Live a Longer Life
5 Ways to Add Years to your Life
Next time you're asked to choose between soup and salad, go for salad
+2 years
Italian researchers found that eating as little as one cup of raw vegetables
daily can add two years to your life. Why raw? Cooking can deplete up to 30
percent of the antioxidants in vegetables. To eat your quota, fill a ziplock
sandwich bag with chopped red and green peppers, broccoli and carrots. Toss the
bag into your briefcase, along with a packet of salad dressing - the fat will
boost your body's absorption of certain nutrients.
Learn the Law of Lard: the fat you carry today could kill you tomorrow
+3 years
Researchers at the University of Alabama, in the US, discovered that
maintaining a body-mass index of 25 to 35 can shorten your life by up to three
years (excess body fat raises your risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and
colon cancer). If you're allergic to exercise, sweat with your significant
other. A study by Duke University, in the US, shows that sedentary men are 50
percent more likely to work out three times a week if their partners
participate.
Eat nuts and extend your expiry date
+3 years
When researchers at Loma Linda University, in the US, tracked the lifestyle
habits of 34 000 Seventh-Day Adventists - Christian conservatives famous for
their longevity - they discovered that those who munched nuts five days a week,
earned an extra 2.9 years on the planet. Pick up a bag of mixed nuts that
includes all five key nuts, including walnuts, which are usually left out. Aim
to eat 60g a day.
Never forget that your buddies have your back - even when it's hunched over
from osteoporosis
+7 years
In a study of seventy somethings, Australian researchers found that those
with the largest network of friends had the longest lease on life. For the
average guy, this could add up to seven additional years of existence. Yes,
some buddies may encourage risky behavior from time to time but friendship
ultimately provides more protection than peril. So try to learn a few new faces
at work, trade training tips at the gym or simply say ‘hey’ to that neighbor
you've never met. You can all thank each other later.
Repeat after us: ‘There is life after retirement’
+7 years
Or at least that's what you'd better believe if you want to live that long.
In a Yale University study of older adults, people with a positive outlook on
the ageing process lived more than seven-years longer than those who felt
doomed to deteriorating mental and physical health. Already envisioning decades
of decrepitude? Volunteer for a cause you're passionate about: selfless actions
can put a positive spin on life and distract from unhealthy obsessing, reports
a study in Psychosomatic Medicine.
Sandra Prior runs her own bodybuilding website at http://bodybuild.rr.nu
17.02.2009. 06:41
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