I heard this statement from a close person: that as you get older, your quality of life depends on the number of pills you take. People in their circle seemed to agree. I would probably have agreed years ago too, when I wasn’t aware that there is broader view of health that goes beyond just treating symptoms when they arrive: the wellness paradigm.
The wellness paradigm, at the core of holistic wellness, seeks to achieve optimal levels of health beyond the absence of discernible illness. This paradigm emphasizes prevention through lifestyle interventions. Science has proved that our diet, physical activity, sleep quality and stress levels can be health promoting or detrimental; and therefore contribute to the development of chronic conditions and non-communicable diseases like cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, obesity, autoimmune and antiinflammatory conditions and even mental disorders.
So obviously I do not agree with the title statement. I would rephrase it this way:
As you get older, your quality of life greatly depends on your previous and current lifestyle choices.
And also on genes, to some extent, since nowadays we know lifestyle does modify how our genes express (epigenetics). But this is a topic for another day.
Back to the title of this article, the person saying it was overweight, sedentary, smoker, moderate to heavy drinker, ate a high calorie, animal-rich diet and has never really paid attention to their nutrition, except for the occasional crash diet. Therefore, not a good example of what a holistic, health promoting lifestyle looks like. Sure, in this case, as you get older you will probably need to take pills to be healthy. The reality is that everyone may need them, as the wellness paradigm is inclusive of the biomedical (symptom based) paradigm. But probably, not that many.
But what a “healthy lifestyle” really looks like?
We need to focus on four main areas:
1 – Diet
My favorite approach to diet is what Michael Pollan said so neatly:
Eat food, not too much, mostly plants. – Michael Pollan
Which means to eat whole foods, enough to satisfy our calorie needs, and with abundance of fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, seeds and nuts.
2 – Physical Activity
Movement of any type: planned and purposeful (exercise) or daily activities (gardening, walking the dog, etc.)
In terms of exercise, current recommendations for adults is at least 150 of moderate cardio activity, 2 strength training sessions and balance work for those 65 and older, per week.
It’s important to avoid a sedentary lifestyle as well, understood as activities that we do sitting or laying, like driving, working at our computer or watching TV. Honestly, this is not very realistic in today’s word; the trick is to break the sedentary time with short periods of movement, about 2 minutes every 60-90 minutes. Standing up and walking a little is enough. Unfortunately, exercise doesn’t fully make up for a sedentary lifestyle, so these breaks are paramount for health reasons.
Physical activity, along with a healthy diet, will also help us manage our weight and body composition, and avoid obesity.
3 – Sleep Quality (and quantity)
While we sleep wonderful things happen: our tissues regenerate, hormones are released, memory is consolidated. Lack of sleep can not only promote the development of chronic conditions, especially cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, but also raise our stress levels, hinder our focus and lead to accidents due to lack of concentration.
Current recommendations is 7-8 hours of sleep daily. Having a regular bedtime and wake up schedule, a night routine, avoiding screens late at night, eating (and avoiding) the right foods, exercising but not too intensely and too close to bedtime, and creating the right environmental conditions (darkness, quietness, coolness) can help improve our sleep.
4 – Stress Management
Not all stress is bad. A little bit of stress can improve our performance and it’s actually positive (eustress). The issue arises when the stress levels remain high for a long time and it becomes chronic (distress). This is the “bad” stress we want to avoid.
Diet, exercise, sleep, mindfulness (meditation, yoga, breathing exercises), time management, having a supportive social network and therapy as needed are all good resources at our disposal.
And what about toxic substances?
Alcohol, tobacco and other substances fall in this category and should be avoided. Please don’t buy into the message that red wine is good for you because of the antioxidants. There are safer ways to get your antioxidants in. Now, if wine is drunk occasionally, in moderation and as a social activity, then it may be worth it. But because of the social connection and relaxation, not necessarily the wine itself.
Some studies also show that environmental toxic products like pesticides and chemical substances (BPA, parabens), plastics (microplastics) and heavy metals (mercury) can also be problematic, but more research is needed.
Is there anything else I can do today to minimize the quantity of pills I will need?
Yes, there is! Working on the other dimensions of holistic wellness beyond physical and mental health can have an excellent impact on our health span. Occupational, Social, Intellectual, Spiritual and Community wellness all contribute towards achieving our optimal level of wellbeing, beyond the absence of illness.
You may also want to check the Top 5 lifestyle changes to reduce the risk of chronic illness.
In conclusion
We cannot be certain of what the future will bring us health wise, as some things are outside of our control, like our gender, race, age and genetics.
Nevertheless, we do have control over our lifestyle choices, and science has demonstrated that these can have significant impact on our health outcome – and the number of pills we may need. The right diet, exercise, sleep, stress management, a healthy body weight and composition, and avoiding alcohol and tobacco are tools to put us on the right track.
Start today, and your future self will thank you. And you will save some pills too!
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