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No Smoking

You only have to go to the American Heart Organization website to see their research on how smoking is related to heart disease. A quote: “Smoking increases blood pressure, decreases exercise tolerance and increases the tendency for blood to clot. Smoking also increases the risk of recurrent coronary heart disease after bypass surgery.” There are also numerous studies on the effects of smoking on cancer. Here’s a line from Cancer.gov: “Of the 250 known harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke, more than 50 have been found to cause cancer.”

No Heavy Drinking

Note that I say “heavy” drinking and not drinking in general. In fact, many studies show that moderate drinking reduces the risk of heart attacks by up to 40% and can help prevent certain cancers. What is “moderate” vs. “heavy”? Drinking in moderation is defined as having no more than one drink per day for women and no more than two drinks per day for men.” Heavy drinking, on the other hand, is lethal. Obviously, it increases your risk of having a fatal accident, but there are also numerous studies showing that heavy drinking is linked to various cancers, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s. You can avoid accidents, heart disease and a bunch of cancers if you never have more than two drinks a day.

Sex

It doesn’t have to be all puritan. Maybe you like to smoke and drink a lot and now you’re pretty upset. How about taking up a more fun activity during the day, like sex. An article by Jonah Lehrer, “Sex is Stressful but Good for You” explains why. Basically, sex activates various hormones that increase your immune system, decrease your stress levels, reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and all sorts of other good things. And it’s pretty much common sense that this is a good thing.

No Snacking

Obesity is linked to high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, certain types of cancer, etc. There’s no shame in being obese. Over one-third of adult Americans are obese according to the Centers for Disease Control. And being overweight and enjoying food are not crimes. But if you stick to the basics and eat in moderation you’ll avoid (reduce) being obese.

Exercise

It’s obvious that exercise and being in shape has health benefits. From the Mayo Clinic, there’s an article on the benefits of exercise. A quote: “Regular physical activity can help you prevent — or manage — high blood pressure. Your cholesterol will benefit, too. Regular physical activity boosts high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or good cholesterol, while decreasing triglycerides. This one-two punch keeps your blood flowing smoothly by lowering the buildup of plaques in your arteries.” The key is just to get the body moving in a way that’s new and a little more difficult than its usual movements (sitting down, sleeping and eating). And if you’re really motivated and just want to get through a half hour of solid exercise, just do 100 pushups, 100 sit-ups, and 100 squats in a half hour period. Do it three times a week and you’re set.

Sleep A Lot

Sleeping is great. For one thing, when you sleep, you probably won’t have a fatal accident. Nor will you be eating while you sleep, or drinking heavily, or smoking, or any of the other activities that can cause an inconveniently timed death. Lack of sleep (meaning six hours or less on average) is linked to colon cancer, weight gain, strokes, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and depression. Don’t we all like to sleep a little more? Certainly sleeping an extra hour a day has got to be a lot easier than exercising an hour a day. So how much sleep do you need? Seven to eight hours a night. Statistics show that people who regularly sleep eight hours a night, no more and no less, live the longest.