Sleep expert explains how to achieve a healthy lifestyle
Your lifestyle choices are a double-edged sword. They can either pave the way to a long, healthy life or lay the harmful groundwork to serious health problems, ranging from cancer to heart disease.
Dr Deborah Lee, from Dr Fox Online Pharmacy, told Express.co.uk: “When we go to the doctor’s feeling ill, so often the solution is not a prescription – we need to look at the grassroots of the problem and take it upon ourselves to make some serious lifestyle changes.”
Therefore, the doctor recommended stripping your health problems until you can see the core lifestyle changes underlying them.
While it’s “important” to look at all aspects of the way you live, the doctor recommended making the following “top” three lifestyle tweaks.
1. Quitting smoking
A staggering eight million people die across the world every year from smoking, including 1.3 million who die from passively inhaling other people’s tobacco smoke, according to the World Health Organization.
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The doctor explained that tobacco smoke contains over 7,000 noxious chemicals, with at least 70 being known carcinogens.
“These carcinogens damage DNA creating DNA mutations which is the first step in the cancer process,” she said.
Apart from causing different types of cancer, smoking can also clog your arteries with fatty plaques, hiking your risk of high blood pressure, angina, heart attacks and strokes.
What’s worse, the list of health problems linked to the tobacco habit only goes on. But Dr Lee shared it’s “never too late” to stop and you could get free support from the NHS.
2.Losing weight
According to the doctor, moderate obesity (body mass index 30-35), which is “common these days”, shortens life expectancy by around three years, while severe obesity (body mass index of over 40) shortens life expectancy by a whopping 10 years.
Dr Lee said: “Obesity kills mostly by increasing the risk of a heart attack or stroke, but it also increases the risk of cancer.”
In fact, obesity has been linked to a higher risk of 13 different types cancers, ranging from bowel cancer to pancreatic cancer.
Similarly to smoking, the list doesn’t end there. Being overweight could also increase your likelihood of developing other health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, osteoarthritis and more.
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The doctor said: “If you’ve never taken your weight seriously now is the time to do so. There are many ways to lose weight.
“The simple truth is that you need to eat less and exercise more. However, this is not as easy as it sounds, and many people need help.”
Therefore, Dr Lee recommended joining a slimming group or talking to your doctor about weight-loss options.
3. Stopping or reducing your alcohol intake
“It’s all very well to have a few drinks from time to time, but if you have fallen into the habit of drinking most days, or throwing caution to the wind at the weekend and drinking till you drop – it’s time to stop,” the doctor said.
Drinking more than 12.5 units of alcohol per week has been shown to shorten life expectancy. The popular drink also kills nerve cells in your brain, deals damage to your liver and even increases your blood pressure reading.
“This means that drinking regularly and excessively increases your risk of a heart attack or a stroke,” the doctor said.
Worryingly, alcohol is also considered the second largest risk factor for cancer after smoking. It could hike your risk of seven types of cancer, varying from breast to bowel cancer.
Dr Lee added: “If you are drinking too much and too often, it’s time to think about how to reduce this or stop completely. See your GP. They can signpost you to specialist services.”
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