Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle
11:00 A.M.: Call or e-mail a friend to get together
Friendship is one of the best antidotes for aging. Among women and men in their mid 30s to early 40s, those who report they have solid social support -- a set of ties that make them feel good about themselves, a sense that there are people who like and care about them -- collect a big biological payoff. "They look healthier in terms of every physiologic system that we look at," says Teresa Seeman, PhD, professor of medicine and epidemiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine, at UCLA. "Their cholesterol is better. Their glucose metabolism is better. Their inflammation is lower. Their blood pressure is lower. All the main biological systems that regulate our bodies and our body cells look healthier." These biomarkers are a window on the future: Decades before a disease would be diagnosed, they help predict the risk of developing atherosclerosis, dementia, and other problems.
The lesson? Don't neglect friendships or make them the last items on your to-do list. "Be proactive. Don't take time just when it's available," Seeman advises. Even virtual connection through e-mail likely has health benefits: "Communication of any sort," she says, "is most likely beneficial."
11:15 A.M.: As long as you're on the phone, schedule your annual physical and mammogram
12:30 P.M.: Take calcium and vitamin D supplements after lunch
Our bodies absorb calcium, which enables our bones to withstand osteoporosis, better from real food (dairy products, kale, collards, bok choy, and mustard greens) or from calcium-fortified foods than they do from supplements. That's why you should get the bulk of your calcium from what's on your plate. Because most women don't receive the recommended daily requirement in their diet, for years physicians have advised those who couldn't reach the target level to take a calcium supplement of 1,000 milligrams a day if they were premenopausal and 1,200 milligrams a day if they were postmenopausal. But a recent study suggesting that calcium supplements increase the risk of heart disease in healthy postmenopausal women has some people reevaluating that advice.
Manson believes calcium is getting a bad rap; she's sticking with the traditional advice. She's also a firm believer in women getting enough vitamin D. Aside from helping calcium do its thing, vitamin D may have benefits in preventing cancers from developing, studies suggest. Vitamin D also plays a role in controlling infections and may reduce the risk of fractures and even heart disease. The best way to get it is to spend time outdoors every day (about 10 minutes without sunscreen should be enough) because sunlight spurs the production of vitamin D in our skin. Most women don't get enough time outdoors, so Manson strongly advises taking at least 800 IU of vitamin D daily, twice the amount the government recommends.
2:00 P.M.: Feeling stressed at work? It may be time to change jobs
A 2008 study in Britain found that among people under 50 who said their work was stressful, nearly 70 percent were more likely to develop heart disease than those who said their work was stress-free. The irritated employees churned out higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol and experienced changes in heart function, such as angina and nonfatal heart attacks.
4:00 P.M.: Think big
You're not the only one who wants to feel great in 10 years. So do your friends and neighbors, as well as perfect strangers. Join them to advocate for changes in the environment -- at work, in your neighborhood, in stores -- that will make a healthy lifestyle more easily attainable.
"The things we must do to cultivate our own health run the obstacle course of the modern world," Katz says. "No one of us can change the world by ourselves. But in unity there is strength." Do you have healthy foods in your local supermarket? Safe walkways and running paths in your neighborhood? Good (and green) public transportation? Sensible job schedules? "Ask yourself: What makes it tough to be healthy?" Katz adds. "Every one of those things is an invitation for a personal strategy or a policy. If it's a policy, get together with friends and start advocating for change."
