5 ways to add years to your life (January 2009) by Alison Granell
5 ways to add years to your life
Follow these strategies to outrun the reaper
1 Next time you’re asked to choose between soup and salad, go for salad
+2 years
Italian researchers found that eating as little as one cup of raw vegetables daily can add two years to your life. Why raw? Cooking can deplete up to 30 percent of the antioxidants in vegetables. To eat your quota, fill a ziplock sandwich bag with chopped red and green peppers, broccoli and carrots. Toss the bag into your briefcase, along with a packet of salad dressing – the fat will boost your body’s absorption of certain nutrients.
2 Learn the Law of Lard: the fat you carry today could kill you tomorrow
+3 years
Researchers at the University of Alabama, in the US, discovered that maintaining a body-mass index of 25 to 35 can shorten your life by up to three years (excess body fat raises your risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and colon cancer). If you’re allergic to exercise, sweat with your significant other. A study by Duke University, in the US, shows that sedentary men are 50 percent more likely to work out three times a week if their partners participate.
3 Eat nuts and extend your expiry date
+3 years
When researchers at Loma Linda University, in the US, tracked the lifestyle habits of 34 000 Seventh-Day Adventists – Christian conservatives famous for their longevity – they discovered that those who munched nuts five days a week, earned an extra 2.9 years on the planet. Pick up a bag of mixed nuts that includes all five key nuts, including walnuts, which are usually left out. Aim to eat 60g a day.
4 Never forget that your buddies have your back – even when it’s hunched over from osteoporosis
+7 years
In a study of seventysomethings, Australian researchers found that those with the largest network of friends had the longest lease on life. For the average guy, this could add up to seven additional years of existence. Yes, some buddies may encourage risky behaviour from time to time, but friendship ultimately provides more protection than peril. So try to learn a few new faces at work, trade training tips at the gym or simply say “hey” to that neighbour you’ve never met. You can all thank each other later.
5 Repeat after us: “There is life after retirement”
+71⁄21⁄2 years
Or at least that’s what you’d better believe if you want to live that long. In a Yale University study of older adults, people with a positive outlook on the ageing process lived more than seven-years longer than those who felt doomed to deteriorating mental and physical health. Already envisioning decades of decrepitude? Volunteer for a cause you’re passionate about: selfless actions can put a positive spin on life and distract from unhealthy obsessing, reports a study in Psychosomatic Medicine.
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