What's your healthiest habit?
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Posted by: C.S. | Oct 3, 2008 9:38:37 PM
I had to choose "other". My healthiest habit is that I avoid my food allergies. I can't afford to feel sick all the time by indulging.
Posted by: Dobronyi | Sep 6, 2008 9:00:18 PM
One of the best things I have done for my health is to get between 25 to 35 grams of fiber a day. This really helps me to have to have a healthy diet everyday. I also eat VERY slowly do I do not overeat and have better portion control.
Posted by: Dominika | Sep 3, 2008 9:24:23 AM
I'm vegan. The is the healthiest diet and my healthies habit.
Posted by: Sandy Bernier | Aug 29, 2008 8:42:33 AM
I watch my saturated fat intack faithfully and I exercise a minimum of 5 days a week. I would love to have more clarity on whether it's healthy to occassionally eat crabmeat, lobster, shrimp and salmon (at least once a week). The cholesterol is high for these foods but there is almost no saturated fat. I have been successful in lowering my cholesterol levels and avoiding perscription medications for over two years now. I do, however, stay away from the above mentioned seafood. Thanks for any help you can give me.
Posted by: Greg | Aug 28, 2008 4:53:25 PM
I realy try and make all of them habits, but I walk at lunch every day. 1 hour @ 3 MPH. I do other exercise but I find that this helps the most and I can widen the variety of foods I eat. Some days a little more carbs, other days a little more protien and some days I can get away with a little more fat. Balance is best as posts before mine demonstrate.
Posted by: Tenorio | Aug 25, 2008 8:31:20 PM
Learning about nutrition and gerontology.
I'm 28 and I am beginning a calorie restriction regimen. As Rodney pointed out, it is "the behaviour most convincingly demonstrated by science to improve health and extend lifespan in a wide range of species".
Currently, I eat 2060 Kcal/per day. I will drop to 1500 gradually, a year from now.
Posted by: Christine | Aug 25, 2008 7:40:46 PM
It was hard to decide between getting enough exercise and eating my veggies and fruits, since both are important. But I had to go with eating veggies (a lot) and fruits (high in sugar, but also high in nutrients)because diet is 80% of your health and physique. And drinking water is so important too...
Posted by: Julie | Aug 25, 2008 6:45:32 PM
I feel that the most important habit I SHOULD have is exercising regularly. I say that because I have, for all my life, been good about sleeping enough, eating my fruits and veggies, drinking plenty of water, taking vitamins, drinking little alcohol, I have never smoked... etc, etc. But all of that hasn't helped much because I'm largely sedentary, therefore overweight, and this has caused serious health problems. I recently had an operation (spending $3000) for a herniated disk that the doctor said was primarily caused by being overweight and getting little exercise. It makes me mad thinking of the pain and the money that I could dave saved by having made it a habit to exercise regularly.
But then again, perhaps the same could be said of other habits on the list, for example, I suppose I could be eating right and exercising and everything, but if I smoked, or drank too much, it would equally ruin my health. So, as many have commented, really, all are important together to be healthy.
Posted by: Jo | Aug 25, 2008 6:33:23 PM
It's easy for me to drink at least a gallon of water a day. I crave it. I love exercise but have leg and back pains so I do what I can. I get so sick of "healthy" foods so every once in a while, I actually enjoy a something fried or something sweet. It lessons stress so I guess that can be a good thing too. Sleep alludes me. I get by on 4 hours here, 2 hours there. No alcohol or cigarettes or any other bad chemical habits so that's a plus. Being thankful to God is something I'd place under "other". Losing a mom and daughter to cancer can make you a very grateful person for every thing - your family, each day, each little thing that brings a smile.
Posted by: Victoria | Aug 25, 2008 5:19:58 PM
I voted getting enough sleep, but really, all of these habits are important.
Posted by: Lisa Carr | Aug 25, 2008 3:42:58 PM
I find that all of the items listed, integratively, have contributed to my over health but more importantly, becoming more spiritual has truly been the best resource for me. Connecting with my spirit has decreased stress and gives me a sense of love and appreciation for everything I do. That includes the whole foods I eat, the healthy body God has equipped me with to go for a run or work on my flexibility, and the wonderful people around me that contribute to my life in so many meaningful ways.
Posted by: dusty maki | Aug 25, 2008 3:17:03 PM
i walk every day 10000 steps and it is very healthy because i weigh 100lbs and the doctors say this is great somedays its even more. i eat what i want so i walk with my puppy everywhere i go. dont have a car so its nice to be free.
Posted by: David Dressler | Aug 25, 2008 2:04:33 PM
I have worked out and taken supplements since 1959 and, since I was 20, nobody has accurately guessed my age. These habits, over almost half a century,worked.
When I began working out, jogging had not been "invented" yet. In the early 1960s, it was not uncommon for the first runners to be jeered at by passers-by. People who took supplements were considered "health faddists." Physicians, who study no nutrition and little about exercise, recommended "four squares a day" meaning the four food groups of the day, and rest (no kidding) for just about every sport- or other injury. Obviously, times have changed.
Diet confusion, however, has not changed. As anyone who wants to diet or to just become healthy knows, there are almost as many different views on diet as there are books on the subject. I started with Adelle Davis' (1960s) Let's Eat Right to Keep Fit (her recommendations found wide acceptance even in the medical community after about thirty years as research confirmed her statements). There was Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (revealing the contamination and de-vitalization of the food supply. Then there was the Dr. Abravanel's Body Type Diet, Metabolic (Blood Type) Diet, Mediterranean Diet, Atkins Diet, low-protein diet, vegetarianism, the list is endless.
The confusion was not only due to the bewildering and contradictory diets, it was also due to the swinging pendulum in research across the decades. First protein was emphasized--eat lots of meat, drink lots of milk (1950s, 1960s).Then the saturated fat and cholesterol scare--cut out fat, eat less meat, eggs, milk. Then people actually got fatter and got more heart disease in those years! Now it is eat fewer carbs and back to meat and even saturated fat. The latest research (actually it has been known for years) makes it clear that cholesterol is not the culprit but is a necessary nutrient (steroid hormones and cell membranes are made from cholesterol) and that cholesterol does not contribute to heart disease (people with the highest cholesterol live longer and have less heart disease than people with low cholesterol). If I live longer, I expect to see even more reversals.
What, then, does one believe, what does one eat? The usual answer is to throw up the hands amid the confusion and say--eat a "balanced" diet, which is supposed to mean eating a little of almost everything, i.e., from the latest food groups. Playing it safe. But is it safe? In the mid-1990s, the US Department of Agriculture finally tested the crops in farmers' fields after about forty years of not having done so. They found that every vegetable and fruit had declined in nutrient value except for one nutrient. On average, every nutrient had declined by about 50% compared to the previous test decades earlier (about the time Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring). Only carrots had increased vitamin A. In fact, inexplicably, the value for A was off the chart! The reason you are eating 9 servings of vegetables now, 5 a few years ago, and 3 before that (or some approximation like this) may be that the food value has gone down. At any rate, the point I am making is that one cannot just say eat vegetables or eat anything, one cannot just follow one of the confusing diets. It matters in the end that the food is really nutritious and not contaminated with pesticides.
And, finally, it is taking a worldwide rise in public interest in supplements, exercise, and healthy diet that has caused even physicians to pay attention to the need for these things in people's lives. A few physicians have studied sports medicine, some recognize the value of vitamin and mineral supplements not just for "the treatment of disease" but for "health and well being," two concepts that are not identical. Some physicians are hesitant to treat every symptom with medication and at least do not discourage their patients from taking vitamins. It has taken almost half a century for research to confirm much of what "health food faddists" in the 1960s were saying. Although some would argue the research is not convincing yet, the trend is in that direction.
As the public increasingly consume supplements, herbs, and other natural products, making natural health products a multi-billion-dollar business worldwide, the pharmaceutical companies are responding by lobbying governments to place restrictions (such as Codex in the US and other countries and in Canada Bill C-51)on health foods or natural health products. The public is responding by opposing these restrictions. In the US, some physicians are beginning to recommend natural remedies instead of drugs to their patients and are even selling products. In Canada the Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons prohibit the selling of products by physicians. This shift in medical perspective is, I believe, due to new knowledge some physicians are gaining at last, and by economic considerations: they want to keep their patients.
Posted by: bruce | Aug 25, 2008 1:24:05 PM
I do the exercise(cardio daily and strength-training every other day), consume 6-8 glasses of water daily, aim for 7 hours of sleep, have never smoked in my life, and seldom drink. These habits, along with a diet that is composed of 80%-90% plant-based foods(a minimum of at least one fruit or vegetable from each of the 7 colors of optimum health discussed in Dr. David Heber's book "What Color Is Your Diet?"), have given me boundless energy and crystal-clear thinking ability day-in and day-out for years.
Jack LaLanne-type discipline does work!
Posted by: angie | Aug 25, 2008 12:23:30 PM
I don't drink or smoke, getting enough sleep is important, I don't eat processed foods, sugar, corn syrup, etc. and I do lots of other healthy things, too, like walking & chiropractic care, etc. I put eating fruits & veggies as the main thing, though, because if I fill up on fruits & veggies, everything else follows: I feel better with less sleep, I feel more inclined to exercise, I don't have a desire to eat donuts, etc. Life is good with fresh fruits & veggies. :)
Posted by: Ken | Aug 25, 2008 12:22:08 PM
My choice is exercising at least five times a week. However, drinking at least two liters of water each day is just as important. Keeps the system cool, lubricated, and flushed.
I do exercise, and eat a low-fat/high-fiber diet that's high in antitoxins, drink plenty of water, don't smoke and drink little to no alcoholic beverages.
Lost over forty lbs in the last six months...substantially lowered my blood sugar also.
Posted by: Rob | Aug 25, 2008 12:04:05 PM
I personally think Chiropractic care has made the biggest difference in my health, since it has help my body exercise better, digest food better, and has just made me function better all around. Of course a great diet, appropriate exercise, and good sleep have helped a healthy body get stronger!
Posted by: Rodney | Aug 24, 2008 5:28:24 PM
Odd you do not even list the behaviour most convincingly demonstrated by science to improve health and extend lifespan in a wide range of species.
I eat many, many fewer calories than I would like to eat.
There are many other things I do too. But that is by far the most important.
Posted by: jake3_14 | Aug 24, 2008 1:03:47 PM
If the state of nutrition science matched that of say, high-energy physics, then I might agree with Andrew. But the fact is that the state of nutrition science is abysmal. The origin of the cholesterol-heart health hypothesis, for example, was based on faulty and/or cherry-picked data by Ancel Keys, who mostly bullied his peers into supported him. The journalist Gary Taubes recent book, "Good Calories, Bad Calories" shows just how poor the methodology and reasoning is in the field of clinical and popular nutritional science. Taubes, BTW, has a background in physics and reported on it before exploring nutrition science.
Posted by: bix | Aug 22, 2008 3:12:40 PM
No meat/dairy/fish is my biggie (and yes, I get plenty of protein). I also ride my bike instead of driving a car, 7 days a week, and do a lot of the other things in the list.
Posted by: andrew | Aug 21, 2008 10:12:38 PM
I've got no comment regarding carbs, but only someone who knows nothing about science would say:
"And also remembber, science is never advanced by consensus of an organization, but by brilliant work of individual rebel scientists."
and yes, i am a scientist.
Posted by: merlyn | Aug 12, 2008 4:16:55 AM
moderation in everything.There is so much more going on in/with your body,as you will find out as you age...different needs for different people.apotato eaten w/out crap is a lovely thing,and some of us need carbs.Listen to your body and find a health practitioner you trust to help interpret!
Posted by: O | Aug 7, 2008 7:26:58 PM
It sure is a strong statement. It goes against the American Heart Association guidelines, which claims eating foods with lots of fat and cholesterol will kill you. This is just a hypothesis, and there is increaing evidence it is a wrong one. Read this for a start:
http://www.spiked-online.com/Articles/0000000CAE78.htm
And also remembber, science is never advanced by consensus of an organization, but by brilliant work of individual rebel scientists.
Numerous studies, published in journals like New England J. of Medicine, show that a low carb diet improves the cholesterol markers better than mediteranean or low fat diets.
It will take a while. It took 20 years from the first studies that showed that trans fats are bad to finally start a wave of banning trans fats.
In the mean time there is lots of evidence - just google the net - of people eating low carb diets and being healthier as well as in the best shape than ever. Try out the diet (strictly) for several months and see for yourself.
Posted by: smr | Aug 7, 2008 8:33:58 AM
"the low fat fanatics that are still stuck in the early 1990's way of eating, long proven to be wrong"...
Not to start any arguments here, but I feel that this is a rather strong statement. Different diets work for different people. I'd hardly say that low fat diets have long been proven to be wrong. As a matter of fact, a better argument could be made that the "best" diet is a balanced one that includes all food groups, and any diet that largely restricts any single food/nutrient group (carbs or fats) is less healthy and sustainable.
Posted by: O | Aug 7, 2008 3:45:48 AM
My healthiest habit is eating a strict low carb diet. Roughly 100g of carbs a day coming only from fruits (75%) and veggies (the rest 25%). I eat lots of meat, eggs, cheese, nuts, and various fats including coconut oil, olive oil. Note they are all natural foods. This diet not only amazingly improved my cholesterol levels, but I got my 6 pack abs back as well. Diet is 80% of the success at the gym.
People, stay away from cereals, breads, rice, potatoes. If you drop the carbs (not easy - do you have the willpower?), you can add all kinds of fats and yet be healthier than the low fat fanatics that are still stuck in the early 1990's way of eating, long proven to be wrong.
Posted by: lily_pads90 | Aug 6, 2008 10:40:31 PM
Almost all of these options apply to me! I feel proud...
I excercise, I eat a low-fat/high-fiber diet that's high in antidioxants, I drink plenty of water, I don't smoke, I drink VERY little...
I think some things I need to work on include: lowering my sugar intake (I consume an average of 60lbs a day, which seems to me like a large quantity) and getting some more sleep.
Posted by: Jac | Aug 6, 2008 5:52:46 PM
Exercising is my healthiest habbit. Why? So I can eat! I Looove to Eat!!! I do my 75min of cardio every other day & 75min of strength training days inbetween & rest sundays(&holidays, hahaha)I take in around 2000-1400kcal, eat organic/natural; best of all, I've X-ed the sugar & processed foods!
Posted by: Grace | Aug 6, 2008 5:40:43 PM
My healthiest habit is to make the meals with the least fat or oil. This is what i learned from my mother-in-law. She can cook a very delicious meal even without adding extra fat.
Posted by: Gary | Aug 6, 2008 4:12:39 PM
O/T: Excellent interview with Jimmy Moore (Livin La Vida Locarb Show). Thank you! Would enjoy hearing more.
Posted by: Bill | Aug 6, 2008 3:09:52 PM
My healthiest habit is cereal. When I get a craving for ice cream or something else then I just have a bowl of cereal with lowfat milk. Even the worst cereal is better than ice cream for you. Also sugar especially high fructose corn syrup. I attribute at least 15lbs of my 35 I have lost so far to dropping the Coke and Mountain Dew. I only have 1 Coke Zero a day now. (Still gotta have the caffeine in the morning)
