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Small steps, big impact

We exercise too little and have an unhealthy diet. Yet even small changes in our daily routines can bring about significant improvements.

Good food, fresh air and exercise are good for both body and soul. Nevertheless, the World Health Organisation (WHO) again recently confirmed: in Germany, almost half of women and almost as many men need to exercise more. And not only in Germany, almost everywhere in the world people are not active enough, eat the wrong food and weigh too much. The WHO estimates that the treatment of people worldwide who fall ill due to a lack of exercise alone could cost over 300 billion euros by 2030. And this in times when our health insurance companies are already expecting losses.

But even worse: an unhealthy lifestyle increases the risk of becoming ill. Heart and circulation are stressed, diabetes, depression or dementia can be the result, and our bones, joints and muscles suffer. In the long term, those affected will miss out on good years of life. Yet exercise and a healthy diet can be fun - and help to cure existing health problems.

More exercise

The good news is: there are things that are easy to implement and which are an important step. We should do at least two and a half hours of sport every week. But this does not have to be a marathon run or a visit to the gym. Even short distances by bicycle, gardening or cleaning count as exercise. Why not try to incorporate small exercise sessions into your daily routine, for example by walking up and down for a few minutes while brushing your teeth, talking on the phone or listening to the radio.

Tip: you can perform many beneficial exercises while sitting comfortably:

Rotate your shoulders.
Stretch your arms out to the side and raise them repeatedly up to your shoulders.
Stretch your legs forwards alternately and pull your toes towards your body.

The measures presented here can also be helpful in preparation for an upcoming operation. Read more about the reasons for this in our blog post "Prehabilitation".

Go to blog "Prehabilitation"

Better diet

Small changes to your diet can also be a great start. Only three quarters of Germans eat fruit every day. However, a handful of fruit twice a day is recommended. This could be a few berries in your breakfast muesli and an apple during the day. In contrast, we consume too much sugar. The maximum should be 50 grams. By way of comparison: this equates to drinking half a litre of cola. It is therefore best to quench thirst with unsweetened drinks. If water tastes too bland, you can always drink fruit spritzers or tea in good conscience.

Tip: the nutrition circle

The nutritional circle of the German Nutrition Society (DGE) provides a good overview of what a balanced diet could look like: the larger the area of a food group shown in the circle, the larger the quantities of this group should be eaten. However, not every meal needs to be perfect.