The following is a list of notes I took while reading the latest U.S. News and World Report on “how to live to be 100”. I thought it was wonderful!

 

“More than a third of Americans in middle age do not perform even 10 minutes of light or moderate physical activity each day.

“If you want to eat like you live on a farm you need to work like you live on a farm.”

“Just two daily servings of fruit and three of vegetables one of them dark green or orange are enough to meet target. We need to start thinking about plant based foods as the foundation of our diets.”

“Parents need to give food to their child six or seven times before their palate comes to accept it. The same repetition is necessary for adults.”

“It’s particularly ironic that Americas waistlines are increasing in parallel with our knowledge about the dangers of obesity. but in the age of ubiquitous fatty food knowing what to do or not to do is not enough.”

“healthy weight: body mass index equal to or greater than 18.5 to 25. A third of people in their 40’s and 50’s can be classified as obese (BMI 30 or more) up from 28 percent 10 years ago.”

There is a saying that “an ounce of prevention is sometimes a ton of work”. Individuals particularly those in midlife need to make adjustments on their own, because this is when risks increase for conditions like heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Medical interventions like pharmaceuticals and stents can forestall death but they don’t instill health. Vitality is something that is achieved by improving lifestyle

THE SOCIAL FACTOR:

• While exercise and nutrition are important to longevity, it’s also clear that “good health and long life are in extractable from your social connectedness”.  A study of aging in Australia found that people 70 and older who were rich in friendships were 22% less likely to die over a 10 year period than their isolated peers.
• Meaning in life also offers a longevity boost. Elderly people who reported feeling a purpose in their lives were about half as likely to die during the follow up period as those who felt none.

Obesity is a pro inflammatory state. besides upsetting the insulin balance too much fat seems to unleash a flood of molecules called cytokines that trigger system wide inflammation. Normally inflammation is a healthy immune response, critical to fighting off infection. But chronic inflammation causes widespread tissue damage. The plumper and more abundant a persons fat cells, the greater the number of cytokine releasing macrophage cells in fat tissue. It is these macrophages that are causing a lot of trouble.

Macrophages play a role in development of fatty plaques that lead to atherosclerosis. Cytokines can make tissues resistant to the effects of insulin and can cause inflammation in the blood vessels. Meantime too much insulin can promote salt retention and soaring blood pressure.

Extra fat is  strongly believed to raise the risk of six types of cancer: esophageal, pancreatic, colorectal, breast, endometrial and kidney. The mechanisms that link obesity to cancer are not known, but the usual suspects, insulin resistance and inflammation are likely players. It’s possible that high levels of of insulin are necessary to encourage cancer growth. and cytokines released from fat tissue are known to promote tumor growth and cell death.

Raise the odds of weight loss success:

1. Get sleep: (sweet spot six t0 eight hours) five hours or less (in the most recent studies of mothers with newborns is associated with weight gain.
2. Use a pedometer: 30 minutes of purposeful brisk exercise may suffice to keep your heart in shape, experts say that to lose weight you need to accumulate60-90 minutes a day. Recommended take 10,000 steps a day.
3. Avoid sugary drinks: cutting out one soda a day could save 15 pounds per year.
4. Wait 20 minutes before a second helping: once your first portion makes its way to the distal intestine you can expect help saying “NO thanks” from a hormone that causes satiety signal to kick in.
5. Solve other problems: people who are obese often turn to eating to escape some other problems. If you don’t attack that behavioral problem all the diet advice in the world won’t help.
6. Make your own rules: perhaps “no bagels on weekdays” or if I eat the fires I skip desserts”.

Here is a good workout calendar posted on USNEWS click on it for the link

5 Mind blowing benefits of getting a good workout:

1. It reverses the detrimental effects of stress: can be an instant way to boost levels of “soothing” brain chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. A recent study at UCSF showed that 45 minutes over 3 days had cells that showed fewer signs of aging compared to women who were stressed and not active.
2. Lifts Depression: research shows that burning off 350 calories three times a week through sustained sweat inducing activity can reduce symptoms of depression about as effectively as antidepressants.  probably because exercise has been found to stimulate the growth of neurons in certain regions of the brain damaged in depression.
3. It improves learning: Exercise increases the level of brain chemicals called growth factors that help make new brain cells and establish new connections between them. Complicated activities like playing tennis or taking a dance class provide the biggest brain boost.
4. It improves self esteem and improves body image: studies suggest that simply seeing fitness improvements, like running a faster mile or lifting more weight than before can improve your self esteem and body image.
5. It leaves you feeling Euphoric!