Lifestyle choices

Lifestyle choices are the choices we make about how we behave and live that impact on our health

There are 6 lifestyle choices:

• Work/rest/sleep balance
• Activity levels
• Diet
• Smoking
• Recreational drugs
• Alcohol

Diet is important because your body needs the right nutrients to function and provide energy. Not eating enough is dangerous and eating a diet too high in fats, salt or sugar can have negative effects such as an increased risk of diabetes, higher blood pressure or obesity. High blood pressure can cause strokes.

Activity levels are important because to be healthy you must exercise. Not exercising is known as a sedentary lifestyle. Exercising too much is also dangerous because it doesn’t give your body time to recover

Work/rest/sleep balance is important because you need time after work to relieve stress and anxiety. Stress can increase blood pressure which can cause heart disease and strokes it can also lead to insomnia. Sleep is vital for rest and recovery and a lack of sleep can cause poor concentration, coordination and faster muscular fatigue.

Recreational drugs can be stimulants or depressants. Stimulants raise the level of physiological or nervous activity in the body e.g caffeine. Depressants are substances that lower the level of physiological or nervous activity in the body e.g alcohol. Illegal drugs can negatively impact performance because they can be highly dangerous e.g heroin which commonly contains additives, causing blood to clot in the veins. This can kill you.

Smoking - cigarettes contain chemicals such as carbon monoxide which bind to red blood cells and prevent oxygen binding to them instead which causes shortness of breath and difficulty breathing. You have an increased risk of bronchitis and pneumonia and your alveoli getting damage is called emphysema. Smoking can also cause lung cancer and nicotine is highly addictive and causes withdrawal symptoms.

Alcohol negatively impacts your coordination, speech, judgement and reaction time. It increases your blood pressure which increases risk of stroke and heart disease. Heavy drinking damages the liver, heart, muscles, brain and digestive system. Being an alcoholic and binge drinking also massively affects social well-being and relationships