The 30-year rise in life expectancy in the last 120 years is one of humanity’s major
evolutionary achievements. According to WHO, the estimates confirm the trend for
longevity: lifespans are getting longer.
Globally, life expectancy has increased by more than 6 years between 2000 and 2019. In Ireland alone, the life expectancy increased by 12.2 years in the last 80 years, showing a 80.2 years life expectancy as an average for both sexes.
But unfortunately, the figures for Healthy Life Years (HLY) in Ireland are indicating that this is
exactly what we should worry about. With an average for both sexes of 67.2 years for a
healthy life span, we are facing more than a decade of living longer but not healthy.
If we are looking at these statistics, we briefly can think of the pressure on the economy of
the country and more pressure on the already dysfunctional public medical system. Beyond
that, if we bring our attention on our immediate reality and our family dynamics and
personal budget things can become very concerning.
The question is: is there anything that we can do to change that, or it is all down to genes
and hereditary conditions and social environment?
We absolutely can do something about this with a potential success rate of 98%. And this
can be done by every single one of the individuals in this country or worldwide. CHANGING
OUR LIFESTYLE HABITS. This is what implementing a HEALTHY LIFESTYLE STRATEGY is all
about.
Where to start? Or when is the right time to start? What areas do you need to pay attention
to? Is there a “too late time”, when those strategies are not effective anymore?
Let’s look at the areas in our lives that we need to pay attention to: food, movement, sleep
and stress management are the main ones.
As much as those areas are constantly subjects of different national health policies, it takes
a very personal decision to start implementing the information. Information alone is not
producing that much needed change that will move the needle towards a healthier life span.
We really need to take action if we want to see sustainable results.
There are three primary categories of lifestyle changes.
– Psychological changes: This includes changes to your attitude, your mood and
the way you deal with stress factors. To make healthy psychological changes,
you may find it useful to work with a health coach and keep a journal.
– Behavioural changes: While all lifestyle changes are technically behaviours, this
category refers to things like your sleeping habits, activity level and planning
efforts.
– Dietary changes: Making healthy changes to your diet can help you managing
your weight, balance hormone levels and metabolic health and manage pain.
These changes will include following an eating window, drinking more water
and following a nutritious diet.
The next step is to look into toxic habits that can directly affect your health: smoking,
alcohol consumption or drugs. By eliminating those triggers, you are going to increase your
Healthy Life Years.
One solid piece of advice is: the best time to start is NOW!
And some extremely good news: you don’t have to implement any of those changes on your
own as it can be overwhelming. There are trained and qualified health coaches around there
and they have the knowledge and the skills to support you through those changes.
And a qualified and trained health coach will work in conjunction with your medical care
provider to make sure that you get exactly the support you need. If you wish to get support
don’t hesitate to reach out and get informed about what type of support, I can avail for you
as a Qualified and Trained Integrative Nutrition Health Coach on info@authentichealth.ie or
0851968088.
