense (stiff) |
| Better mood (More laughters) | Emotionally sensitive, anxious |
| More energy | Restless/Fatigue |
With lack of sleep, mom tends to cry about every little thing. When I ask her to stop crying because it makes her symptoms worse, she cries even more. She have a hard time coping with stress whenever she doesn’t get enough sleep the night before.
SUMMARY
Focusing only on one of these four health bits will not yield that much good result. Here’s one analogy:
Exercise is the delivery guy, who drives the vehicle carrying maintenance guys, who performs fixes during our sleep.
- Hydration: Vehicle – transports nutrients and oxygen, and support waste elimination.
- Exercise: Driver/Delivery guy – drives the movement of fluids in the body – keeps blood circulating.
- Nutrition: Maintenance guy – fixes the defective part of the moving machine.
- Sleep: Maintenance time – Hibernation – For proper full maintenance to occur, downtime is vital. Even God rested on the seventh day.
Without proper hydration, it will be hard to deliver maintenance where it’s needed, when it’s needed.
Without proper exercise, maintenance will not get delivered.
Without proper nutrition, maintenance will be limited.
Without sleep, there is no time to fully repair.
With mom, missing exercise turns things downward. I understand that HENS can be a challenge to incorporate in daily lifestyle. It could be due to lack of time or financial troubles, but we try again and again. I pray that this post gives you hope to keep going and a new way to tackle daily life.
Thank you for reading! May God’s brio be upon your health and life.
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