Human nature, combined with our survival instinct, drives us to seek out tips and information on how to live longer. Until someone locates the proverbial fountain of youth, there are four easy things you can do, starting today, to make sure you meet your grandkids' kids.
Though these may seem like run-of-the-mill, "straight from Momma's mouth" tips, they are backed up by 20,000 participants and a 14-year-long study.
Cut to the Chase – Just Give Me the 4 Tips!
Ok, ok, no need to yell. If you prefer to blindly follow great advice, here they are (if you rather see more about the study, see below):
- Exercise – About 30 minutes per day of any activity that gets you off your cozy couch, including walking, running, lifting weights, etc.
- 5 Servings of Fruits and Vegetables – This one is two-fold: Not only will the addition of more fruits and vegetables provide you with several important vitamins and minerals, it should also keep you fuller between meals, thus reducing your Dorito habit.
- Toast to Alcohol – Careful, this isn't an excuse for you to feel good about the entire 40 oz. you just downed. Moderate drinking in this case was considered to be 1-14 glasses of wine or beers per week.
- Quit Smoking – This one is pretty self-explanatory, and if it applies to you, you clearly aren't concerned with living a long, healthy life anyway.
From 1993 to 1997, British researchers gathered information and blood samples from 20,000 healthy men and women, giving them a score of between 0 and 4, based on how many of the above tips they followed.
After tracking the participants for over a decade, while accounting for age and other factors, the team found that the "0" people were four times as likely to have died during the course of the study.
Also, people with a perfect score of 4 were shown to have a shelf life of 14 years longer than their lowly "0" counterparts.
The number one lifestyle change for how to live longer was to quit smoking (big surprise!).
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Thanks for participating in this week’s Carnival of Family Life, hosted at Diary of 1!!
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Great reminders. Doritos do contain tomato powder and onion powder, so shouldn’t that at least count for two servings of vegetables? ;)
With a few more medical breakthroughs, we might one day last as long as a Twinkie!
I am glad to read this post. As a female, smoking is more harmful to me than it is for men.
How about this….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4QiqnNTh1U&feature=channel_page
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