Health Update: Live Longer with These 8 Tips
Hey there everyone:
Here is a brief article that may seem obvious to most, however, most of us do not often think about aging or healthspan vs. our lifespan. This is a critical consideration as the health of our nation is such that the average healthspan is 10 to 16 years less than the average lifespan. This means a decade or more of progressive disability, illness, and suffering that can largely be avoided or minimized by these 8 simple behaviors:
· Not smoking.
· Regular physical activity.
· Healthy weight.
· Healthy diet.
· Healthy sleep (defined as an average of 7-9 hours nightly).
· Blood pressure in a healthy range.
· Blood glucose in a healthy range, and
· Non-HDL cholesterol in a healthy range.
Bottom Line:
These 8 items are associated with a longer lifespan free of chronic disease. As you all know, inflammation causes, perpetuates, and/or aggravates all chronic health conditions, from fatigue to cancer. You also know that there are multiple drivers of inflammation and this list hits the top 3: food, movement, and rest. Simply by consuming a healthy whole foods predominantly plant based diet, some daily exercise, and destressing with adequate sleep, you can substantially lower your risk for all disease.
To further clarify this information and perspective, just know that aging is now called ‘inflammaging’ so it makes total sense that lowering your inflammatory burden by adopting those 8 behaviors should substantially improve your overall health and put your aging onto an optimal trajectory. Just upgrading your food plan will eliminate 5 of those issues listed above…so my recommendation is to always start with food…food is foundational and is the primary driver of inflammation in our society and increasingly around the planet. Eating right not only helps you, but your loved ones, your mission and purpose, and the planet.
Thanks for doing your part.
