Do you want to live long? Imagine a genie appearing from a lamp after a few rubs only this time he doesn’t he doesn’t grant you 3 wishes but instead he asks you this question, do you want to live long? I would imagine that almost every living human being would reply with a resounding YES!!!!.
He follows with one of the oldest yet simplest questions ever, WHY? Well for some it may be to accomplish a certain goal or goals, some to become great grandparents and some would be for the simple satisfaction of just outliving someone else, the fact remains that everyone would have their own reasons however ridiculous, insane, or mundane it may be.
The question still remains why would a living, breathing, tax-paying, working 9 to 5 or building your empire individual would want to live long, as I said earlier for reasons best known and best suited for you.
Now you, the knowledge-seeking, curious individual ask the genie, how can I attain long life? And he tells you it would involve walking, running sometimes eating your fruits and vegetables, quitting smoking, reducing stress, in a nutshell, living healthy.
So why is living healthy unpopularly popular, well for one it costs more to eat healthily, it also requires patience, consistency, and voluntary hard effort. Here are the 6 healthy habits that can kickstart your mission to living a long life.
Food
One of the major diet changes in the past 2 decades has seen us shift from eating whole foods rich in nutrients and vitamins to consuming more processed foods. This and along with processed foods comes the increase in sodium, saturated fats, and processed sugar (did you know that the World Health Organization now considers processed sugar, a carcinogenic substance) which in turn increases the risk of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes.
According to the Centre for Disease Control, people between the ages of 11-65 consume around 3300gms of sodium per day.
Smoking
Cigarettes kill more people than traffic accidents, gunshots, and natural disasters put together (yes, they are that deadly).
if you are a smoker, you would know hard quitting can be and what’s even more mind-boggling is that according to the National Institute of Health, smoking remains one of the most preventable causes of death. The body is such a wonderful engine that immediately you stop smoking blood pressure and circulation improve, and your risk of getting cancer reduces by 30% every year after that, let’s not forget you would not be exposing your loved ones to secondhand smoke and your clothes won’t stink so bad and you would look younger too.
Exercise
I cannot, I repeat, I cannot stress the importance of moving your body enough. The global recommendation is at least 30mins a day. A study published by the Lancet in 2011chronicling the habits of over 416000 men and women in Taiwan. They saw that just 15mins of moderate-intensity exercise each day.This helped subjects live 3 extra years. Yes, I said 3 extra whole years. These results are true even for those with cardiovascular disease and also overweight people.
Reducing stress
Anger, sadness, bitterness, and envy can all be tough emotions to release, some people feel entitled to hold all such negative emotions within but ask yourself this, is it worth it? Levels of cortisol (the stress hormone), rise when you are stressed or angry. This in turn can have adverse effects on your heart, blood pressure, metabolism, and immune system. High cortisol levels have been associated with greater mortality.
Alcohol
The alcohol industry is one of the biggest and most profitable industries to date. It will stay this way for many more years to come. Alcohol is responsible for a lot of drunk driving-related deaths, billions in infrastructural damage, domestic violence, etc. Ethanol, which is the main ingredient in most alcoholic drinks can lead to malnutrition. This exerts a direct toxic effect on your liver. This puts you at a greater risk of liver cancer, liver cirrhosis, and erectile dysfunction.
Make smaller changes
Taking drastic steps to alter your lifestyle may be inspiring but can also be daunting. They, therefore, tend to be short-lived for us mere mortals. Taking charge of your life should start with small achievable goals (little drops of water make a mighty ocean).
Consistency is more important than a short-term grand gesture. Incorporating small changes in your day-to-day routine is the key to achieving long-term longevity goals.
Conclusion
The saying health is wealth or an apple a day keeps the doctor away, has never had more significance than in this present generation. Food is bioengineered to be addictive. Eating healthy is more expensive than eating junk food. Less attention is paid to healthy living than cigarette adverts. By incorporating these 6 habits you will reportedly reduce cardiovascular death risk by 82% and cancer death risk by 65%.
So, I ask you once again. Do You Want To Live Long?
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