Act Now to Ensure Health & Fitness in the Future
The latest scientific studies are showing that we can obtain better health in 20 or 30 years time by changing our lifestyles now.
Alcohol
There seems to be results from many studies that find that drinking in moderation can actually assist in good health for people. In the journal “Alcoholism; clinical and experimental research” a 20 year study of 1,800 men and women found that those people who drink moderate amounts are more likely to live longer than heavy drinkers or teetotalers. The problem with the government information is it keeps changing. Until recently the information was it was OK for women to drink up to 14 units of alcohol weekly and men up to 21. Now the latest data from the British Medical Journal is saying that the current levels are too high and we should all also have at least two alcohol free days per week.
Exercise
Exercise is certainly a good thing for all of us no matter how old we are. the question is how much? Over the past decade many people over 50 have been taking up vigorous exercise in the gym or outdoors with cycling or walking. The latest research shows that doing moderate exercise every day can be beneficial for your health and can cut the rick of dementia by up to 40 percent according to a study carried out on 1,200 people in the town of Framingham, Massachusetts since 1948. Here people with the lowest amount of exercise were found to be up to 45 percent more likely to develop dementia than the people who did the most exercise. Exercise also helps to tone the body, is good for the heart and also mental health. In another report 20,000 female nurses were studied by Dr Zaldy Tan of the Harvard Medical School, and he found that those who walked for at least 30 minutes each day scored significantly better in mental health tests than those who walked less than 40 minutes total in a week.
Food
It has been known for some years that eating a lot of meat especially processed meats like bacon, ham and salami is not very good for a healthy lifestyle and its better to substitute this with chicken, fish, nuts and plenty of fruit and vegetables. In a new report from Harvard Medical school with research conducted over 28 years on 100,000 people, it has been found that your chances of dying prematurely increase by about 20 percent if you eat regularly even small qualities of processed meats like bacon, sausages and salami. Unprocessed red meat can also carry a risk to health with a report in the Archives of Internal Medicine finding that a daily diet of over 85 grams of red meat can lead to an 18 percent higher risk of dying from heart disease and a 10 percent greater chance of dying of cancer. It has been recognised that one of the most beneficial diets to generate a healthy long life is that based around the Mediterranean; large amounts of vegetables, fruit and fresh fish appears to be a healthy diet for most people. The BBC website has the latest information on this emotive topic – Fresh warning on red meat health risks
The UK government is promoting having a regular “5 a day” of vegetables and or fruit each day to maintain long term health. See the NHS recommendations for what to have for your 5 a day.
Lifestyle
Having a less stressful lifestyle helps with long term health significantly. Try to relax more and if possible take breaks and holidays. Many workers don’t take their full allocation of holiday as they think they don’t have the time or are worried about what their boss or colleagues may think. It actually helps with your own productivity to ensure you are fresh thinking and look forward to having a holiday or break. Information from a Framingham Heart Study which began in 1948 has found that women who don’t often take holidays are up to 8 times more likely to develop coronary heart disease or have a heart attack than those who took at least two holidays a year. It seems that having healthy sex can also help you to live longer. According to Dr Irwin Goldstein, Director of sexual Medicine at Alvarado Hospital in San Diego, California, if you read the latest research,
you can’t conclude anything else but that it’s healthy to have sexual activity. At some level, god made us do this for reasons beyond reproduction. It makes us healthier, happier people; more physically active, mentally active, more alert, more hormonally responsive, and more pleasant.”
As we get older we need less sleep but we should have at least 7 hours each night to ensure our bodies are fully rested. There seems to be much research to suggest that having the correct amount of sleep is beneficial to our long term health. See Sleep and disease risk for the latest findings.
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