It’s ok for health to be simple, whether it’s for your mental, physical, or emotional health.
According to research by the CDC, there are five key factors for preventing chronic disease. Here are the four I agree with (excluding “maintaining a normal body weight” due to a lack of supporting research [Afzal et al, 2016]):
1.Not smoking
2.Getting regular physical activity
3.Consuming little or no alcohol
4. Obtaining daily sufficient sleep (at least 7 hours)
That’s it.
Sounds simple right?
Well, not necessarily.
‼️ A whopping 6.5% of people in the U.S. regularly engage in all five factors ‼️
If they were so “simple” more people would be doing these things.
So before you get lost obsessing about whether you should do crossfit or run a marathon, or start keto… consider taking a walk, setting a goal to try new vegetables, and prioritizing sleep. Switch beer for seltzer. Start to cut back on smoking.
In my practice, I work with people on these foundations for health and we strategize ways to make these behaviors easy, consistent, and achievable. I know its less sexy than everything trending in health right now, but the basics are basic for a reason.
Resources
Afzal, S., Tybjærg-Hansen, A., Jensen, G. B., & Nordestgaard, B. G. (2016). Change in body mass index associated with lowest mortality in Denmark, 1976-2013. Jama, 315(18), 1989-1996.
Liu, Y, Croft, JB, Wheaton, AG, Kanny, D, Cunningham TJ, Lu, H, et al (2016). Clustering of Five Health-Related Behaviors for Chronic Disease Prevention Among Adults. Preventing Chronic Disease, 13(160054).
{Cover art by Loni Thompson}
