LINKED TO PREMATURE DEATH
CHICAGO (AP) - Four common bad habits combined - smoking, drinking too much, inactivity and poor diet - can age you by 12 years, sobering new research suggests. The findings are from a study that tracked nearly 5,000 British adults for 20 years, and they highlight yet another reason to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Overall, 314 people studied had all four unhealthy behaviors. The risky behaviors were: smoking tobacco; downing more than three alcoholic drinks per day for men and more than two daily for women; getting less than two hours of physical activity per week; and eating fruits and vegetables fewer than three times daily. “These habits combined substantially increased the risk of death and made people who engaged in them seem 12 years older than people in the healthiest group,” said lead researcher Elisabeth Kvaavik of the University of Oslo. The study appears in Archives of Internal Medicine.
The healthiest group included never-smokers and those who had quit; teetotalers, women who had fewer than two drinks daily and men who had fewer than three; those who got at least two hours of physical activity weekly; and those who ate fruits and vegetables at least three times daily. The U.S. government generally recommends at least 4 cups of fruits or vegetables daily for adults, depending on age and activity level; and about 2½ hours of exercise weekly. June Stevens, a University of North Carolina public health researcher, said the results are in line with previous studies that examined the combined effects of health-related habits on longevity. “The findings don't mean that everyone who maintains a healthy lifestyle will live longer than those who don't, but it will increase the odds,” Stevens said.
Avoid bad habits means that we must control the senses in order to avoid the laborious task of satisfying them only for our personal enjoyment. All bad habits end up damaging our body and hindering our spiritual progress.
The body is made of the material elements which constantly change. And this is what we have to undergo as long as we acquire a material body in which we exist. The deterioration process of the body is often assisted by the way we treat it. If we don't eat properly, don't take care of it, or if we smoke and drink alcoholic beverages in excess, then naturally the body will not be able to maintain itself as easily and will rapidly deteriorate and give us more problems with which we will have to contend. Sometimes we cause the very problems about which we complain. ... Therefore, those who remain attached to sensual pleasures and temporary material accomplishments will never be able to see with spiritual vision or attain freedom from fear and anxiety.Stephen Knapp (Nandanandana dasa)
“Why is There Suffering?”
“http://www.stephen-knapp.com
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/why_is_there_suffering.htm
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