-by Dr. Alan Laird, Chief Medical Officer
A recent article in the journal Circulation (April 30, 2018) looked at the lifestyle habits that help people live a longer and healthier life. On average, 10 years longer with an 82% lower risk of death due to cardiovascular disease, and 65% lower risk of death from cancer. And what were these healthy habits? They will not surprise you. In fact you probably heard about them from your mother.
First and foremost, do not smoke. Being a nonsmoker is shown to have the most powerful effect in adding years of life and wellbeing. I think mom would agree. In this day and age, that includes vaping. If you do smoke, quit. Or as mom would say, “Stop it.” If I complained it was difficult to do so, I would probably hear, “I did not say it was easy, I said it was important.”
The next four lifestyle habits that help people live longer were also found to be important, even if they did not influence health as strongly as the first.
Get at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day. Or as mom would say, “Go outside and play. Burn off some of that energy.” You need to do something that raises your heart rate and probably makes you sweat a little. If you would like more specific guidelines, talk with your healthcare provider. If you have been inactive for a while, talk with your doctor before you start anything aggressive.
Control your weight. Having a normal BMI (body mass index) is shown to make a difference. Probably because you will have to be active and eating right to do so. The BMI has become a way to gauge the right weight for height. It is not perfect, but gives a good guideline. There are a number of free calculators online, in phone apps (smart phone applications for us older folks), or just ask you care giver what your BMI is. And while a BMI between 18.5 and 25 is normal for adults, we do not see a rise in problems from being overweight until the BMI passes 30 (just trying to make myself feel better there).
Do not drink too much alcohol (although my mom might have said, “not any”). Consuming no more than 5 fluid ounces of wine a day (12 fl oz of beer or 1.5 fl oz of hard liquor) for women and double that for men, has a positive effect on health.
Lastly, “Eat your fruits and vegetables.” A healthy diet is found to be important. It is not without controversy what exactly a healthy diet is. While that debate rages, I think most us will agree we need to take in a good amount of vegetables and fruits with very limited or no sugary drinks and snacks.
So in conclusion, mom was right all along: don’t smoke, do go outside and play, watch your waistline, eat right and lay off the snacks – all good advice. Unfortunately, studies show only 8% of us are following all of these. It isn’t easy in this hectic and busy life many of us lead. So what can you do? Pick one. Pick one you need to work on. And once that has become part of your life (you stopped smoking, you are now exercising regularly, etc) try for the next one. Doing it with someone else that helps too. And remember what mom said, “I didn’t say it was easy, I said it was important.”