Five Healthy Habits for Life
This month we’ll learn that eating healthily and living a healthy life can be much easier than one might have thought. With just a few simple tweaks to your diet and lifestyle you could reduce your risk of many diseases and have more zest for life every day.
Five Healthy Habits for Life
Whilst no one can predict how long any individual will live or what will cause their ultimate demise it is well known that certain dietary and lifestyle factors may affect how long we live and how well we are. A recent study in the US that analysed the results from over 30 years of research into the impact of adopting certain lifestyle habits found 5 healthy habits that may add more than a decade to life expectancy. So what are these 5 habits and how many are you already doing?
The 5 healthy habits that could extend your life are:
- Not smoking – If you are a smoker check out the many strategies there are for giving up. Ask around and find out what’s worked for other people that you know.
- Maintaining a Healthy Body Mass Index – between 18.5-30 kg/m2. In other words maintain a healthy weight that feels right for you – not too fat, not too thin.
- Exercising at least 30 minutes a day – at moderate to vigorous intensity. This doesn’t have to mean going hell for leather in the gym. Go for a walk, cycle to the shops, run up and down the stairs and dance like no one is looking whenever you get the chance!
- Moderate alcohol intake – 1 x 150ml glass of wine a day for women and up to 2 glasses for men. Aim to have some alcohol free days every week.
- Eating a healthy diet – including a wide range of plant foods and limiting processed foods.
Following all five of these practices may increase life expectancy an average of 14 years for women and 12 years for men compared to those who don’t maintain these healthy habits.
See blog post on Food Swaps for Health for some ideas on how to swap what you are currently eating for healthier version. And see post Pulses not Potatoes for info on how swapping fast releasing carbs for pulses can improve blood sugar control as well as many other aspects of health.
References
- 1. Yanping Li et al. Impact of Healthy Lifestyle Factors on Life Expectancies in the US population. Circulation, 2018, 032047