- Above all, don't smoke. Cigarette smoke is a toxic cocktail of around 70 cancer-causing chemicals and hundreds of other poisons. Smoking is the single biggest cause of cancer in the world. In the UK, smoking accounts for one in four cancer deaths and kills five times more people than road accidents, overdoses, murder, suicide and HIV all put together.
- Eat at roughly the same times each day. This might be two, three or more times but a routine encourages a reasonable weight.
- Watch your portions. Don't heap food on your plate (except for vegetables) and think twice before having second helpings.
- Try to have five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. A portion is about 80g of fruit or vegetables. This is roughly equal to an apple, orange, banana, or similarly-sized fruit or two serving spoons of cooked vegetables such as broccoli or carrots.
- Eat foods with reduced fat. Choose reduced fat versions of foods such as dairy products, spreads and salad dressings. Cut fat off meat.
- Eat foods with reduced salt. Too much salt can increase your blood pressure and your risk of heart disease and stroke.
- Eat healthier snacks. If you're hungry between meals, choose a healthy option such as fresh fruit or low calorie yogurts instead of chocolate or crisps.
- Look at food labels. Choose food with less far, sugar and salt content.
- Think about how you eat. Eat your meals at the table and it will help you focus on the amount of food you eat. Eat slowly because it takes time for your body to register how much food you've eaten and how full you are. Don’t eat while walking, but wait until you get there and take time to concentrate on what you are eating.
- Think about what you drink. Water is good (but eight glasses a day is not necessary - for discussion). Semi-skimmed milk is good too. Many soft drinks (including fizzy and sweetened soft drinks) contain a lot of sugar. Alcohol is high in calories.
- Don't bother with vitamin supplements. If you enjoy normal health and are not sensitive to healthy foods, you probably don't need them and there is no real evidence that they do any good. Don't believe me? - then check out the evidence: .
- Walk every day. The aim should be to do around 10,000 steps which equates to around 60-90 minutes of walking. Using a pedometer on a belt is a good way to monitor this. On the way to or from work, shops, or meetings, leave the car or public transport a bit short of your destination. In the office, use stairs rather than the lift (or elevator, for my American readers).
- Don't sit around too long. Break up your sitting time by walking around at regular intervals. At home, do a chore. At work, visit a colleague.
- Limit exposure to the sun. Between 11 am and 3 pm, it's better to be in the shade. When in the sun, wear sensible clothing and use appropriate sun factor lotion. Never burn.
- Get enough sleep. The amount varies by individual and age, but most people need seven or eight hours a night. It's important to go to bed at a regular time and get up at a regular time. There is some evidence that people who take a short nap during the day lower the risk of heart disease.
- Be happy. Happiness helps healthiness, especially mental health. For many tips on how to be happy
Exercise for the Body and the Brain
Physical Activity can be helpful for maintaining a healthy body weight and body composition. Being physically active helps in lowering one’s risk for cardiovascular diseases, improves risks of diabetes, improves mood and lowers one’s risk for depression. Being active also includes involving others whether a human or an animal companion on your walks.
The brain also needs to be kept active. Keeping the brain active involves using the brain daily by solving crossword puzzles or math equations, reading, writing, imagining and creating. Volunteering and being socially active is also a good way to keep the brain energized and active.
Healthy Foods
Focus on eating a variety of healthy foods. "Healthy Foods" include eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, cereals, breads and other grain products and legumes (beans). With dairy and meats the emphasis is on choosing lower-fat milk products, leaner meats and foods prepared with little or no fat. In addition limit the intake of salt, alcohol and caffeine.
Enough Sleep
Sleep is important for people of all ages. Getting enough sleep has been shown to increase one's ability to fight off diseases, improve your cardiovascular health and improve mood. Sleep can also help with improving one's ability to concentrate, learning and memory in addition to reducing irritability and impatience.
The average amount of sleep needed by people is 8 hours a night but many people can do well on 6 hours, where others need as much as 10. The absolute amount of sleep needed varies from person to person.
Perhaps the best thing for many people about getting enough sleep is having more energy to do what they like to do.
Aging Healthfully
Aging healthfully includes, among others, finding ways to reduce and manage stress, being physically active, getting enough sleep, eating healthy foods, making good lifestyle choices, staying socially active, watching for changes and nurturing the spirit as well as the mind.
Lifestyle Choices
Since 70 – 80 % of longevity depends on lifestyle choices, it is important to emphasize the good lifestyle choices and de-emphasize the poor ones.
Good lifestyle choices include eating healthy food, participating in daily physical and mental activity, getting enough sleep and minimizing stress.
Poor lifestyle choices to de-emphasize include limiting or reducing high fat foods, limiting the number of empty calories – those from sugar, fat and alcohol, quit smoking and using tobacco and limiting the amount of inactivity.
Time to Unwind
Stress can impact a person over a lifetime. Whether the stress comes from the environment or personal sources all forms cause a stress response in the body, which over time drains the body reserves making the person more susceptible to illness and disease.
Taking the time to unwind and reducing, removing and de-stressing helps lessen the negative impact on the body and improves overall health and well being.
Health Checks
Yearly routine exams are an important part of monitoring for potential diseases. Getting blood pressure checked, cholesterol and lipids screenings, being evaluated for risks of osteoporosis and getting basic cancer screenings (mammogram, colonoscopy and prostate exams) can to help a person “BE HEALTHY.”
In addition, it is important to watch for any changes and signs of disease and seek prompt treatment if something arises.
Youthful Thoughts
Author Ellen Glasgow once noted "Though it sounds absurd, it is true to say I felt younger at sixty than I felt at twenty." There is a lot of truth in the expression, "You're as young as you feel" so to feel young, remember to think young thoughts.
Final Thoughts
Remember that following these simple tips, making daily healthy food and lifestyle changes over a lifetime can greatly improve a person’s longevity* or your total years of life lived and also the quality of living.
To Stay Healthy as you age, you have to BE HEALTHY for life.
