Take control of your health and live longer by stopping the acceleration of ageing and disease processes with these top health tips from Dr Riccardo Di Cuffa, Director and GP at Your Doctor www.your-doctor.co.uk.
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Your diet can have a key influence on your life expectancy. Try and eat foods high in antioxidants and vitamins – perhaps follow the Mediterranean diet which contains a lot of fruit and vegetables, nuts, oily fish and healthy fats which can help to reduce the risk of heart disease and memory loss and protect cells from damage.
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A small amount of stress is known to actually be good for you, but research continues to pour in suggesting that excessive stress or handling stress badly is linked to countless serious diseases. Mindfulness and meditations techniques are extremely effective at reducing stress. Love the job that you do. Heart attacks are 20% more likely to occur on a Monday with some researchers suggesting that it could be linked to the stress of another working week.
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Try and be as active as possible. Exercise gets your blood flowing and your heart pumping. Muscle tissue is three times more efficient at burning calories than fat. To maintain good fitness levels, adults aged 20-65 should do 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity like cycling, fast walking or swimming a week.
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Try and exercise your mind too. As you grow older your mind can deteriorate, so change your weekly routine and try to visit somewhere new, read challenging books or learn a new language to help keep your mind sharp.
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The most obvious way to increase your life expectancy is to stop smoking. Smoking is the largest single preventable cause of cancer each year in the UK yet some 9.4 million people in the UK smoke every day.
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Spend time with loved ones and friends and enjoy making new friends. Feeling lonely and isolated can affect your mental and physical health. Having a social life can reduce stress levels and relieve anxiety and depression.
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Try to have a minimum of seven to eight hours of sleep a night, as any less can decrease the effectiveness of your immune system. Getting enough sleep gives you more energy for rich cognitive function and prevents mental issues, such as depression.
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Think positively, it can increase your lifespan. Having a positive outlook even during times of stress can help turn negatives into positives and really aid recovery.
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Recent studies have found that spending time in the sun can actually reduce the risk of liver cancer, prostate cancer and breast cancer by providing us with Vitamin D which maintains calcium levels in the body which keeps bones, teeth and muscles healthy. Simply exposing our hands and faces to sun for up to 15 minutes a day in the sun is enough. However, continue to take care in the sun as burning can be harmful to your skin.
- Coffee can be good for you in moderation. A daily cup of coffee can fight against type-2 diabetes and can reduce the risk of heart disease. Coffee is said to stimulate the nervous system, raise metabolism and increase the oxidation of fatty acids which can aid in weight loss. Avoid sugar in your coffee though!
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