Studies have considered multiple lifestyle behaviors and Health. The good news from all of these studies is that someone with a Healthy lifestyle is likely to live about a decade longer and to be in better health than those with an unhealthy lifestyle.

A study in Germany compared participants with and without any of these four healthy lifestyle factors: never smoking, having a body mass index lower than 30, 3.5 hours per week or more of physical activity, and adhering to a healthy diet (high intake of fruits, vegetables, whole-grain bread, and low meat consumption). Only 9% of participants had all four factors. Compared to participants without any healthy factors, participants with all four had a 78% lower risk of developing a chronic disease. The decreased risk for diabetes was by 93%; for heart attack (myocardial infarction) 81%; for stroke 50%; and for cancer 36%.

A Dutch study investigated the association between adherence to the Mediterranean diet and three additional healthy lifestyle factors (weight, smoking, and physical activity) and premature death. Fewer than 15% of women and 12% of men had all four healthy behaviors. When the mortality of those with the least healthy and the healthiest lifestyle scores was compared, it was found that the healthiest women lived 15.1 years longer and the healthiest men 8.4 years longer than the least healthy.

This blog presents opinions and ideas and is intended to provide helpful general information.  I am not engaged in rendering advice or services to the individual reader. The ideas, procedures and suggestions in that are presented are not in any way a substitute for the advice and care of the reader’s own physician or other medical professional based on the reader’s own individual conditions, symptoms or concerns. If the reader needs personal medical, health, dietary, exercise or other assistance or advice the reader should consult a physician and/or other qualified health professionals. The author specifically disclaims all responsibility for any injury, damage or loss that the reader may incur as a direct or indirect consequence of following any directions or suggestions given in the book or participating in any programs described in this blog or in the book, The Building Blocks of Health––How to Optimize Wellness with a Lifestyle Checklist. References for most of the health related information in this blog can be found in the book, The Building Blocks of Health now available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Building-Blocks-Health-Lifestyle-Checklist-ebook/dp/B08RC3XRCY/. Copyright 2020 by J. Joseph Speidel.