English Conversations on Health and Wellness | Vocabulary for Modern Health Topics

Whether you're into podcasts that share the latest tips to optimize your health,

or you love chatting with your friends about the benefits of meditation flow

states, sleep hygiene, and wearable tech,

I want you to have the most UpToDate English vocabulary for meaningful

conversations on health and wellbeing.

I also want you to better understand the conversations happening around you,

whether it's podcasts, viral videos, groundbreaking research,

news, interviews, or even suggestions from friends and family. In this lesson,

we're going to dive into a variety of hot topics such as complimentary and

alternative medicine, mental health, technology, aging and diet.

So grab your English vocabulary notebook and let's get started.

But before we go any further, if this is your first time here, welcome.

I'm Annemarie, an English confidence and fluency coach.

Everything I do is designed to help you get the confidence you want for your

life and work in English.

If you'd love to access all of my lessons and free fluency-building

resources, you can find all of that and [email protected].

If you're looking for more ways to practice speaking English on real life topics

such as health, wellness, aging,

and more the Confident Women Community might be perfect for you. Inside,

you'll find a supportive space to practice speaking,

join live conversations and get support so you can feel more confident

sharing your thoughts in English. To learn more and join,

check out the link in the description below. So why exactly these four topics?

Why the four categories of complimentary and alternative medicine,

mental health, technology, aging, and diet? Let's face it.

With all the new research and changing ideas about health,

a lot of people are looking back to traditional alternative and even ancient

ways to feel their best.

One of those is called complimentary and alternative medicine.

It's all about using other treatments alongside conventional

medicine to support our health in a bigger way. At the same time,

more people are openly talking about mental health, and that's a great thing.

Mental health means taking care of our emotional, psychological,

and social wellbeing. It affects how we handle stress and connect with others,

and it also helps us make decisions and with technology,

especially artificial intelligence changing so fast,

there are even more tools out there to help us track,

understand and improve our day-to-day health. Now,

a quick note I just mentioned artificial intelligence,

and if you want to learn more vocabulary for conversations on ai,

I've got a full lesson on that topic for you.

I'll share a link in the notes below. Now, finally,

we're starting to see how all of these pieces, mental health,

alternative medicine, and tech are connected together.

They play a part in longevity,

helping us age gracefully and enjoy healthy long lives.

So with all of that in mind,

let's get into our first hot topic with vocabulary related to complimentary

and alternative medicine. When it comes to this topic,

you're likely to hear these key terms, conventional medicine,

functional medicine, integrative medicine, and Ayurvedic medicine.

As people become more interested in holistic health,

they're exploring different types of treatment to care for their wellbeing.

Let's pause here for a moment and revisit that term holistic health.

It means considering the whole person not just the symptoms.

It focuses on physical, emotional, and mental health.

All in one treatments that incorporate this holistic approach are often

called complimentary and alternative medicine.

So what's the difference between all these terms? First,

conventional medicine, you might also know this as western medicine,

it focuses on finding and treating health issues by looking at

symptoms. If you've got a problem, the goal is to manage it or get rid of it.

Often with medicine or surgery, for example, if you've got a headache,

conventional medicine might suggest taking a painkiller.

And now the second term on this list, functional medicine.

This is a bit like conventional medicine,

but it goes deeper to find out the why behind the illness.

It's about getting long-term results and better health through a personal plan.

Treatments often include lifestyle changes,

vitamins or other therapies. For example, if you have headaches,

often functional medicine might look at your diet or stress levels to

find out what's causing them. The third in this category, integrative medicine,

which also looks at the whole person from family to lifestyle,

it combines regular medicine with other practices to heal the mind,

body, and spirit. This might include yoga, meditation, nutrition,

or acupuncture. For example, with back pain,

integrative medicine might use both physical therapy and acupuncture.

And the last one in this category, Ayurvedic medicine.

This is an ancient form of medicine from India that focuses on balance in

all forms of life. It uses natural methods including diet,

lifestyle changes and herbal treatments to help you feel balanced and well.

So if you're feeling stressed,

Ayurvedic treatment might recommend breathing exercises, herbal teas,

and a few lifestyle tweaks. Before we transition to our next hot topic,

I have a question for you that I want you to think about and maybe try using

some of this vocabulary in your response.

Have you or someone you know used alternative medicine and what were

the experiences like?

And now let's transition to talk about mental health.

A topic just as important as physical health research shows that mental

health affects us deeply. It affects our emotions, our relationships,

our day-to-day lives and the good news.

More people are talking openly about it,

breaking down the stigma that once made these conversations difficult.

That word stigma means negative and unfair beliefs people have about

something which can often lead to feelings of shame. Today,

people are using words like boundaries and triggers more often in

everyday conversations. These terms help us talk about mental health,

relationships and family or work dynamics. In fact,

as mental health becomes less of a taboo subject,

we're seeing more pop psychology and therapy language all around us.

What exactly is pop psychology?

It's easy to understand advice and ideas about behavior

that can help people improve their lives.

So some common words you might hear in mental health conversations include

number one, attachment style.

This describes how people behave in relationships,

like how close they wanna be and how they want to react to relationship

problems. For example,

some people have an anxious attachment style,

which means they worry about their partner leaving them the second in this

category, boundaries.

These are personal rules or limits we set in our relationships defining

what is acceptable. For example,

setting boundaries at work might mean not answering emails after

traditional work hours. This word boundaries has definitely become a buzzword,

especially in Gen Z, but they've been around before.

Social media boundaries are all about building healthy relationships at

home and at work. Number three is emotional intelligence or eq.

This is the skill of understanding and managing your emotions and

understanding others' emotions too. For example,

a manager with a high EQ might notice when their team is

particularly stressed and offer support.

EQ is a huge skill in the workplace,

and it's all about handling emotions just like boundaries.

If you want to learn more about how to increase your emotional intelligence

skills and how to talk about it more effectively,

I've got a whole lesson on this topic, and once again,

I'll share a link to that lesson in the notes below.

Number four is emotional labor.

This is the work of managing feelings, especially at work.

Consider customer service workers.

They do quite a bit of emotional labor when they stay calm and friendly,

even with challenging customers. Next in this category is inner child.

This is the part of you that connects to your childhood memories and feelings,

both good and bad. A therapist, for example,

might help someone explore their inner child to understand fears

or behaviors from the past.

This term has also become popular on social media,

often used to talk about childhood and how it affects us. Now,

number six, trauma.

This is deep emotional pain caused by a very upsetting

circumstance.

Someone may experience trauma after a serious accident or the

loss of a loved one. Conversations on mental health often touch on trauma,

which can be emotional, physical, and psychological.

Number seven is trigger.

This is something that causes someone to feel upset or afraid

because it reminds them of a past trauma. For example,

a smell or a sound might trigger memories of a difficult event,

and since trauma can be so intense and severe,

triggers come up when discussing how we manage painful memories.

Once again, I have a reflection question for you.

This is an ideal opportunity to use some of this vocabulary either in a writing

practice or in a speaking practice. For example,

if you've developed a speaking journal habit. So here's my question.

How do you think mental health connects to physical health?

Can you think of any examples? Okay,

let's move on to hot topic number three, health and technology.

Obviously, technology is everywhere right now.

We're using it more and more to improve our physical, mental,

even spiritual health. Wearable tech,

like fitness trackers and smart watches has become a normal part of our lives.

These devices,

along with their apps help us track things like our daily steps,

our workouts, sleep, calories, heartbeat, and more.

So how does it all help us? Well,

it gives us real time data to monitor our health and make changes when we

need to.

That word monitor means to watch and check something over time.

Now, health tech isn't just about fitness and diet.

You might already be using apps to improve sleep, hygiene, focus, meditation,

and even mental health. Let's pause for a moment and talk about sleep hygiene.

This is all about good habits that help you sleep well regularly.

Let's take a look at some common terms you might hear when having conversations

on health and technology. The first one,

one that I hear all the time right now in podcasts is biohacking.

This is all about trying to improve your health or performance by

making changes to your body. For example,

some people use biohacking to feel more energetic by tracking their sleep

or diet with special apps. Number two, here is chatbots.

These are computer programs using AI to simulate conversations

often for mental health. For example,

someone feeling stressed might use a mental health chatbot

to guide them through a calming exercise.

One thing that's very important to remember here is that chatbots are wonderful

tools, but they are not a replacement for real therapy. Number three,

digital detox. This is something I do almost every weekend.

This means taking a break from electronic devices to reduce stress

or focus on in-person connections. For example,

after feeling a bit stressed from too many notifications popping up on your cell

phone, you might do a digital detox over the weekend to recharge.

Next, a virtual ward. To understand this,

let's talk about a hospital ward first.

A hospital ward is a section or group of rooms in a hospital where

patients with similar needs are treated. For example,

the intensive therapy ward or a nurse ward For infants and children,

a virtual ward is your ward At home. Online,

it's a way to get medical care from home using digital tools that send realtime

health data to the hospital. An older adult, for example,

might be monitored through a virtual ward,

so doctors can track their health remotely. As AI grows,

it's also changing how we think about patient care. With, of course,

benefits and challenges for people who need extra support,

these virtual wards are certainly a benefit or a step in the right

direction for many who need that extra support. Number five,

wearable tech.

These small devices are often worn around our wrist,

such as smartwatches or fitness bands,

and they track or record data about our health. As I'm sure you already know,

a smartwatch can monitor your heart rate and even remind you to stand

up if you've been sitting for too long. And now a question for you.

How do you think wearable technology and AI will change the future of

healthcare? Again, you can use this in a writing practice,

a speaking practice, or you can share your answer with me in the comments below.

Try to use some of the vocabulary you've learned in this lesson so far.

Hot topic number four is all about aging and diet.

You and I both know we can take an active role in our health by making smart

choices, getting the right care, and using technology to track our habits.

But there's another big topic that's showing up in health discussions lately.

Aging with new technology to help us age gracefully

and with research showing the power of a healthy diet and exercise,

aging is on everyone's mind.

To age gracefully means to get older in a healthy,

positive way and enjoy life with dignity.

So here are some important words for you to know and use in

conversations on aging. The first word in this category is Alzheimer's.

This is a condition where a person's memory and thinking skills slowly

get worse, often starting in middle or old age,

and this is certainly becoming an increasing topic of conversation.

Research shows that staying active might help reduce the risk of

Alzheimer's next biological age.

This shows how old your body's cells and tissues are based

on their health. For example,

someone could be 60 years old with chronological age,

but have the biological age of a 45-year-old if they're very fit and

healthy. Number three, in this category, blue zones.

These are places in the world where people live longer and healthier lives often

past the age of 90.

People in blue zones tend to eat a lot of vegetables and very little processed

food.

This topic of conversation became quite popular after a Netflix series

explored the diets and lifestyles that might help us live longer. Next,

environmental factors. These are things in our surroundings like air quality,

noise or climate that affect our health. For example,

high air pollution is an environmental factor that can impact our lung health.

All of these factors are often discussed when we talk about longevity or

living a long healthy life.

Number five in this category is a word I'm hearing everywhere right now.

It's on social media. In podcasts, blog posts, newspaper articles,

even random unexpected conversations I hear in the grocery store,

the word is menopause,

which is when a woman stops having her menstrual cycle marking the

end of her reproductive years.

There are a variety of symptoms such as hot flashes that women may

experience during menopause. Next, reproductive health.

This is the full physical,

mental and social wellbeing related to the reproductive system.

Access to good information and care is absolutely important for reproductive

health.

And conversations on reproductive health often focus on making sure people

have access to trusted health services.

Next to prevent decline.

This means taking actions to slow down or even stop the

weakening of physical or mental health.

A healthy diet and regular exercise, for example,

can help prevent decline as we age. Now,

I mentioned that this hot topic section is not just focused on aging,

but also nutrition.

So now let's move on and explore a variety of vocabulary that you will

hear and you can use in conversations on nutrition and diet.

The first autoimmune disease,

this is when the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells in the

body. For example,

common autoimmune diseases include lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

With changes in food quality and lifestyle,

autoimmune diseases are becoming more and more common. As a result,

people are talking about them more often as well.

Next is antiflammatory.

These are foods or substances that help reduce swelling or

irritation in the body. For example,

turmeric is a spice that is known for its anti-inflammatory properties,

and it can help with joint pain.

Anti-inflammatory foods are popular for reducing bloating and supporting a

healthy diet. Number three, elimination diet.

A temporary eating plan where certain foods are removed

to find out if they are causing health issues. For example,

someone with frequent stomach pain might try to eliminate dairy from their

diet to see if that's the cause.

These diets help identify which foods might be causing

your allergies or sensitivities. Next in this category is to heal your gut.

This is all about improving your digestive system.

Eating foods rich in fiber and probiotics, for example,

can help heal your gut. Your gut biome,

the community of bacteria in your intestines also plays a big role

in overall health. Number five is nootropics.

These are substances that may improve mental health abilities,

like memory or focus. Someone might, for example,

use nootropics to improve their overall focus and

concentration. Without a doubt,

increased interest in brain health and biohacking has led to more

conversations about nootropics.

Next is probiotics and prebiotics.

Probiotics or foods or supplements with live bacteria to

improve the balance of good bacteria in your digestive system.

And prebiotics are foods usually high in fiber which feed these

beneficial bacteria. For example,

yogurt is a common probiotic while bananas are rich in prebiotics.

And now another reflection question,

what role do you think gut health plays in overall wellbeing?

You now have a very thorough list of vocabulary that will help you express

your ideas and opinions on a variety of health related topics.

If you want to know how to best remember this vocabulary so that it's easy for

you to use in conversations, I recommend that you do one thing.

Hop over to my Speak Confident English website where I have a lesson on how to

increase your speaking vocabulary. Also,

if you found this lesson helpful to you,

let me know by giving me a thumbs up and be sure to subscribe so you never miss

one of my Confident English lessons. Thank you so much for joining me,

and I look forward to seeing you next time.