Vol. 23: What are the 'lifestyle habits' that affect healthy life expectancy?

Lifestyle habits that shorten healthy life expectancy. To be honest as a professional, the answer is surprisingly mundane.

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's '2022 White Paper on Health and Welfare' lists the risk factors contributing to deaths among Japanese people in order of their contribution. 1st: Smoking. 2nd: High blood pressure (mainly caused by salt intake, obesity, and lack of exercise). 3rd: High blood sugar (diet, exercise, and constitution). 4th: Alcohol consumption. 5th: Lack of exercise. 6th: Low intake of fruits and vegetables.

...It's surprisingly mundane, isn't it?

In fact, simply quitting (1) smoking and (2) drinking, (3) reducing salt intake, (4) walking more, and (5) getting regular cancer screenings can prevent many diseases.
Conversely, while there might be some added benefits to doing more than that, there might not be. The impact of these five actions is that significant.

Compared to information claiming that 'a certain ingredient discovered in the latest research is effective for healthy longevity!', this is completely unappealing. But this is the reality.

To avoid any misunderstanding, I do not want to completely deny supplements or the latest health methods. There may be some that are proven useful in the future.

However, what is important is that you should practice these 'mundane royal roads' first, and then consider adding more if you have the capacity.

Taking expensive supplements while smoking is like continuing to pour high-quality water into a bucket with holes in it; no matter how much you pour, the bucket will never be filled.
First, plug the holes. That is the first step.

Improving lifestyle habits is not a binary choice of 'doing it or not doing it.' Even a 10% improvement is meaningful. Even if you cannot exercise every day, walking twice a week is definitely better than doing nothing. Perfectionism is the greatest enemy of consistency. Try to let go of the assumption that 'if you can't do it all, there's no point.'

Source:
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, '2022 White Paper on Health and Welfare, Chart 8-4-2: Number of deaths by risk factor (2019)' https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/wp/hakusyo/kousei/21/backdata/02-08-04-02.html

*The content of this note article is the author's personal view. It has no relation to the views of the medical institution the author is affiliated with. While I have paid close attention to the accuracy of the content, I would appreciate it if you could point out any inappropriate content should it exist.

#BasicsOfPreventiveMedicine #HealthyLifeExpectancy #RiskFactors #LifestyleHabits