Provocative Wave for Men

Everyday Habits That Boost Your Health

Want to live to be 100? You may already be doing what it takes to get there! I’ll share the surprising everyday habits that are boosting your health and helping you live longer right now. This comes from Prevention magazine:

• Your first healthy habit: You drink tea. Green and black teas are brimming with heart-protecting chemicals called catechins. Even one cup a day can improve your heart health. However, it has to be fresh-brewed – not bottled - because the chemicals lose their potency after a few days. Don’t add milk to your tea, because it makes the heart-healthy chemicals ineffective.
• Another habit helping you live longer: You like to walk. Studies show that 30 minutes of walking a day boosts your fitness enough to increase your lifespan, no matter how much body fat you have. Even 10 minutes a day can help your heart health. So, go for a walk at lunch, or take a lap around the field during your kid’s soccer practice.
• You avoid soda. Drinking even one cola a day – diet or otherwise – increases your risk of high blood pressure, insulin spikes, and excess fat around your waist. All of which increase your chance of heart disease and diabetes. The fix: if you need caffeine, drink tea. If you want fizz, try sparkling water with a splash of 100% juice.
• You have strong legs. Lower-body strength means good balance, flexibility and endurance – which is the key to reducing the risk of falls and injures as you get older. In fact, studies show that 20% of hip-fracture patients die with one year. So, keep doing squats, and taking the stairs.
• You don’t like burgers. A few palm-size servings of beef, pork or lamb are fine occasionally. However, more than 18 ounces of red meat a week raises your risk of colorectal cancer. Your risk of cancer also rises 42% for every three ounces of processed meat you eat per day, like hot dogs and bacon and pastrami. So, stick with mostly chicken and fish.

You may already be doing what it takes to live longer. If you drink tea, like to walk, have strong legs, and avoid burgers and sodas, you’re well on our way to living to 100.