Reduce Your Risk of Disease With 4 Simple Habits

Anyone remember the old Outer Limits show? Here's a play on the opening...

Do attempt to control your life.

You control your weight.

You control your behaviors.

You control your diet.

You control your health.

O.K., well maybe you don't control your health completely but you can reduce your risk of developing a chronic condition such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or cancer by 78% through 4 simple habits. Here they are, in order of importance:

1. Maintain a BMI (body mass index) below 30. I have issues with using BMI (it's not always an accurate measurement of a healthy weight with some people) but the bottom line here is to dump excess body fat.

2. Don't smoke.

3. Exercise a total of at least 3 1/2 hours per week. (That's only 30 minutes a day.)

4. Follow a diet high in fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain breads and limit your meat intake.

As reported in August's Archives of Internal Medicine, starting in the mid-1990s researchers analyzed the health, lifestyles, and diet of 23,513 German adults 35 to 65 years old. They found that those who had more healthy habits were much less likely to get diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

Researchers recorded and analyzed each person's height and body weight, food frequency, disease background, and how closely they followed the 4 healthy lifestyle habits over the 8 year study period.

After adjusting for risk factors that might have influenced the development of disease, researchers found that study participants who followed all four healthy habits had a 78% lower risk of developing a chronic condition such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or cancer compared to those who followed none of the habits.

Obviously, the best course of action is to incorporate all 4 healthy habits into your lifestyle. However, the study also showed that there was benefit from following just 3 of the rules and even some health benefits from following just 2 or 1.

So, if you need to, start small. Concentrate on 1 of the 4. When you've made that part of your lifestyle, start working on another. You'll feel better, look better and you'll reduce your risk of chronic disease.

More Reasons to Quit Smoking

If lowering your risk of lung cancer and emphysema, saving money and not having to brace the elements to get your nicotine fix is not enough, below are a few more reasons to kick the habit.


* Researchers at the University of Western Australia found that smokers are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than non-smokers.

* Smokers are three to four times more likely to develop one of the most common forms of skin cancer. Doctors at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands analyzed the lifestyles of 580 men and women with different types of skin cancer. They discovered that smokers were three to four times more likely to develop "squamous cell cancer". One to 10 cigarettes a day increased the risk almost 2 1/2 times; 11 to 20 raised the risk three times and 20 or more cigarettes a day quadrupled the risk.

* According to a study in the journal Nature Genetics, toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke can cause a woman’s eggs to die prematurely resulting in an increased chance of fertility problems or early menopause.

* In a study published in the Journal of Rheumatology, smoking everyday was associated with a 60% increase in the risk of arthritis compared to the risk for those with no history of smoking. After eliminating the effects of other factors that can contribute to arthritis risk, researchers found a definite link between past or present smoking and a higher risk of developing arthritis.

* Smoking causes wrinkles. According to research, cigarette smoke interferes with the body's ability to renew skin and causes premature aging.