5 Healthy Lifestyle Habits Extend Lifetime Mileage
By Sandy Schroeder
How many miles do you have on you? Whatever your age (mileage) there are ways to make every mile count for the moment and for your future. You may be up to your ears in toddler toys, or just reaching the point where your teen is finishing high school. Either way, making the most of life could depend on how well you and your family follow these five simple healthy lifestyle habits.
The HarvardHealth medical researchers say these five health habits can make an appreciable difference in life expectancy for men or women. They were selected because previous research linked them to risk of premature death. Here are the specifics on these key habits.
Daily physical activity - Get at least 30 minutes per day of moderate to very active exercise.
Maintain a healthy diet - The effectiveness of the diet is rated on the amount of healthy foods like fruits, nuts, vegetables, healthy fats, whole grains and omega-3 fatty acids versus the amount of unhealthy choices like red and processed meats, sugary drinks, transfats and excess sodium.
Keep a normal weight - Maintaining a normal body mass index (BMI) between 18.5 and 24.9 is the goal.
Moderate alcohol usage - Stick closely to one or two drinks per day, about 14 grams of pure alcohol, which can be 5 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of regular beer, or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits. For women the daily limit is 5 to 15 grams per day; for men it’s 5 to 30 grams per day.
Eliminate smoking - Smoking is a negative health impact in all forms. To be healthy, the goal is to not smoke, period.
So What Do These Healthy Lifestyle Habits Do
In reality these healthy habits can make a big difference. According to the studies, people at age 50 who maintained all five habits lived quite a bit longer than the people who followed none of them. Women lived 14 years longer and men lived 12 years longer. People in the study who maintained none of these habits were more likely to die prematurely from heart disease or cancer.
As expected, the Harvard researchers did extensive analysis of these habits in relation to life expectancy. However, the most important question for each of us may be where we stand with these habits, and what should we fix to make it even better? Ask yourself questions like these.
- Do you need to lose a few pounds
- Do you smoke some
- Do you binge drink, or drink more than two drinks every day
- Do you love takeout and fast foods
- Do you exercise intermittently instead of daily
Most of us need to fix one or more of these habits, and there’s no time like the present to get started.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Goodyear, Ariz.