Separating true healthy living from all the .

[leto]

Separating true healthy living from all the ********.

I made my new years resolution, and it was to get healthy. I've decided to put focus on it, and while I know I need to get to a doctor for blood tests and all of that (which I will be going to Mexico to do where it is actually affordable. Our healthcare system here makes me sick with all the greed and corruption.), I still have a lot of trouble with pinpointing what things really count as healthy living.

I have read and heard all sorts of things about how to be healthy from doctors, scientists and magazine articles, only to find everyone contradicting everyone else. It's really very repugnant that so much ******** is flung about, and how every study ends up contradicting another one.

That said, I'm looking for the things things that aren't just fun for doctors to pretend to know, scientists to manipulate data to get into articles, and writers to bring up because it sounds good.

What are the near axioms of healthy living? I realize that a lot of these are questionable themselves, but these are some of the things I already do to try to be healthy: I take vitamins, I exercise, I drink a lot of tea, I don't eat candy or a lot of junk food, and I try to get enough sleep.

 

[mgb_phys]

Eat less, exercise more and don't eat stuff that's a fluorescent color or has a list of ingredients that read like an MSDS

 

[leto]

I would hardly call eating less a near axiom of healthy living. I might benefit from eating less, but my BMI is only 23.7, and I'm mostly muscle. (which is why BMI is really a terrible chart anyway. A very fit muscular person could be considered overweight.) As far as exercise goes, I get sick if I exercise too much, and I get even sicker if I try to exercise when I don't feel good.

 

[hypatia]

Un-stress your life, only worry about things you have control of. People seldom understand the full impact, of what stress does on our health and bodies.

Cortisol, the primary stress hormone, increases sugars in the bloodstream, enhances your brain's use of glucose and increases the availability of substances that repair tissues.

Real problems of the stress-response system may include, heart disease, sleep problems, digestive problems, depression, and memory impairment.

So less stress for a healthier life.

 

[Evo]

Instead of taking vitamins, try to get the vitamins and minerals you need naturally from the foods you eat. Why do you drink lots of tea? What kind of tea, and why do you think it's good to drink lots of it?

 

[leto]

Un-stress your life, only worry about things you have control of. People seldom understand the full impact, of what stress does on our health and bodies.

Cortisol, the primary stress hormone, increases sugars in the bloodstream, enhances your brain's use of glucose and increases the availability of substances that repair tissues.

Real problems of the stress-response system may include, heart disease, sleep problems, digestive problems, depression, and memory impairment.

So less stress for a healthier life.

This actually makes my point about everything contradicting everything else. I'm sure too much stress can be bad for you, but I know I've read an article about a study that found some stress strengthened the immune system. Also, here is an article about stress maybe not being that bad for you after all. http://www.newsweek.com/id/184154 The more you actually look into any "healthy living" method, the more it seems to end up being flimsy or wrong.

Instead of taking vitamins, try to get the vitamins and minerals you need naturally from the foods you eat. Why do you drink lots of tea? What kind of tea, and why do you think it's good to drink lots of it?

I probably do get all the vitamins I need from the food I eat, but I don't know I do. I don't pretend to think they're helping me at all, but they're cheap and easy so I go through the motions. I drink all sorts of different tea. Different kinds of green tea, black tea, red tea and silly teas like sleepy time. I also drink coffee from time to time. I don't pretend to know that they're good for me, but I've read plenty to indicate it. They're full of antioxidants and other health-nut trendy wanky things. It also means I get enough fluid, and for every article you read about the evils of caffeine, there is another to suggest it can be good for you in moderation, or at least offset by the benefits of drinking tea/coffee.

 

[DaveC426913]

A really rough but simple way of eating healthier is to buy your groceries from the outer aisle of the grocery store and stay out of the inner aisles as much as possible.

Fresh, wholesome foods: fruits, veggies, milk, eggs, etc. are brought in regularly and are therefore placed in the outer aisle, whereas the inner aisles are predominantly processed foods.

 

[lisab]

Great goal, leto.

Judging from your BMI it sounds like you don't need to worry about your weight. Also, you mentioned you have a lot of muscle so it sounds like you are fit.

Do you smoke?

mgb_phys's suggestion about foods is valid - stay away from processed foods as much as possible.

 

[DaveC426913]

This actually makes my point about everything contradicting everything else. I'm sure too much stress can be bad for you, but I know I've read an article about a study that found some stress strengthened the immune system. Also, here is an article about stress maybe not being that bad for you after all. http://www.newsweek.com/id/184154 The more you actually look into any "healthy living" method, the more it seems to end up being flimsy or wrong.

The lesson here is: all things in moderation. That includes stressors.

It does not mean the findings are wrong, it simply means that all things to do with living well are a balance - usually two competing factors pulling in opposite directions. Health comes in finding the middle (for example, dropping your stress to zero probably risks lethargy and atrophy).

 

[leto]

Great goal, leto.

Judging from your BMI it sounds like you don't need to worry about your weight. Also, you mentioned you have a lot of muscle so it sounds like you are fit.

Do you smoke?

mgb_phys's suggestion about foods is valid - stay away from processed foods as much as possible.

I'm not fit. I'm just strong with a mediocre endurance and a terrible immune system. No, I don't smoke.

 

[Proton Soup]

in general, stress isn't bad. but constant stress will do you in. especially the kind of stress where you get yourself in a situation where you feel like you can never keep up, and that you are trapped and have no options to escape it. despair and hopelessness will drive you to an early grave. stress that leads to success can be another beast altogether, tho. but even then, you need balance. even the stress of exercise has a point at which doing more leads to diminishing returns, and, eventually, negative consequences.

as for diet, lots of variety. oily fishes, lean meats, fruits, veggies, etc. man does not live on corn and wheat alone.

if you drink a lot of coffee, don't boil it or french press it. the real gremlin isn't the caffeine, but http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cafestol" .

and it sounds like you might enjoy lifting the iron as much as i do, but don't forget that humans are bipeds. we are made to walk, so it would be a very good idea to do a good bit of that. occasionally, at a rate high enough to perform aerobic exercise.

and hygiene, of course. stay healthy.

but in the end, everybody dies, and i kind of get the impression that genetics probably is the ultimate factor here.

 

[DaveC426913]

but in the end, everybody dies, and i kind of get the impression that genetics probably is the ultimate factor here.

Yes. And that's the fourth piece in the health puzzle.

So:

• eat well
• get plenty of exercise
• get adequate restorative sleep
• choose your parents wisely

 

[Pythagorean]

I would hardly call eating less a near axiom of healthy living. I might benefit from eating less, but my BMI is only 23.7, and I'm mostly muscle. (which is why BMI is really a terrible chart anyway. A very fit muscular person could be considered overweight.) As far as exercise goes, I get sick if I exercise too much, and I get even sicker if I try to exercise when I don't feel good.

It's not just weight, look up sirt3. Low calorie diets have been associated with longevity.

This is great news for slave-owners.

 

[Evo]

I would hardly call eating less a near axiom of healthy living. I might benefit from eating less, but my BMI is only 23.7, and I'm mostly muscle. (which is why BMI is really a terrible chart anyway. A very fit muscular person could be considered overweight.) As far as exercise goes, I get sick if I exercise too much, and I get even sicker if I try to exercise when I don't feel good.

If exercising makes you sick, you should discuss this with a doctor.

 

[leto]

It's not just weight, look up sirt3. Low calorie diets have been associated with longevity.

This is great news for slave-owners.

"Why dietary restriction substantially increases longevity in animal models but won't in humans."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16046282

I'm not saying I disbelieve that a certain amount of eating less could be healthy, but "eating less" as a means of healthy living overall is not proven, and has contradictions all over the place. For example, researchers at the Center for Population Health and Aging at Duke University at Durham, North Carolina found that being overweight and even obese had a survival advantage in senior citizens.

"Achieving thinness after retirement age appears an especially unsound goal. Mortality risks steadily increased as weights dropped, from ‘normal’ BMIs through underweight — this was after adjusting for age, smoking, drinking, cancer, heart problems, heart attacks, strokes, race and any weight changes. They did not even adjust for “obesity-related” health problems of diabetes and hypertension, which would have skewed the results even more so in favor of higher weights. "


What it appears to boil down to, to me, is that CR diets are just another silly thing everyone believes because they have merit, but it doesn't mean anything yet.

 

[gravenewworld]

The more foods with deep and vibrant colors the better. Stay away from foods in a package as much as possible. More and more evidence is piling up everyday between the link of inflammation and cancer. Some foods out there have incredible antiinflammatory properties. Some of the anthocyanins that give tart cherries their red color have been shown to be 10x's more potent than naproxen at decreasing inflammatory markers in vitro Foods such as papaya and a bunch of different herbs and spices also have interesting antiinflammatory properties. The message is simple. Eat well, exercise, live longer.

 

[denverdoc]

"Why dietary restriction substantially increases longevity in animal models but won't in humans."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16046282

I'm not saying I disbelieve that a certain amount of eating less could be healthy, but "eating less" as a means of healthy living overall is not proven, and has contradictions all over the place. For example, researchers at the Center for Population Health and Aging at Duke University at Durham, North Carolina found that being overweight and even obese had a survival advantage in senior citizens.

"Achieving thinness after retirement age appears an especially unsound goal. Mortality risks steadily increased as weights dropped, from ‘normal’ BMIs through underweight — this was after adjusting for age, smoking, drinking, cancer, heart problems, heart attacks, strokes, race and any weight changes. They did not even adjust for “obesity-related” health problems of diabetes and hypertension, which would have skewed the results even more so in favor of higher weights. "


What it appears to boil down to, to me, is that CR diets are just another silly thing everyone believes because they have merit, but it doesn't mean anything yet.

Therein is the rub IMO. The longevity data are most robust for those who were always thin. A big diet that leads to weight loss at an advanced age may invoke more chronic stress and the deleterious effects mentioned above, than leaving well enough alone.

It is not as tho at the age of 60 you can strip the fat from the arteries as easily from the gut.

 

[DaveC426913]

Therein is the rub IMO. The longevity data are most robust for those who were always thin. A big diet that leads to weight loss at an advanced age may invoke more chronic stress and the deleterious effects mentioned above, than leaving well enough alone.

It is not as tho at the age of 60 you can strip the fat from the arteries as easily from the gut.

I've always questioned the quality of a life that is controlled via CR.

CR Rodents, while long-lived, are notably silent on the subject of their happiness about it.

Or to put it another way: being in suspended animation is another way of extending your life. If an extended life is your goal, rather than a quality life.

 

[lisab]

I thought of another tip for good health: take good care of your teeth. Floss, daily at least.

Preventing periodontal disease is an obvious benefit, but http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/features/periodontal-disease-heart-health" that gum disease is linked with heart disease.

According to the American Academy of Periodontology, people with periodontal disease are almost twice as likely to have coronary artery disease (also called heart disease). And one study found that the presence of common problems in the mouth, including gum disease (gingivitis), cavities, and missing teeth, were as good at predicting heart disease as cholesterol levels.

 

[denverdoc]

I've always questioned the quality of a life that is controlled via CR.

CR Rodents, while long-lived, are notably silent on the subject of their happiness about it.

Or to put it another way: being in suspended animation is another way of extending your life. If an extended life is your goal, rather than a quality life.

Now that is an interesting post. And explicitly points to a debate between a seemingly universal desire of living long vs having fun. The most longlived folks on the planet usually (here I may be editorializing) have no choice.

A beautiful irony if you ask me. Those that can demand anything from anyone may live fewer years some poor peasant.

IMO, we ought to look into the longest lived affluent vs the rest.

Why is it the good die young, the rich die later, and the mean/lean and active outlive the rest?