Scientists Outline 6 ‘No Duh’ Habits that Will Shorten our Lives
Eating too much junk food, smoking cigarettes, drinking too much alcohol – all these things can shorten our lives, and we know it. So set on proving most of the things that are terrible for us are fun, scientists from the University of Sydney followed more than 230,000 people aged 45 and older for 6 years. The team assembled a list of 6 ‘deadly sins’
Researcher Dr. Melody Ding, said:
“To examine specific patterns of lifestyle risk behaviors, 96 variables – representing all possible mutually exclusive combinations of smoking, high alcohol intake, physical inactivity, poor diet, prolonged sitting, and short/long sleep duration – were created Short and long sleep durations were separated as two different risk factors, as their associations with mortality may be explained by different mechanisms.
This analysis investigated four established and two [new] risk factors, namely, prolonged sitting and unhealthy sleep duration, which may be added to behavioral indices or risk combinations to quantify health risk.”
The ‘Deadly Sins’
Here are the 6 things that are most likely to pave way for an early tombstone if we indulge in them too often. They generally fall into the “No Duh” category.
- 1. Alcohol consumption
- 2. Poor diet
- 3. Inactivity
- 4. Smoking
- 5. Sitting for more than 7 hours a day
- 6. Sleeping for more than 9 hours
Based on the piece of research, if you’re someone who regularly does all 6 of these, you are more than 5 times more likely to kick the bucket from any cause during a 6-year period as someone who leads a healthy lifestyle.
We’ve known for decades that not getting enough sleep is a risk factor for all kinds of health problems and early death, so it might be a bit surprising to hear that sleeping too much is dangerous, too.
“Short and long sleep durations were separated as two different risk factors, as their associations with mortality may be explained by different mechanisms,” Ding explained.
“This analysis investigated four established and two [new] risk factors, namely, prolonged sitting and unhealthy sleep duration, which may be added to behavioral indices or risk combinations to quantify health risk.”
Earlier this year, University of Cambridge researchers warned that you’re twice as likely to have a stroke if you sleep for more than 9 hours. Women are especially susceptible. It was not clear, though, if these individuals are sleeping more because they’re already sick, or if the extra sleep itself increases that risk.
The scientists also said that sleeping-in when you normally don’t get enough sleep is unhealthy, and that having a regular sleep schedule is key.
And in October, scientists from the University of Cambridge said that people who spend 3-4 hours a day watching television are 15% more likely to pass from a common cause of death, compared to people who watch 1 hour of TV or less a day.
Sources:
[1] Daily Mail
[2] Detroit Newstime
[3] Independent
In addition to this very fine article. “Use It So You Don’t Lose It”
You have probably heard the phrase “use it or lose it.” But how can you “use it” effectively? The short story: keep learning. Activities you have already mastered—even if you found them challenging at one point—won’t do your brain much good.
Based on their detailed understanding of the brain, neuroscientists suggest you choose activities that fit these criteria: They should teach you something new. The brain is a learning machine. To keep it strong, you must continually develop new skills.
They should be challenging. Activities should command your full and close attention to drive chemical changes in the brain.
They should be progressive. You can begin a new activity at an easy level, but continuously challenge yourself to stay on the edge of your performance abilities—at your “threshold”—so that you improve. This goes for old activities you enjoy, too: pushing yourself to improve will help your brain.
They should engage your great brain processing systems. Tasks in which you must make fine distinctions about what you hear, see or feel and use that information to achieve complex goals drive the brain to change its abilities on different levels.
They should be rewarding. Rewards amplify brain changes, leading to improved learning and memory. They turn up the production of crucial brain chemicals that contribute to learning, memory, and good spirits.
They should be novel or surprising. New, positive and surprising experiences exercise the brain machinery that makes you bright and alert.
It might sound hard to find activities that meet all of these criteria. But the truth is that many new activities will meet most of them. Learning to cha-cha, improving your Spanish, taking up juggling—if you put in the right effort, they all challenge your brain (this is hard!), get progressively harder (move up to Lesson 2), engage several brain systems (motor skills, listening, the visual system), reward you (I can finally do that!), and surprise you (what comes next?).