Welcome to 2024!
We at Advanced Healthcare and Sports Injury hope your 2024 brings good health and quality of life! Whether you make resolutions or not, we want to help you maximize your well-being this year. In this blog we will discuss four key components to enjoying better health. We hope you can implement a few pointers during the next year and maintain a healthy lifestyle!
We all know we should exercise but why? How much difference does it really make? According to longevity doctor, Peter Attia, a lot!! Dr. Attia says “exercise is the most powerful longevity drug”. Here are a few facts to get you motivated. A fairly minimal amount of exercise can lengthen your life by several years and delay the onset of chronic disease. Physical activity can reverse physical decline and slow cognitive decline. You may still be thinking “exercise is hard though and I don’t have extra time in my day”. The good news is that a limit bit of daily exercise is much better than nothing. Going from no exercise to just 90 minutes a week can reduce your risk of dying from all causes by 14%. People who exercise regularly live a decade longer than sedentary people!
Don’t know where to get started? Try walking and lifting weights. A regular routine of strength training, aerobic or cardio exercise, flexibility and stability exercises is ideal. Once you make that commitment to start exercising you need to keep it up. It helps to make exercise social and fun. Try joining a gym, meeting a friend to exercise or getting a trainer.
Our second goal for the year is healthy nutrition. There are many different diet plans and people who swear by keto, paleo, Mediterranean, vegan or low fat. However, there is not one perfect diet that works for every person! It is about figuring out what works for your body and goals. Dr. Iodice endorses a healthy keto diet coupled with intermittent fasting. He lost 40 pounds over 4 years ago and has kept it off! He likes this because it’s relatively simple to follow, highly effective and is very healthy. We will write a follow up blog on this topic very soon!
No shocker here, but you want to eliminate sugar and sweetened drinks. Eat more plants; they are a great source of both fiber and protein. Avoid ultra-processed food. You may be thinking you do that already; however, anything wrapped in plastic with one ingredient you don’t typically find in a kitchen is considered an ultra-processed food. Examples would be flavored yogurt, breakfast cereal and store bread. Ultra-processed foods can contribute to cancer and weight gain. Don’t become overwhelmed by this; even a small reduction in highly processed foods can make a big impact on your health. Try fermented foods. They contain live microbes and are great for gut health and digestion and can give a boost to your immune system. You are probably already getting some fermented foods in your diet with cheese and yogurt, but sauerkraut, kefir, kombucha and kimchi would all be good foods to try in 2024!
Sleep is also a very important and often ignored component of our health. According to Dr. Attia, sleep is the “best medicine for your brain”. Many studies have confirmed we need to sleep 7.5 to 8.5 hours a night. Here are a few tips to learn to love sleep. Don’t drink any alcohol or limit yourself to one drink before 6 pm. Don’t eat anything 3 hours before bed; it’s best to be a little bit hungry when going to sleep. Abstain from electronics before bed. If you must use electronics then use a setting that reduces blue light. One hour before bed avoid doing anything that is anxiety producing; such as, checking work email and social media or watching the news. Spend time in a sauna, hot bath or shower before bed. Your bedroom should be cool; ideally in the mid 60’s. Darken your bedroom completely. If this isn’t possible then use an eye shade. Give yourself enough time to sleep. Go to bed at least 8-9 hours before you need to get up. Fix your wake time and don’t deviate from it on weekends. Turn your alarm clock away from you so you can’t see it. Sleep is absolutely essential, make it a priority in 2024!
The last piece of our well-being is emotional health. Stress and anger can deteriorate our physical health. Some people self-medicate with drugs and alcohol which also have a negative impact on physical health. We encourage you not to ignore or put off your emotional health this year. Whether you need to seek help with a trained therapist, journal, practice deep breathing, yoga or mediation we encourage you to address any anxiety, depression or anger issues that could be dragging down your physical health!
Advanced Healthcare and Sports Injury wishes you a Happy New Year and we are looking forward to exercising for our health, good nutrition, quality sleep and emotional well-being in 2024!
The information in this blog is for educational purposes only. Please consult Dr. Iodice or your medical doctor before making any changes to your healthcare plan.
References
1. Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity by Peter Attia, MD
2. Zoe Science & Nutrition Podcast
