Want to look twelve years older? Not many people do, save for maybe some teenagers trying to buy a six pack at their local convenience store. Ironically, that six pack could help them reach their target perhaps faster than they would like. New research out of the UK that followed 5000 British adults for 20 years is shedding light on just how damaging certain bad habbits can be on our bodies. And just how much they can accelerate the aging process and increase risk of health related death. The four culprits:
- Smoking
- Drinking Too Much (more than three drinks per day for males, and two drinks per day for females)
- Inactivity (less than two hours of activity per week of physical activity)
- Poor Diet (not eating your fruits and vegatables)
On their own, they each contribute to reducing one’s healthiness. But combined together, they can be quite devastating to your lifespan according to the results. The study offered up this sobering statistic. 314 people of the 5000 that were studied had all four unhealthy habits. During the study period, 91 died, or 29 percent. Of the 387 healthiest people with none of the four habits, only 32 died, or about 8 percent. As you can see, there is no guarantee that healthy behaviors will keep you from dying, but the numbers also point to a significantly higher risk of death or serious health issues if you go the other route.
Lead researcher Elisabeth Kvaavik of the University of Oslo pointed out that collectively, the folks that combined these habits increased risk of death and on aggregate made the people seem 12 years older than their healthy counterparts.
The interesting and encouraging thing from the study was that you don’t need to be extreme in your healthy habits in order to reap the benefits. There is a cumulative benefit to partaking in a more healthy lifestyle overall, not just in one particular area. A carrot, an apple and a glass of orange juice cover the minimums for the study. Hardly a restrictive vegan diet.
For example, one carrot, one apple and a glass of orange juice would suffice for the fruit and vegetable cutoffs in the study, Kvaavik said, noting that the amounts are pretty modest and less strict than many guidelines.
U.S. FDA guidelines typically recommend about four cups of fruits or vegetables daily for adults. Depending on age and activity level, around 2.5 hours of exercise weekly is the guideline.
Other than that, it is simply a matter of drinking in moderation and not smoking. Not terribly complex or demanding, especially in our 2010 world that frowns on smoking so much anyway.
Study participants were 4,886 British adults aged 18 and older, or 44 years old on average. They were randomly selected from participants in a separate nationwide British health survey.
The study appears in Monday’s Archives of Internal Medicine. To see more: http://www.archinternmed.com
