GOOD ACTIVITIES FOR HEALTHY LIFE

 A 2017 study using data from the Health and Retirement Study found that people 50 and older who were normal weight, had never smoked, and drank alcohol in moderation lived on average seven years longer. This is a big problem.

Experts have suggested that the best way to help people make healthy diet and lifestyle change is at the large-scale, population level, through public health efforts and policy changes. Here is how these healthy habits were defined and measured:

1. Not surprisingly, the more healthy habits people had, the longer their lifespan. These five areas were chosen because prior studies have shown them to have a large impact on risk of premature death. A 2012 mega-analysis of 15 international studies that included over 500,000 participants found that over half of premature deaths were due to unhealthy lifestyle factors such as poor diet, inactivity, obesity, excessive alcohol intake, and smoking. And, it confirms prior similar research — a lot of prior similar research. A meta-analysis that focused solely on cancer risks associated with drinking one drink or fewer per day observed that this level of alcohol consumption was still associated with some elevated risk for squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus, oropharyngeal cancer, and breast cancer, but no discernable associations were seen for cancers of the colorectum, larynx, and liver. And for companies hell-bent on making money at the cost of human life, well, that makes them very angry. "Healthy" here meant never having smoked.

5. Healthy body weight, defined as a normal body mass index (BMI), which is between 18.5 and 24.9.

4. This is one of those situations where I wish I could reprint their graphs for you, because they’re so cool. Nevertheless, some cancer risk persists even at low levels of consumption. Just one healthy habit (and it didn’t matter which one) … just one… extended life expectancy by two years in men and women. Healthy physical activity level, which was measured as at least 30 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous activity daily.

3. According to this analysis, people who met criteria for all five habits enjoyed significantly, impressively longer lives than those who had none: 14 years for women and 12 years for men (if they had these habits at age 50). That’s 12 ounces of regular beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits.

Researchers also looked at data on age, ethnicity, and medication use, as well as comparison data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research.

Does a healthy lifestyle make a difference?

As it turns out, healthy habits make a big difference. Generally, one drink contains about 14 grams of pure alcohol. Healthy diet, which was calculated and rated based on the reported intake of healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, healthy fats, and omega-3 fatty acids, and unhealthy foods like red and processed meats, sugar-sweetened beverages, trans fat, and sodium.

2. Smoking, well, there is no healthy amount of smoking. (Kind of like motorcycle helmets and seat belt legislation…) We have made a little progress with tobacco and trans-fat legislation.

There’s a lot of pushback from big industry on that, of course. If we have guidelines and laws helping us to live healthier, big companies aren’t going to sell as much fast food, chips, and soda. Yes, regular intake of one drink or fewer per day of alcohol can increase the risk of cancer in certain individuals, slightly.

The summary statement from one of the main research summaries on this is:

“Clearly, the greatest cancer risks are concentrated in the heavy and moderate drinker categories. Moderate alcohol intake, which was measured as between 5 and 15 grams per day for women, and 5 to 30 grams per day for men. On the basis of the lesser overall cancer risk at the lower end of the dose-response continuum, the World Cancer Research Fund/AICR made the following recommendation: ‘If alcoholic drinks are consumed, limit consumption to two drinks a day for men and one drink a day for women.'” . Check out Graph B, "Estimated life expectancy at age 50 according to the number of low-risk factors.")

This is huge. And the list of supporting research goes on.

So what’s our (big) problem?

As the authors of this study point out, in the US we tend to spend outlandishly on developing fancy drugs and other treatments for diseases, rather than on trying to prevent them. People who had none of these habits were far more likely to die prematurely from cancer or cardiovascular disease.

Study investigators also calculated life expectancy by how many of these five healthy habits people had.                                                You have the power to transform your life through the power of habits. What habits do you already have that you’re proud of? How can you build on those good habits even more?

Being aware of your current habits is the first step toward changing your behavior for the better