Health coaches play a big role in advising people about a healthier lifestyles. Their advice often includes these two essentials: a balanced diet and regular exercise. These are indeed cornerstones of good health, influencing everything from physical fitness to mental well-being. However, two crucial elements of a healthier lifestyle go unnoticed or are, wrongly, undervalued by health coaches.
Photo by Jacopo Maia on Unsplash
The power of daylight
Daylight is more than just a cue for our daily routines; it's vital for our physical and psychological health. Exposure to natural light, or as we call it ‘good light’, during the day helps regulate our circadian rhythms, the internal process that manages our sleep-wake cycle. This regulation is essential not just for, here it comes, a high quality of sleep but also for mood, energy, well-being and to reduce the risk of conditions like seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
And we didn’t even talk about vitamin D!
Sleep
Sleep, the other often-overlooked aspect of health, is fundamental to our well-being. It's the body's time to repair, regenerate, and reset. Quality sleep contributes to a lot of health benefits! It's during sleep that the body undertakes essential processes such as clearing out toxins from the brain, repairing cells, and consolidating memories.
Chronic sleep deprivation is linked to an increased risk of numerous conditions, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and depression. Furthermore, inadequate sleep can impair cognitive functions, reduce physical performance, and diminish the body's ability to fight infections.
So to all health coaches, don’t forget the fundamental roles of daylight exposure and sleep! And if daylight is not possible, it’s possible that adequate electric light compensates for the lack of daylight to a large extend.