Feel Better, Live Longer
What really works to make sustainable changes in diet and lifestyle? It's probably not what you think. In over 30 years of conducting clinical research, I've learned that the real keys are pleasure, joy and freedom, not willpower, deprivation and austerity. Joy of living is sustainable; fear of dying is not.
Why? Because life is to be enjoyed. There's no point in giving up something you enjoy unless you get something back that's even better, and quickly. When people eat more healthfully, exercise, quit smoking, manage stress better, and love more, they find that they feel so much better, so quickly, it reframes the reason for making these changes from fear of dying (too scary) or risk-factor modification (too boring) to joy of living. Fortunately, the latest studies show how dynamic and powerful are the mechanisms that control our health and well-being.
When you exercise and eat right:
--Your brain receives more blood flow and oxygen, so you become smarter, think more clearly, have more energy, and need less sleep. Two studies showed that just walking for three hours per week for only three months caused so many new neurons to grow that it actually increased the size of people's brains!
--Your face receives more blood flow, so your skin glows more and wrinkles less. You look younger and more attractive. In contrast, an unhealthy diet, chronic emotional stress and smoking reduce blood flow to your face so you age more quickly. Smoking accelerates aging because nicotine causes your arteries to constrict, which decreases blood flow to your face and makes it wrinkle prematurely. This is why smokers look years older than they really are and often have a gray pallor. Supermodel Christy Turlington, whose father died of lung cancer, has a wonderful Web site, www.smokingisugly.com, which is a powerful antidote to the idea that smoking is beautiful.
--Your sexual organs receive more blood, so you become more potent--this is how drugs like Viagra and Levitra work--but without the costs and side effects. In contrast, unhealthy lifestyle choices often lead to impotence. For example, half of men who smoke are impotent. Cigarettes are marketed in ways that make it seem as though you'll be sexy and beautiful, but they really make you ugly and impotent--how sexy is that?
--Your genes change. In May, my colleagues and I at the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute and the University of California, San Francisco, published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showing that changing your lifestyle changes your genes.
Really.
After only three months of following the comprehensive lifestyle program described in my new book, The Spectrum, the expression of over 500 genes changed in men with early-stage prostate cancer. We found that genes associated with cancer, heart disease and inflammation were downregulated or "turned off" whereas protective genes were upregulated or "turned on." Craig Venter's pioneering work showed that one way to change your genes is to synthesize new ones. Our research is showing that another way to change your genes is to change your lifestyle.
--Your telomeres get longer. Telomeres are the ends of our chromosomes that control how long we live. As telomeres become shorter, then cells age and die more quickly. In simple terms, as your telomeres get shorter, your life gets shorter.
Chronic emotional stress shortens your telomeres. My colleagues, Elissa Epel and Elizabeth Blackburn of the University of California, San Francisco, conducted a pioneering study of mothers who were caring for a child with a chronic illness. They found that the more stress the women reported experiencing, the shorter their telomeres. Women with the highest levels of perceived stress had telomeres shorter on average by the equivalent of at least one decade of additional aging compared to low-stress women.
One of the most interesting findings in this study was that the mothers' perceptions of stress were more important than what was objectively occurring in their lives. The researchers gave the women a questionnaire and asked them to rate on a three-point scale how stressed they felt each day, and how out of control their lives felt to them. The women who perceived that they were under heavy stress had significantly shortened and damaged telomeres compared with those who felt more relaxed. Conversely, some of the women who felt relaxed despite raising a disabled child had more normal-appearing telomeres.
In other words, if you feel stressed, you are stressed.
I wondered: if chronic stress can decrease telomerase (an enzyme that repairs and lengthens telomeres) and cause telomeres to age more quickly, could healthy lifestyle changes prevent this from occurring? It did. A few months ago, my colleagues and I (including Blackburn) published a study in The Lancet Oncology showing that the telomerase enzyme increased by almost one-third after only three months of making comprehensive lifestyle changes. This was the first study showing that any intervention, even drugs, can increase telomerase and, thus, telomere length. If a new drugs were shown to do this, it would be worth a billion dollars, but you can accomplish this benefit virtually for free, and in only three months, simply by changing your lifestyle.
So, knowing that what was once thought impossible can now be accomplished in only a few months may capture our imaginations and be a powerful motivator to make sustainable lifestyle changes. For many people, these are choices worth making--not just to live longer, but also to feel better.
URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/181812
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The RNC really thinks there back, they had a representative on C-Span this morning proclaiming the same old tired mantra, smaller government, which a Republican has never achieved in my life time, connection with the little folks another Republican fantasy, tax cuts which, under Bush caused the largest shift upward of wealth since the Gilded Age, the silly code, Democrat Party. who is beholden to the far left, which are really centrist like me these days, and on and on. Nothing is going to change when these people view anyone who may a have different point of view on some issues are leftist, it's not playing in the real world and thats why Obama won, period.
I vividly recall the hate and distrust Palin stoked at GOP rallies. At the same time, the GOP was silent. I also recall the fear my co-workers expressed when Obama looked like he would win the election. Thus, I realize that what people say and what they do has nothing to do with their deeply held beliefs. Steele is just the effigy that the party is using to advance their cause of rehabing their image. He too is just a tool. The party members have their beliefs. Like McCain, trying to be something he is not will be the same challenge for Steele.
They may have a new face, but they still have no heart.
That is not their new face, there is about 5 Black men in the Repub party...lo
The face of the GOP are white males.
Why are dems/libs flipping over this? Don't you realize what a "gift" this is? A gift that will keep on giving.
Contrary to popular belief, blacks don't vote based on skin color. We don't. We are also not one issue voters. Steele represents a party whose core message is repulsive and does not reflect "real America". What is real America? Complicated, diverse, we care about each other regardless of cultural background, and we all want America to succeed.
Why not relax as most of us are and watch how this appointment affects the base. You know . . . the same base that touted Obama was a monkey, a terrorist, and Michelle was . . .well you know the deal.
Relax and watch. It really does make for great entertainment. At the end of the day, Repubs will offer what they always have. That is what they don't understand. It isn't the messenger . . . it is the message.
notthistime - you are so right! I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve. I can't wait what tomorrow will bring and I know it will be fun.
"it isn't the messenger. . . it's the message" very succinctly said.
""""Contrary to popular belief, blacks don't vote based on skin color. We don't. We are also not one issue voters. Steele represents a party whose core message is repulsive and does not reflect "real America". What is real America? Complicated, diverse, we care about each other regardless of cultural background, and we all want America to succeed.
Why not relax as most of us are and watch how this appointment affects the base. You know . . . the same base that touted Obama was a monkey, a terrorist, and Michelle was . . .well you know the deal.""
AMEN!
Interesting take.
you're right, but what's funnier is that the republicans STILL think about it as symbolism over substance. For years, I've felt this way about the GOP and they never fail to deliver on that promise.
So, put a black man in the RNC Chair and the blacks will come running to our banner...o
The really sad thing is the Republicans should own the black vote, the Union during the civil war was mostly comprised of Northeast and Midwest Republicans. The worst racists were in the old Dixicrat wing of the Democratic Party, yet thanks to the Southern Strategy the Dixicrats became Republicans. I say, good reddens, this us against everyone else fundamentalism is destroying the GOP and the leadership knows it, if the GOP can't bring the brainwashed extremest base along, it's all over. Politics is not a war and people are sick of it.
And might I add that they did not lose the election because they were the KKK they lost because they were CORPORATE WHORES.
Yea they are so changed that they elected the the king of white guys as their leader in the Senate. I am talking about John Cornyn. He was state attorney general that gave Coleman (texas ranger) " lawman of the year" after his drug bust of 22 blacks and 2 hispanics in Tulia Texas.
Well the republicans threw corporate money, slander, demonizing, fixed elections, voter fraud and now they are going to throw color at it. This is rich since all of their senate and congress members are white (both state and federal) all of their governors are white, all of their judges are white, all of their CEO buddies are white.
The new face of the Republican party - Bush in Black face.
Exactly, and what is so apparent, is Steele doesn't realize it. I am black and I have never voted for someone because of the color.
this is really comical at best, during the primary they threw palin in to counteract Clinton and now this? wow
Why an African American would be attracted to the Republican Party is beyond me.
But then, why anyone would be attracted to the ReThugs is the more general question.
Unbridled self interest?
Congenital elitism?
Stupidity?
I am curious to know what our democratic African-American friends think of his appointment. I would like to hear from you guys on this. Thanks.
99.9% of us are laughing our butts off.
This is ALL good. Now is the time to pull back from the GOP, sit back and break out the popcorn.
Just watch what this does to the remaining 20% of the Republican party and how this goes over with the Palin/GOP base.
This is going to be one hysterical year.
You sound like a strategically minded individual.
I enjoyed your analysis of this.
Very good break down of the potential here.
This is the end for the GOP.
They are now the Party of tax cuts for the rich and lower wages for everyone else.
More like the new mask of the Gang Of Pinheads. Hey, we got an Obama too--except he's a reactionary who stands against anything that might benefit anyone except himself!!!
Their lack of subtlety is a gift to the rest of us. Those who STILL cannot spot it stand out like sore thumbs now.
Like a ride they are too short to be allowed on.
How refreshing. The rest of the Goopers are tripping over themselves trying to throw Bush under the bus... but Steele is embracing the evil and failure that is Bush's legacy.
Stay the Course, Mike! Only 5 red states left, let's see how low you guys can go!
Hahahahaha
The republicans turned into Democrat wanna-bees!!!!
He's as much the new face as Ken Blackwell was. They still have a long way to go. But they are discovering that what really matters to Republican is not the color of your skin but how much money you can make and acquire, through any means. Rich blacks have more in common with rich whites than they do with poor blacks.
???? rich blacks have more in common with rich whites????
I don't get it.
What does money have to do with it? I am more concerned with values. You can find as*holes in every income bracket and you can find good people as well.
Regarding Steele -- his core message is the same as the current administration. That is why it won't work.
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