Keeping Fit: 5 things healthy people have more of

Published 8:00 pm Sunday, September 10, 2023

Are you privileged to be healthy? Of course, there is an element of good fortune or perhaps “luck” in that, but it may have been Thomas Jefferson who said, “The harder I work, the luckier I get.”

So while good health may have been the birthright of most of us, if we have remained healthy the reality is that it has had a great deal more to do with our choices than good luck. Our genes may “load the gun,” but it is our choices that pull the trigger. In fact, the foods we put in our mouth, the exercise we get and the thoughts we think influence, and even alter, the way our genes express themselves.

Naturally then, preventative health specialists like Dr. David Katz of Yale University’s Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center have studied diligently for decades to determine what distinguishes truly healthy people from everyone else. Here is what he has found “healthy” people have more of than everyone else.

Years of life

The healthiest people live longer. I don’t think it is true that the good die young, but the unhealthy definitely tend to do so. Preventative health specialists have known for years that poor health is associated with a much greater risk of premature death.

As for those who live the longest, National Geographic fellow Dan Buettner discovered the five places in the world where people live the longest and are the healthiest. They are called “Blue Zones,” and a quick Google search will reveal the habits most associated with their long lives.

Life in years

For most people, the quality of their years is more important than just the quantity. This is something researchers have dubbed the “healthspan” of individuals as opposed to just the “lifespan.” Unfortunately, even though Americans may be living longer, they are more unhealthy years lived with chronic disease(s) like heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, dementia and so on. These can steal joy, pleasure and opportunities that healthy people get to keep more of.

Willpower

There is an old expression, “If you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything.” Most of us have heard the expression, but far too few of us in our culture act accordingly. We are prone to invest in wealth, and teach our children to do the same — while many of us neglect our health.

But healthy people don’t do this. They care. The older we get, the less likely it is for good health to come by accident. It comes because health has been made a priority. In other words, to be healthy you have to set your will to be healthy.

Skill power

If achieving health begins with the will, or desire, to be healthy, it only begins there. It takes skill to pave the way. For example, a willpower-based approach to losing weight might mean watching your portions, going hungry and trying to tough it out, but a truly healthy person will use a skill power-based approach by controlling the quantity of calories consumed by upgrading the quality of foods chosen, so they can eat the same (or an even greater) quantity of food while still losing weight. If necessary, skill will also enable you to rehabilitate your taste buds, so you learn to prefer, and love, the foods that love you back, like fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, seeds and nuts.

Also, skill power means knowing how to fit exercise into your daily routine in whatever ways work best. The more knowledge and skill you have, the more you can make any circumstances work for you. More skill power means less need to lean so heavily on will.

Fun

Finally, there is the real prize, why health truly matters. It is not just health for its own sake, it is to live a better life. The simple reality is that health helps you get there. All other things being equal, healthy people have more fun.

Here at the Bradley Wellness Center (BWC) we want everyone to be able to gain the knowledge we’ve collected over the years. The truth is it has been known for decades how to fully eliminate 80% of all chronic disease, but it is not just what is known in medical journals, but how much of it you access and learn how to put to use that will give you vibrant good health. That is where skill power comes in.

I encourage you to access the professionals at the BWC — take advantage of their free assessments, visit with the dietitian and more. Learn about the Blue Zones and live the healthy habits they do. With the right skill power, you can begin to disease-proof yourself and those you love today.

Thomas Morrison is a fitness coordinator at the Bradley Wellness Center.