Tuesday * January 8, 2008
MAIN MUSINGS: A new study out of Britain came out today stating that people with four healthy lifestyle behaviors — not smoking, physical activity, moderate alcohol consumption, and eating five servings of fruit or vegetables a day — live an average of 14 years longer than people with none of those behaviors. The study is part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), conducted in 10 European countries.
I don’t know what to think about the alcohol consumption (I’ve read the studies on red wine but I’ve yet taken up drinking to improve my health!). However, the other behaviors seem to be common sense. It’s really supporting our move to get back to basics. We can call it “The Common Sense Plan.”
Life seems to have gotten too complicated for our own good. Nature intended us to be healthy. She gave us food to support our bodies (the bounty of fruits and vegetables) and plenty of land in which to run and stay active (which we are unfortunately destroying). If we would just follow her lead, we would be okay.
Instead, many still (willingly!) fill their lungs with toxins by choosing to smoke, eat primarily processed food, and succumb to the couch potato life (ending up looking like a potato!).
You can wait for the next study to come out, or you can decide to simply get back to the basics. Eat whole foods, drink pure water, play outside, and make sleep sacred. The ancients knew what to do as in this Arabic proverb:
After dinner, rest awhile, after supper, walk a mile.
With Purpose & Power,
Terri
