We still don’t have the perfect formula for long life, happiness, and physical health, but a careful distillation of the enormous amount of health and longevity research reveals that cultivating nine basic garments you will significantly increase your chances of living long, well and happily in a robust, healthy and weight-appropriate body.
- eat your vegetables. No kidding, and I’m talking about at least 9 servings a day. Unless you’re following the stricter first stage of the Atkins diet, you should be able to consume between 60 and 120 grams of carbs per day (depending on your weight and level of exercise), and you’d have to eat a pen full of spinach to get to that. that amount. Every major study of healthy, long-lived people shows that they eat a ton of plant foods. Nothing offers antioxidants, fiber, flavonoids, indoles, and the entire pharmacopoeia of disease-fighting phytochemicals quite like the stuff that grows in fertile soil.
- Eating fish and/or taking fish oil. The omega-3s found in cold-water fish like salmon deserve the title of “wellness molecule of the century.” They reduce the risk of heart disease, lower blood pressure, improve mood, and are good for the brain. And if you’re pregnant, they can make your child smarter!
- Connect. And I’m not talking about the Internet. In virtually all studies of healthy, happy people in their ninth and tenth decades, social connections are one of the “prime drivers” of their lives. Whether it’s church, family, volunteer work, or the community, finding something you care about that is bigger than you, who you can connect with and involving other people (or animals) will extend your life, increase your energy, and make you happy—always.
- get some sun. At least 10-15 minutes three times a week. Interestingly, a recent study showed that the four healthiest places on earth where people lived the longest were in sunny climates. The sun improves your mood and increases levels of the cancer-fighting, performance-enhancing, and bone-strengthening vitamin D—a vitamin most people don’t get enough of.
- sleep well. If you’re low on energy, gaining weight, cranky, and looking haggard, guess what? Most likely, you are not sleeping enough or well enough. By “good” sleep I mean uninterrupted sleep, in the dark, without the TV on, in a relaxing environment. Nothing nourishes, replenishes, and resets the system like 7-9 hours of sleep. Tip: start by going to bed an hour before. And if you have a computer in the bedroom, throw it out!
- exercise every day. Forget these 20 minutes three times a week. Long-lived people are doing things like farm chores at 4:30 in the morning! Our Paleolithic ancestors traveled an average of 20 miles per day. Our bodies were designed to move regularly. New studies show that simply walking 30 minutes a day not only reduces the risk of most serious diseases, but can even grow new brain cells!
- practice gratitude. By making a list of things you are grateful for, you focus your brain on positive energy. Gratitude is incompatible with anger and stress. Practice using your underused “right brain” and spread some love. Focusing on what you’re grateful for, even for five minutes a day, has the added benefit of being one of the best stress-reducing techniques on the planet.
- Drink red wine or eat grapes. The resveratrol in dark grapes is being studied for its effect on life extension, which it appears to do for nearly all species studied. (By the way, so is eating about a third less food.) If you have a problem with alcohol, you can get resveratrol from grapes, peanuts, or supplements. (And if you’re a woman and choose the alcohol option, be sure to take folic acid every day.)
- take out the sugar. The number one enemy of vitality, health and longevity is not fat, it is sugar. The effect of sugar on hormones, mood, immunity, weight, and possibly even cancer cells is enormous, and it’s all negative. To the extent that you can eliminate it from your diet, you will be adding years to your life and life to your years.
This list may not be perfect and may not be complete, but it’s a start. As my dear grandmother used to say: “It couldn’t hurt.” None of these “habits” will harm you, they will all benefit you, and some can make the difference between life and death.
And it’s never too late to start growing them.
