How to live longer and enjoy yourself more

Only 19 more days until we get some blessed relief from truly deep, bipartisan, political dudgeon, the worst in many years. Even friends and family are at each other’s throat. But politicians come and go, and the truth is that America is strong enough to survive a watch with either party at the helm. So let’s talk about something that really matters – your health.

All the experts agree – there are two major knobs you can turn to improve your health, sense of wellbeing, and longevity: diet and exercise. Let’s look at physical activity first.

While some of us are already physically active from choice (exercise, competition) or necessity (work), many are not. The New York Times reports a fascinating study of Finnish identical twins who differed significantly, in later life, in exercise activity. Genetics, early life and upbringing were all similar. It was only in later life that one twin exercised and the other did not.

“It turned out that these genetically identical twins looked surprisingly different beneath the skin and skull. The sedentary twins had lower endurance capacities, higher body fat percentages, and signs of insulin resistance, signaling the onset of metabolic problems. The twins’ brains also were unalike. The active twins had significantly more grey matter than the sedentary twins, especially in areas of the brain involved in motor control and coordination.”

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) offer the following benefits of a non-sedentary lifestyle:

• ·         Control weight
• ·         Reduce risk of cardiovascular disease
• ·         Reduce risk for type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome
• ·         Reduce risk of some cancers
• ·         Strengthen bones and muscles
• ·         Improve mental health and mood
• ·         Improve ability to do daily activities and prevent falls
• ·         Increase chances of living longer

Further, the amount of exercise to achieve these benefits is not extreme. The CDC recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise each week (less than 25 minutes per day), and some muscle strengthening exercise at least twice per week.

Moderate exercise may include any of the following:

• ·         Walking briskly (3 miles per hour or faster, but not race-walking)
• ·         Water aerobics
• ·         Bicycling slower than 10 miles per hour
• ·         Tennis (doubles)
• ·         Ballroom dancing
• ·         General gardening

But a very easy way to incorporate more activity into your life is to embrace a more physical daily routine.

• ·         Park as far from the mall as possible and walk; eschew the closest parking space
• ·         Walk to your corner store for sundries
• ·         Shovel your driveway of moderate snowfalls
• ·         Replace your lawnmower with a non-driven walk-behind
• ·         Take the stairs whenever possible

All of this counts toward your 150 minute weekly goal.

The other major knob within your control is diet. Here are the key recommendations from the American Heart Association. Your diet should emphasize:

• ·         a variety of fruits and vegetables,
• ·         whole grains,
• ·         low-fat dairy products,
• ·         skinless poultry and fish
• ·         nuts and legumes
• ·         non-tropical vegetable oils

Ensuring that you are getting adequate dietary fiber is extremely important. One very easy rule of thumb comes from Harvard Health. When purchasing food items, quickly check the nutrition label. Locate two numbers: total carbohydrates and dietary fiber. Select the food only if dietary fiber is at least 10% of total carbohydrates. They offer this simple method: Divide the grams of carbohydrates by 10. If the grams of fiber is at least as large as the answer, the food meets the 10% standard.

Here are some examples of food you would or would not purchase based on this approach:

• ·         Whole Wheat Spaghetti – Yes
• ·         Standard (white) pasta – No

• ·         Fiber One Chewy Bars – Yes
• ·         Typical granola bar – No

• ·         Shredded wheat cereal – Yes
• ·         Any sugary cereal – No

• ·         Smartfood popcorn – Yes
• ·         Most potato chips – No

Further, you can look up the nutrition information of home-prepared foods using the web. Here is another choice that might surprise you:

• ·         Baked potato with skin on (dressed like a salad with olive oil and vinegar) - Yes
• ·         Mashed potatoes prepared with milk and butter - No

In all the foregoing is the implicit message that we must eat less meat. The healthiest peoples of the world eat meat occasionally as a treat, not a daily staple.

In conclusion, a crash diet isn’t going to help you. An unused gym membership is worthless. To be effective, you must mold for yourself a healthy lifestyle.

Exercise takes time. That is your investment, but the payoff is huge. If woven into your daily routine, it is not so difficult nor noticeable.

Here is to you and a long, healthy life. After all, we will need to last at least one more election cycle in hopes of getting better choices.