3 health tips for Cuban expats

As expats, many of us live busy and hectic lives and forget to take proper care of ourselves on a day to day basis. Adding more motion into your life can bring significant health benefits and reduce the chance of becoming seriously ill. Life as an expat can bring many stresses, and your health shouldn’t have to be one of them, right?
This week, we take a look at four simple tips you can follow which you can easily adopt, don’t take too much time and cam make a huge difference:

Stay hydrated 
One of the most straightforward and most time efficient steps towards a healthier lifestyle is to just drink more water. Staying adequately hydrated throughout the day will ensure that you are more alert and give you more energy. An easy way to remember to drink more water throughout the day is buying a large water bottle to keep with you and refill throughout the day. This is also better for both your body and the environment than repeatedly purchasing plastic bottles which are then thrown away, or reused. Just having your own water bottle will act as a reminder to drink up every time you see it.

Walk more
Walking is a great way to improve or maintain your overall health. Studies say that just 30 minutes walk every day can increase cardiovascular fitness, strengthen bones, reduce excess body fat, and boost muscle power and endurance. It can also reduce your risk of developing conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and some cancers. As a bonus, walking is free and doesn’t require any special equipment or training and it’s easy to achieve: you can park your car more far away in the parking lot, or take the stairs instead of the elevator.

Go for checkups
Many diseases don’t show up in terms of symptoms until it is too late. Blood tests for blood sugar, vitamins, and minerals, along with urine tests are standard tests you can take. More elaborate tests like mammograms (for women), PAP smear (for women), colonoscopy, etc. should be done at the recommended intervals. If the test results are not optimal, it means that you can quickly take corrective action. If they are great, that’s fantastic and you can have a peace of mind.