We all grew up with the idea that brushing our teeth, eating healthily, exercising and/or sleeping well are fundamental to a healthy and balanced lifestyle. Although this is true, it’s not the reality we see. This year a report was published on the main determinants of the burden of disease, conducted by the Directorate-General for Health (DGS) in collaboration with the Global Burden of Disease Study , in which we can read that the 5 risk factors that contribute most to mortality in Portugal are:
- Hypertension (13%)
- Hyperglycaemia (11%)
- Poor diet (8%)
- Excess weight (8%)
- Smoking (7%)
So let me ask a question: if we all know that eating properly should be part of our routine, as well as making at least one annual appointment with our doctor to assess our health, why does inadequate nutrition continue to play such a role in the development of chronic diseases and/or mortality?
The answer is much more complex than you might think, because it has to involve public and community health policies so that there are more preventative and resolution measures. However, there is one answer that we can all give and contribute to changing our individual health, and that is to do our bit! And this is where routines play a key role.
We’re taught to brush our teeth every day (and that’s a good thing!), but do you remember the day, moment and time when this action became a habit? Possibly not, because it started when we were very young and was carried out continuously, to the point where we don’t remember when it became automatic. This is how sustainable routines and habits are formed, by starting and continuing the action. This is no sermon or lesson, but rather an invitation to action.
Routines are important for all of us, but when you have a diagnosis of a chronic illness, and with that diagnosis comes a prognosis, they take on a whole new importance. Because we know that having a chronic illness requires care. Care such as going to the doctor regularly for tests, sometimes other therapies such as physiotherapy, meds (oral, intravenous, biological, etc.), managing the illness itself (such as chronic pain, constant trips to the toilet, insomnia, etc.) and our individual expectations. When you’re diagnosed with a disease ‘for life’, you feel like you’re on the ground. I don’t know if this has happened to you, but it’s happened to me a few times. When I was a teenager, individual expectations were much higher compared to treatment methods. But at a more mature stage, you realise that if you don’t implement certain routines, the chronic pain can intensify, or the mobility be more complex, or the meds be more and in larger quantities. Of course, routines won’t stop the symptoms completely, nor will they make the illness disappear as if by magic, as I so often see on social media – ‘cure your gut’, ‘stop suffering from this illness’, ‘you’ll never have complaints again’. I know from my own experience that these ‘promises’ won’t do you any good if you don’t do your part, which is to establish your routines.
We don’t all have to drink 3 litres of water, eat soup twice a day, play competitive sport and sleep religiously 8 hours a night. This is a myth that we have to stop aspiring to for ourselves.
If you drink 1.5 litres when you usually drink 0.5 litres: you’re on the right track!
If you start eating more fruit and vegetables throughout your day when you didn’t before: keep going!
If you do light to moderate exercise three times a week when you used to be sedentary: congratulations!
It takes courage to take care of ourselves, our health, our bodies and our well-being. Many people want to change their habits but they don’t succeed. The will to change is important and is often there, but then the courage to take the first step is lacking: practising every week, with consistency and perseverance.
Ever since I started working almost exclusively with chronic, autoimmune and gastrointestinal diseases, I’ve noticed, appointment after appointment, how hard my patients work. They often come to the consultation feeling very fragile, both physically and emotionally, and during the treatment I’m greeted with smiles. Smiles that reflect the effort, the understanding of the process, the achievement of finally getting positive results from new habits, new knowledge about their diet, their gut and so many other things. It’s the power of routine at work. It costs! It costs a lot at first – I admit that myself. But as I tell all my patients: in the end, it will be worth all the effort!
One of the factors that I find most difficult to manage is the lack of organisation and/or planning of meals and variety of vegetables and fruit throughout the week.
As well as consultations, Nutrisciente® has many other tools to help you establish these eating routines. Here are two suggestions for you:
1. The ‘Healthy lunchboxes’ online course to help you organise and plan your weekly meals, as well as how to prepare and store them (available in Portuguese);
2. Consultation Guide for Patients who are practising the low FODMAP diet. In this guide you’ll find a shopping list, lots of information, a list of foods vs FODMAP and it’s a great aid for the 2nd and 3rd phases of the diet (available in Portuguese).
Don’t postpone your routines. It’s urgent to establish them.
With love,
Sara Barreirinhas
References:
- Habitos alimentares inadequados, excesso de peso e outros factores de risco metabólico formam os principais determinantes para a carga da doença; GBD Study (2024): https://nutrimento.pt/activeapp/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GBD-2021_PNPAS.pdf
- Freepik
