Let’s keep the message simple. 4 everyday things you can do to help not be part of this statistic:
1.Eat a calorie-controlled diet, rich in vegetables and fruits (vitamins & anti-oxidants) and low in saturated fats, red meats, processed foods and sugars. Be especially careful with carbs, which are the devil of modern-day eating habits.
2.Exercise. Literally every opportunity you get to do something active. Mix cardio with muscle strengthening.
3.Sleep. Research suggests between 6 to 8 hours of a restful sleep every night is ideal for most of us.
4.De-stress. Whether it’s a fun hobby, meditation, or watching your favorite comedy show—letting your adrenaline and cortisol levels settle down, is extremely good for your health. Stress wreaks havoc on your body.
The health story dominating the news with wall-to-wall coverage over the last several months, has been the COVID pandemic. We know from the data that being overweight or obese, may well be the 3rd biggest risk factor for being seriously affected or hospitalized (after age and having chronic disease). In under-50s, it may even be the 1st biggest risk factor. This places the USA at a unique disadvantage compared to other countries. What an opportunity missed by the medical community to go all out in promoting the lifestyle medicine message to the public. And yes, this can be done in a caring and sensitive way—that encourages and motivates people to change their habits for the sake of their own health. The fact that this hasn’t happened, is shameful on the part of the medical world.
Life is short, you only have one body, so take good care of yourself.
Suneel Dhand is a physician, writer, and YouTuber. He is Founder at MedStoic Lifestyle Medicine and DocsDox . Follow him on YouTube and Instagram
I guess I am in the best generation when it comes to obesity. Growing up in the country during WWII when you couldn’t get meat other than spam or a meatloaf, having a garden and canning our own foods, no bakery nearby and the grocery in a town of 800 had barrels of legumes etc where it was wrapped in newspaper. Parents had what little cream that was at the top of the bottle so we basically were raised on fat free milk.
To this day, I and my family are fresh foodies and careful of what we put between our teeth. That and being exposed to all of the then viruses without penicillin and our bodies had to heal themselves. None of us are overweight. That is not to brag but to suggest that these early years set the stage…
Where did things go wrong Suneel? City folk? Certainly not us in the country and we couldn’t drive very far either.
Well said.
Difficult task . Obesity is epidemic will not go away with vaccinations .
Requires hard work .
Cheers ,
Cornel.
The answer is Lifestyle, Lifestyle, Lifestyle, ………….
Hi Shahid, well put. I say: COVID vaccine a gamechanger? We all hope for a successful vaccine. But I would be amiss to not tell any healthy under 50-year-old that a: WELL-BALANCED DIET, EXERCISE, SLEEP, & DE-STRESSING, will do far more long-term good for your immune system, than any respiratory virus vaccine ever could.
Regards, Suneel