Do you know your numbers?

Do you know your vital numbers? If someone asked you this question your first thought would probably be “I don’t need to know them, that’s why I store them on my phone!” Nice one, but I am not talking about important phone numbers, I am talking about vital health numbers that indicate your current physical condition. Learning where you fall in the numbers can be the difference between life and death, literally! The human body is a delicate machine; you just never know when it’s going to clunk out! Everybody should know their vital health numbers, now there are all sorts of vital signs you can measure but these eight I am going to talk about are in my opinion the most important. Take care of them and everything else will fall into place. Today we will look at four of them, I will Endeavour to complete the list in my next post.

1.       Cholesterol:

Bad Cholesterol

Now there is no such thing as perfect cholesterol, but you can strive for the balance between good cholesterol (HDL) and bad cholesterol (LDL), knowing your cholesterol level could be the difference between you and a heart attack further down the line! The magic number is: 5.0mmol/Liter.

 

2.       Waist Measurement:

Not many people know this, but a large waist measurement can be a telltale sign that there is trouble down the road for you. A large waist measurement is a red flag for such conditions as diabetes and heart trouble, the larger your waist the more scared you should get, as high fat storage in the middle is a danger sign. Hit the panic button, and then hit the gym if your waist is over 32 inches (female) and over 37 inches (male).

3.       Alcohol consumption:

Alcohol is actually good for you! The problem is that most of us drink too much of the stuff, as we all know you can have too much of a good thing. The numbers vary with gender, and if you like your booze, be ready for disappointment. For women not more than two units of wine a day (25cl), for men not more than four units (50cl) a day. Anything above these volumes and you lose the health benefits of alcohol. Sorry!

4.       Salt intake:

I can’t overemphasize the importance of this number! High salt intake I a major culprit in developing hypertension which if left unchecked could lead to a stroke and an early grave! The danger for us is that, there is salt hidden everywhere! In bread, baked snacks, chips, our soups and stews etc, so please err on the side of tasteless when dealing with salt! The magic number shows how precarious our situation is: not more than 6grams! (One teaspoon) a day!