The next few weeks, we'll be reading What Healthy People Know: and the 7 things they do be healthy and live long, by Dr. Bob Gleeson. The first two chapters introduce us to Dr. Bob, his background and his reasoning for writing the book.
The resounding theme of the first two chapters is that we control up to 70% of our own health outcomes over our lifetimes. He sites study after study that show most of the factors that debilitate our health and reduce the quality of our lives (or end them) are vastly controlled through personal choices. He talks about heart disease, diabetes, and other diseases being largely preventable. He starts by listing traits that were found in a 20+ year long study of nurses. The study found that those who shared the following traits only had 20% of the risk for having a heart attack as the rest of the group. These women:
1. Did not smoke
2. Got 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week
3. Maintained a normal body weight
4. Ate a diet high in fruits, vegetables, fiber and healthy fats
5. Consumed very little alcohol
While these choices seem to be common sense, the science has clearly shown that they truly do impact one's health. Dr. Gleeson proposes that these habits don't have to be dramatic or followed 100% of the time, just consistently. No one has a heart attack from one bacon cheeseburger and fries, but eating artery clogging foods more days than not certainly puts you at risk. And studies show that your genes don't have nearly the impact on your health as these types of personal choices.
He gives the analogy of investing in your health like you invest in your retirement. Most people realize the benefits of saving over their lifetime rather than waiting until they are about to retire, or just doing nothing and become poor in their later years. Just as saving over time adds up to a comfortable life in retirement, so does paying attention to one's health little by little, over decades. And the even better news is, that it's never too late to start- even if you've made some bad choices up until now.
The next few chapters will tell us exactly how to make simple lifestyle changes that add up to better health and longevity as we age. I look forward to reading Chapters 3 and 4, on living to be 100, and smoking. Until then, happy reading!
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