Leah Michaelides: my latest wellbeing tips for leading healthy lives

I used the ‘Sick of It!’ report created by Sign Health as part of my research study for my dissertation at Middlesex university. My dissertation looked into the actions a deaf person could undertake in order to lose weight.

During my research, I discovered that there were virtually no videos in British Sign Language explaining nutrition in depth such as how to eat well, eat healthily and how calories, sugar and fats are so important with our weight loss journeys.

Exercise is extremely important too as it contributes roughly 20% of our weight loss whereas nutrition contributes to roughly 80%. Even 30 minutes of walking briskly daily is a good way to be active.

The Sick of It! report said “Deaf people are more likely to be overweight, twice as likely to have high blood pressure, and four times as likely to be on the verge of diabetes.” Many deaf people are leading lifestyles that can led to heart attacks, strokes and other serious conditions which can be avoided if they know to eat well and be active.

I want to ensure deaf people have access to the latest news in health and wellbeing.

In December 2015, the Facebook page ‘Deaf & Nutrition’ was born. There is also another Facebook page called ‘The Deaf Gym’. There people can find helpful videos about eating healthily and exercising. The community spirit is strong and people are always supporting each other to be healthy and fit. Why not check it out?

While it is fantastic that we are taking steps to eat healthily and exercise, I have recently learnt that we can still do more. We need to start with the environment we are living in, especially with the homes we inhabit.

In the world we live in, we consume lots of plastics and use plastic boxes and bottles to store our foods and water and using certain things for cooking may not be good for our health. Depending on where you live, your water may not that be healthy.

I’d like to share my latest wellbeing discoveries with you all. Here are suggestions of extra things you can do to make your homes and bodies healthier starting with the kitchen:

Avoid the use of plastic boxes, bottles or cups. Switch to glass boxes, glass bottles or stainless steel bottles and glasses to drink out of and silicone. Plastics, even those that are BPA free, have tiny particles leaching out into our foods and drinks, and when we consume them, they are in our bodies and we don’t want plastic in our bodies, do we?

Filter your water. Each area is different but it is a good idea to check if your drink water comes out of a metal pipe and if your water has heavy metals in it. You can find out by checking your local authority’s website and see what their research on the water says.  Water filters such as AquaTru (based in USA) use the reverse osmosis system to filter out over 15 contaminants such as pesticides, fluoride and chlorine. You can have a water filter installed under your kitchen sink and in your shower. Skin is your largest organ and absorbs so many containments on a daily basis. With water filters, you can avoid any potential health issues.

Eat organic foods. Agriculture in the UK uses predominately modern farming techniques that involve pesticides, herbicides and insecticides which are harmful to our soil, our insects, our environment and our bodies. Eventually, these chemicals leech into our rivers, lakes and the seas. It’s been proven that pesticides kill our bees so if they can kill our bees, why should we eat foods that have pesticides on them? I recommend getting vegetables, fruit, bread and eggs from either Riverford or Abel and Cole who can deliver organic foods to your homes in boxes. You can get your organic dry food such as beans, pasta and rice from supermarkets, local health shops or Planet Organic.

Switch to cast iron or ceramic pots and pans. Cast iron or ceramic pots and pans have been around for hundreds of years are made of natural products and are considered very safe to use. Then Teflon and other non-stick companies came along and used their clever marketing ploy of saying that food does not stick to their pans! The downside? The Teflon pans are made of man made chemicals called polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and PFOAs especially is a cause for concern for health reasons and can stay in our bodies for a very long time after cooking foods in Teflan pans. And there are potential risks of testicular cancer, possible links to kidney cancer and thyroid cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer is part of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and has classified PFOAs as “possibly carcinogenic to humans”. The danger is there when the Teflan pans overheat and emit polymer-fume fever and cause flu-like symptoms. I would recommend using cast iron or ceramic pots and pans for our cooking and one plus is that they can last for so many years.

To conclude this, I’m confident that with awareness and accessibility to knowledge that deaf people in the UK can go that extra mile to make themselves healthier at home by adopting the above methods, eating well and healthily and exercising. We all need to be responsible for our own care and the above mentioned is for educational purposes only.

With the simple switches we can do in our own kitchen, we can look after our bodies and try to ensure that we reduce our possibilities of developing any other health issues. Then we can have fewer visits to the doctor and reduce the burden on the NHS.

Let’s have happy bodies and lead long lives!

Leah is a foodie, health nut and keen cook. Loves coffee, unicorns and fairies. Based in London. Follow her foodie ideas at Deaf & Nutrition via Facebook and be sure to check out www.eatfoodloveweb.wordpress.com