Quit the ‘social’ smoking

You may not be a fully-blown ‘smoker’ (if you are, then it goes without saying that that’s the most crucial step you can take to be healthier next year) but if you’re someone who ‘only’ has a cigarette when you have a drink or are around other smokers, you probably aren’t aware just how much harm you are doing. Nicotine is such a powerful drug that even if you only smoke at weekends or on occasional nights out, addiction may be taking a hold of you. No safe level has been determined. What’s more, statistics from the organization Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) show that people who smoke fewer than 10 cigarettes a day are less committed to quitting than heavier smokers — so are likely to continue doing themselves harm for longer. Of course, smoking increases your risk of cancer and heart disease, but it also increases your risk of respiratory problems, diabetes, eye disease, erectile dysfunction and hearing loss, not to mention making you age prematurely, putting those around you at risk of inhaling your secondhand smoke and making your clothes, hair and breath smell bad. What’s social about that?

Get your fruit and vegetables

Many people are confused about how many portions of fruit and vegetables they should be eating amongst all the conflicting advice. While previous initiatives led by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH) recommended five portions a day, their current recommendations are more dependent on the individual and often exceed that. However, whatever the current recommendations, it is important to remember that these are just guidelines for the minimum intake, not the ideal. In fact, in terms of fruit and vegetables, it is a case of the more the better as far as health is concerned. According to findings of a report by the PBH, the average American consumes less than two cups of fruit and vegetables a day – as opposed to the four to six cups recommended for the average adult. But we pass over the fruit bowl at our peril. Higher fruit and vegetable consumption will reduce the risk of colon, stomach, lung and esophageal cancer, while research in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that a minimum of 6 servings of fruit and vegetables a day reduced the risk of stroke by around 30 per cent. What makes fruit and veg so healthy? Well, as well as being low in fat and calories and high in fiber, they are packed with health-promoting, disease-fighting phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals which you just won’t find in a capsule. If you have a long way to go to reach your minimum daily recommendations of fruit and veg, aim to increase your intake by one portion per week. Remember, one portion can be a juice, one can be dried fruit and one can come from beans or pulses. Canned and frozen varieties count, too — so get munching.

Be screen savvy

When did you last have an eye test? Have you had your blood pressure checked recently? What about that itchy mole on your back? Screening is one of the most important ways of staying on top of your health. It gives the experts a chance to identify problems before you are even aware of them — maximizing the likelihood of them being able to deal with it quickly and easily. Many people, however, have never had a health screen or wellbeing check, although many serious conditions are easily detected through some simple tests. Worryingly, the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) anticipates that millions of Americans will suffer from vision loss and blindness because of failing to get a baseline exam which could alert them to risks, while many other diseases such as diabetes, which could be easily diagnosed during an eye exam, are left untreated. Just as worryingly, research by Medco Health Solutions Inc. suggests that only half of all women over 40 are getting annual mammograms – and many don’t have one within the space of four years - although Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) claims that mammography can reduce breast cancer mortality by about 20 percent in women over forty. If you can’t remember when you last had the relevant tests for your age, gender and health status, ask your doctor. If in doubt, err on the side of caution and get checked again.

When people find out what ‘drinking in moderation’ really means, they are often surprised. According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, one standard drink (a drink containing 14g of alcohol) per day for women and two standard drinks per day for men is defined as drinking in moderation. You might be skeptical that it’s necessary to restrict yourself to the recommended limit for your gender, but bear in mind that this guideline is based on medical evidence and that drinking above this level is harmful to health. The fact that many of us have been drinking far in excess of the recommended amounts is borne out in the statistics. According to a national survey by the U.S. Department of Justice, approximately 75% of the alcohol that is consumed in the US is consumed in the form of binge drinking, while according to the National Vital Statistics Reports, in 2007 over 23,000 people died in the US due to alcohol-related causes, emphasizing the potentially tragic effects of this excessive drinking. To keep your health in great condition, it is worthwhile paying attention to your daily alcohol intake and being careful to keep your drinking in moderation.

Use sunscreen all year round

If you only slap on sunscreen when you are lying on a beach, it’s time to wake up to the chance you are taking — both in terms of increasing your risk of skin cancer and also in damaging your skin. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), each year more than 53,600 Americans learn they have skin cancer (melanoma), marking a percentage of cases that has more than doubled in the last 30 years. Ultraviolet rays from the sun come in three forms — UVA, UVB and UVC. While the latter is the most harmful, they are blocked out by the ozone layer, but UVA rays can even penetrate through windows and water. While UVA rays don’t cause burning, they damage collagen and elastin in the skin, causing premature aging and wrinkling. UVB rays are the ones that burn, and are the greatest contributors to skin cancer. Protect yourself with a broad spectrum sun protection product with an SPF of at least 15 — much higher if your skin is sensitive, delicate or prone to burning, And don’t just use it when the sun is shining — a third of the rays still reach the earth under full cloud cover. If skin aging is your concern, you should use a facial moisturizer with a sun protection factor of 15+ too. Experts recommend hats, sunglasses and cover-ups when you are out in the sun, and advise keeping in the shade when the sun’s rays are at their strongest.

Use your legs more often

With the prevalence of cars, elevators and escalators today, it is easy for us to get by on a daily basis without really using our legs. Gallup's 2007 Work and Education survey found that approximately 91% of workers travel to work by car, but many of us also jump in the car just to post a letter or visit the shops, and lots of us would rather get in a lift than use the stairs. While such time-saving measures are sometimes unavoidable, many of us just take the easy option out of habit. And it’s a habit that’s costing us our health, not to mention our waistlines … Next time you are about to make a short journey, ask yourself whether you could do it on foot or by bicycle. You’ll be surprised just how often the answer is ‘yes.’ And you’ll be adding hundreds of steps towards your daily 10,000-step target.

If much of your working life involves sitting at a desk (or anywhere in which you are confined for long periods), make sure you are sitting comfortably. Chairs and worktops that are too high or low, lights that flicker, screens set too close or too far back, insufficient desk space, a twisted torso … all these occupational hazards can leave you feeling stiff, sore and fatigued by the end of the working day. It is your employer’s responsibility to ensure that your workstation is set up in an ergonomically correct fashion — even if that means investing in a special type of keyboard, a lumbar support or phone headset for you. If the responsibility lies with you, then invest in a workstation assessment to help you (and your staff, if you have any) are in the correct set-up. Once you’ve got it right, keep your desk clutter-free and sit properly, with your feet flat on the floor, your thighs supported but not compressed by the chair seat and your back straight, with abdominal muscles gently pulled in. Regularly ‘scan’ your body throughout the day, keeping an eye out for hunched, tight shoulders, a clenched jaw, a hanging-out stomach, a jutting-forward head or crossed legs. And above all, get up as frequently as you can to move around and stretch.

Drink more water

While most healthy changes in life involve giving something up or cutting down, this one is all about more, more, more! Few people — whether active or not — drink sufficient water, and side effects of even slight dehydration include headaches, fatigue and low concentration levels (as well as poor physical performance). Yet increasing fluid intake can increase energy levels, aid digestion and give skin a boost. It’s not possible to recommend a set amount of water for everyone — fluid intake should be approximately 1ml (0.03oz) per kilocalorie of food intake (for example, 2000ml (67.63oz) for a 2000 calorie per day diet) — but some of this is provided by food, so don’t get hung up about drinking the full amount per day. Instead, concentrate on drinking little and often throughout the day, being extra vigilant after exercise or when you’ve been confined in a dry, overheated or air-conditioned environment. Your fluid intake doesn’t have to just be water — other drinks (even tea and coffee) count towards your daily quota, too — but given that it’s calorie-free, sugar-free and fat-free, it’s certainly a good bet.

Lift weights

You may not have considered lifting weights for its health benefits — but strength training has many benefits as we age (and by that, I mean hit 30!). The evidence for strength training is now so irrefutable that the American College of Sports Medicine, American Heart Association and the Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health all now acknowledge the important role it plays in a balanced fitness regime. How? Well, it fights off age-related declines in metabolism, lean muscle and bone mass and, according to a study published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, has a positive effect on heart-unfriendly abdominal fat. Weight training also reduces your risk of osteoporosis and back problems, maintains full range of motion in your joints and, perhaps most surprisingly of all, lowers your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and some cancers. In just six months of regular weight training, you can expect to lose fat, gain muscle and increase your today daily energy expenditure. Subjects in a study from the University of Alabama did just that after 26 weeks of resistance training — burning an additional 220 calories per day.

If you could choose between an artificially-lit, heated manmade building or a picturesque natural setting, it’s pretty obvious which would be favored. In fact, a US survey found that 70 per cent of people find outdoor activities more effective at reducing stress than indoor activities. Yet for many of us, life is becoming increasingly indoor-focused, dominated by manmade structures and artificiality. It’s no surprise we barely notice the seasons changing. But proponents of the ‘biophila theory’ believe that contact with the natural world is not just beneficial but essential to our wellbeing — both emotionally and physically. According to research at Texas A&M University there is a quicker recovery from stress, a reduction in blood pressure and an alteration brain electrical waves as a result of being in natural environments. Researchers are still investigating why Mother Nature makes us feel so good — but it may be at least partly due to the greater abundance of negative ions in the air in natural surroundings (especially around running water, mountains and forest.) Research from Surrey University found that subjects asked to complete tasks in negative ion-rich air performed 28 per cent better. The other benefit to getting out to the great outdoors more regularly is that sunlight is the body’s primary source of vitamin D (well, not exactly a source — but vitamin D is synthesized in the body after exposure to UV rays). This fat-soluble vitamin is well known for its role — along with calcium — in preserving bone health but recent research also suggests that vitamin D may play a part in maintaining a healthy immune system too.

Get more sleep

How much sleep did you get last night? And what about the night before? If you are regularly getting significantly less than seven to eight hours — and don’t wake up feeling refreshed in the mornings — you are almost certainly sleep-deprived, and aren’t getting the most out of your waking hours. Not only are short sleep lengths connected to increased risk of mortality, they can also make you fat. A study from Stanford University found a strong link between sleep duration and body mass index (BMI). In individuals who slept less than eight hours (74 per cent of all participants), BMI was inversely proportional to sleep duration. Your aim should be to go to bed earlier rather than get up later, as a constant ‘getting up’ time — regardless of whether it’s the weekend or your day off — is advised by sleep experts. According to the London Sleep Centre our biological clock primes us for bed time between 10 to 12pm and wake time from 6 to 8am. Even an extra half hour makes a difference, so put the hot chocolate on …

Take a multivitamin

Providing you are eating a healthy, balanced diet, you should be getting sufficient quantities of vitamins and minerals in your diet. But what exactly is a healthy, balanced diet — and can you be sure that by the food reaches your table, its micronutrients are still intact? The experts haven’t yet answered this question satisfactorily, and in the meantime, the Harvard Medical School suggests that most people would benefit from a daily multivitamin and mineral complex, particularly if they don’t eat the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables each day, if they regularly miss meals or rely on highly-processed foods or are vegan or vegetarian. There is certainly no harm, in taking a multi-vitamin and mineral supplement and it can be a useful insurance policy for nutritional health.