If you happen to pay close attention to your appearance, you’ll know that proper diet and exercise is the simple answer to looking and feeling your best. But what if you go to the doctor and get some news you weren’t expecting. Maybe your cholesterol is too high—despite eating a low-fat diet. Or it could be that you have some pre-cancerous lesions, even though you’ve never smoked. Even though you may look and even feel your best on the outside, doesn’t mean that your internal organs may not be in trouble. Here are a few tips on how to stay healthy from the inside out.
Stop Abusing Your Body
Body abuse doesn’t just come from someone who is an alcoholic or is addicted to forms of hardcore prescription opioids. And while prescription drug rehab is the best solution for major addiction issues, abusing your body can come in many ways, including:
- *Yo-yo dieting and binge eating.
- *Losing and gaining a significant amount of weight in a short time frame.
- *Binge drinking alcohol and frequent consumption of alcohol.
- *Eating high amounts of sugar frequently.
- *Smoking or being exposed to secondhand smoke.
- *Consuming foods high in fat and cholesterol.
- *Poor oral hygiene and not visiting the dentist frequently.
Any of the above habits can leave a significant amount of damage to your internal organs as well as your entire vascular system. While you may appear to be trim and healthy on the outside, inside these veins and organs be severely damaged. Always tell your doctor about your habits and don’t be afraid to reach out for help if you feel you have an addiction or problem and just can’t stop.
Annual Check-ups And Tests
One of the biggest ways that you can save your internal organs from any type of damage is to have those annual checkups and pre-screenings that your doctor recommends. Two of the most important ones are:
- *Cancer screenings.
- *Testing for heart disease.
If you’ve had a history of cancer or a strong family presence of cancer, you’ll definitely want to have the correct workup for a cancer checkup. This may include blood work, diagnostic testing, and a physical exam to check for the signs of early-stage cancer or signs of precancerous development. Because of the genetic link of cancer for some individuals, you could have a tumor growing that you don’t even have symptoms for yet. Sometimes a simple blood test is all that is needed to help indicate if you may be a genetic carrier of a certain type of cancer.
For heart disease, you may be at risk for a heart attack, even though you are young, have a low BMI and exercise regularly. Certain tests can lead your doctor to check out any suspicions early on—before you have a heart attack or stroke.
Stubborn Fat
Maybe you’re not overweight but you still have a layer of stubborn belly fat across your midsection. While it may seem like it’s only unappealing when you’re trying on your skinny jeans or pushing yourself into a bikini, it’s the fat underneath your visible belly that can actually be deadly. It’s called visceral fat. Visceral fat intertwines with your major abdominal organs—your liver, kidneys, and pancreas. It can go as far as inhibiting their full function. The result could lead to diseases like:
- *Diabetes
- *Fatty liver disease
- *Pancreatitis
- *Kidney infection or failure
There are medications that your doctor can prescribe as well as a specific diet that can help reduce your overall occurrence of visceral fat.
Second Opinion On A Diagnosis
Did you recently get diagnosed with cancer or some form of disease? While you may trust your doctor, it’s always good to get another second opinion, until you’re satisfied with the diagnosis. One doctor may go above routine blood work and a physical exam and order more extensive diagnostic testing like an MRI or PET scan as opposed to an X-ray or CT scan. This will give a better picture of what abnormalities show up and what the best treatment plan will be for your diagnosis.
Beauty is more than skin deep, that is true. When it comes to health, be sure to take a deeper look inside to see what’s going on. It could save your life.
