Don't
smoke. Be physically active. Drink moderately if you drink
at all.
Eat plenty of
fruits and vegetables. Yeah, yeah we know all that. So what?
And by the
way, if you practice all four of these behaviors regularly,
it could be like adding 14 years to your life when compared
to someone who does not practice these habits.
Maybe I'm
just sensitive to this now because it's my birthday week,
but it's fascinating to observe how the combined effects of
our daily habits impact our health.
Here are the
details: Researchers in the United Kingdom began with more
than 20,000 healthy men and women between the ages of 45 to
79. They scored the participants on their current lifestyle
and then turned them loose for a decade or more. During that
time, they documented who had died and from what causes.
After about
11 years, scientists tested the remaining participants and
compared their results to their beginning health scores.
After adjusting for several variables that can throw off
research results - such as dying from old age or getting hit
by a car - the researchers reported a strong association
between the number of behaviors these folks practiced and
their relative risk of dying.
The strongest
relationship was seen in deaths related to heart disease and
stroke. The participants who smoked, were physically
inactive, did not drink moderately and did not eat lots of
fruits and vegetables were four times as likely to die
(particularly from heart disease) as those who had the
opposite habits.
Want to see
how you're doing? Give yourself one point for each of these
health behaviors you do on a regular basis:
1. I do not
smoke and do no not have a history of smoking.
2. I get at
least 30 minutes of physical activity a day, either at work
or at home.
3. I drink no
more than 1 or 2 alcoholic drinks a day. (One drink is 4-5
ounces of wine, 8-12 ounces of beer, 1 ounce shot of
liquor.)
4. I eat 2 to
3 cups fruits and vegetables a day.
According to
this study, middle-aged people who score 0 (zero) are four
times more likely to die over an 11-year period (especially
of heart disease) than those who score a 4. Those who score
a 2 are twice as likely to die compared to someone who
scores a 4.
It's true.
The combined effect of all our habits can be significant. In
other words, a marathon runner who lives on beer and
pretzels probably will probably have a shorter life span -
even though he is physically active - than a walker who has
an occasional glass of wine and eats regular meals high in
fruits and vegetables. And like mile markers on a 26-mile
marathon, every year counts.
___
(Barbara
Quinn is a registered dietitian at the Community Hospital of
the Monterey Peninsula. Send mail to BQuinn, 2 Upper
Ragsdale Drive, Monterey, CA or email her at bquinn@chomp.org.)
