Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
Your playing small does not serve the world
Here are some simple and often surprising tricks that research shows can extend your life..
1 Switch your latte for a cuppa
2 Balance on one leg every morning 3 Have regular sex at least twice a week 4 Eat three walnuts a day 5 Use less sunscreen but don’t burn 6 Make six good mates you can always rely on 7 Stop eating when you’re 80% full 8 Go to bed one hour earlier if you can 9 Make sure you floss every night 10 Be a details person11 Buy yourself a pet, and preferably a dog 12 Don’t put fruit in the fridge 13 Be helpful and lend a hand to others 14 Sing a tune in the shower 15 Eat twice as much fruit and veg 16 Try to stop moaning so much! 17 Drink plenty of apple juice 18 Draw your family tree and learn your history 19 Watch an hour less TV a night 20 Make sure you never skip a screening 21 Measure your waist – not your weight 22 Get hitched – it’s good for your health 23 Laugh at least 20 times a day 24 Give up smoking 25 Try to believe... in something
Tea is packed with antioxidants called polyphenols that can help your body fight heart disease, cancer and premature ageing. One Israeli study found that moderate tea drinkers lived substantially longer than those who don’t have a regular cuppa. But
remember to give it a good stir before removing the tea bag, as
research shows this releases 15% more of the age-resisting ingredients.
It
may sound strange, but standing on alternative legs while you dress in
the morning forces your body to balance, strengthening your ‘core’
(back, pelvic and stomach) muscles which support your spine. According
to physiotherapist Tom Salzman: “This simple daily act will offer
significant long-term benefits when it comes to staying active for
longer and protecting against falls and broken bones as you get older.”
A
large Welsh study on longevity found that those who had sex less than
once a month had double the risk of dying prematurely than those who had
sex twice a week. Aside from the health benefits, couples with a
healthy sex life can also look up to seven years younger, according to a
study by the Royal Edinburgh Hospital – possibly because sex reduces
stress, leading to greater contentment and better sleep.
Walnuts
are the healthiest nut of all because they contain the most
disease-fighting and anti-ageing antioxidants, according to recent
search from the University of Scranton, US. Eating just three walnuts a day is enough to reap the full benefits.
Figures
show that 50% of people in the UK are deficient in vitamin D, the
nutrient made by the action of sunlight on our skin, increasing our
risk of a host of potentially fatal conditions including heart disease,
osteoporosis and cancer. To boost your vitamin D levels without
raising your risk of skin cancer, Cancer Research UK now recommends
getting a few minutes (in practice around 15 to 20) of sun around the
middle of the day without sunscreen. But make sure you don’t burn, or you’ll wipe out any health benefits.
Developing
close friendships and family ties is the secret of living to 100,
according to a recent Australian study of centenarians. Friends
provide emotional support, which helps us deal with stress, and feeling
loved boosts production of feel-good chemicals dopamine and oxytocin,
which promote brain growth, combating ageing. Other research has pinpointed six as the optimum number of friends we each need.
The
Okinawans, who inhabit remote Japanese islands, have one of the world’s
lowest rates of obesity, as well as the highest percentage of people
living beyond 100. Their secret? At every meal, they stop eating
when they feel about 80% satisfied, happily leaving any excess food on
their plate. American researchers have also found animals can live up to twice as long when their food intake is reduced by up to a third. As
well as helping them to maintain a healthier weight, it’s thought
eating less means the metabolism has less work to do, putting less
long-term stress on the body.
Lack
of sleep can put you at greater risk of health conditions such as
depression and heart disease, according to a raft of recent research. And
yet a small change makes a big difference – a study from Harvard
Business School in the US found that for people who normally slept for
seven hours or less a night, going to bed just one hour earlier led to a
significant drop in blood pressure – therefore lowering their risk of
heart attacks and strokes.
“Gum disease is the most widespread condition on the planet,” says dentist Dr James Russell. “So I say sarcastically – floss the teeth you want to keep!” And
it’s not just your teeth that will thank you – in the past 10 years,
studies have linked gum disease to an increased risk of other
conditions, including heart disease, diabetes and certain cancers.
Research by US psychologist Dr Howard Friedman has found that the best predictor of longevity is how conscientious a person is. That’s
right – people who are careful with money, thoughtful, detail-focused
and like to put everything back in its rightful place tend to live
longer! It’s
thought that conscientious people may produce more of the feel-good
brain chemical serotonin, which stops them comfort-eating and improves
their sleep. They also appear to be drawn towards healthier choices and can live less risky lifestyles.
People who own a pet are less stressed, less depressed and can live longer than those who don’t, according to research. The
calming effect of owning an animal can even drop blood pressure and
reduce your risk of a heart attack, according to University of
Minnesota researchers in the US. Another study found owners who
walk their dogs daily lived an average of seven years longer than
otherwise similar non-dog owners.
You
might think you’re making it last longer, but studies show that chilled
fruit contains fewer health-boosting nutrients than fruit, which has
been kept at room temperature. For example, tomatoes and peppers
stored in a bowl rather than the fridge can contain double the
betacarotene and up to 20 times more lycopene. Which is good
news, as high intakes of both these antioxidants have been linked to
better heart health and lower rates of certain cancers.
Helping others not only feels good – it could reap big health rewards too. A
long-term US study found that people who volunteered regularly over a
lifetime lived significantly longer than those who didn’t. Volunteers also experienced less depression, fewer pains and better general health.
Singing regularly
could be a better health insurance policy than taking vitamins,
according to the findings of a joint Harvard and Yale University study
from the US. They found that being a choir member increased life
expectancy, and concluded this was because a good old singsong slashed
stress, promoted a healthy heart and helped ward off depression.
A
recent report in the European Heart Journal found that people who eat
eight or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day have nearly a
quarter less chance of dying from heart disease than someone who eats
only three – the national average. This is because every single
portion is packed with vital vitamins and antioxidants, which boost the
immune system and fight the damage that leads to premature ageing.
Optimists
live 12 years longer than pessimists, according to American
researchers at the US Mayo Clinic. Pessimists are also more prone to
viral illnesses and are less likely to carry out essential
self-examinations that detect breast or skin cancer.
Apple juice could help keep your brain young, according to a recent study in the Journal Of Alzheimer’s Disease. Researchers found just two glasses a day reduced the formation of the sticky plaques found in the brains of dementia patients.
Finding out your family health history could help predict your own health future, as many conditions have a genetic link. “We
suspect a condition, such as heart disease or cancer, is genetic if it
crops up more frequently than we’d expect by chance, especially at a
young age,” says Dr Anand Saggar, genetics specialist and Harley Street
doctor.. By identifying conditions that run in your family you can be sure to look out for symptoms so problems are picked up early.
After
the age of 25, every hour of TV you watch could knock around 20 minutes
off your lifespan, say scientists at the US National Cancer Institute. This
is thought to be down to the fact that the more TV you watch, the
longer your body is sat around doing nothing, muscles aren’t exercised
and calories aren’t burnt off – raising your risk of illness and early
death.
“The NHS
doesn’t offer tests for the fun of it – they can, and do, save lives by
catching diseases early when they’re still treatable,” argues Dr Dawn
Harper. “So if you’re offered any test whether it’s a smear, a
blood pressure check or a mammogram, making that appointment should be a
priority – not something that wallows in the bottom of your in tray.”
Scientists
have discovered that waist measurement is a better predictor of heart
disease than either weight or BMI (body mass index) because it can point
to the existence of visceral fat, the dangerous fat that sit around
the vital organs. Your waist should measure below 94cm for a man or below 80cm for a woman.
Married
men are three times less likely to die from heart disease than men who
have never tied the knot, while marriage halves the risk of cardiac
death for women, according to a 2009 study.
Laughter boosts the immune system, slashes stress hormones and stimulates killer T-cells, which fight cancer. But
as adults we only laugh an average of five to fifteen times a day,
while children can easily clock up over a hundred daily giggle bouts.
According
to a long-term Finnish study, smoking not only shortens your life by
around 10 years, but it also lowers your quality of life in old age, as
smokers are more likely to suffer from debilitating illnesses.
More than 1,000 studies have found a link between faith and living longer. It’s
thought that having strong beliefs helps people deal with stress and
emotional problems, and also seems to offer protection against heart,
respiratory and digestive problems.
It may just help to check your “cardiac risk score” before you settle down in front of your TV to soak in a month and more of World Cup excitement.
Men above 45 with a heart condition, high blood pressure and uncontrolled diabetes or those who smoke or have a family history of cardiac ailments have a score of above 1, which puts them in the risk category, say experts. Increased excitement (caused by a goal from your favourite team) or a spurt in stress level (triggered by a goal scored by the team you hate) is a recipe for heart attack for this group.
But that does not mean you switch off the TV or watch something more tepid, like the India-Afghanistan Test match, say doctors. Just don’t get too psyched up; and, in case you cannot handle a nerve-wracking encounter, take a break to calm your frayed nerves.
“Watching football can be life-threatening,” cardiac surgeon Kunal Sarkar agreed, explaining that excitement could trigger neuro-hormones, which would lead to a spike in heart rate and blood pressure. “The heart has to pump faster to meet this sudden spurt in cardiac activity, which could cause a cardiac arrest. Those with heart ailments or high blood pressure are especially vulnerable. My advice would be to restrain your excitement if you feel you can’t handle the stress,” Sarkar said.
High-profile sporting events like the Fifa World Cup lead to a rise in the number of sudden cardiac arrests. “Unlike cricket or golf, which are relatively passive sports, passions run high in football. There’s hardly any cooling-off period in the middle of a match and those rooting for a team tend to get involved. The sudden flow and ebb of hormones could be dangerous,” he said.
Before you tune in to a high-voltage match, get your basic health parameters screened, advised AMRI Hospital consultant Debashish Saha. “A significantly large number of those who will be watching the World Cup are undiagnosed cardiac patients. It is this section that can be caught unawares. A sudden flow of adrenalin could be harmful for those who have blocked arteries,” Saha said. A cardiac risk score of 1 and above puts you at moderate risk and those with a count of 3 and above fall in the high-risk group. “It is calculated on the extent of your cardiac complications, blood pressure, blood sugar count and genetic propensity. The majority of those with a count between 1 and 3 are not aware that they are at risk,” Saha pointed out.
Any excitement can trigger a sudden rise in catacolamin (adrenalin) levels in blood. A sudden adrenalin rush leads to high blood pressure and heart rate since the heart starts pumping faster. “It could be dangerous for the high-risk group as most don’t have regular check-ups,” Saha said. But the “healthy population” — those with normal body-mass index, no blood pressure, diabetes or family history of cardiac ailments and non-smokers — can remain unaffected by heightened stress, experts say.
All is not lost for those with a score of more than 1, though. “Periodic screening can help scale down the modifiable risk factors like blood pressure, sugar, cholesterol and smoking. This can bring down the risk factor and make you less vulnerable to football-triggered stress,” explained Saha.
It was not just watching a game that could raise your stress level, warned senior consultant Arindam Biswas. Even an animated discussion or a sudden argument in the middle of a match could be dangerous for the risk-group, he pointed out. “If you are a passionate football fan, avoid sudden outbursts of emotion like screaming after a goal. And never, never skip your medicines,” he said.
A FIFA World Cup or an IPL could be risky for the faint-hearted but it would not be fair to “blanket label” these events as risky, argued Hrishikesh Kumar, senior consultant at Institute of Neurosciences Kolkata. “Watching late-night matches could be risky, though. Lost sleep can lead to stress, depression and anxiety, which are a perfect recipe for a brain stroke. So check your cholesterol count and make sure that you get enough sleep, even if you have to miss Messi in action,” he advised.
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