A New Year always brings about fresh possibilities and a new health trend.
We start with a blank slate. What will happen in the days ahead? Anything is possible. There will be a new health trend, a bandwagon for everyone to jump upon and a seemingly easy solution to getting into your skinny jeans. What will be the next hot health trend? Your guess is as good as mine.
These are some common sense health trends that I wish would make headlines in the near future.
Health Trend 1 – Tap Water: The Hot New Health Drink
What if everyone was running to their faucet to get this miracle elixir? Because, the reality is that drinking enough regular water on a daily basis would be a hugely positive health change for most people. But there are very few dollars to be made by promoting something that so many of us are fortunate to have readily available for free (or for the price of a good water filter.)
Do you know how much water you should be drinking a day?
First, take your weight in pounds and then, divide it by 2. The result is the number of ounces you need to drink a day. That means a 150-pound person should drink 75 ounces of water daily. Doing so can help with weight loss, detoxification through the kidneys, reduced toxic build-up in the colon, improved skin tone, better functioning in the brain and a host of other body benefits. That sounds like a miracle health drink to me. So my secret wish is that drinking water becomes the popular trend of the year.
Health Trend 2 – The “Eat Local” Diet
Wouldn’t it be great if it became a trend to eat food that was grown locally and in-season? These foods tend to be the best for you. The food that grows in your region at any particular time of the year tends to work best with your body, for that season. Also, foods that grow locally and in-season tend to be the most vitamin rich. They are picked when they are at their ripest.
Eating locally means that food doesn’t have to be prematurely picked and then shipped long distances to reach your plate. They are allowed to grow to their full nutrient potential. And a great side effect of this diet would be that it would support the local economy. Here’s keeping my fingers crossed that I see it on the hottest trends list at the end of the year.
Health Trend 3 – Real Women Have Curves
People are so often encouraged to live an unhealthy lifestyle in an attempt to achieve an unattainable body type. The body is meant to have curves. Of course, some people are curvier than others and that’s OK. It isn’t about shaming those who are naturally skinny. But, wouldn’t it be great if the thing that made each body unique were considered breathtaking and beautiful?
What if we went back to the old days where curves were revered? It would release so many people from unhealthy shame and would allow for a more common sense diet. We all have the ability to encourage this trend by what we demand in the media. Let’s try to help curvy be the hottest trend this year.
Health Trend 4 – Moderation Is The New Restriction
In recent times, there has been the fat-free diet, the no-carb diet, the caveman diet and a bunch of other diets that completely exclude a large segment of available foods. And while this works for some people, most of us won’t succeed at eliminating entire categories of food indefinitely. And, in my opinion, this type of elimination isn’t necessary to be healthy. It is more important to understand what foods should compose the majority of the diet and which foods should be a more occasional part of the diet.
A common approach to diet is the 85/15 approach. 85% of the food in the diet are nutritious, health supporting foods. The remaining 15% can be food consumed just for fun. This approach isn’t about restriction, but instead reasonable moderation. And for many, this is more realistic as a long-term way of eating.
Health Trend 5 – The Journey Over The Destination
So many make resolutions to lose weight, eat healthier, work less, stress less and so on. The journey becomes an obstacle to the results. But, there is no such one thing as “healthy living”. None of us are 100% healthy or unhealthy. We are on a path towards health until we die. Overlooking this can be problematic on many levels.
A person can start, let’s say, eating healthier and feel they have achieved a healthy lifestyle. And so they stop trying to grow while there are other aspects of their life that could use improvement. Conversely, another person just starting a diet will focus completely on where they want to get to while overlooking the positive steps they are making right now. And they might give up because they may feel like they will never get to where they want to be. When you choose the journey over the destination (here your, health goal), then the process becomes easier because the reward doesn’t seem so far away.
Do you have a health trend you would like to see in the coming year? Is there a health trend from last year that you just wish would go away? Let me know in the comments below!
