I've been a physician for 20 years now, and a strong proponent of lifestyle medicine for much of it. I know that it's hard to make lasting, healthy lifestyle changes, even when people know what to do and have the means to do it. Yet many studies and my own clinical experience as a Lifestyle Medicine-certified physician have shown me a few approaches that can help make long-lasting healthy lifestyle changes happen.
What is lifestyle medicine?
In the US, lifestyle medicine is built around six pillars: eating healthy foods; exercising regularly; easing stress; getting restful sleep; quitting addictive substances like tobacco and limiting alcohol; and nurturing social connections.
How will this help you? Here's one example. A study published this summer in the Journal Neurology followed over 70,000 health professionals for more than two decades. Those who reported eating a diet high in colorful fruits and vegetables had a significantly lower risk of subjective memory loss — which is a sign of dementia — compared with those who did not.
A multitude of studies over many years have mined health data on this same cohort. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health nutrition expert Dr. Walter Willett observed that, based on these studies, four combined healthy lifestyle factors — a healthy diet, not smoking, engaging in moderate activity, and avoiding excess weight — could prevent about 70% to 80% of coronary heart disease and 90% of type 2 diabetes. The catch, he noted, is that only about 4% of people participating in these studies attained all four.
Abundant research shows healthy lifestyle factors protect us against serious, often disabling health problems: diabetes, high blood pressure, dementia, heart disease, strokes, cancer, and more. Clearly, taking steps toward a healthier lifestyle can make a big difference in our lives, but it can be hard to change our habits. Below are a few tips to help you start on that path.
Find motivation
What motivates you? Where will you find good reasons to change? Yes, studies show that being at a healthy weight and shape is associated with a longer life and lower risk of many chronic diseases. However, in my experience, only emphasizing weight or waist size isn't helpful for long-term healthy lifestyle change. Indeed, studies have shown that focusing too much on those numbers is associated with quitting a health kick, whereas small goals related to positive actions were associated with successful long-term lifestyle change.
Examples of this include aiming for at least 21 minutes of activity per day and/or five servings of fruits and vegetables per day. (These activity and nutrition goals are actually recommendations of the American Heart Association, FYI!) If we strive to live healthy so that we can live a long, healthy life, we have a greater chance of long-term success — which typically will result in weight and waist loss.
Put healthy habits on automatic
Healthy choices can become more automatic if you remove the "choice" part. For example, take the thinking out of every eating or activity decision by planning ahead for the week to come:
- Choose a basic menu for meals and build in convenience. Focus on simple, healthy recipes. Frozen produce is healthful, easy to keep on hand, and sometimes less expensive than fresh. Shopping the salad bar costs more, but could help on busy nights.
- Jot down your activity schedule. Choose some physical activity most days — the more vigorous and the longer the better, but anything counts! Even as little as 10 minutes of light to moderate activity per week has been associated with a longer life span.
- Track food and activity choices each day. Using an app or notebook for this can help you become more aware and accountable. Try noting barriers, too, and brainstorm workarounds for overly busy days and other issues that push you off track.
Understand how emotions affect you
If feeling stressed, angry, or sad is a trigger for overeating or another unhealthy activity, it's important to recognize this. Writing down triggers over the course of a week can enhance your awareness. Building better stress management habits can help you stick to a healthy lifestyle plan. Getting sufficient restful sleep and scheduling personal time, regular activity, and possibly meditation, therapy, or even just chats with good friends are all steps in the right direction.
A healthy lifestyle is key to a long, healthy life, and is attainable. Success may require some thoughtful trial and error, but don't give up! I have seen all kinds of patients at all ages make amazing changes, and you can, too.
FAQs
Getting sufficient restful sleep and scheduling personal time, regular activity, and possibly meditation, therapy, or even just chats with good friends are all steps in the right direction. A healthy lifestyle is key to a long, healthy life, and is attainable.
What is a healthy lifestyle 5 keys to a longer life Harvard health? ›
[2] Using data collected from men and women from the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study who were followed for up to 34 years, researchers identified five low-risk lifestyle factors: healthy diet, regular exercise (at least 30 minutes daily of moderate to vigorous activity), healthy weight (as ...
What is the Harvard diet may be the standard for living a long and healthy life? ›
The Harvard diet encourages you to alternate between water, tea and coffee to pair with your meals, especially with little to no sugar. Additionally, they suggest reducing milk and dairy consumption to one to two servings a day and juice to one small glass per day.
What is the Harvard diet for longevity? ›
Hu suggested aiming to add more whole, minimally processed foods, especially plant foods like fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and legumes to every meal—and to reduce consumption of heavily processed foods like snacks and sodas.
What are the four diets of Harvard? ›
Good news, a group of researchers sought to answer this question by studying people who followed one of four different dietary patterns, including the Alternate Mediterranean Diet, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (MyPlate), the Healthful Plant-Based Diet Index, and the Alternate Healthy Eating Index (also known as ...
What are the 5 things to do everyday for a long life? ›
How to Live Longer - Our Tips For Living As Long as Possible
- #1 Maintain a Healthy Body Weight.
- #2 Enjoy Regular Physical Exercise Every Day.
- #3 Eat A Healthy, Balanced Diet.
- #4 Keep Making Good Social Connections.
- #5 Drink Less Alcohol.
Nutrition, Exercise, Relaxation, Sleep. These pillars work together to keep your mind and body healthy. Nutrition. A healthy diet promotes bacteria in the gut that helps “feel good” signals get through to the brain.
What is the healthiest diet to live forever? ›
Hu strongly recommends a diet similar to the Mediterranean diet, healthy plant-based diets or the Okinawan diet, which are all rich in whole foods. “Those dietary patterns have been shown to reduce the risk of chronic disease like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, some cancers, and also the risk of dementia,” he says.
What is the healthiest diet to live the longest? ›
One is the Mediterranean diet, which stresses eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, fish and a high amount of olive oil, Hu said. “This dietary pattern emphasizes healthy fats, especially monounsaturated fat, in addition to plant-based foods and moderate alcohol,” he said.
What are the 5 foods to avoid for a long life? ›
Here are eight foods that you should cut down on (or avoid eating altogether) as you get older, and why:
- Raw or undercooked eggs, meat and poultry. ...
- Grapefruit. ...
- High-sodium foods. ...
- Caffeine. ...
- Sodas and sugary drinks. ...
- 6. “ ...
- Alcoholic beverages. ...
- Foods with empty calories.
Consume both vegetable-based proteins from legumes and nuts, and animal protein from fish (2-3 times a week, yet avoiding fish high in mercury), while eating less frequently red meat, white meat and eggs (1 serving a week for each of these foods, and ideally organic).
What body type lives the longest? ›
Even though BMI remains the go-to measurement of body health, research suggests that paying attention to waist measurements may be more accurate. Specifically, research into WHR points to why pear-shaped people tend to live longer than apple-shaped people, even if their overall weights and heights are comparable.
What is the Harvard anti inflammatory diet? ›
Anti-inflammatory diet
To reduce levels of inflammation, aim for an overall healthy diet. If you're looking for an eating plan that closely follows the tenets of anti-inflammatory eating, consider the Mediterranean diet, which is high in fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, fish, and healthy oils.
What diet does Beyonce follow? ›
That Beyonce diet is based on an all-vegan and 22-day eating plan, with a variety of all-vegetable recipes. "In order for me to meet my goal, I'm limiting myself to no bread, no carbs, no sugar, no dairy, no meat, no fish, no alcohol, and I'm hungry!" Beyonce said.
What are 5 aspects of a healthy lifestyle? ›
Here are five key elements to living a healthy lifestyle:
- 1) A Balanced Diet. A balanced diet is easier and more beneficial than a low-fat or low-carbohydrate diet for most people to maintain. ...
- 2) Regular Physical Activity. ...
- 3) Maintaining a Regular Sleep Pattern. ...
- 4) Stress Management. ...
- 5) Supplementation.
There are five (5) dimensions of health: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social. These five (5) dimensions of health provide a full picture of health as a change in any dimension affects the others.
What did Harvard study about living longer? ›
The Harvard study found that participants who exercised regularly and maintained their physical health throughout their lives were more able to thrive well into old age. One of the centenarians profiled in the research offered this advice: "Take care of your body like you're going to need it for 100 years."
What is a healthy lifestyle Harvard Medical School? ›
Those lifestyle habits are: Eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and unsaturated fatty acids, and low in red and processed meats, sugary drinks, trans fats, and sodium. Not smoking. Getting at least three-and-a-half hours of moderate-to vigorous physical activity each week.
