Your health

The health (and, accordingly, longevity) of a person is determined by heredity by 20%, by another 20% – by the state of the environment, by 50% – by conditions and lifestyle, from the quality of nutrition to bad habits and stress. And only by 10% – the level of medical care. This is generally accepted data from the World Health Organization.

Do not wait for the appearance of "old age pills" in pharmacies: you can personally do more to prolong youth than doctors and scientists.

You could probably give all the tips below to someone you know yourself. Each of them can be expanded into a large article, or even several thick volumes. Read them again and try to apply them to yourself.

Eat right
Obesity, including latent, is the cause of many diseases. But the weight below the norm is no better. If you decide to lose weight, keep in mind: effective weight loss medications and working diets exist, but only a qualified doctor can prescribe them to you. And for those who do not suffer from severe obesity, the most correct diet is to eat everything (except for what is contraindicated due to some chronic disease). Try to eat less salt, animal fats, sweets and more sea fish and other seafood, herbs, fruits and vegetables. With a sedentary lifestyle, a person spends (and should receive with food) no more than 2-2500 kcal per day, and at the same time it is especially necessary to ensure that the food is complete in composition.

Do not forget about vitamins and dietary supplements
Even the most complete diet is not able to provide your body with the necessary amount of vitamins, minerals and micronutrients – biologically active substances contained in food. Take multivitamins with trace elements every day, regardless of the time of year. Drugs from different manufacturers practically do not differ in composition, so when choosing them, you should first pay attention to special indications: athletes or smokers should not take vitamins for pregnant women, and people over 50 should take drugs for children and adolescents. There will be no harm, but there will be less benefit. And when choosing dietary supplements, listen not to advertising, but to the advice of a competent doctor who knows the state of your health.

Strengthen the immune system
But not with immunomodulators: they can be taken in the autumn-winter season for the prevention and treatment of acute respiratory infections, and the rest of the time – only as prescribed by a doctor. Pour cold water over yourself, take a contrast shower (but there may be more harm than good from walrus). A good way to strengthen the immune system is regular consumption of fermented dairy products with bifidobacteria: they normalize the composition of the microflora and thereby not only improve the work of the intestine, but also stimulate the immune system.

Move more
A sedentary lifestyle accelerates the destruction of the body. If you are not up to physical education on weekdays, do it on weekends, walk more (jogging doctors have already stopped recommending as an ideal sport). By the way, what floor do you live on? Should you stop using the elevator? A good way to combine business with pleasure is to watch TV while sitting on an exercise bike or standing on a stepper simulator that simulates climbing stairs.

Quit smoking
If you, like Mark Twain, have done it 20 times already – try it on the twenty-first. Smoking can lead not only to cancer (and not only the lungs!), but also to chronic obstructive bronchitis, emphysema, obliterating arteritis of the vessels of the legs and other unpleasant consequences. Quitting smoking or at least reducing the number of cigarettes reduces the likelihood of developing most of them, even in smokers with long experience. And excuses like "I don't take a drag", "I smoke light cigarettes", etc. are nothing more than self–deception.

Live by the clock
Repeatability, cyclicity is a common property of all living things. It is easier for the body to work if it wakes up, empties, sorry, intestines, eats, goes to bed, etc. at the same time.

Do not abuse
The benefits of a daily so–called "couple of drinks" – 1 ounce (28 g) of pure alcohol - none of the doctors is in doubt. Red wine is considered especially useful. But how much you can exceed the dose that the "doctor prescribed", decide for yourself and round it down better.

Go to the doctor
And not only with acute illness or chronic malaise. We usually remember the well-known truth "prevention is better than treatment" too late. Even if you feel healthy, an annual (well, every 2-3 years) preventive examination does not require much time and money, and if some kind of sore is found at an early stage during such an examination, it will be much easier to cure it than when it comes to an ambulance. Women – necessarily and at any age – should visit a gynecologist once a year.

Take tests
All men after 50 should regularly visit a urologist, and women after 40 – a mammologist. Around the same time, or even earlier, especially people who are prone to obesity should regularly check their blood sugar levels. It is time for men to start periodically checking the level and ratio of "bad" and "good" cholesterol after 30-40, and for women – with the onset of menopause.

Don't start the disease
Do not allow an acute illness to turn into a chronic form – any disease, even a runny nose, should be treated to the end if possible.

Cure your teeth
In men younger than 50 years old suffering from periodontal disease, the risk of dying from heart disease is 3 times higher than in their peers with healthy teeth and gums. And even ordinary caries is often the cause of a variety of diseases, up to urethritis or myocarditis. To stay young and healthy longer, go to the dentist at least once a year, even if your teeth don't bother you.

Spend more time in the fresh air
Sunlight is the best source of vitamin D, which is necessary for many processes in the body, from strengthening bones to the synthesis of sex hormones. Excessive doses of ultraviolet radiation are not beneficial, especially for people with a predisposition to skin cancer. A moderate tan increases immunity, including anti-cancer.

Don't numb your headache with pills
Just so the head does not hurt – it is necessary to understand the causes and start treatment. Perhaps this is a symptom of cervical osteochondrosis and a host of other diseases, including hypertension, which can imperceptibly undermine human health for years, and then lead to angina, or even stroke or heart attack, which in Russia occupy the first place among the causes of death. By the way, the only and very simple way to detect hypertension in time and avoid its consequences is regular pressure measurement.

Take care of your nerves
Smile! The proverb "all diseases are caused by nerves" is not a joke at all: half of human diseases have a psychosomatic nature. It is not for nothing that anger and despondency are included in the list of the seven deadly sins. If you are excessively irritable and/or prone to depression, try to figure out the internal causes of this yourself, eliminate the external ones if possible, and take light sedatives. If all this does not help, do not hesitate and do not be lazy to contact a neurologist or a psychotherapist.

Don't live "in a case"
New impressions, short-term effects of physical exertion and thrills, hunger, cold and heat, outbursts of emotions and other stressful factors activate a person's vitality and increase his life expectancy.

Avoid loneliness
An active social life, maintaining contacts with other people, from love and friendship to participation in the work of the society of philatelists is an important factor in promoting health and prolonging life. By the way, married men live several years longer than bachelors, widowers and divorced (by how much, data from different sources differ). As a last resort, get yourself a dog or a cat: these are the only friends that money can buy.

Move your convolutions
Don't let your brain stand idle – do work that requires mental strain, play intellectual games, learn poetry or a foreign language, or at least solve crosswords.

Retire gradually
Work keeps a person in good shape, and after a sharp change in the usual way of life and a decrease in social status, depression appears in the soul of many pensioners, and various diseases appear in the body. Before retiring, try to switch to a lighter job or a shorter working day, and after that, engage in social activities or find a hobby.

Ask a gerontologist
And don't wait for retirement. Many methods of preventing aging and related diseases can and should be started in advance. And if you are "for ... ", find a qualified specialist and follow his advice to the best of your strength and means.

Don't consider old age an enemy
Old age is an inevitable stage of life, which has its advantages. Older people with a positive attitude towards aging live longer than pessimists.

Be healthy!
Sincerely yours,
Eternal Youth Foundation