One Who DARES: The Easy Way to A Long & Active Life
One Who DARES: The Easy Way to A Long & Active Life
Most of us would like to live long; Very long, if living for ever is not possible. A lot of research and money have gone into finding the secret sauce of living forever. Some of the self proclaimed longevity specialists have gone on to advise people to consume impossibly costly supplements and indulge in nearly impossible maneuvers ( ice bath, for example). Yet, the point that we forget is that it is important to improve the quality of the life, especially in the middle and later years. A long active life is far far better than only a long life.
Scientists, in their quest of near immortality, have come across populations ( Blue Zones) who live a long yet active life, often being active in their nineties and beyond. Surprisingly, none of these people, in Sardinia Italy, Okinawa Japan, or the island of Icaria in Greece are superrich. None of these communities have easy access to cutting age medical technology or modern gyms.
Photo: Curated Lifestyle
The early workers thought their diet is responsible for their long and active life. This led to the popularity of the Mediterranean diet, the Okinawa diet and other such fashions
. Some of them wanted to explain it through genetics; that the parents who live very long will have children who live very long. All the experts now agree that healthy ageing, where one is active even in her/his super-senior years is far more important than mere prolongation of life. The WHO has coined the term ‘Vitality Capacity’ for healthy longevity monitoring.
More and more, the stress is on Healthy Ageing and not merely a long life.
There is a reason for the new thought. Between 2000 to 2050, the number of sixty year olds will double, and the number of eighty years old will quadruple across the world. The sixty plus will outnumber the young ones. It is entirely likely that the sixty plus citizen will serve in the army, fly fighter jets and represent their nation in the Olympics. And the eighty year olds will require to be fit and agile, and ready to take care of themselves as well as others.
Surprisingly, a very large body of research points that the key to a long and active life consists of five simple steps that can be expressed with the acronym DARES.
D stands for diet and nutrition.
A stands for activity; all physical activities that include exercise and sports.
R stands for sleep; a very important part of healthy living.
E stands for entertainment that includes mental activity or activities that bring peace, joy and happiness.
S stands for Stopping Tobacco; the number one contributor to early death.
The broad guidelines are simple, easy to follow, and hardly cost any money. However, the earlier one starts following the guidelines, the better would be the result.
In an ideal situation, one should start following these simple guidelines right from their childhood. Yet, these five steps will immensely benefit you even if you are in your twenties, thirties or fifties. These will make things better even if you are an eighty year old.
Diet: There is consensus that the diet should be low in sugar, low in processed and artificial food. There is also consensus that our meals should not make us overfilled. It is better to stop eating as soon as one starts to feel satisfied, and turn down the extra helping. Research points out that some calorie restriction leads to better cell repair and less cell death, and the longest living people are usually frugal eaters. It has been observed that in the blue zones (where people live active long lives) people have meals that are diverse, mixed and eaten in small portions that fills only about 80% of one’s stomach.
Vegetarian or Non-vegetarian: Possibly it does not matter much whether the diet is vegetarian or non-vegetarian. On one hand, we have the Loma Lindas in the USA. They are the longest living community amongst all the Americans. They are vegans. On the other we have the Icelanders who live very long active lives. Their diet consists of fish, meat products and potato with little vegetables. A research by Chinese professors show that those who take a diverse diet (meat, fish, eggs, plenty of vegetables, legumes) have done the best in terms of living a long and active life.
Trans-fat, found in ultra-processed food is definitely a no-no as well as extra salt and sugar. A good diet should be low in sugar and refined carbohydrates like white rice and flour. Refined carbohydrates behave just like refined sugar once they are metabolized inside the body. Although the modern influencers would like us to believe that we all need huge amount of protein every-day, maybe upto 4 grams per kg, there is no scientific data to back it. The recommended dietary allowance is 0.8 to 1 gram per kg. A normal mixed diet (Veg or non-veg) can easily supply that much. Except for the very old or people with dietary restrictions, protein supplements are not needed and can be harmful for your kidneys.
What should we eat in our meals: Nutritionists have advised a simple but healthy meal. Our plate should have 50% vegetables and fruits. Vegetables get preference over fruits. Potato is not counted as a vegetable. 25% area should be for cereals like rice, wheat or millet. 25% area should be covered with protein food, e.g nuts, legumes, lentil, cottage cheese, meat, fish or eggs. Also, there will be a small side dish of dairy, e.g curd, milk or buttermilk. In beverages, nutritionists prefer only water and no other sugary beverages.
Image : USDA Nutrition Guide
Alcoholic drinks: Not so long ago, researchers believed that a little bit of alcohol has a good effect on heart health compared to no alcohol. But now the consensus is alcohol has zero health benefits and increases the risk of various cancers even in low quantity. As for consuming large amount of alcohol, everyone agrees that it is bad for heart, liver, bones, brain and nearly every organ and all the systems.
Activity: The letter A in the acronym DARES stands for activity. Being active, moving regularly and using our muscles is of paramount importance for an active and long life. Since most of us have sedentary jobs that involve lots of sitting, we should take time aside for activities. Sports and exercise are also an integral part of this program. How important is this for a long life? A review of various studies threw up some eye opening results. Those who exercise and lead an active life, at an average live four years longer than those who do not exercise and stay sedentary. Any type of exercise is better than no exercise. Exercise need not be very strenuous. In fact, moderate exercise was found to be more effective in increasing longevity compared to very strenuous exercise.
Exercise and movement is even more important for people beyond sixties. Chinese researchers found that those who exercise have better mobility, balance strength and reflexes across all decades beyond sixty.
Photo: George Dagerotip
Mental Exercise: Like our body, our mind too stays active and working when it is exercised. It’s important that we read, write, learn music, solve puzzles, become better in our vocational skills and continue to learn new skills. This is especially true as we age. To keep the memory and cognition intact in the eigth decade and beyond, one should indulge in a lot of mental activities. Learning a new language or a new subject is a good method of exercising the mind.
Photo: Getty Images
Rest: The third intervention is to have adequate rest. The most effective and essential form of rest is sleep. Even adults need 7-9 hours of sleep. Because of odd working hours, the compulsion of remaining connected all the time and the availability of many online entertainment, the modern human being is badly sleep deprived. Quality sleep, in good amount and right times, is as essential for survival as food or water. Without sleep, we cannot maintain or form the pathways that create maintain new memories. Lack of sleep makes it harder to concentrate or respond quickly. Sleep also has a housekeeping role and removes various toxins from our brain.
Lack of sleep affects every system in the body—from the brain, heart, and lungs to metabolism, immune function, mood, and disease resistance. Chronic sleep deprivation increases the risk of health problems like high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression, and obesity.
Photo: Dakota Corbin
1. Make a schedule for sleep. Go to bed and get up from bed at a fixed time everyday, including weekends.
2. Avoid caffeine ( Tea, coffee) 8 hours before bedtime.
3. Avoid alcohol and nicotine as both hamper sleep quality.
4. Keep your bedroom dark and cool to help you in sleeping.
5. Stop watching TV and mobile at least an hour before sleep.
6. Avoid heavy meal and heavy exercise just before sleep.
Entertainment: Entertainment is the fourth pillar of health and longevity. Wholesome entertainment and leisure secret essential neurotransmitters in our brain that enhance the health of mind and body. They also decrease the release of stress hormones that lead to ageing and inflammation. Many studies have highlighted the importance of entertainment and social activities in keeping you in good health and providing you a long and active life.
Entertainment can be indulging in anything that you like and gives you the pleasure of mind without harming you and others. Therefore, a night out drinking will not qualify as entertainment. Entertainment could be having a good time with family and friends, reading a good book, watching a nice movie or spending time in an entertainment park. It can also mean indulging in a creative hobby like singing, dancing, acting or painting. An outdoor sports where you play with your friends is perhaps a very good way to entertain yourself as it provides you a good entertainment and effective exercise.
Acts of voluntarism like tree plantation, doing some community work also provide a lot of group activity as well as a feel-good effect on your mind.
Photo: Curated Lifestyle
Social Network and Longevity: In a 14 year long follow up study carried out in Denmark, it was found that social contact with friends and relatives led to a longer life and decreased risk of cardio-vascular mortality. Group activity with family and friends, in the form of social, spiritual, sports or cultural gathering are great health boosters.
Stop tobacco: Stopping tobacco is the fifth and very important step. Tobacco, both smoking and chewing, is the single biggest cause of cancer and causes immense morbidity and mortality all across the world. Apart from cancer, tobacco is also the number one cardiac risk factor and causes severe atherosclerosis and acute coronary events. All other factors being the same, a smoker lives 10 to 12 years less compared to a non-smoker. Most of the beneficial effects of all other healthy habits are also nullified by use of tobacco and smoking.
Photo: Aditya Saxena
Because of the risk of passive smoking ( inhaling tobacco smoke while someone is smoking near you) we should discourage smoking in all public spaces and stop smoking by anyone in our homes.
To conclude, these five simple mantras in add years in our life as well as life in our years. Let’s follow these well researched guidelines and steer clear of any fancy supplements.
Dr. Ashish Roy.
MBBS.MD
Pediatrician,
Wellness Expert.
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