It’s never too late to start thinking about your health. So says a group of researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina. Adopting healthy lifestyle habits, even in middle age, can decrease one’s risk of developing heart disease and premature death.

A study has shown that by practicing healthy habits – eating five or more fruits and vegetables every day, exercising for at least 2 1/2 hours a week, keeping weight down and not smoking – the risk of developing heart disease decreased by 35% and premature death by 40%. Researchers began tracking 16,ooo Americans between the ages of 45 and 64 in the late 1980s, and they found that people who did not practice healthy habits in the beginning of the study, but picked them up four years later, caught up to the people who were practicing healthy habits from the start.

No surprise here but according to the article “men, blacks, people with less education and lower incomes, and people with high blood pressure or diabetes were less likely to follow the health guidelines from the beginning or adopt them later in life.” I find the same thing in my practice. I just don’t understand why men wait so long to take care of themselves. Oh well, you can only lead them to water.

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