JimBowie1958
Old Fogey
- Sep 25, 2011
- 63,590
- 16,798
- 2,220
I had a heart attack in January of 2007 and it completely changed my life for the better. Oddly enough, being fat makes me more able to survive after a heart attack, but I am not recommending that anyone put on weight, lol, but eating lots of fiber and having moderate levels of alcohol consumption do help us live longer, especially heart attack survivors.
But I dont mean to go into all the paid advertising that poses as research so much these days and just pass along what I have learned over the last nine years. And when I say my 'health improved' I mean that while doing said activity or change I found that I had better response to exercise, lower blood sugar and better blood pressure.
1. Have a happy relationship with your spouse. Happy wife, long life. +8 years
2. Dont smoke cigarettes and avoid second hand cigarette smoke. Changed the bars I went to to smokeless bars, and my health improved. +10 years
3. Walk a couple of miles per day, every day. It is not so difficult to do, and most of the time when I fail to get my two miles in it is because I got too busy with something else. But my health is way better when I am doing my daily walks, even if I have to break it up into one mile walks twice a day. + 2 years
4. Eat more fruits and veggies, especially berries and nuts. Avoid processed foods as much as possible and reduce grain consumption. Get fiber from vegetables as much as possible and learn about the glycemic index. Take a daily vitamin to replaced missed vitamins. +14 years
5. Remove the stress in your life. Get another job even if it pays less. Drop 'friends' that bring endless drama and reinforce friendships that are steady and dependable. + 4 years
6. Laugh every day. Go to joke sites, brows humor videos, laugh as often as you can every day, especially at yourself. WE all have plenty of material in that department. part of managing stress; + better years
7. Give yourself a break when you feel like you need it. Call in sick if you are not well, and take that vacation. Your coworkers can survive your absence. + 3 - 12 years
8. Try to get 8 hours of sleep each night and at a minimum get 7 hours of sleep. Studies have shown that for every 15 minutes per night you get under 7 hours you take about 3 years off your life span. Besides, you can enjoy life more if you are awake enough in the day to see it. +3 - 12 years
9. Have sex. It raises your optimism, your self confidence and your body responds well to it. I guess even porn can have its pluses. + better years, part of happy marriage +8 years
10. Get a pet. Pets add to your happiness in life with their acceptance of you and their biological pairing for immunity and synchronization to your life rhythms. Cant find a number but definite gain as people live longer after surgery if they own a pet.
11. Dont be a dick. Learn to live honestly enough that your conscience doesnt plague you. If you have done bad things do restitution, you dont have to explain if they have forgotten, and clear your mind of guilt. This adds to your happiness and health. +better years and adds in with sleep and happiness gains
12. Make friends. The longest living people very likely have large networks of friends. My cynical side says these are more people looking for a piece of inheritance, but seriously, friends help you feel happier and be more active. This is Real Life Friends I am talking about here, not 1400 FB friends.
13. Save for retirement so that you can continue a healthy life style after retirement. Read up on how to keep you 401ks and roll them over to your next job. Discover the advantages of annuities and how you can retire with more financial security. So many people retire and are dead after 3 years because they worried, cut out too many healthy activities and turned into a house bound recluse. Dont be a recluse.
14. Life extending drugs. I am taking metformin and tried to get off of it but it was not helping my health to do so, so I went back on. Found out later that research has shown an increase in life span for people who take metformin even if they are type 2 diabetics. Glucosamine has helped with the pain in my joints. PRobiotics have helped with gastrointestinal issues and energy. Also, since I have started taking Basis I seem to have had better energy as well.
Almost all of these I have personally discovered to help me lots in keeping my health up and as I recover from my operation and get back to my full exercise level I had prior.
Just wanted to share my results about what worked.
But I dont mean to go into all the paid advertising that poses as research so much these days and just pass along what I have learned over the last nine years. And when I say my 'health improved' I mean that while doing said activity or change I found that I had better response to exercise, lower blood sugar and better blood pressure.
1. Have a happy relationship with your spouse. Happy wife, long life. +8 years
2. Dont smoke cigarettes and avoid second hand cigarette smoke. Changed the bars I went to to smokeless bars, and my health improved. +10 years
3. Walk a couple of miles per day, every day. It is not so difficult to do, and most of the time when I fail to get my two miles in it is because I got too busy with something else. But my health is way better when I am doing my daily walks, even if I have to break it up into one mile walks twice a day. + 2 years
4. Eat more fruits and veggies, especially berries and nuts. Avoid processed foods as much as possible and reduce grain consumption. Get fiber from vegetables as much as possible and learn about the glycemic index. Take a daily vitamin to replaced missed vitamins. +14 years
5. Remove the stress in your life. Get another job even if it pays less. Drop 'friends' that bring endless drama and reinforce friendships that are steady and dependable. + 4 years
6. Laugh every day. Go to joke sites, brows humor videos, laugh as often as you can every day, especially at yourself. WE all have plenty of material in that department. part of managing stress; + better years
7. Give yourself a break when you feel like you need it. Call in sick if you are not well, and take that vacation. Your coworkers can survive your absence. + 3 - 12 years
8. Try to get 8 hours of sleep each night and at a minimum get 7 hours of sleep. Studies have shown that for every 15 minutes per night you get under 7 hours you take about 3 years off your life span. Besides, you can enjoy life more if you are awake enough in the day to see it. +3 - 12 years
9. Have sex. It raises your optimism, your self confidence and your body responds well to it. I guess even porn can have its pluses. + better years, part of happy marriage +8 years
10. Get a pet. Pets add to your happiness in life with their acceptance of you and their biological pairing for immunity and synchronization to your life rhythms. Cant find a number but definite gain as people live longer after surgery if they own a pet.
11. Dont be a dick. Learn to live honestly enough that your conscience doesnt plague you. If you have done bad things do restitution, you dont have to explain if they have forgotten, and clear your mind of guilt. This adds to your happiness and health. +better years and adds in with sleep and happiness gains
12. Make friends. The longest living people very likely have large networks of friends. My cynical side says these are more people looking for a piece of inheritance, but seriously, friends help you feel happier and be more active. This is Real Life Friends I am talking about here, not 1400 FB friends.
13. Save for retirement so that you can continue a healthy life style after retirement. Read up on how to keep you 401ks and roll them over to your next job. Discover the advantages of annuities and how you can retire with more financial security. So many people retire and are dead after 3 years because they worried, cut out too many healthy activities and turned into a house bound recluse. Dont be a recluse.
14. Life extending drugs. I am taking metformin and tried to get off of it but it was not helping my health to do so, so I went back on. Found out later that research has shown an increase in life span for people who take metformin even if they are type 2 diabetics. Glucosamine has helped with the pain in my joints. PRobiotics have helped with gastrointestinal issues and energy. Also, since I have started taking Basis I seem to have had better energy as well.
Almost all of these I have personally discovered to help me lots in keeping my health up and as I recover from my operation and get back to my full exercise level I had prior.
Just wanted to share my results about what worked.
