NINE HEALTHY HABITS

For years, business and motivational gurus have
known that there are basic habits that seem to
predict professional success and excellence. Books
like "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People",
by motivational speaker and business guru Stephen
Covey, PhD has sold over 15 million copies alone,
to people hungry for the secrets of success.

We don't yet have the perfect formula for long life,
happiness and physical health, but a little careful
distillation of the massive amount of research on
health and longevity reveals that cultivating nine
basic habits will significantly increase the odds of
your living long, well and happily, in a robust,
healthy, weight-appropriate body.

1.Eat your vegetables.
No kidding. And I'm talking at least 9 servings a
day.. Unless you're following the most stringent
first stage of the Atkins Diet, you should be able
to consume 60-120 grams of carbs a day
(depending on your weight and exercise level),
and you'd have to eat a stockyard full of spinach
to get to that amount. Every major study of
long-lived, healthy people shows that they eat a
ton of plant foods. Nothing delivers antioxidants,
fiber, flavonoids, indoles, and the entire
pharmacopia of disease fighting phytochemicals
like stuff that grows.

2.Eat fish and/or take fish oil.
The Omega-3's found in cold-water fish like
salmon deserve the title of "wellness molecule
of the century". They lower the risk of heart
disease, they lower blood pressure, they
improve mood and they're good for the brain.
And if you're pregnant, they may make
your kid smarter!

3.Connect.
And I'm not talking about the internet. In virtually
every study of people who are healthy and happy
into their 9th and 10th decade, social connections
are one of the "prime movers" in their life.
Whether church, family, volunteer work or community,
finding something you care about that's bigger than
you that you can connect with and that involves other
people (or animals) will extend your life, increase
your energy, and make you happier. Only always.

4.Get some sun.
At least 10-15 minutes three times a week.
Interestingly, a recent study of four places in
the globe where people lived the longest and
were the healthiest noted that all four places
were in sunny climates. Sun improves your
mood and boosts levels of cancer-fighting,
performance-enhancing, bone-strengthening
vitamin D, a vitamin most people don't get
nearly enough of.

5.Sleep Well.
If you're low in energy, gaining weight, grumpy
and looking haggard, guess what? - chances are
you're not sleeping nearly long enough nor well
enough. By sleeping "well", I mean uninterrupted
sleep, in the dark, without the television on, in a
relaxing environment. Nothing nourishes,
replenishes and restarts the system like 7-9 hours
sleep. Hint: start by going to bed an hour early.
And if you've got a computer in the bedroom,
banish it.

6.Exercise every day.
Forget this 20 minutes three times a week stuff.
Long lived people are doing things like farm
chores at 4:30 in the morning! Our Paleolithic
ancestors traveled an average of 20 miles per day.
Our bodies were designed to move on a regular
basis. New studies show that merely 30 minutes a
day of walking not only reduces the risk of most
serious diseases, but can even grow new brain cells!

7.Practise Gratitude.
By making a list of things you're grateful for, you
focus the brain on positive energy. Gratitude is
incompatable with anger and stress. Practise using
your under-utilized "right brain" and spread some
love. Focusing on what you're grateful for - even for
five minutes a day - has the added benefit of being
one of the best stress -reduction techniques on the
planet.

8. Eat red grapes.
The resveratrol in dark grapes is being studied for
its effect on extending life, which it seems to do for
almost every species studied. (So does eating about
1/3 less food, by the way.) If you've got a problem
with alcohol, you can get resveratrol from grapes,
peanuts or supplements. (And if you're a woman,
and you choose the alcohol option, make sure
you're getting folic acid every day.)

9.Get the sugar out.
The number one enemy of vitality, health and
longevity is not fat, it's sugar. Sugar's effect on
hormones, moods, immunity, weight and possibly
even cancer cells is enormous, and it's all negative.
To the extent that you can remove it from your diet,
you will be adding years to your life and life to your
years.

This list may not be perfect and it may not be
complete, but it's a start. As my dear grandmother
used to say, "Couldn't hurt". Not one of these"habits"
will hurt you, all will benefit you, and some may
make the difference between life and death.

And it's never too late to start cultivating them.