BloodDrive

GET YOUR BLOOD TESTED BEFORE YOU TAKE VITAMINS!

In 2018 the UK population spent £442 million on vitamins – did they know if they really needed them? According to Mintel research vitamin D overtook the previous best seller vitamin C.
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According to the NHS report if the average Caucasian exposes themselves to 12 minutes of full/partial sunshine every day on average this would be sufficient to meet our needs. Vitamin D is the only nutrient we produce from sunlight.

But if we eat salmon or tuna, eggs, mushrooms and shrimp, all of which contain vitamin D, we then have no need to take the supplement.

Here are some initial thoughts about blood. GO!

Here are some facts and statistics about blood. GO!

If you’re not feeling great should you take multivitamins?  GO!

Our blood changes and needs checking.  GO!

See how important blood chemistry is. GO!

Be amazed at the size of the nutrition market. GO!

See whether we actually need supplements. GO!

See how blood is very important to your body. GO!

Your blood needs cleaning like oil in an engine. GO!

See the best foods for cleaning your blood. GO!

If you’re a visitor to our site you can join and download information, assess your own health and create your own action plans, and even contribute to our site.  GO!

We have a video and a couple of testimonials. GO!

See what you can do next.. GO!

We have some additional information on this subject. GO!

Some Initial Thoughts

Do we need vitamins?

Furthermore when you’re taking vitamins do you ever look on the label and ask: how are these made, which country do they come from, are they all natural ingredients, and if so where is the list, are they organic or chemically produced?

Ultimately do I know if I need them, have I had a look at my blood composition to find out? If these points leave you thinking Ummh! don’t buy any more until you have looked at what vitamins you’re lacking. Check your diet and food intake and secondly if you feel a bit run down take a blood test and see what might be missing.

Some surgeries do still offer a well person blood test to see how things are with your liver, kidneys, thyroid, cholesterol, sugar levels and prostate. Blood tests give a good indication of health and provide your doctor with certain signs that indicate something might be amiss or not.

Taking a vitamin blood test, a simple finger prick can help you find out more. These tests cover a range of blood functions that will enable you to Drive your Health more accurately.

Facts About Blood

people
1 %

have taken supplements in last 12 months (Independent)

people
1 %

take multi-vitamins every day (NHS)

people
1 million

in the UK will have diabetes by 2025 (Diabetes UK)

1 %

of blood’s volume is plasma

multivitamins

I feel under the weather. Take multivitamins? That's not the answer.

How many of us have rushed down the famous shop who sell discounted health products, buy one get one free? We chat at work or on the train and or we read a magazine that says: are you feeling a bit sluggish in the morning or lethargic in the early afternoon? Do your bones ache or crack when you get up or down? Well here’s the answer – vitamin X,Y,Z.

We rush down to the shop and buy several things and start taking them for a week or two and then we either see no change or psychologically think they are doing some good, BUT it never lasts.

We take tablets randomly not really knowing whether we are deficient in that mineral or vitamin at all, which is strange. We could be gobbling down vitamin D tablets because a friend at work swears by them when in actual fact we could be lacking in B12.

Most of us know that if we eat a really healthy diet and make it varied each week and balanced that we should not need supplements. They do recommend for certain stages in our lives we need extra – eg in pregnancy or old age, but health professionals say in those circumstances you are better eating more of the natural product that produces the vitamin than taking a supplement where you have no idea where it came from, what’s in it or what natural organic ingredients went into it.

Or is there another reason? We all seem to run-around today and life is very fast paced and our diets are not always balanced or varied for a variety of reasons. In this case it’s easier to pop a pill than start having to plan menus and food shops. If that is the case make sure it’s organic and you can be sure where it came from and the ingredients are truly natural. But before we do that lets find out if we are deficient in the vitamin before spending hundreds on products we don’t need.

life blood like an engine

Our blood is constantly changing and needs regular checks like oil in an engine...

…and adapting to different environments, foods, drinks, work, stress levels, family etc. Blood carries chemicals, food, hydration, medicine, relaxants everything the body needs. Often the first thing a doctor will do is take a blood test to see if there is any imbalance.

Pregnancy or menopause, working too hard, over-exercising, sleep deprivation (see SleepDrive), oxygen levels, smog in a city all impact on chemicals pushed into your blood. The temptation is to rush out and buy some multivitamins.

Having a test to check the condition of your blood is a smart thing to do.

blood chemistry table

How important is it to have the right blood chemistry

Blood chemistry tests give important information about how well a person's kidneys, liver, and other organs are working. An abnormal amount of a substance in the blood can be a sign of disease or side effect of treatment.

What can blood chemistry see?

The following are some common blood chemistry tests you may have. An electrolyte panel measures sodium, potassium, chloride, magnesium, phosphate and bicarbonate. Kidney function tests (also called a renal panel) measure blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine. Diabetes, HIV, anemia, cancer,coronary heart disease.

lots of vegetables

The nutrition market is huge

Smart advertising and promotions suggest that taking multivitamins will make you feel much better.

In fact the global dietary supplements market was valued at USD 132.8 billion in 2016 and is expected to reach USD 220.3 billion in 2022 and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 8.8% between 2017 and 2022.

The value of the health and wellness market in the UK increased over the period observed from over 22.6 billion euro in 2013 to over 26 billion euro in 2018.

DIET IS KEY- Do we need health supplements?

Most health professionals will say that you don’t need to take supplements. If you eat a normal balanced diet and exercise regular your body should not require anything extra. I guess this should be true but with today’s busy lifestyles, parents raising kids and holding down full time jobs and taking care of a house etc getting the right balance of food intake to ensure we get the right amount of vitamin and minerals can be very hard to do. I don’t think many people are measuring their weekly dosage of vitamin C or D and whether the amount is enough or not.

We think it is fair to say everyone is different with different lifestyles. Some people have very stressed jobs or maybe are pregnant or recovering from an illness, therefore a quick blood test can set all that straight without guessing.

Lifestyle plays a very important part in our blood composition and the food we require is needed in different quantities. Stress has a major impact on our blood and body and knowing how to handle it is important.

blood important to the body

Blood is one of the most important things in your body

Blood is needed to keep us alive. It brings oxygen and nutrients to all the parts of the body so they can keep working. Blood carries carbon dioxide and other waste materials to the lungs, kidneys, and digestive system to be removed from the body. Blood also fights infections, and carries hormones around the body.

The main function of red blood cells is to carry oxygen from the lungs to the body tissues. And to carry carbon dioxide as a waste product away from the tissues and back to the lungs. Haemoglobin is an important protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to all parts of our body. The blood serves three main functions:

Transport.
The blood transports gases like oxygen and carbon dioxide to and from the lungs and the rest of the body. The blood also moves nutrients from the digestive tract to the rest of the body, and transports waste products, hormones, and other cells.

Protection.
The blood contains white blood cells that destroy invading microorganisms, as well as platelet factors to clot the blood and minimize blood loss from an injury.

Regulation.
The blood helps to regulate your body’s pH, water balance, and temperature.

Does my blood need cleaning like the oil in an engine?

Technically no, it does not need changing but you can clean the blood and keep it healthy with eating healthy foods. Here is how you can keep it clean.

Your blood has a lot of important responsibilities, so it’s no wonder that people are looking for ways to keep their blood free of wastes and toxins.

Fortunately, your body already has a system to take care of the detox process and remove waste from the blood, namely the liver and the kidneys.

Liver. The liver is found in the upper right part of the abdomen. It helps convert food into energy. It also converts toxins, like alcohol, harmful metals, and medications, into harmless substances and ensures they are removed from the body.

Kidneys. The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs responsible for filtering the blood and removing waste.
Your body’s natural detox process also involves your intestines, skin, spleen, and lymphatic system.

You’ll see a lot of unfounded claims about detox supplements that can supposedly cleanse and purify the blood. While the ingredients in these supplements might help the blood indirectly by supporting kidney and liver function, there’s no evidence to show that they have a direct impact on removing waste and toxins from the blood.

Keeping blood clean and healthy, blood cleaning foods

Best foods for a natural “detox”
There’s no single miracle food that will help your organs detox your blood. An overall healthy diet that includes plenty of fruits and vegetables is a great start.

The following foods in particular have been shown to positively affect the liver and kidney’s ability to cleanse and filter out waste and toxins from the blood:

Water
By far the best way to boost your kidneys’ performance is to drink enough water. Your kidneys depend on water to help them eliminate waste from the body. Water also helps keep your blood vessels open so that blood can move freely. Severe dehydration can lead to kidney damage.

Your urine should be light yellow or colorless throughout the day. According to the National Kidney Association, you should be producing about 6 cups of urine each day.

An adequate water intake will be different for everyone. A general rule is eight glasses of water per day, but you may need more if you engage in hard exercise or you weigh more. Men generally need more water than women.

Cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts)
Cruciferous vegetables are often recommended for people with kidney disease. They’re high in antioxidants and extremely nutritious. They have been shown to reduce the risk of many types of cancer, including kidney cancer. Plus, they’re incredibly versatile. You can eat them raw, steamed, baked, grilled, or as part of a soup or casserole.

Blueberries
Blueberries are incredibly high in antioxidants, which can protect the liver from damage. Animal studies have found that whole blueberries can help keep the liver healthy.

You can snack on blueberries fresh or frozen, or mix them into yogurt, oatmeal, or a smoothie.

Cranberries
Cranberries are often touted for their urinary tract benefits. They have been shown to prevent bacteria from attaching to the urinary tract, which in turn keeps your kidneys free from infection.

To access the benefits of this fruit, you can simply add a handful of fresh cranberries to oatmeal, smoothies, or even salads.

Coffee
Drinking coffee may have protective effects on the liver. Studies Source show that drinking coffee lowers the risk of cirrhosis in people with chronic liver disease and may also the risk of developing liver cancer.

Coffee is with a lower risk of death in people with chronic liver disease and an improved response to antiviral treatment in people with hepatitis C. The benefits may be due to coffee’s ability to prevent the accumulation of fat and collagen in the liver.

Garlic
Garlic adds a wonderful flavor to any dish, whether raw or in powdered form. It has anti-inflammatory properties and can help lower your cholesterol and blood pressure. High blood pressure can harm the blood vessels in the kidney, so it’s a good idea to keep it in check.

Grapefruit
Grapefruit is high in antioxidants and may help control inflammation in the body. Most studies looking at the effect of grapefruit’s components have been conducted in animals, but the results are promising.
These have found that antioxidants contained in grapefruit can help protect the liver from injury and the harmful effects of alcohol.

Apples
Apples contain a high amount of a soluble fiber known as pectin. Soluble fiber helps regulate your blood sugar levels. Since high blood sugar can damage your kidneys, anything that helps keep it in check will have an indirect, positive effect on kidney health. Apples make a great snack, especially with a bit of peanut butter.

Fish
Certain types of fish, like salmon, tuna, or sardines, are high in omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to decrease blood triglyceride levels and lower blood pressure, both of which can help out your liver and kidneys.

Keep in mind that fish are high in protein. If you already have kidney disease, you should limit the amount of high-protein foods you eat. Eating too much protein may make your kidneys work harder.

What should I do about checking my blood

Firstly, if you are feeling under the weather or feeling out of sorts or just don’t feel right, don’t pass it off. Call you doctor and ask for a blood test. Explain how you feel and could you get an all-round check for my; cholesterol, blood sugar, thyroid, prostate, liver, kidney, vitamins deficiency etc.

It costs the doctor nothing to do the test and it can uncover any manner of issues Or NOT and also may identify more serious early symptoms that are hanging around.

Alternatively, you can look online for a blood test kit company and pay for a test done at home via the post.

We have found a company called Forthwith life who supply blood testing facilities at home. Why not check it out and get yourself an accurate picture of your blood quality before you dive in and buy supplements.

For visitors

Why don't you join us?

You can register to join us as a member, when you’ll be able to download our stuff and comment, or as a YouDriver when you’ll also be able to check your health and set up your own action plans to make some improvements.  If you’ve already registered, sign in below. Or let us know what you think.

MyPlate Nutrition Guide

MyPlate Nutrition Guide

This is a 5 minute US food guide shows a way of representing what foods are good for you.

"It just so happens that my body type and my lifestyle gives me a preclusion for high blood sugars."
Tom Hanks
Actor
"Blood is a very special juice."
Goethe picture
Goethe
German poet, scientist, statesman

More information

Interpreting Your Blood Work

How to Read It and Natural Ways to Improve Your Results

Your doctor has ordered blood tests, but do you know how to read the results? At some point in your life, you will probably either want or need to get a blood test, but unless you ask your healthcare professional, you may might know what the results really mean for your health.

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How Blood Works

(LITERACY LAND) Paperback

Enthuses all readers with attention-grabbing titles, engaging humour and inventive topics to inspire excellence and enjoyment in learning.


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Fruits And Vegetables As Medicine

Go Green For Your Bones, Eyes, And Blood: Uses Of Vegetables In Our Body

A fruit is defined as the edible part of a plant that consists of the seeds and surrounding tissues, while vegetables are plants cultivated for their edible parts. Fruits and vegetables are important sources of micronutrients and dietary fibers and are components of a healthy diet, which help in preventing major diseases.

Go to Amazon

Next Steps

It doesn’t matter what stage  you’re at – it’s important to be the best you can be.  At the end of the day it’s about taking personal responsibility – You Drive!

It’s really your choice. You can find out more information about the subject, or see other institutions that can help by going to Support. There you will find organisations, training, coaching, self-help courses and other items to support your personal change. We have also started developing a panel of experts to provide info, advice, help and support. 

Get Support

There are times when you need some help to meet your aims –  a helping hand. That might be  an organisation that can provide you with some help,  some specialised information, a particular book or tool to help, or just getting some background reading material.

We have a lot of items which appear on our Drives and other pages, which you can go to by clicking on the picture or link.  Some contain affiliate links and we may receive a tiny commission for purchases made through these links.

If you know of anything which could help you or our other visitors then please click the button on the right, which will take you to a Contacts page where you contact us.

Experts

We are compiling a list of experts who can provide advice, help or specialised services.  You will be able to access these experts from anywhere on our site you see our ‘Experts’ symbol.  Click the green E to see what our Experts list will look like, with a couple of imaginary ‘experts’ added!

More Information

Scroll down to see more information on this Drive. 

If you register you can also download reports, white papers, quizzes and other collaterals.  We will never ask you for any financial information, and we’ll only send you the information you want. You can register for our site either above or in the footer below.  You can provide your own questions and experiences in order to help other members.  We only moderate for spam and inflammatory language – see our moderation policy.

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Healthline have an article on foods that are high in vitamin D

Plant-based diets provide good nutrition – from the Physicians Committee

Everyday Health explores the relationship between stress and your diet

Stuff you might want re blood

Now you’ve read about blood you might want to make a bit of a statement.  Have a look at some stuff below we think has some humour value!  We may make pennies on commission, but that’s not the point really.  Click on the image to see more details.

The Everything Guide to the Blood Sugar Diet

Balance your blood sugar levels to reduce inflamation, lose weight, and prevent disease: Balance Your … Lose Weight, and Prevent Disease

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blood sugar diet

Eat Right 4 Your Type

Eat Right 4 Your Type harnesses the power of our own amazing bio-chemistry to help you to cast aside the fad diets for good!

Dr Peter D’Adamo and Catherine Whitney are back with a fully updated and revised edition of their sensational book to demonstrate how working with your blood type plays a key role in losing weight, avoiding disease and promoting fitness and longevity.

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eat right for your type

Blood Donation I Always Give 100% I Donate Blood Long Sleeve T-Shirt

Available in many sizes and colours

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give blood t shirt

Paid In Blood Sweat & Beers for Beer Lovers T-Shirt

Available in many sizes and colours

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blood sweat tee shirt

All areas of health are interlinked

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Find your initial focus

You might think that physical, financial and mental health are quite separate, and for some people they are. However, often a problem in one area has a knock-on effect on others. Losing your job can lead to anxiety and depression, which can turn you to drink and impact your health.

You might have a severe issue in one area but that can lead to problems in other areas, and the people treating you for the first problem won’t be equipped to deal with these linked issues.

For example, doctors and nurses can treat you for a physical problem but can’t advise you about your job or finances.  Nor for the anxiety that comes with it, apart from prescribing some drugs, which might or might not be the best solution.

We encourage you to take a holistic view – we look at all areas and offer support across the whole spectrum.

health areas interlinked

Even this view of health is simplistic, as you’ll discover later if you go down that route.  You might want to consider overall health, or wellness or wellbeing, which include additional types of health, such as occupational health (how you are in your job).   Then there’s happiness and quality of life – how do these fit?

If you’re interested in that, click the link here to see more information.

To close this box and go back click the X at the top or just click outside the box

Interpreting Your Blood Work

How to Read It and Natural Ways to Improve Your Results

Your doctor has ordered blood tests, but do you know how to read the results? At some point in your life, you will probably either want or need to get a blood test, but unless you ask your healthcare professional, you may might know what the results really mean for your health.

Go to Amazon

blood work

How Blood Works

(LITERACY LAND) Paperback

Enthuses all readers with attention-grabbing titles, engaging humour and inventive topics to inspire excellence and enjoyment in learning.


Go to Amazon

blood book

Fruits And Vegetables As Medicine

Go Green For Your Bones, Eyes, And Blood: Uses Of Vegetables In Our Body

A fruit is defined as the edible part of a plant that consists of the seeds and surrounding tissues, while vegetables are plants cultivated for their edible parts. Fruits and vegetables are important sources of micronutrients and dietary fibers and are components of a healthy diet, which help in preventing major diseases.

Go to Amazon

fruit & veg book

Health Areas in Domains

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Domains

We break down the overall concept of health or wellness into ‘bite-sized chunks’ that we can actually do something about.  The first level we call health domains. 

We like the Life of Wellness site and we have chosen the following domains.

1. Emotional Wellness: Awareness and acceptance of feelings
2. Spiritual Wellness: A search for meaning and purpose
3. Intellectual Wellness: Recognition of your creativity, knowledge and skills
4. Physical Wellness: Need for physical activity and balanced nutrition
5. Environmental Wellness: Positive awareness and impact on your environment
6. Financial Wellness: Debt reduction, cash flow balance or financial future planning
7. Occupational Wellness: Personal achievement and enrichment from your career
8. Social Wellness: Contribution to your community

Health Areas

Within each domain, we have included a number of health areas. These are specific issues that you can tackle.  Within each health area, e.g. Depression, we have built additional information and exercises which you can do to help in the area. You can create your own Action Plan to address this area, and see

Emotional: Anxiety, Compassion Fatigue, Depression, Gambling, Laughter, Narcissistic, Personality Disorder, Sleep, Stress

Environmental: Environmental Issues, Greenness

Financial: Debt, Family Finance, Financial Planning, Financial Wellness

Intellectual: IQ, Personality, Procrastination

Occupational: Jobs for Different Personality Types, Retirement Income, Work Life Balance

Physical: Alcohol, Disabilities, Dizziness, Drugs, Fitness, Food Preferences, General Health, Healthy Ageing, Illness, Nutrition, Sleep Apnea, Smoking

Social: Communication Skills, Communication Styles, Domestic Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Love Partnerships, Mental Abuse, Parenting Styles, Sexual Addiction

Spiritual: Are You Sensitive, Mystical Guidance, Spirituality

Each health area has supporting information and its own questionnaire.

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Understand Health

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Physical, financial and mental health

One definition of health is:

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. 

The NHS define health as: ‘We use a broad definition of health that encompasses both physical and mental health, as well as wellbeing. This means we are not only interested in whether or not people are ill or have a health condition, but also in how healthy and well they are.’

We believe we also have to consider financial health, as this can easily impact physical and mental health. Click the button to see an example of how these are connected.

 It gets more complicated…

What is Health? How about Wellness, Wellbeing or Happiness?

The Active Wellbeing Society (TAWS) define Health as a state of the overall mental and physical state of a person; the absence of disease. They define Wellbeing or wellness as a way of life that aims to enhance well-being and refers to a more holistic whole-of-life experience which also includes emotional and spiritual aspects of life.  We expand on this definition of health to include financial health and mental health, to make it synonymous with wellbeing or wellness.  

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Health domains

You need to scroll down to see all the info in this popup – sorry for going on so much!

We break down the overall concept of health or wellness into ‘bite-sized chunks’ that we can actually do something about.  The first level we call health domains.

We like the Life of Wellness site and we have chosen the following domains.

1. Emotional Wellness: Awareness and acceptance of feelings
2. Spiritual Wellness: A search for meaning and purpose
3. Intellectual Wellness: Recognition of your creativity, knowledge and skills
4. Physical Wellness: Need for physical activity and balanced nutrition
5. Environmental Wellness: Positive awareness and impact on your environment
6. Financial Wellness: Debt reduction, cash flow balance or financial future planning
7. Occupational Wellness: Personal achievement and enrichment from your career
8. Social Wellness: Contribution to your community

wellness wheel

Health Areas

Within each domain, we have included a number of health areas. These are specific issues that you can tackle.  Within each health area, e.g. Depression, once you have subscribed we have built additional information and exercises which you can do to help in the area.

To close this box and go back click the X at the top or just click outside the box

See which domains you should address

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Having established that we use 8 domains, you need to understand which you should concentrate on.

The 8 are:

  • Emotional
  • Environmental
  • Financial
  • Intellectual
  • Occupational
  • Physical
  • Social
  • Spiritual

 

You can take a questionnaire, which scores you in each domain.  You can decide which domains you are strong in, and which you need to improve.

Another analysis shows which domains you should look at, but also which domains you want to look at.

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Locus of Control

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  • We want to help people in all aspects of their health  – physical, financial and mental. We also provide detailed explanations of how overall health (or well-being) is measured.
  • We believe these things are often linked, so we try and address health holistically. We are building templates, questionnaires and exercises to help you identify what’s important to you.
  • We think people should try and take responsibility for  of their own health as much as they can.  See below for what that means.

People look at things differently.  Some people believe things happen to them, while others believe they can influence what happens to them. Technically this is called the ‘locus of control’.  People can have an Internal or external Locus of Control

So how do you see things?

Psychology Today have a 15 minute test which gives you a summary of your position you can buy the detailed results if you want to.

My Personality Test have a 10 minute test which gives you a summary.

People tend to take more responsibility (locus gets more internal) as they get older.  However, external isn’t always bad – for example if you are physically unable to do some things you can accept it and focus on the things you can do.  This American video explains the concept and gives examples of how this can affect relationships.

locus of control

Internal

  • More likely to take responsibility for actions
  • Tend to be less influenced by others

External

  • Blame outside forces for what happens
  • Don’t believe they can change their situation themselves

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Add your attitude to change - see how you view changes in your life

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Do you need to change?

No matter how healthy you are at the moment, the chances are that there are some areas you could improve. It may be that you have a real problem in one or more areas, and you would like to make some improvements.

At YouDrive we accept that there are many different degrees of ‘not wellness’ in a large number of different health areas, ranging from physical illness such as covid-19 through mental illness such as anxiety through to financial problems like debt.  We try and help where the problem ranges from ‘slight’ to quite bad’ – after this expert help and intervention may be needed.

However, especially in these times, we have to try and make these changes ourselves, possibly with some help from others, whether remotely or face to face.

The thing is, to make an improvement we have to change some things.

This involves changing our behaviour in some respects, and that’s not always easy.

Henry Ford, the creator of the assembly line, is quoted as saying “if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got”.  

henry ford

Another way of looking at this: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” – attributed to Albert Einstein.

Consequently we need to make some changes.  The problem is that we have already developed a lot of habits, some of which we need to break and replace by better ones.  Some of our bad habits have become entrenched, and the bad results they create in turn engender further bad habits to develop – in effect the bad habits can feed on themselves.

We need to understand how we can make changes and stick to them, and that’s what this part of your health profile is about.

It will involve some learning, through reading, some videos and some additional information and also seeing how you react to change currently.

It will also ask you to consider whether you feel you are in charge of your future, or whether you feel it’s all fate.

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Assess your overall health using a health questionnaire

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At YouDrive we try and help people improve their health. We use ‘health’ but we understand there are other terms such as wellbeing or even happiness that reflect how we are doing in our lives – if you’re interested in the different definitions and ideas see our page on the subject.

We want to help whether you have a particular problem – physical, financial or mental – or if you just want to improve some specific part of your life or just make some improvements overall.

You’d be surprised, but there has been a serious amount of scientific work done in this area over the last twenty years.

So first we allow you to assess your current health (or wellbeing, or happiness).  We do this by questionnaire.  Which one is determined by the type of person you are:

  1. You understand yourself well and want a quick overview of your health and wellness, and will drill down in any areas needing work
  2. You want to do a more detailed assessment and then focus on areas you’re already aware of
  3. You want to look at the whole situation in more detail across all the health domains.

By the way, we take your privacy seriously – we collect information that you choose to provide but we de-identify it as much as possible and will never share it with anyone without your explicit consent.

You can then drill down into some specific areas and there are more questionnaires to see your situation in these particular areas.  We provide you with specific information and refer you to other potential aspects of help. Our next step is to build a personalised action plan – for now we will make a suggestion for you to develop your own plan and then after a time you can see whether this has had a positive impact by retaking the test.

In future we will be engaging with medical and behavioural specialists to devise action plans for individual people with specific situations.

We have an overall questionnaire which you can complete which will assess your current state.

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Values, Attitudes and Beliefs

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We all have our beliefs, attitudes and values – these have developed throughout our life based on who we are and what we have done. Let’s look at what these are.

The University of Reading explain: “People’s values, beliefs and attitudes are formed and bonded over time through the influences of family, friends, society and life experiences. So, by the time you’re an adult, you can hold very definite views on just about everything with a sense of “no one is going to change my mind”.

The combination of your personal values, beliefs and attitudes are your moral principles that guide you in life and affect your behaviour. However, your views can wildly differ to others and in an institution such as a school, these beliefs may be counter to the values of the school, child development or indeed the law.” 

Let’s look more closely at the differences between beliefs, attitudes and values.

Beliefs

These come from real experiences – we think our beliefs are based on reality, but in fact our beliefs colour our experiences; also, an original experience e.g. when we were a child is not the same as what’s happening now. Beliefs can be moral, religious or cultural and reflect who we are. They can be rational (‘it gets colder in winter’) or irrational (‘I am never going to make something of myself’).

Attitudes

This is an immediate belief or disposition about something specific. It is a recurring group of beliefs and behaviours aimed at specific groups, people, ideas or objects. They will normally be positive or negative and we will always behave that way to the target group. Examples of attitudes include confidence (I can or can’t do something), grateful (I an entitled to / grateful for XXX) and cheerful (I am generally happy / miserable).

Values

These are things (principles or qualities) that we hold in high regard or consider to be worthwhile or right / wrong. They are formed by a belief related to the worth of something – an idea or behaviour. Some values are common (e.g. family comes first, the value of friendship) or cultural (which the whole community have – see video at Study.com here)

The theory

Links to Wikipedia

Expectancy Value Theory suggests you balance your beliefs about something with the value you attach to it. The Theory of Reasoned Action suggests that beliefs and evaluation about behavioural outcomes determine attitudes, and intentions lead directly to behaviour.

Beliefs

Expressions of confidence – can change over time

Attitudes

Learned predispositions to something – are subject to change

Values

Ideals that guide our behaviour – Generally long lasting and often need life changing experience to change

Iceberg demonstrating implicit and explicit bias – from Owlcation

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A Butterfly Life: 4 Keys to More Happiness, Better Health and Letting Your True Self Shine

Times of change can be a challenge, no doubt! Whether it’s a relationship breakup, job loss, or being diagnosed with a serious health issue. Or you may WANT things to be different, but it feels a little scary or overwhelming. The butterfly reminds us change can be beautiful, even necessary, in order to realize our full potential and live our best life.