What influences health?
Around half of the deaths that we would call "early deaths" are due to lifestyle factors. This is because our lifestyle affects how fast the cells in our body divide. The faster the cells divide, the shorter the shelf life of the cells before they die. This means that our lifestyle influences how quickly our body ages.
Lifestyle factors affect how quickly you age, and if you have to highlight one single factor, smoking is by far the worst lifestyle factor when it comes to health and aging.
However, studies show that it is never too late to change your lifestyle. If you have lived an unhealthy lifestyle for the first 50 years of your life and decide to start eating healthy, quit cigarettes, drink moderately, and go for a walk every day, you are actually postponing the onset of serious diseases by an average of 10 years.
So, what can you do and what areas does it make sense to focus on when it comes to your health? The lifestyle factors listed above are key areas and the most important factors for your physical health, but they are not the only lifestyle factors that affect your overall physical and mental health.
Types of life-prolonging behaviors:
Diet - Eat a healthy and varied diet
Smoking - Quit smoking
Alcohol - Drink with moderation. The Danish Health Authority recommends a maximum of 10 drinks per week, with a maximum of 4 drinks on the same day.
Exercise - Be physically active. Go for a walk every day. If you are in good shape, you will not only feel less tired because you can complete everyday tasks effortlessly and without having to lie down, but you will actually live longer and feel healthier.
Sleep - Sleep preferably between 7-9 hours a night
Støj - Whether noise is unhealthy depends on whether you like the sound or not. Noise becomes unhealthy when it is a sound you do not like because it becomes a stressor, and stress has a negative impact on health.
Loneliness/community/social relationships - Some researchers believe that loneliness, or being unwanted alone, is as harmful to your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. There are more years of life lost between the group of people who have the worst social relationships compared to the group of people who have the best social relationships. The people who are least lonely and have the best social relationships live longer.
Commitment/volunteering - Being involved, belonging, and feeling committed benefits mental health.
Life Attitude/Optimism - Life attitude, especially whether you view life more positively than negatively, has been linked to health according to some researchers.
Meaning/Awe - Having a sense that there is a meaning greater than yourself (awe) - for example, when spending time in nature, watching a sunrise, experiencing art, music, or being religious - is also good for mental health.
It is important to note that for many of these factors, there is only an association and not a direct causal (explanatory) relationship. There may be a circular effect where other factors also play a role. For example, it could be that having an optimistic outlook on life influences other factors, such as having more energy and surplus, which in turn makes it easier for you to do some of the other things, like going for a run, healthy eating, or quitting cigarettes.
If you want to try to change some of these factors in your own life to improve your health, set small, easily achievable goals. Remember, a little is better than nothing.
