Many times in my career I have sat across from a patient who expressed that they are getting serious about their health, and then rattle off a list of things that they are doing to improve their health – all mostly worthless. I do not blame them – they are victims of a self-help, supplement, and wellness industry that has completely mislead them. A typical list might include: eating only organic, avoiding GMOs, taking daily vitamins, eating low-carb, and using a sauna (or perhaps cryochambers). Sometimes they throw in fully magical interventions, like feng shui or reiki. In short, they invest a lot of time and money into interventions that will not make them more healthy, and distract them from the things we know will.
If you want to improve your health and longevity the data suggests there are five things that are of primary importance (in terms of lifestyle) – eat a well-rounded balanced diet, get sufficient quality sleep, don’t smoke, limit alcohol intake, and exercise regularly. Obviously, getting good medical care is also very important. Get regular checkups (including for dental health), and address any specific health issues you have, including mental health.
The good news is – there is not mystery to good health. The lifestyle factors I list above are the 99 percenter, meaning that together that have the overwhelming largest effect on your health. So stop worrying about the 1%, there is no magical “superfood” our there, no hack, and no secret. Focus on doing the things everyone already knows they should do.
The other good news is that small changes can make a measurable difference. I’m going to focus on exercise for the rest of this post, since that is the one that seems to take the most effort, and the one factor that my patients seemed to struggle with the most. First, exercise is not just about “getting into shape”, or being strong or athletic. It is about basic health, and this includes your brain health.
This evidence has been building for decades, but a recent study shows how much benefit there can be to even a little bit of regular exercise:
“Existing guidelines from most national and global health organizations call for at least 150–300 minutes of moderate physical activity each week, or 75–150 minutes of vigorous activity, for healthy adults, sometimes alongside activities to strengthen muscle and bone. Although those guidelines remain good goals to aim for, newer studies suggest that meaningful health benefits emerge with much less exercise.”
It’s important to get this message out. Many people hear the fact that 150-300 minutes of moderate activity is recommended each week. This seems like a lot: 22-45 minutes every day. This messaging can have an unintended consequence, that people either feel like this is unattainable for them, so do nothing, or they make big plans, join a gym, buy a stationary bike, and then end up doing nothing. When people think a task is intimidatingly big, they procrastinate or don’t do it at all.
It is therefore good to know that any physical activity you do is better than doing nothing. Start small, start slow, and then build from there. Doing a little bit of physical activity, even for a few minutes, has measurable benefits. The flip side of this is that long periods of sitting or doing no physical activity is harmful to your health. Just getting up and doing a chore, or just walking a bit, to break up your sitting is good.
More good news – exercise is beneficial at any age. So it is never too late. Do little chores for yourself, like making a cup of tea or getting the mail, rather than have someone do it for you.
We tend to buy devices and services to make our lives easier, and this can make sense. Our time is valuable, and often it’s just more efficient to pay a properly equipped expert to do something than to do it ourselves. But perhaps we should hold onto some chores simply for the exercise. Why pay someone to mow your lawn while you go to the gym (or sit on the couch). If you’re too busy working, it makes sense, but if you are just trying to save yourself physical work, it may not. Or if mowing the lawn is not your thing, take up a hobby that has a physical component, like gardening.
There are several components to exercise that it helps to be aware of – cardio, resistance, and stretching. All are beneficial in different way. Cardiovascular exercise is anything that gets your heart rate up and burns calories, even a little. This could be just walking. Brisk walk if you can. Resistance exercise is anything that works your muscles against resistance, like lifting weights. This builds bone and muscle, and helps preserve bone and muscle as we age. Strength is also critical to functionality, which helps us move and do more, so there is a positive feedback.
Stretching is often neglected, but has an independent correlation with longer lives and greater functionality. Just doing a few minutes of basic stretching can be helpful.
So if you want to improve your health, live longer and maintain your function into older age, the data is clear. Move. Do anything, but try to get your heartrate up, do some resistance and stretching. Do a tiny bit every day, make it part of your routine, and then do a little more. Do something fun that you enjoy, do it with a partner, or at least do something that is convenient. You don’t have to spend a lot of money or buy fancy equipment. You don’t have to join a gym.
And you certainly don’t have to buy any self-help books, expensive supplements, wellness gadgets, or have someone manipulate your chi.
