Contributor: “Dr. J”Dr. J offers his irreverent, slightly irrelevant, but possibly useful opinions on health and fitness. A Florida surgeon and fitness freak with a black belt in karate, he runs 50 miles a week and flies a Cherokee Arrow 200.
(CC) Lululemon/Flickr
My medical school years taught me a lot! The major areas of treatment in medicine, surgery, obstetrics/gynecology, pediatrics and psychiatry were all covered in specific detail. What wasn’t covered so well was how to help patients avoid treatment in these areas!
We are living in changing times. Most of the debilitating diseases that we now face as a society are created by our own behaviors rather than from the bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms that we share our world with.
There are very few, if any, courses in making healthy, disease-preventing lifestyle choices in most medical schools, which I feel is unfortunate. The medical field is so vast nowadays that many areas are not covered until the physician goes into a specialty area. All that I learned about lifestyle choices, not counting at my mother’s knee, came on my own after medical school. Knowing what I do now about the vast impact on a person’s overall life from the lifestyle choices that we make, I would make lifestyle choices a primary area of study if I had the power to do it!
Our lifestyle choices revolve around seven basic areas:
- Exercise that is aerobic, anaerobic, and weight bearing
- Diet that is varied and healthy
- Intellectual activity that is stimulating
- Sleep that is of good quality and quantity
- Stress that are managed well
- Social life that is active and rewarding
- Risky behavior that is avoided
The five most common causes of death in the United States are:
- Heart Disease
- Cancer
- Stroke
- Accidents
- COPD or CLRD (Chronic Bronchitis and Emphysema)
The prevention and delay of these causes of death can be affected by our cholesterol, blood pressure, whether we smoke, insulin effectiveness, whether we have diabetes, our weight, our activity level, our age, family history, whether we have sleep apnea, our response to stress, alcohol consumption, diet, genetics, sun exposure, driving behaviors, physical condition, ability to swim, access to firearms, amount of medical or surgical care we need, type of job we have, the air we breathe, and other factors.
Knowing where we stand with all of these factors and how we actively address them will make all the difference in our lives.
Some general recommendations for lifestyle choices are as follows, but each and every one of us has to be aware of our unique situation and make the choices that will directly address our own needs:
- Drink alcohol in moderation or not at all (men should have no more than two drinks per day, and women no more than one drink per day).
- Do not start smoking, and if you do smoke, quit.
- Eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fat-free and low-fat dairy products and seafood.
- Avoid foods with high: sodium (salt), saturated fats, trans-fats, cholesterol, added sugars and refined, processed grains.
- Do at least 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, or 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity every week, and muscle-strengthening activities on two or more days a week that work all major muscle groups.
- Wear seatbelts, do not use a cell phone or text while operating a motor vehicle, practice safe sex and avoid illicit drug use.
I hope you all have been paying attention and taking notes because you will be continually quizzed and graded on your performance with this information for the rest of your life!
Ed. note: Enjoyed this post? Click the “Like” button below and be sure to “Like” the CalorieLab Facebook page.
Lifestyle Choices 101 is a post from: CalorieLab - Health News & Information Blog
Source: http://calorielab.com/news/2012/11/12/lifestyle-choices-101/
mediterranean diet diet plan liquid diet dieting hcg diet plan
No comments:
Post a Comment