We discuss all aspects of health here, including dealing with disease and serious health issues. But for your overall health and wellness, there’s nothing more important than the basics. This article on how to take back your life has simple pearls of wisdom for your physical health along with your emotional and spiritual health.

1. Get sufficient sleep every night. Sleep is often the single most undervalued behavior in our lives and the one with the most immediate power to improve our experience in every waking moment. If you sleep in the 6-6½ hour range, like the average American, just one more hour of sleep a night will leave you feeling more physically energized, emotionally resilient, and mentally clear.

2. Move more. It’s not only good for your heart’s health, but also for your mental health. Do some form of exercise that significantly raises your heart rate for 30 minutes at least four times a week and move frequently during the day.

3. Eat less, more often. Food is fuel. Lean proteins and complex carbohydrates are high-octane fuel. You’re best off when you keep feeding your internal furnace in small doses throughout the day, beginning with breakfast.

Read the rest of the article and you might find yourself coming back to this list often.

Staying active is the best way to improve and maintain your health.

Doctors and researches were never quite sure exactly why it was important but now it is more clear.

During the three days of inactivity, volunteers’ blood sugar levels spiked significantly after meals, with the peaks increasing by about 26 percent compared with when the volunteers were exercising and moving more. What’s more, the peaks grew slightly with each successive day.

This change in blood sugar control after meals “occurred well before we could see any changes in fitness or adiposity,” or fat buildup, due to the reduced activity, Dr. Thyfault says. So the blood sugar swings would seem to be a result, directly, of the volunteers not moving much.

It is important to keep active even if only in short bursts if that is all that is possible.

5 minute breaks to do jumping jacks, run up and down the stairs or do laps around the house add up when you squeeze them into your daily schedule.

Find the time to get the 10,000 steps recommended by the American Heart Association into your day.

These 5 miles a day could save your health.