Why did the experts come down harder on current bad habits than on health sins from your past? Is a current fizzy drink habit really worse than getting drunk in your 20s? It turns out that the answer is usually yes. 'we all have a health reservoir called functional reserve - it's the extra capacity that helps to protect us against illness, helps us to recover, when we get sick and maintains body functions,' Dr Stall notes 'As we get older, this reserve naturally lowers. And if you add insults such as smoking, drinking too much, overeating or avoiding exercise, the threshold is lowered even further. You can maintain a bigger safety cushion between health and disease, even in your 80s and 90s, if you eat well, exercise and relax.'
The experts also weighed in on 21st-century vices. Eight out of nine thought too much debt, too much coffee and too much intense, stressful driving could have moderate to significant health effects. Six warned that skipping holidays isn't a good thing, and seven were concerned that being a workaholic could damage health.
RATING YOUR PAST
What could be the riskiest health mistake you made in your youth? Perhaps surprisingly, it might not prove to be drinking too much, using marijuana or even having had lots of sexual encounters with different partners. Yes, most of the experts rated these as having moderate to significant power to harm your present or future health, but there is an innocent and often-unavoidable practice that might have subjected you to the greatest risk: frequent sunburn in childhood or adolescence. Research
confirms that early sunburns - a consequence of days spent in the open air and sunshine, without the benefit of sunblock - are an important risk factor for skin cancer later in life.
Meanwhile, more than half of the panel thought that several other unavoidable childhood health experiences - a major illness, an accident or exposure to pollution - could also play important roles in shaping your future health. Research confirms that all three can influence your well-being decades later, yet studies show that most survivors of childhood illness and accidents don't receive the follow-up care they need
(and long-term effects of envirnomental toxins are still not well known in many cases).
Is a current fizzy drink habit really worse than getting drunk in your 20s? It turns out that the answer is usually yes
HEALTH AND EMOTIONS
It is impressive that 'worrying less and having more fun' earned the number five spot when the experts listed their favourite ways for adding more healthy years to your life. On the flip side, it was also surprising that eight of the nine ranked feeling out of control and feeling worried, stressed or angry most of the time as sources of significant harm.
But the results didn't surprise psychologist and researcher Micheal J. Salamon, PhD, director of the Adult Developmental Center in Hewlett, New York, Dr. Salamon, one of the doctors survey, says his own research illuminates the power of feelings and attitudes to extend life. 'In a study, we surveyed older people about their life satisfaction, then went back ten years later to see how they were,' he says. 'What we found was that those with the highest life-satisfaction scores were much more likely still to be alive a decade later than those who had the lowest scores. Something was going on with the way they approached life.'
A growing stack of research confirms the connection. Stress, unhappiness, loneliness an hostility have been linked with higher levels of stress hormones, higher blood sugar levels and clogged arteries. 'The people who were still alive had an accepting attitude. One person told me, "You bless the bad as well as the good",' Dr Salamon notes.
If you think the satisfied people were simply richer or more popular or may be started the study in better health, Dr Salamon has news for you. 'We found no correlation between health or wealth or popularity and satisfaction,' he says. 'It's purely attitude. So if you don't have a happy personality naturally, you can cultivate satisfaction by acknowledging your innate grumpiness and making an effort to appreciate the good things in your life.'
The top six fixes
When asked which activities would be most likely to add healthy years to person's life the doctors had numerous responses, but these six came out on top:
1 Exercising more
2 Quitting smoking
3 Eating more fruit and vegetables
4 Eating less junk food and fatty food
5 Worrying less and having more fun
6 Getting enough sleep
THE FIX TAKE CHARGE TODAY
More good news: the experts thought most current lifestyle mistakes are moderately easy or even simple to fix. Among the easiest in their estimation were: taking more holidays, cutting back on TV, eating more veggies, drinking more water, having breakfast, cutting back on fizzy drinks and sweets and having less coffee.
Slightly more challenging were: getting more exercise, cutting back on junk food, calling a halt to yoyo dieting and reducing meat consumption (to make room for healthy main dishes with fish, beans and grains).
The toughest to change: smoking, a dependence on sleeping pills and an ingrained fast-food habit.
Their best advice: just do it.
'It's never too early to start taking, good care of yourself, but it's never too late, either,' one survey-taker wrote. 'There will always be some benefit.' Added another, 'This is not unique advice, but... today is the first day of the rest of your life. [you] are in charge of caring for yourself and enjoying each day.'
The experts also weighed in on 21st-century vices. Eight out of nine thought too much debt, too much coffee and too much intense, stressful driving could have moderate to significant health effects. Six warned that skipping holidays isn't a good thing, and seven were concerned that being a workaholic could damage health.
RATING YOUR PAST
What could be the riskiest health mistake you made in your youth? Perhaps surprisingly, it might not prove to be drinking too much, using marijuana or even having had lots of sexual encounters with different partners. Yes, most of the experts rated these as having moderate to significant power to harm your present or future health, but there is an innocent and often-unavoidable practice that might have subjected you to the greatest risk: frequent sunburn in childhood or adolescence. Research
confirms that early sunburns - a consequence of days spent in the open air and sunshine, without the benefit of sunblock - are an important risk factor for skin cancer later in life.
Meanwhile, more than half of the panel thought that several other unavoidable childhood health experiences - a major illness, an accident or exposure to pollution - could also play important roles in shaping your future health. Research confirms that all three can influence your well-being decades later, yet studies show that most survivors of childhood illness and accidents don't receive the follow-up care they need
Is a current fizzy drink habit really worse than getting drunk in your 20s? It turns out that the answer is usually yes
HEALTH AND EMOTIONS
It is impressive that 'worrying less and having more fun' earned the number five spot when the experts listed their favourite ways for adding more healthy years to your life. On the flip side, it was also surprising that eight of the nine ranked feeling out of control and feeling worried, stressed or angry most of the time as sources of significant harm.
But the results didn't surprise psychologist and researcher Micheal J. Salamon, PhD, director of the Adult Developmental Center in Hewlett, New York, Dr. Salamon, one of the doctors survey, says his own research illuminates the power of feelings and attitudes to extend life. 'In a study, we surveyed older people about their life satisfaction, then went back ten years later to see how they were,' he says. 'What we found was that those with the highest life-satisfaction scores were much more likely still to be alive a decade later than those who had the lowest scores. Something was going on with the way they approached life.'
A growing stack of research confirms the connection. Stress, unhappiness, loneliness an hostility have been linked with higher levels of stress hormones, higher blood sugar levels and clogged arteries. 'The people who were still alive had an accepting attitude. One person told me, "You bless the bad as well as the good",' Dr Salamon notes.
If you think the satisfied people were simply richer or more popular or may be started the study in better health, Dr Salamon has news for you. 'We found no correlation between health or wealth or popularity and satisfaction,' he says. 'It's purely attitude. So if you don't have a happy personality naturally, you can cultivate satisfaction by acknowledging your innate grumpiness and making an effort to appreciate the good things in your life.'
The top six fixes
When asked which activities would be most likely to add healthy years to person's life the doctors had numerous responses, but these six came out on top:
1 Exercising more
2 Quitting smoking
3 Eating more fruit and vegetables
4 Eating less junk food and fatty food
5 Worrying less and having more fun
6 Getting enough sleep
THE FIX TAKE CHARGE TODAY
More good news: the experts thought most current lifestyle mistakes are moderately easy or even simple to fix. Among the easiest in their estimation were: taking more holidays, cutting back on TV, eating more veggies, drinking more water, having breakfast, cutting back on fizzy drinks and sweets and having less coffee.
Slightly more challenging were: getting more exercise, cutting back on junk food, calling a halt to yoyo dieting and reducing meat consumption (to make room for healthy main dishes with fish, beans and grains).
The toughest to change: smoking, a dependence on sleeping pills and an ingrained fast-food habit.
Their best advice: just do it.
'It's never too early to start taking, good care of yourself, but it's never too late, either,' one survey-taker wrote. 'There will always be some benefit.' Added another, 'This is not unique advice, but... today is the first day of the rest of your life. [you] are in charge of caring for yourself and enjoying each day.'
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