"Bad Habits Can Age You By 12 Years"

In Tuesdays April 27th edition of the Press Enterprise I read an article about bad habits aging people by as much as 12 years. This article should not come as a surprise to anyone. But for the skeptics, there is research to back it. The header read “Study: Bad habits can age you by 12 years.” Most of us know that bad habits contribute to poor health. The study that was done focused on four common bad habits. These habits included: smoking, drinking too much, inactivity and poor diet.

This study tracked 5,000 British adults from the ages of 18-44 years for about 20 years. Out of the 5,000, 314 adults had all four unhealthy habits and among the 314, 91 of the studied individuals died (29%). On the other hand, 387 of the individuals that did not adopt the four bad habits, only 32 died (8%). The group of individuals who were involved in the unhealthy lifestyle habits that included: drinking more than 3 alcohol beverages per day (for men) and women, more than 2 alcohol beverages per day. People who exercised for less than 2 hours a week and did not eat the recommended daily allowance of fruits and veggies were at risk. In addition, those individuals aged themselves by 12 years and increased their mortality rate.

The healthy group included people who didn’t smoke, women who had less than 2 drinks a day, men who drank less than 3 drinks a day, exercised at least 2 hours a week and ate at least 3 servings of fruits and veggies a day. One of the doctors in the study said, “You don’t need to be extreme” to reap the benefits. As little as 1 carrot, 1 apple, and a glass of oj was all that was needed in the study (with the group of healthy people) that made a difference.

This study is clearly another reason to be healthy. Eating five or more servings a day of fruits and veggies and getting at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day can help you reap the benefits of good health.