For good health and wellness we need to take a multifaceted approach and nowhere illustrates this better than the Blue Zones. If you have not heard about these areas, do read up more about them as it is fascinating stuff. They are areas around the world where there is the highest amount of centenarians, studies into the groups found certain key elements that contributed greatly to their health and well-being and much of this is incorporated into the 6 pillars which are fundamental to lifestyle medicine.
1. Plant Based Nutrition - now I am not trying to turn you all vegan but adding some extra fruit and veg to your plate is hugely beneficial for you. - not so fun fact processed meat has been labelled as a major contributor to colorectal cancer by the WHO classifying it as a class 1 carcinogen. Eating the rainbow and incorporating more Greens, Beans, Onions, Mushrooms, Berries and Seeds or GBOMBS is the way to go for optimal nutrition.
2. Exercise - Moving daily has a profound effect on all our body systems and it is beneficial in primary and secondary prevention of chronic diseases. It also helps promote restorative sleep and reduce stress. Incorporating it into your daily routine does not need to be hard but make it a habit - a 10 minute yoga session of Sun Salutations that you can practice daily is going to be much better than a 1 hour session once a week that you don’t enjoy. Along with that, up your steps and aim for 10000 as your daily goal.
3. Sleep - healthy sleep is fundamental to our physical and emotional well-being - it is easy when on shifts to just think that is that but with good sleep hygiene and a bedtime routine you can improve the quality and quantity of sleep no matter what shifts you work. Poor sleep is a major factor in chronic disease and here is the scary part: it is a risk factor for the development of Alzheimers 20 years in the future!
4. Stress - research has firmly established the relationship between stress and disease with demonstrable effects on the cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal and neurohormonal systems as well as a dampened immune response. Finding ways to reduce your stress is absolutely crucial and the other pillars will massively play their part in helping you. That is the great thing about this approach: the synergy of the pillars interacting to optimise your health.
5. Risky substances - Smoking - a significant cause of morbidity and mortality which probably is not a surprise to anyone. Alcohol seen as more socially acceptable now than smokingl is shown in emerging evidence as having a significant effect on the burden of disease globally with more than 60 acute and chronic diseases being attributable to alcohol. Getting help to quit the first and cut down the second will be massively helpful for you and also help your wallet too!
6. Social Connections - positive relationships and a strong support system are vital for both physical and emotional health - some of the most fascinating research on this comes from the Blue Zones. Lockdown certainly showed us how a lack of social connections can massively affect our well-being. Don’t just rely on connections made online - physical presence does make a massive difference. Although during lockdown I made some very good friends who have gone on to be my closest friends and who I have now met in person so you just never know where those Facebook chats will lead.
Incorporating these 6 pillars into daily life does not need to be hard to do but will make a massive difference for your health and well-being and if you are not sure where to start - start at number 1 and just aim for a small change today and try for something small in pillar 2 tomorrow and so on.
If you would like to know more about how I can help you incorporate all these pillars into your life
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