Because if I live to 100 I win a bet...

August 8, 2007 10:02 AM

What are the, say, 10 most important things I must do to maintain my physical health?

There are innumberable things one can and should do for their physical health. However, what I'm interested in are the 10 most important. These would be the 10 things that, if you're not doing them, a doctor would just want to shake you and tell you to grow up. And I know there are hundreds of things that one could be doing for one's health...but I'm not interested in the little ones. I'm looking for the big guns.
I'll start:
1) Quit smoking (if appropriate)
2) Get at least 20 minutes of cardio 3x per week (much more, ideally)
3-10) ????

posted by Ziggurat to health (48 comments total)

Wear your seatbelt
Wear sunscreen
posted by robinpME at 10:03 AM on August 8, 2007

Get the appropriate amount of sleep.

Getting too much or too little seems to lead to all sorts of issues.
posted by awegz at 10:04 AM on August 8, 2007

Eat vegetables every day.
posted by croutonsupafreak at 10:04 AM on August 8, 2007

Maintain a healthy weight for your size
Keep your cholesteral, blood pressure low
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:04 AM on August 8, 2007 [1 favorite]

Cancer prevention:

1. Avoid tobacco
2. Exercise regularly (at least three times a week)
3. Eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables every day
4. Maintain a healthy weight
5. Limit time in the sun
6. Limit alcohol consumption
7. Protect yourself from sexually transmitted diseases
8. Get an annual check-up and recommended screening tests
9. Learn your family’s history of cancer and disease
posted by croutonsupafreak at 10:05 AM on August 8, 2007 [1 favorite]

see a doctor annually for checkups
get 5 servings of fruit and veggies every day
learn to relax. stress causes more health issues.
drink in moderation, if at all
avoid refined sugars and bad fats
posted by jessica at 10:06 AM on August 8, 2007 [1 favorite]

Take care of your teeth!
posted by croutonsupafreak at 10:06 AM on August 8, 2007

Eat a diet that falls into well-established nutritional guidelines (isn't high in saturated or other kinds of fats, particularly).

I think that should probably be #2, right after smoking. Exercise is a close #3, but if you're chowing down at McD's four or five times a week, you can still get yourself in trouble, even if you exercise.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:07 AM on August 8, 2007

Drive less. In addition to encouraging you to exercise, it helps protect you from the leading cause of accidental death, car crashes, which kill more than 43,000 Americans each year.
posted by decathecting at 10:09 AM on August 8, 2007

Only one rule....Everything in moderation.

Maybe not as specific as you were hoping for however...
posted by fox_terrier_guy at 10:09 AM on August 8, 2007

Challenge your body and mind.
Look both ways before crossing.
Have lots of sex.
posted by Mister_A at 10:10 AM on August 8, 2007

Drink more water.
posted by notsnot at 10:21 AM on August 8, 2007

Challenge your body and mind.
Look both ways before crossing.
Have lots of sex.

While these may be good things to do, they're not correct answers to the question.
posted by jejune at 10:24 AM on August 8, 2007

1. Maintain strong social contacts (friends and family).
2. Eat to live rather than use food as therapy or as a mindless part of social contact. Lots of plants, some meat, some fat, some alcohol. Subpoint: avoid corn syrup!
3. Exercise: while you can get a great workout cleaning the house or chasing the kids, weight training has shown great results for maintaining bone mass, important later in life. Walking (in proper shoes) rather than running tends to maintain the chassis better over time.
4. Attend to your preventive checkups. Note that these checkups do more than screen for indicators; these are opportunities to learn from your doctor about diseases or conditions that tend to occur at these junctures in your life. Ask about what to do during these sessions and take notes.
5. Get quality sleep, and plenty of it. Regiment your sleep cycle to prevent problems later, and consider putting a halt to eating a few hours beforehand.
6. Continue learning. As Mister_A says in "Challenge your... mind", you lose what you don't use. Sudoku and cryptic crosswords or reading-- whatever keeps you challenged.

Only six, but wordy enough to be ten!
posted by Arch1 at 10:24 AM on August 8, 2007 [1 favorite]

Look after your mental health.
posted by forallmankind at 10:26 AM on August 8, 2007 [1 favorite]

Eat smarter.
Cut out soda + caffeine
If you're going to do cardio, aim for variety (running vs cycling)
Exercise first thing in the morning
posted by debit at 10:26 AM on August 8, 2007

Great stuff everyone so far, and thanks!
The sleep and teeth things are, strangely, something I hadn't really considered for this list.
Curious that nobody has said something like "take 2 capsules of Omega 3 every day"...I wonder if any of these "must have" supplement type things we read about every day could actually have a higher effect on our longevity than, say, wearing a seatbelt, avoiding the sun, or eating fiber every day. Or if the best supplements simply reduce our risk of contracting X cancer from .1% to .099%. Keep 'em coming and thanks again!
posted by Ziggurat at 10:36 AM on August 8, 2007

Supplements are a 'squishy' area. If anything, take a multivitamin from a well-established brand. The alternate for the pro-vitamin camps would be to get a custom supplement from Dr. Weil. (www.drweil.com, go to the "Vitamin Advisor")

Final suggestion from me: consider a flexibility program... it's no shock that yoga is coming back, as it's physically challenging, calming *and* great for flexibility. And you don't have to be in great shape to get significant benefit from, say, two sessions a week. Highly recommended.
posted by Arch1 at 10:43 AM on August 8, 2007

Try and leave some food on your plate. Don't try and finish a restaurant meal just because you paid for it. Eat half and bring the rest home. You WILL get used to eating less.
posted by neilkod at 10:44 AM on August 8, 2007

It's been shown in animal and human studies repeatedly that limiting your caloric intake is the single biggest driver for longevity.

Or what neilkod said.
posted by junesix at 10:49 AM on August 8, 2007

Most of the stuff you read in the news about hot new supplements, fad diets, etc. comes from press releases. If you read the actual studies in full (which reporters almost never do), there is no causal link between the supplements and the health benefits they purport to bring. And even if there were, the effects are so small and so limited as to be drastically overshadowed by the benefits of a balanced diet, exercise, good hygiene, and other reasonable precautions you can take with your physical safety.

Oh, and by the way, you may not want to avoid the sun entirely; just avoid sun tan/burn. Vitamin D is a pretty important nutrient, and people who assiduously avoid going outside without sunscreen may be trading a lower risk of skin cancer for a higher risk of breast and colon cancer and osteoporosis.
posted by decathecting at 10:52 AM on August 8, 2007

(of course, that study may too eventually be contradicted by another study, so you may just want to continue doing whatever you've been doing and not worry too much about it)
posted by decathecting at 10:55 AM on August 8, 2007

The Vitamin D/Cancer study, in case you were interested.
posted by decathecting at 10:59 AM on August 8, 2007

Here's my attempt to consolidate the above answers into a complete answer to the question (not in any order):

1. Don't engage in substance abuse (alcohol, tobacco, other drugs).
2. Wear sunscreen.
3. Be cautious about the risks of driving (drivers should drive carefully, passengers should wear seatbelts, pedestrians should watch for cars, everyone should obey the law, etc.).
4. Exercise regularly.
5. Sleep well.
6. Go to the doctor as appropriate (routine check-ups or to address specific problems).
7. If you're sexually active, practice safer sex.
8. Maintain your dental health.
9. Maintain your mental health. (Easier said than done.)
10. Eat right.*

*Of course, you're not going to get people to agree on what "eating right" means. The current zeitgeist in the U.S. assumes that any given health problem is likely to have a neat solution in terms of "Eat more of this and less of that," but from what I know (which admittedly isn't much), the evidence to support this is uncertain. Another thing: someone said your diet should contain "some meat, some alcohol." I'm not going to argue that those can't be part of a healthy diet, but the question is about things your doctor would get mad at you for not doing. I don't think doctors get mad at vegetarians or teetotalers.
posted by jejune at 10:59 AM on August 8, 2007

Don't have unprotected sex. Unless, of course, you and your partner are trying to make a baby.

Drink lots of water.

Don't smoke.

Have an optimistic outlook on life.

Eat less. But eat well.

Exercise more. Start slowly, build it up.

Floss!

Get enough sleep.

Don't sunbathe. And never, ever use a sunbed.

Nurture your spirit.
posted by essexjan at 11:02 AM on August 8, 2007 [1 favorite]

Swimming. Has cardio benefits, if you swim fast it probably has the strength-training benefits mentioned above, it isn't bad for your joints like any sports that involve running or jumping, and is good for your back in particular. With cardio workouts generally I would advocate swimming/running/rowing fast and intensively rather than for a long time. Gives you more time for other pursuits and gives you cardio benefits without breaking down muscle mass and joints, which running for hours will do.
posted by creasy boy at 11:03 AM on August 8, 2007

Jejune: Good list, but there's a reason I started with "maintain social contacts". With a dad who was an actuary and a mom as a nurse, I can confirm both statistically and by practice that strong social bonds have a preventive effect and provide a support network in the case of illness. Attending to creating and fostering social connections is often overlooked when people make "health" lists, and yet it is VITAL.
posted by Arch1 at 11:08 AM on August 8, 2007 [2 favorites]

It seems that we're getting close to a definitive list (at least definitive for people in the thread)...but I wonder if we're missing something big? Or if something we all think is a huge benefit to health/longevity is actually not nearly as important as one might think?
Are we getting sucked in by any urban myths here? Or is there one or two supplements/quick fixes that are actually incredibly important? I know that heart-disease is a huge risk. So is it possible that, statistically speaking, taking something that reduces cholesterol (for example) would actually have more health benefit than, say, practicing safe sex? Or is the macro stuff, like we see above, really a much bigger deal than something micro and seemingly obscure (like, say, taking omega 3 every day, or taking an aspirin every day when you're over 50)?
posted by Ziggurat at 11:12 AM on August 8, 2007

...on preview, Arch1's latest answer is very interesting. The kind of thing one might overlook, and I love that it's backed up by actuarial analysis. Unless Arch1 is lying about his parents' professions, in a deluded attempt to fit in here on Askmefi, just so he can maintain his precious social contacts!

I kid, I kid...
posted by Ziggurat at 11:15 AM on August 8, 2007

Arch1: I agree with you--I was intending to include that piece of advice in my list. I wanted to make it as concise and comprehensive as possible while sticking to the "10 points" rule, so I just said, "Maintain mental health." Seems to me that having a social life is essential to good mental health.

As far as the point that you "started" your list with that, I specifically said my list was in no particular order.
posted by jejune at 11:18 AM on August 8, 2007

Zig: not joking about my parents... made for very interesting dinner discussions. The power of the social network is real in terms of longevity and recovery, and I'll throw in one more. People who drink (small) amounts of alcohol live longer than teetotalers. There are actuarial tables that prove this out as well.

And je: get your drift. It's just when we try to put together summaries, sometimes the weight behind each point gets lost. In the case of health lists, this is what frustrates me every time I see a magazine dole out "5 step plans" every month. It's not specific enough to give anyone steps to put into action. ...that said, you've got the right 10 majors, that's for certain.
posted by Arch1 at 11:29 AM on August 8, 2007 [1 favorite]

Or is the macro stuff, like we see above, really a much bigger deal than something micro and seemingly obscure
The macro stuff is definitely a much bigger deal. All the Lipitor, omega-3 acids, aspirin tablets, glasses of red wine, gingko, ginseng, green tea, beta-carotene, and random supplements amount to almost nothing next to a proper, lower calorie varied diet with dark vegetables, fruit, and fiber and daily exercise.
posted by junesix at 11:42 AM on August 8, 2007 [1 favorite]

Take vacations. Don't bring cellphone, don't call the office, just tell them you can't be reached. While on vacation, relax, don't overeat, don't drink too much, and look for some physical, mental or artistic diversions. In my experience, people who avoid vacationing (and other diversions) are the ones that suffer from stress. I guess this fits under jejune's No. 9.
posted by beagle at 11:43 AM on August 8, 2007

The sleep thing is actually package and parcel of the overall stress package. I'd go up a level on that aspect and have some variant of "limit stresses in your life" Obviously some things you can't prevents -- deaths in family and natural diasters -- but a lot of stressful situations are either avoidable or mitigatable by other factors.

So to address the stress issue which is a big aspect of hypertension, muscle soreness and just generally passing on bad karma to those around you, I'd have a sublist that was: get enough sleep, drink enough water, wear comfortable clothes, exercise regularly, engage with nature (necessary? of course not. helpful? you bet.), have a pet or a companion or a strong social network and nurutre yourself in whatever way is necesary to reach this goal (sex, yoga, macrame, whatever). I'm not sure how to say that in a shorter way, but it seems like it's an essential thing, only touched on by the other things.
posted by jessamyn at 11:43 AM on August 8, 2007 [1 favorite]

Don't take advice from strangers on the internet. Ask professionals.
posted by blue_beetle at 11:45 AM on August 8, 2007

But ignore my advice also.
posted by blue_beetle at 11:45 AM on August 8, 2007

Easy (and free): Get rid of your television.

You'll probably (speaking from my own experience) eat less, exercise more, sleep more, have more time for stuff like classes on the weekends or gardening, and you can still watch DVDs on a computer, right? Radio, newspapers, and the internet can keep you current with news, and arguably in greater detail. Also: no more commercials.

I'm not some foaming-at-the-mouth anti-TV crusader; because it's not an everyday thing, if you want to watch something when you're at someone else's house, or on vacation, or in a hotel, fine. But the more time I spent not watching it, the less I want to. I haven't had one for almost two years and I'm never, ever going back.
posted by mdonley at 12:12 PM on August 8, 2007

I'd love to see a study of the life expectancy of people in North America that have TVs compared to those that don't, controlled for various socio-economic factors...
I'm sure that non-TV people would be doing well (partially correllation between other healthier behaviours, I'm sure...but still...) but I wonder how much of a difference it'd make. Anyone out there ever heard of such a thing?
posted by Ziggurat at 12:44 PM on August 8, 2007

My top 10
=======

1) Exercise/Eat right (someone turned me on to the Abs Diet here, works like a charm).
2) Keep stress low (more old drunks than old doctors)
3) Social ties/Friends/Family
4) Keep Aacohol use to a minimum
5) don't smoke
6) Sleep well
7) Stay out of debt (Major cause of stress)
8) Not too much sun, use sunscreen
9) take care of your teeth (expensive and painful to fix)
10) Keep your mind active
posted by jeblis at 12:45 PM on August 8, 2007

Zig: Here you go.
"Television viewing and low participation in vigorous recreation are independently associated with obesity and markers of cardiovascular disease risk: EPIC-Norfolk population-based study"
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, study of over 15K participants conducted in September 2003.

href="http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v57/n9/abs/1601648a.html">
posted by Arch1 at 12:52 PM on August 8, 2007 [1 favorite]

Here are some off-the-top-of-my-head recommendations for healthy people. People who aren't healthy may be harmed by some of these. Consult your doctor.

1. Don't smoke, drink, or abuse drugs.
2. Lose weight down to a healthy BMI.
3. 20 minutes of aerobic exercise daily.
4. Eat more fruits and vegetables, less meat. In general, eat as little food as you're able.
5. Make time for friends and family.
6. Find paying work that is meaningful to you, or that at least gives you a sense of satisfaction.
7. Sleep enough so that you wake up feeling rested. Don't sleep-deprive yourself or try to 'catch up' on the weekends.
8. Brush and floss twice daily.
9. If you are light-skinned, use sunscreen during prolonged exposure.
10. Practice safe sex. Frequently.

The above are things that have been proven in carefully designed trials to improve health, longevity and overall well-being.

On preview, I see that most of these have already been cited. If I could add two to the list, I would put in 'seatbelts' and 'immunizations'.
posted by ikkyu2 at 1:04 PM on August 8, 2007 [2 favorites]

My grandfather just turned 90. It's not quite the type of good sound medical advice you're after, but he says the most important thing about longetivity is to have a reason to stick around. Not really mental health ... just having something to do and something to look forward to, to remind you as you age and ache and get tired and are tempted to just give up, that there is a reason to go on.

Anecdotally, my grandfather has: been the first of his family to graduate from high school, never smoked, never consumed alcohol, always eaten home-grown and home-preserved vegetables when available (which he prefers to meat), never been particularly worried about how much fat or cholesterol he consumes, dedicated himself to having a stress-free life (i.e., picked his battles very carefully), always been a Democrat, gone to bed early and arisen early, always lived in a semi-rural setting, gone to church every Sunday & Wednesday night except in emergencies, always had a great deal of faith in God, always done the honorable thing, never cared much about TV (even though it's usually on in the room), consumed a lot of sweet iced tea and Sprite, never been much for desserts, always been physically and mentally active, outlived his younger wife, always taken care of his teeth and eyesight, had several pre-cancerous skin growths removed, beaten prostrate cancer, had a pacemaker for about 10 years. A genuine and true good man in an era when those are harder and harder to find.
posted by Jaie at 1:56 PM on August 8, 2007

Hmmm just about all of mine have beenmentioned before.

1) Busy social like, but not too busy, i.e. better to have a close circle of friends than a whirlwind of acquaintances
2) Get a pet
3) Floss
4) Don't eat too much
5) Don't drink too much alcohol, take too much drugs (occasional joint OK) or smoke at all. Ever.
6) Live in city where you can take public transportation or walk everywhere.
7) Aerobic exercise, but don't overdo it - walk everywhere and often. That's the best.
8) 70% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat. Fat should be a lot of olive oil or analgoue, carbs should be complex. High Fructose Corn Syrup should be considered like snorting heroin. After you've freebased angel dust.
9) Keep mind stimulated and challenged everyday. Learn another language for starters.
10) Wear seat belts.

I must quibble with 2 suggestions mentioned, objections are outlined below.

Drink water - the "8 glasses of water a day" or "if you are thirsty you are already dehydrated" urban legend has been shot down a zillion times. people aren't chronically dehydrated. Fact is, you need only drink when you are thirsty. You get lots of water from food,if it is hot and humid and you sweat or if you exercise, then yes, drink your guts out, you'll likely be more thirsty anyway, How water has become the sacramental wine for the modern urban class is a study waiting to be done.

2) No caffeine - Moderate amounts caffeine is fine and even beneficial to mind and body.
posted by xetere at 2:04 PM on August 8, 2007

70% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat. Fat should be a lot of olive oil or analgoue, carbs should be complex. High Fructose Corn Syrup should be considered like snorting heroin. After you've freebased angel dust.

That should have been 40% carbs obviously, Next up after the commercial break, the incredible math ignorance of people who post on the Web.
posted by xetere at 2:07 PM on August 8, 2007

John Patterson, founder and president of the National Cash Register Company, published a now-famous sales manual in 1923 which included his principles of self-improvement, divided into 5 categories with 10 principles each. The first category is physical:

1. Simple food, quality, quantity.
2. Regularity in eating and sleep.
3. Masticate; leave table hungry.
4. We are a part of all we have eaten.
5. Exercise, five minutes, three times daily.
6. Air — most important.
7. Sunlight, artificial light.
8. Water inside and outside.
9. Loose clothing.
10. Early to sleep; get plenty.

The remaining 4 categories, if you're interested, are mental, moral, financial, and social. I posted the complete list here, as found in Jeffrey Gitomer's book The Patterson Principles of Selling.
posted by cribcage at 3:18 PM on August 8, 2007

Don't take health advice from anonymous strangers on the internets and don't obsess about your health. (Do eat your veggies).
posted by davar at 3:21 PM on August 8, 2007

Yesterday there was a story on NPR about siesta and it's health benefits. Here's another recent NPR story about napping.
posted by DarkForest at 4:24 PM on August 8, 2007

Curious that nobody has said something like "take 2 capsules of Omega 3 every day"...I wonder if any of these "must have" supplement type things we read about every day could actually have a higher effect on our longevity than, say, wearing a seatbelt, avoiding the sun, or eating fiber every day.

No. Not really. I used to be very pro-supplement but one day I realized that we, as a species, have had millions of years of getting our nutrients through food and maybe four? five? decades of nutritional supplements.

So which one do you think your body would prefer, given its evolutionary background?
posted by jason's_planet at 7:22 AM on August 9, 2007