[terran57]

Exactly, people aren't taking care of themselves so that they don't get the chronic diseases that reduce their lifespans. The majority don't realize that what they do in their middle-age years has a profound impact on their life expectancy.

[artificial]

Pay a little for your health now or pay a lot later.

[Wowfunhappy]

I'm 29 and healthy to my knowledge. I see a doctor every year. Is there anything in particular I should be doing?

[diydsp]

You're fine until 40. Then you have to earn your existence. You'll slowly begin lifting, stretching, vegetarian eating, cutting out other foods like sugar and saturated fat, getting the proper supplements such as D, B12. Also bringing in lots of fiber, mixing sitting and standing, various forms of stress relief like breathing, meditation, etc.

Smart things to get started on now include: skin care, at least SPF and moisturizing, posture - watch out for gluteal amnesia and "cell phone neck," hand/wrist/finger stretching and strain care, eating low-sugar, learning to cook, finding sports/physical activity you can enjoy long-term, taking care of your eyes, follow the 20/20/20 rule, scalp massage to reduce baldness if applicable. Also paperwork: start an organized system that's mirrored and on offline, and get a basic will set up.

[justinator]

>You're fine until 40. Then you have to earn your existence

Save up with better health and fitness before your 40 and being 40 won't exactly feel like the end of the world. Before 40 is when you should be doing all the things you note.

[voisin]

> scalp massage to reduce baldness if applicable

Is this a thing?

[mfer]

Most doctors (in the US anyway) don't cover things until there is a problem. For example, someone can eat a diet that will lead to heart disease. But, doctors won't tell them to make changes until problems are already showing up.

This has to do with the way billing works for healthcare in the US. It's billed as sick care.

And, most doctors have almost no training on things like nutrition. So the impact of that isn't something they can help with.

If I were to suggest self study I would look at a couple things:

1. The Blue Zones. These are areas that researchers have identified where people live longer and thrive for longer. Something like 10x the number of people live past 100. Much lower rates of disease. Looking at how they live. There's a good book on it at https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Zones-Second-Lessons-Longest/dp/....

2. A good book by a dietitian. I like "The Proof Is In The Plants". Despite the author being vegan and the book talking about plants, the book covers meat and dairy along with amounts that are healthy. All of the recommendations include explainations of how this is known. https://www.amazon.com/Proof-Plants-science-plant-based-plan...

[syntheweave]

Most of the good advice I would summarize as "do what athletes do to achieve higher performance, minus the stuff with known downsides." So, periodized training, quality sleep, managing gut health with a mix of probiotics and fasts, occasional tests to homeostasis to help your body recalibrate. But not the extreme diets, performance-enhancing pharma, heroic training sessions.

The way in which I've noticed most people get themselves in trouble when they didn't start from a position of impoverishment is simply because their response to problems is to, instead of noticing and addressing them, to normalize them and spend their energy making arguments to change nothing. Which is basically baby behavior: "no sleep, no food, no potty, wait why am I crying". Everyone does end up being in "poor health" someday, but it's often a case of how long you want to continue to struggle and preserve what you have, and some people seem to give up when they're, like, 17 years old.

[yoyohello13]

Exercise regularly, ideally a mix of weights and cardio. Eat fruits and vegetables. Don't get too fat. That's pretty much it.

[lotsofpulp]

Sleeping well. Getting enough sunlight (even if it is cloudy) for sufficient vitamin D, but also not too much UV radiation that it causes skin cancer.

At least that is what you might be able to control.

[justinator]

I would add, "don't drink alcohol", "don't smoke/vape anything", but that's just me.

[ryandvm]

Smoking sure, but mild alcohol use is pretty prevalent in all the blue zones.

[justinator]

I think the problem is that it has to be mild, and being an addictive substance, isn't always that easy. Have you not had a friend that had ONE drink, then became a completely different person from that point forward?

Multiply that with the fact that alcoholism not only affects the person drinking, but inherited trauma is a really terrible thing. My life expectancy and quality of life have both been severely impacted due to the drinking habits of someone who hasn't even been alive for 20 years. Maybe mild drinking will only impact your person with say: a shittier night sleeping, but a good night's sleep is one of the best things you can do for your health - and isn't even noticable perhaps until you get a few weeks in a row of it, believe me.

It's a fine line for advice, as I don't feel I'm a teetotaler, but being a culture where drinking is seen as "perfectly fine, if under control" is also not exactly the right message. My country (USA) can attribute more than a half a million deaths every year to alcohol abuse. That's not a stat one should ignore.

I actually haven't had a drink all year (and little last year). I've cut out sugary soda as well - which could be even more impactful to my overall health.

As a 40+ year old (that's scary to type), just some observations, given perspective.

[98codes]

45 checking in -- essentially, preventative maintenance. Increasingly, a focus on joints and the muscle groups that support them, particularly towards range of movement/flexibility. Annual physicals to catch problems early, ask your parents about family health history if you haven't yet, and don't ignore the small things that linger.

The better health habits you can lock in now, the better -- it's only going to get harder from here on out to lay that foundation.

[more_corn]

Stop drinking. Build strong exercise habits.