Can You Increase Your Lifespan By Eating Correctly, NotSmoking, Not Drinking Alcohol And Exercising?

@mark noble,

mark noble wrote:

Can You Increase Your Lifespan By Eating Correctly, NotSmoking, Not Drinking Alcohol And Exercising?

I think such a regimen wouldn't hurt, and if one got benefits, that's a positive, too, right?

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@hawkeye10,

The people pushing agendas are food manufacturers and restaurant chains. They have promoted and sold unhealthy items (by anyone's standards) and modified them only when public pressure forced them to do so (as in the case of removing harmful trans fats from their products).

I don't feel I've been lied to by any "experts". A basic, healthy, well balanced diet today is probably pretty much the same type of diet that people ate 100 years ago, before there were all the processed, and pre-packaged, and prepared foods, loaded with unhealthy types of fats and excessive amounts of salt and sugar. People ate fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables, they ate whole grains, they didn't load up on junk or nutritionally empty calories because such things were not readily available, as they are now. Fads in diets come and go, but a basic, healthy, well balanced diet, really doesn't change much over time.

I'm not sure that most people take health advice really seriously, seriously enough to make lifestyle and behavior changes. Obesity would not be such a widespread problem if that were the case. People are eating for reasons other than hunger, and eating far more than their bodies require for their level of activity, and that's what has produced such an epidemic of obesity.

And obesity is a factor in the increasing number of cases of type 2 diabetes

Quote:

Undiagnosed diabetes risk continues to increase
30 June, 2010

Rising levels of obesity and unhealthy lifestyles have seen the number of undiagnosed cases of type 2 diabetes swell to more than a million, research has found.

It was previously thought that there were about 500,000 people in Britain suffering from the condition without being formally diagnosed, but new estimates have suggested that 820,000 adults in England alone could have undiagnosed diabetes, data from Diabetes Health Intelligence suggests.

Diabetes UK said this figure increases to 1.1 million people if results are considered for the rest of the UK.

If the trend continues, hospitals and nursing staff could be overwhelmed by cases by 2030 when some 5.5 million people could be living with either type 1 and type 2 diabetes in the UK.

Douglas Smallwood, chief executive of Diabetes UK, said: "Whilst screening of at-risk groups has started, notably through the NHS health checks programme, it is clear there needs to be greater emphasis on successful delivery throughout the country."

Care services minister Paul Burstow echoed Mr Smallwood's comments, adding that PCTs across the UK are productively identifying and assessing those most at risk.

They include people who are overweight, aged over 40 or who have a relatives currently living with diabetes.
http://www.nursingtimes.net/whats-new-in-nursing/primary-care/undiagnosed-diabetes-risk-continues-to-increase/5016606.article

And diabetes can certainly shorten one's life span.

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I eat what I want. I drink what I want. I smoke what I want. I don't moderate it at all based on healthy standards.

My BMI is 24. - Normal. Whatever the hell that really means.

My total cholesterol is 1.9.

My BP is 130/80.

I walk a fair amount but that's it for exercise.

My teeth are great.

I don't like salt or fried foods or pop. I don't eat much meat by choice. Or dairy, other than cheese, sometimes.

What does it all mean? I don't want to live to be 80 so I'm just going to continue what I'm doing.

The Canadian health people (forget the dept) used to say eggs were bad, now they're ok. Butter was bad, now it's okay. Can't keep up with their changes and frankly I don't care. Everybody's body reacts a little differently and if you know your body, you can take care of yourself. I don't like arbitrary regulations.

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Right on, people. I too have grown weary of "them" telling me to stop eating these deep fried heroin twinkies. Is the quality of one's life measured in years? Nay! It's measured in minutes; minutes spent lying bloated in a cornfield listening to bees loud as a fleet of WWII bombers, sighing with delight as cloud shadows stroke your face, contemplating eternity. Awesome, right?

Our indulgences give us so much satisfaction! Particularly when they compel us to repeat them almost compulsively, because they provide such fleeting happiness! So don't take them away from me, um...Obama? Yeah, Obama. And don't stop feeding your fat ******* faces. Above all, abide alliteration.

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Quote:

- Eating too much sodium can push your blood pressure into the danger zone. Now, researchers are reporting that eating too many sweets--or drinking too much soda--may have a similar effect.

People who consume a diet high in fructose, a type of sugar and a key ingredient in high-fructose corn syrup, are more likely to have high blood pressure (hypertension), according to a new study.

Drinking 2.5 cans or more of non-diet soda per day--or consuming an equivalent amount of fructose from other foods--increases your risk of hypertension by at least 30 percent, the study found. What's more, the increased risk appears to be independent of other dietary habits, including sodium, carbohydrate and overall calorie intake.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/07/01/glucose.blood.pressure/index.html?section=cnn_latest

Well hey, manufactures have been browbeat into lowering salt content in food (you remember that multi year promise to lower salt in prepared food that we are not supposed to notice...) and government is pushing low salt, Low sugar is sure to be next. Get rid of salty food first, then sweet food...if this bland diet sales pitch works maybe we can sell flagellation as a lifestyle choice and really bring back the good old days.

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@hawkeye10,

...or maybe you can learn to cook your own food.

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@hawkeye10,

Do you have a salt shaker? You don't?

Guess you're fucked.

1 Reply

@Gargamel,

Quote:

Do you have a salt shaker?

Yes, and I am using it more often now. However, sometimes food can not be fixed after the fact. Adding salt over the top is not the same as when salt is allowed to infuse the food.

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The anti-drinking crusade has been fun to watch, they were doing great till about ten years ago when we started to see study after study showing that drinking moderately is actually more healthy than being a teetotaler....Science fucked everything up, and the crusaders still have not figured out a way around THAT problem.

I am sure they will figure something out, the health nuts don't tend to let truth get in their way.

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@Mame,

Mame wrote:

I eat what I want. I drink what I want. I smoke what I want. I don't moderate it at all based on healthy standards.

My BMI is 24. - Normal. Whatever the hell that really means.

My total cholesterol is 1.9.

My BP is 130/80.

I walk a fair amount but that's it for exercise.

My teeth are great.

I don't like salt or fried foods or pop. I don't eat much meat by choice. Or dairy, other than cheese, sometimes.

What does it all mean? I don't want to live to be 80 so I'm just going to continue what I'm doing.

The Canadian health people (forget the dept) used to say eggs were bad, now they're ok. Butter was bad, now it's okay. Can't keep up with their changes and frankly I don't care. Everybody's body reacts a little differently and if you know your body, you can take care of yourself. I don't like arbitrary regulations.

Ah, wait until you reach 79.

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What I wrote before about doing what I have done to make myself healthy was all true. In my later years - the last four or five - I have relaxed enough to indulge at times in food that is counter to my goals. My justification: It helps me feel positive, which is as important as anything else in getting healthy.

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

Replying to myself about salt and high blood pressure - at some point I read several articles from seeming competent sources that not all people with high blood pressure are salt reactive. Naturally, I forget the percentages, and I've long ago lost the links. Apparently the difficulty is telling who is salt reactive, or not salt reactive.

I have it pretty easy, as I cook most of my own meals and don't use that many packaged products - although I do use some. So, in blood tests, my sodium is in the low half of normal range. Except, as I said before, it probably isn't on the few days a year I break down and buy salt and pepper kettle chips. Few days, she lies. Once a month..

Edit to say, I just reread and see hawkeye said the same thing about not everyone being salt sensitive re hypertension.

On the other hand, too much salt seems to be connected to trouble in other ways, as firefly points to.

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@edgarblythe,

What happens when I'm 79? My lifestyle will catch up with me?

I'd rather live well now and die happy at an earlier age, than curtail/deny myself and live longer.

1 Reply

@Mame,

You say you don't want to make it to 80. When you are 79 will you still feel that way? Razz

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@edgarblythe,

Good questions, Edgar Smile

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@edgarblythe,

edgarblythe wrote:

You say you don't want to make it to 80. When you are 79 will you still feel that way?

Nobody wants to die. It's an instinct.

Guess what though, you will die one day. It's all a matter of perspective. Sure enough, it's sensible to be moderate in one's habits. But, beyond that basic maxim, any more thought on the subject is a waste of mental energy in my opinion.

When I am 79, I may want to live a little longer as long as I am healthy. Chances are, though, that I won't be and no amount of healthy eating will make much difference to the chances of that either way. I'm certainly not going to obsess my life away worrying unduly about it.

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@stevecook172001,

If you are healthy right now, that's an easy statement to make. If you happen to be only fifty, as I was, and your health is headed south, you have some profound decisions to make. A change of diet has given me many extra productive years.

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@stevecook172001,

Quote:

When I am 79, I may want to live a little longer as long as I am healthy. Chances are, though, that I won't be and no amount of healthy eating will make much difference to the chances of that either way

Declines in functioning, simply due to aging, are inevitable, but poor health, simply due to aging, is not inevitable. A lifetime of healthy habits--eating well, not smoking, maintaining a normal weight, staying active, drinking in moderation, can go a long way toward helping to insure a healthy old age. It's part of taking active responsibility for one's well being, rather than submitting to "fate" or simply denying the negative consequences of bad eating habits.

Just preventing the onset of one disease, like type 2 diabetes, helps to protect against a whole host of other medical problems, and decreases the need for medications which can hasten damage to organs such as the kidneys. And type 2 diabetes, in many instances, seems connected to diet and obesity.

I think that as you grow older you realize you can't take good health for granted, and you have to work at it. My eating habits are more focused on good health than they were a few decades ago, and my food preferences have changed accordingly. I still love good food, but what I consider good food, and what tempts me, has really changed considerably. I'm much less likely now to crave a cheeseburger, or prime ribs, or, in fact, any red meat dish, and much more likely to actually want chicken, fish, shellfish, and lots of vegetables on a daily basis. I make an effort to get enough calcium, and fiber as well. I keep most sweet treats and high fat foods to occasional indulgences. I read all nutrition labels and try to make the best choices. And all of this seems to pay off. I no longer have to work at maintaining my normal weight, I never get sick (I can't even remember the last time I got a cold), I take no over-the-counter pills for headaches or digestive problems or upsets (never get those either), and I think I must be doing something right, and I feel my basically healthy eating is a part of that. And, it has become so second nature to me, it's no longer something I really have to think about very much.

Quote:

I'm certainly not going to obsess my life away worrying unduly about it

Couldn't agree more. I don't think that anyone should obsess or worry unduly about anything.

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Can You Increase Your Lifespan By Eating Correctly, NotSmoking, Not Drinking Alcohol And Exercising?

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