Get Naked!
And 6 More Surprising Longevity Tips
In his new book, A Short Guide to a Long Life,
David B. Agus, M.D., whose patients have included Neil Young, Steve
Jobs, and Sumner Redstone, offers bite-sized, straightforward advice on
living longer and better. See seven of his tips below.
1. Get naked
We
throw our clothes on and off daily, during which time we’re partially
or wholly naked for a few seconds or minutes, and we spend quality time
in the shower in our birthday suit. But when was the last time you took a
good look at yourself butt naked in front of a mirror—front and back?
You’d be surprised by how illuminating this exercise can be. You can
spot trouble on the horizon in the form of body oddities that you didn’t
have before and signs of skin cancer.
The skin acts as an
indicator of the state of the entire body, and external skin
discolorations, blemishes, lesions, rashes, blotches, or other unsightly
marks can be signs of underlying internal disease. Once in a while,
take a visual inventory of every square inch of yourself, including your
hair, nails, and the inside of your mouth.
You can also get an
honest sense of how well you are aging based on your physical appearance
alone. Is your overall skin tone and set of wrinkles reflective of
someone your age? Do you look older than your chronological age? And you
can use this moment to gather measurements that can help you track the
progress you’re making by changing your habits. Measure your waist and
see it get smaller. Start a skin-care routine that nourishes the health
of your skin (and keeps you examining your skin regularly).
Or
maybe just tell yourself that you’re beautiful and doing okay. Say an
affirmation as you stand there naked and accept who you are. We all know
that having a strong sense of self and being comfortable in our own
skin will go a long way to keeping us healthy and psychologically
strong.
2. Strengthen your core and maintain good posture
You
can tell a lot about someone just by looking at the way he carries
himself. Is he hunched over like an old person? Does he slouch with his
head down as if he is depressed? Or is he walking fully erect, chest up,
as if he is ready to take on the world with a smile on his face? With
the right posture, anyone can appear younger, thinner, and more
confident. But these effects aren’t just for vanity’s sake. Maintaining
correct posture may be one of the best-kept secrets for achieving a
longer, healthier, and more enjoyable life.
We know that poor
posture can lead to a wide assortment of neck and back problems. It is
often caused by a weak core, which is one of the primary risk factors
for back problems—at every age. Poor posture can also cause headaches,
TMJ, arthritis, poor circulation, muscle aches, difficulty breathing,
indigestion, constipation, joint stiffness, fatigue, neurological
problems, and poor physical function in general.
But the risks
don’t end there. It’s well documented that people with what’s called
hyperkyphosis—a posture that’s hunched over, with the head and shoulders
rolled forward—are 2 times more likely to die from pulmonary problems
and 2.4 times more likely to die from atherosclerosis (a disorder
characterized by a narrowing and hardening of the arteries due to plaque
buildup) than those with normal posture. What’s more, these individuals
are 1.44 times more likely to die of any cause than those with healthy
posture. Even people with a mild degree of hyperkyphosis are likely to
die sooner.
Bear in mind that posture also plays into our
emotional state. Because posture is often linked to our facial
expressions, it can subconsciously drive our emotions: when we stand
tall and erect, we exude confidence. This in turn helps us to feel good
about ourselves and have an optimistic outlook. All roads to perfect
posture start with a sturdy core. You don’t need a chiseled six-pack,
but engage in exercises that work this area.
3. Mobilize your medical data
Do
you have copies of all your medical records, and are they accessible
online somewhere? Why not? What if you land in the emergency room and
cannot talk but have a potentially fatal allergy to penicillin—the very
drug a doctor is about to inject into you?
We use our phones and
computers today for just about everything, with one exception: storing
our medical records and keeping our health information updated. Aim to
have all your records stored in your “mobile cloud” so they are always
accessible to you. Give a trusted family member (spouse, parent,
sibling, adult child) or friend your passwords so they can access those
same files when and if it becomes necessary. Everyone needs a partner in
health care. Pick someone. Give that person full access to all of the
places where you keep your medical data.
If you don’t have your
medical records nicely organized in digital files, request copies of
your files from your doctors. Spend a weekend afternoon creating digital
copies of them using a scanner. You can also keep them on a USB key
chain that you take everywhere. This task may sound daunting, but it’s
just a few hours of work from which you can benefit for the rest of your
life. It is unusual that patients of mine have a medical emergency
between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. when the office is open and
we can access their records. Problems always seem to happen in the
middle of the night, on a weekend, or when someone is traveling! We each
have different health profiles, but that distinctiveness can present a
challenge to doctors who don’t know anything about us, yet have been
given the job of treating us. Having your entire medical record on file
to hand over just might save your life.
4. Have a glass of wine with dinner
Habits
that transcend culture and religion and date back thousands of years
probably have some benefit to them regardless of what the science says.
But now we know that moderate alcohol intake, especially from red wine,
can reduce one’s risk for heart disease. This benefit does have a
caveat, however: drinking can potentially increase one’s risk for breast
cancer, and drinking too much is far worse for your heart than being a
teetotaler. How do you find the sweet spot? Aim for no more than one
drink a day if you’re a woman and two if you’re a man. And if you
abstain during the workweek, you don’t have permission to binge drink
over the weekend.
5. Cohabitate
While at first
blush it may seem unlikely that a connection has been found between
cohabitation and longevity, consider the following: when you live with
someone else, you have a reason to pay more attention to your health and
hygiene. You’ve got another person to hold you accountable for your
actions and lifestyle habits. You’re less likely to engage in risky
behaviors. And you’re more likely to have a built-in system for coping
with stress, because another warm human body is present in your daily
life.
If you come home mad, frustrated, and on the verge of a
breakdown, you’ve at least got a sounding board. Which might explain why
happy cohabitating couples repeatedly score better on blood pressure
tests than their single counterparts. Whether or not this rule should
entail marriage is up to you. And whether it should include children is
another thing to consider.
6. Smile
Hint:
Smiling will boost your mood no matter what. The act itself will trigger
the release of pain-killing, brain-happy endorphins and serotonin.
Besides, it’s easier to smile; it takes seventeen muscles to smile and
forty-three to frown.
Maybe laugh a little, too.
7. Never skip breakfast
This
old adage will never die. After fasting all night long, your body needs
a metabolic jump-start to begin the day. We know that people who eat
breakfast are just plain healthier in general and rarely have issues
with weight (and if they do, the weight sloughs off once they start
eating breakfast!). Skipping those morning calories to lose weight is
one of the worst habits a person can develop. Front-loading your eating
in the early part of the day will prevent you from overconsuming later,
help you burn more calories, and allow you to get a wallop of nutrients
when you need them.
Moreover, eating breakfast will give your
brain a much-needed boost, fueling your productivity and creativity for
the entire day. If you wait too long to eat after rising, stress
hormones will start pumping and sabotage your body’s healthy metabolism.
Too high a concentration of stress hormones like cortisol will
encourage your body to retain fat, among other undesirable things.
Today is - I'm Not Going To Take It Anymore Day 
