Your 2014 guide to healthy living
You’ve been making health decisions all your life for yourself and for your family. I’m sure that for the new year, you are eager to maintain your health and enjoy life in the most vibrant, vigorous way possible. Study after study has shown that simple lifestyle choices — how active you are, what you eat, how much sleep you get — all have an enormous impact on your health.
Today’s article features advice towards a longer and healthier life. It’s a busy person’s guide to the lifestyle choices you need to make to ensure you stay healthy and strong for years to come. You can reduce your risk for many degenerative diseases and chronic conditions by following the advice in today’s column.
•EAT MEDITERRANEAN. Although countless observational studies have pointed to the health benefits of specific foods or nutrients, rarely have entire eating regimens undergone close scientific scrutiny. A notable exception is the Mediterranean diet, a term coined to describe the traditional eating pattern of people living in the region bordering the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean diet consists mostly of plant foods (fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, nuts, and seeds); animal protein consumed chiefly in the forms of fish and poultry; olive oil as the principal fat; and wine taken with meals (see figure for Mediterranean diet pyramid).
Although the diet was a product of the foods easily cultivated or gathered in the region centuries ago, modern research confirms its unintentional wisdom. Multiple compounds in plant foods appear as antioxidants, slowing the aging process and hindering the development of cancer and heart disease. By slowing digestion, the fiber in whole grain, legumes, and fruits can help keep blood sugar under control; fiber also creates a feeling of fullness, which may help satisfy appetite. The monounsaturated fats in olive oil, nuts, and fish can have anti-inflammatory effects, which may help stave off heart disease and many other conditions. Perhaps, most important to its success is that Mediterranean-style eating excludes many foods common to cause health problems: saturated fat from animal source, trans fat, and refined carbohydrates.
•WATCH YOUR WEIGHT. Excess body weight increases your risk for more than 50 different health problems. These conditions include the leading causes of death — heart disease, stroke, breast cancer, and diabetes — as well as less serious ailments such as arthritic knees and gallstones.
A Harvard study found that obesity increases the risk of diabetes 20 times and substantially boosts the risk of developing high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and gallstones. Among people who were overweight or obese, there was a direct relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI) and the risk of acquiring a disease: The higher the BMI, the higher the likelihood of disease.
Fat distribution also plays a role in health risk. Visceral fat — that is, fat in the abdominal area that serves as padding between organs — is metabolically active, producing substances that spur inflammation and increase insulin resistance. The best way to lose excess weight is to consume fewer calories and to indulge in a regular exercise program.
•LIMIT ALCOHOL INTAKE. Every new year, we toast to good health for good reason. Moderate drinking has been associated with reduced risk for heart disease and death from all causes. Alcohol of any kind increases HDL (good) cholesterol, improves insulin sensitivity, and reduces inflammation. Wine, in particular, contains small amounts of plant substances called flavonoids that have demonstrated anti-inflammatory and anticancer activity in laboratory experiments.
Men are advised not to exceed two drinks a day; in women, only once a day. In women, the benefits of alcohol vanish with a second drink. (A standard drink is shown in the accompanying figure.) At more than the recommended limits, you increase your risk of cancers of the breast (in women), head and neck, and digestive system; hypertension; stroke; and car accidents. At higher levels of consumption, the risk of pancreatic and liver diseases and neurological disorders rises.
•DON’T SMOKE. If you smoke, quit. There are few things you can do that will have such immediate and lasting benefits as giving up cigarettes. In 20 minutes, your heart rate will fall. By tomorrow, you’ll have cleared the excess carbon monoxide from your blood. Within months, you’ll be breathing more easily and coughing much less. Over the years, your risk for lung cancer, stroke, and heart disease will have dropped by at least half. In 15 years, you’ll have erased your excess risk for heart disease.
Separate yourself from smokers. Inhaling another person’s smoke is also emerging as a weaker, but still noteworthy, risk factor. If you’re a nonsmoker, become a nag. Let the smokers in your circle of friends and family know that you would like them to quit, and encourage them in their efforts. Be patient. Only four percent to seven percent of smokers are able to quit on any attempt without aids like nicotine replacement products or medical help, and only one-quarter to one-third who use any quit-smoking medicine, stay smoke-free for more than six months. It usually takes many attempts before a person is successful at quitting.
•KEEP MOVING. Lack of physical activity is an independent risk factor for nearly all of the diseases that are most likely to kill or disable you. In the long-running Framingham Heart Study, sedentary subjects died a year and a half earlier than those who were moderately active. Those who were very active enjoyed three and a half more years than their sedentary counterparts.
Regular moderate exercise can help to protect you against the following problems: heart disease and stroke, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis, accidents, depression and anxiety, and infections.
•GET ENOUGH SLEEP. Medical evidence suggests that for optimum health and function, the average adult should get seven to nine hours of sleep daily. But many people regularly fall short of that goal. And as your sleep debt mounts, the health consequences increase, putting you at growing risk for weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and memory loss.
In some cases, sleep debt results from insomnia or other underlying conditions that may require medical attention. But most sleep debt comes from burning the candles at both ends — consistently failing to get to bed on time and to stay there until you’ve slept enough. Fortunately, sleep doesn’t charge interest on the unpaid balance, or even demand a one-for-one repayment. It may take some work, but you can repay even a chronic, longstanding sleep debt.
•USE SUPPLEMENTS SELECTIVELY. It was once believed that it was possible to compensate for dietary deficiencies by simply popping a multivitamin pill every day. But research suggests that multivitamins may not be all they’re cracked up to be.
In 2006, the US Natural Institutes of Health said there wasn’t enough evidence for a recommendation about taking multivitamins. There’s also been little or no evidence of protection against cardiovascular disease or cancers from a number of individual vitamin supplements, including vitamin E, vitamin C, beta carotene, and the B vitamin trio — B6, B12, and folic acid.
Recent research suggests that potential harm has been added to the mix. In 2008, a Cochrane Collaboration review found that low-risk people in trials for a host of diseases who were given supplements of vitamin A, vitamin E, and beta-carotene had a slightly higher death rate. And there’s some evidence that excess folic acid (the synthetic version of folate, a vitamin found abundantly in vegetables, fruits, and grains) may be contributing to an uptick in colon polyps. Both observations, though, warrant further study.
Experts agree that the best way to get the nutrients we need is through food. It is likely that what counts is the synergistic interaction of these nutrients — which might also help explain why trials of single nutrients don’t pan out.
However, it may be too soon to draw the line on all supplements. Adequate calcium and vitamin D are essential in preserving bone density. Although you can get the recommended 1,200 mg calcium requirement in your diet, studies suggest that most women do not. It is possible to get the recommended vitamin D intakes (400 IU for women ages 51 to 70; 600 IU for women ages 71 and older) through diet or sun exposure. But many health experts now recommend getting 1,000 IU, which is harder to do without taking supplements. Consult your doctor about the appropriate supplementation for you.
Start the year right by following the seven steps discussed in today’s article to a longer and healthier life. Discover how you can feel better, look better, and live longer in these seven easy steps.
Have a healthy new year!
