Unhealthy Habits Age You by 12 Years

As important as practicing healthy habits is, discontinuing (or better yet never starting) poor health habits can add years to your life--twelve to be exact; this according to the findings of a recent study. Let's see, twelve years ago I was...DANG that's a long time! Check it:

The study tracked nearly 5,000 British adults for 20 years, and looked at the following four bad health habits:

• smoking
• drinking too much
• inactivity
• poor diet

Researchers found that people partaking in these habits had a substantially increased risk of death, and they seemed 12 years older than people in the healthiest group. Doh!

Of the research subjects having all four habits (314 people), 29% died through the study period. The subjects having none of the habits (394), only 8% had died. The people involved in the study were adults aged 18 and older, but 44 years old on average. The most common cause of death among subjects was heart disease and cancer, both caused by the unhealthy habits studied.

The healthiest group included never-smokers and those who had quit; teetotalers, women who had fewer than two drinks daily and men who had fewer than three; those who got at least two hours of physical activity weekly; and those who ate fruits and vegetables at least three times per day.

"You don't need to be extreme" to be in the healthy category, said lead researcher Elisabeth Kvaavik of the University of Oslo. "These behaviors add up, so together it's quite good. It should be possible for most people to manage to do it."

Tis true. It is one of the major premises in my book, The Six Keys to Optimal Health. Healthy habits are cumulative. Start slowly and add habits one by one. For example, start with bodywork, like chiropractic care, and get out of pain. Once pain starts to subside, start exercising. Cut out sodas next. Then start eating more fruits and vegetables, and so on. It doesn't have to all be done at once. Pick up a few healthy habits, then go for the more challenging ones, like quitting smoking or drinking or mainlining speed. Having a foundation of a handful of healthy habits will get you through a lot easier than trying to kick a habit cold turkey with nothing to fill the void.

By reducing faulty health habits you could add twelve years to your life--no small amount once you start getting up there. Add to that a few healthy habits and woo-boy you might even tack on another twelve. Think of that. What will you do with the time?

Healthy Family Legacy

When it comes to teaching children healthy habits, what is the best thing parents can do to help their cause? You guessed it--practicing what they preach.

A new study that observed more than 1,300 families showed that when parents up their consumption of fruits and vegetables, so do their kids. No surprise here. As I've said before: Kids do as their parents do. Drink lots of soda--expect Junior to drink lots of soda. Watch lots of T.V.--expect Muffin to watch lots of T.V. Bypass the gym and blow up--well, you get the point.

But isn't it refreshing to know that you can influence your children in the positive, too? All you have to do is adopt healthy lifestyle habits: eat fruits and vegetables, can the sodas, exercise regularly, get chiropractic care, rest up, and kick the smoking habit. And most important--believe in it! I promise you, whatever your children see you do regularly will be what they do too. You can bet on it. Doesn't it make sense to pass on healthy habits to your children? Don't make poor health choices your family legacy. Do the right things and your kids will too.

Hundred Years Old Might Be The Norm

Living to be one hundred may not be so unique in the near future. In fact, even chronic disease sufferers might have a shot. So says a new study out of the University of Rochester, proclaiming that diabetics and people with heart disease can also reach the centenarian mark.

The study, to be published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, interviewed over 500 women and 200 men who had reached 100 years old. Almost two thirds of the participants said they had avoided significant age-related ailments; however, the others had all had at least one significant age-related disease before the age of 39, but ended up functioning pretty well anyway, nearly as well as their disease-free peers.

Another larger study, conducted at Harvard, showed that men in their 70s who did not smoke, were not obese, were active, and free of diabetes or high blood pressure had a good chance of living well into their 90s with excellent physical and mental capacities. According to lead author, Dr. Laurel Yates of Havard's Brigham and Women's Hospital, "It's not just luck, it's not just genetics...It's lifestyle" that seems to make a big difference.

Yes! Yes! That's it! Lifestyle habits determine how you function. Lifestyle habits are integral to the way you feel. Lifestyle habits preserve life. Go figure. I love when these studies come out, because they verify everything I'm trying to get across to you. It doesn't mean you have to become Jack Lalanne; but practicing even two of the six keys to optimal health can have extraordinary benefits. In the Harvard study, they found that each risk factor decreased the chances of survival incrementally. So you must see that the opposite also applies: Every risk factor you eliminate, every healthy habit you adopt, will increase your level of health--and your life expectancy--incrementally as well.

But best of all is what the studies' authors point out: It's never to late to start. Adopting healthy lifestyle habits (and eliminating risk factors), even in to one's 70s, can have positive, life-enhancing effects. Get it? Never too late! So I'll let Dr. Yates finish it off with something I might have said myself, "Get your shoes on, get out there, and do some exercise," she said. "These are some things you can do" to increase the chances of a long life. Amen, Sister.

It's Never Too Late

It's never too late to start thinking about your health. So says a group of researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina. Adopting healthy lifestyle habits, even in middle age, can decrease one's risk of developing heart disease and premature death.

A study has shown that by practicing healthy habits - eating five or more fruits and vegetables every day, exercising for at least 2 1/2 hours a week, keeping weight down and not smoking - the risk of developing heart disease decreased by 35% and premature death by 40%. Researchers began tracking 16,ooo Americans between the ages of 45 and 64 in the late 1980s, and they found that people who did not practice healthy habits in the beginning of the study, but picked them up four years later, caught up to the people who were practicing healthy habits from the start.

No surprise here but according to the article "men, blacks, people with less education and lower incomes, and people with high blood pressure or diabetes were less likely to follow the health guidelines from the beginning or adopt them later in life." I find the same thing in my practice. I just don't understand why men wait so long to take care of themselves. Oh well, you can only lead them to water.