Better Habits, Better Health: Top Takeaways from Radio Show with Dr. Michael Howard

Posted by

presspass on February 12, 2020

BETTER HABITS, BETTER HEALTH

A recent guest on the Living to 100 Club Radio Show was Dr. Michael Howard, health educator, neuropsychologist, and researcher on aging and longevity. The discussion focused on the role that our behavior and lifestyle play in developing chronic illness and disease, and alternatively, can also ensure successful aging and living longer. Here are the top ten takeaways from the Show:

TOP 10 TAKEAWAYS

* Where you’re born and where you live on this planet and the lifestyle choices you make in that environment, drastically impact life expectancy. The lifestyle choices you make in life, the decisions you make, markedly affect how long you’ll live.

* The food industry has created hyper-palatable foods that incorporate sweet, fatty, and salty tastes, foods that provide high brain pleasure, are high in calories, and contribute to growing rates of obesity. These foods never existed on our planet before they were processed and marketed this way, and you cannot find a natural food that is sweet, salty, and fatty at the same time.

* The top 10 causes of death are largely brought about by our own behaviors. They’re not highly genetic disorders. These are heart disease, cancer, COPD, accidental deaths, stroke, conditions related to Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, kidney disease, infections, and suicide.

* There are 100-year-old people out there taking Metformin and they’re taking antihypertensives, statins and other drugs, too. Medical science has helped us manage these conditions significantly with medications. What it hasn’t done is really made a huge effort to prevent these conditions largely brought about by our own behaviors.

* Death is rarely attributable to Alzheimer’s disease, but rather these individuals die of pneumonia, heart attack or stroke, malnutrition, or sepsis. Though you die with Alzheimer’s disease, you don’t really die from it.

* A chronic condition is defined as lasting three months or more, and is more difficult to treat or cure, while acute conditions are more treatable, especially with better diagnostic tests and screening exams that can identify early signs of conditions that can become chronic.

* Our behavior falls into identifiable patterns right around late teens or early adulthood. We call that pattern of behavior our personality, characterized by a set of beliefs that we form over time, based on these beliefs and powerful memories. And they become behavior patterns that stay with us. And some of these personality styles can be very unhealthy and others can be healthy.

* Lifestyle can be improved by choices that we make but it’s also necessary to change the environment, so there are competing choices that are healthier. This would include alternative food aisles in the grocery store, and healthy fast food restaurants.

* If you want to add anywhere from 15 to 18 healthy years to your life, there are five simple things in life that largely predict that: keep your weight in the normal range; eat healthy, mostly plant-based diets; do regular and moderate exercise; don’t smoke; and do not drink alcohol to excess.

* To change behaviors, set goals that impact one, two, or three things that you want to change in your life. Make the goals you want and start short term, and then shoot for long term goals. Get your motivation to do it, understand why you want to do it, and don’t compare yourself to others because everybody is different, with different motivations and what’s important to them may not be important to you.

Dr. Howard has been a guest on our Radio show twice, imparting valuable advice for our listeners about healthy lifestyles and living longer. You can access the recording and transcript at this link on our website. A new membership category, Premium Members, can access all show recordings, transcripts, AND a “precis” or top 10 takeaways from each episode. Visit the membership page for more details.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

VIEW THE LIVINGTO100.CLUB WEBSITE

The Living to 100 Club website focuses on sharing useful information with our Club Members and visitors. Our goal is to provide useful content, through our Live Radio Show, Show Recordings and Transcripts, The Club Blog, Member Handbook, and Premium Membership. Be sure to subscribe to our weekly Newsletter / Blog as well as Announcements about upcoming guests of our Radio show.

UPGRADED PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP

The Premium Membership has been expanded and now offers the Blog and Announcements, PLUS exclusive content — a copy of the new DVD of the movie Lives Well Lived by Sky Bergman; a copy of the book, The Blue Zones Solution by Dan Buettner; Radio show recordings, transcripts, and top takeaways; revised Club Member Handbook; learning and retirement opportunities; senior websites; tips and recommendations; and promotional discounts from Amazon. This is content gleaned from an array of sources, updated monthly, only for our members and with a low monthly subscription. Sign up to become a Premium Member today.

CURATED ARTICLES

Look for the tab Curated Articles on the Living to 100 Club website for a series of current, actionable articles on baby boomers, successful aging, positive thinking, and overcoming obstacles.

RECOMMENDED BOOKS

Visit the Club Store for a collection of books (including those authored by guests on our Radio show) and the Club’s I’m Positive collection.

PHONE CONSULTATION

Schedule a 30-minute phone call with the Living to 100 Club proprietor, Joseph M. Casciani, to explore your journey or your organization’s journey on the road to successful aging. Calls are scheduled via Skype (audio only) to joseph.casciani. Please use the scheduling calendar for appointments.

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

Chief Curator of the Living to 100 Club, Dr. Joe Casciani, has now presented his talk on Fresh and Inspiring Perspectives on Living to 100 for different groups. If you are interested in this presentation for your group or organization, please send an email to jc@Livingto100.Club for more information.

WEEKLY INTERNET RADIO SHOW

The Living to 100 Club is all about staying positive as we age. Our blog articles and our weekly live Radio Show emphasize longevity, successful aging, risk management, and handling setbacks whenever they occur. We are pleased to announce that the Show has had over 15,000 listeners of the live episodes or on-demand recordings. Be sure to tune in to our weekly Radio Talk Show on VoiceAmericaHealth, every Friday at 2pm Pacific, with your Host, Dr. Joe Casciani.

Missed the live event? Recordings of all episodes can be accessed on the Club website. Scroll down on the audio player and select “Episode Listing” to display the selections. And now, you can see the schedule of upcoming guests – take a look. We have more exciting guests lined up, and hope you will continue to join us.

Never Too Late Blog

Posted by

presspass on July 16, 2019

Health & Wellness

Never Too Late: Research Now Finds that Increasing Exercise at Any Time Can Increase Lifespan: Join the Livingto100.Club

The notion that it’s never too late to shift toward healthier behaviors gets another boost with research findings from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Smoking cessation, dietary modifications, a change in outlook, and other strategies can prove to be beneficial on our mental and physical well-being, promote successful aging, and increase longevity, regardless of how late in life these changes are adopted. Now, a study in the British Medical Journal is showing that it is never too late to reap the benefits of a longer life just by adding exercise to our daily routine, or increasing the intensity of our usual routine. Strikingly, the benefits included reduced mortality risk from cancer and cardiovascular disease.

The study followed over 14,000 men and women, aged 40 to 79, for anywhere from 7 to 12.5 years, monitoring lifestyle and risk factors (education level, employment status, diet, alcohol, smoking, BP), as well as changes in medical history. The researchers looked at physical activity and sedentary habits. Throughout the follow-up period, approximately 2,000 participants died from cardiovascular disease and cancer. After controlling for pre-existing activity levels, the authors concluded that over time, high levels of physical activity correlated with a lower mortality risk. More striking, though, was the finding that modest increases in exercise correlated with a 29% lower risk of cardiovascular disease and an 11% lower risk of dying from cancer. The authors inferred that participants who went from being physically inactive to becoming more active over a 5-year period were less likely to die from any cause than people who were consistently inactive.

One final conclusion applied to those who already were involved in high levels of activity: those who had high levels of physical activity at the start of the study were 42% less likely to die prematurely from any cause.

The benefits of increasing physical activity do not depend on past activity levels. This is the encouraging result. As the authors state, older adults “can still gain substantial longevity benefits by becoming more active, lending further support to the broad public health benefits of physical activity.” It also affirms the belief that we should never give up or stop moving forward. Apparently taking on new behaviors at any age still pays off.

Postscript

The Living to 100 Club, LLC, is an Amazon Affiliate; sales commissions accrue to the Company when recommended Amazon products are purchased by our readers. These products target healthy lifestyles, information on successful aging, and aid to caregivers. The online store at Living to 100 Club also gives you access to more products with items that improve health awareness, fitness, and travel with items for maintaining an active senior lifestyle and a positive outlook toward our future.

Radio Talk Show

The Living to 100 Club is all about staying positive as we age. Our blog articles and our new weekly live Radio Show emphasize longevity, successful aging, risk management, and handling setbacks whenever they occur. Be sure to tune in to our weekly live Radio Talk Show on VoiceAmericaHealth, every Friday at 2pm Pacific, with your Host, Dr. Joe Casciani.

Missed the live event? Recordings of all episodes are stored on the Club website. Scroll down on the audio player and select “Episode Listing” to display the selections.

This Week’s Recommendations

Exerpeutic Folding Upright Exercise Bike – Editor’s Choice: small enough to fit in a studio apartment while also being strong and sturdy.

Amazon Basics Neoprene Dumbbell Pairs and Sets with Stands – Ideal for resistance training, and made for indoor and outdoor use.

Learning Dumbbell Workout Exercise Poster – Double-sided for vertical or horizontal use, tear-resistant.

Younger Next year: The Exercise Program – A Guide to show the right way to exercise, how to start an exercise regimen, and the know-how to keep it going.

AmazonBasics ½-inch Extra Thick Exercise Mat – Extra thick mat for workout routines, textured surface, and lightweight (74×24”)

Sign-up For Our Email List

Click this link to sign up for our email list.

Click this link for a copy of the Living to100 Club Member Handbook, 9 Principles to Create Positive Frame of Mind as We Age.

Tag Archives