Preventing Cardiovascular Diseases and Mental Health
While working on a communications plan on obesity prevention, I found myself thinking about serial killers, not the Netflix ones, but the disease variety.
I come from a family that has struggled with obesity, heart failure and diabetes for generations. While I’ve been lucky enough not to suffer from those diseases, I’ve struggled with being overweight since I was a little kid. On the one hand, I can see I’m probably genetically predisposed to obesity, but I also know my weight problems started at age 8, when my parents divorced, and I developed a very unhealthy relationship with chocolate & strawberry cookies.
Globally, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) account for 74% of all deaths worldwide, with cardiovascular diseases causing roughly 20 million deaths per year. With numbers this high, I believe the nature-versus-nurture question is worth exploring.
I’m lucky to have health at the core of my life. My office job keeps me grounded in science, and my role as a Health Coach lets me talk with people about deeper issues, dig into their belief systems and habits, and eventually help them with behaviour modification. I am the type of coach who will tell you to smile while you hold a plank, so your brain thinks it brings you pleasure.
According to WHO´s Social Determinants of Mental Health, mental health, stress exposure, and behavioural patterns are well-documented contributors to cardiometabolic disease risk. I also know that through physical activity, sleep, nutrition, and, overall, prioritising yourself, you can reduce your risk of developing an NCD.
Funny enough, most people know they will lose weight by eating fewer calories than they consume, yet they cannot do so on their own. Or they know that most living things on the planet need rest as part of life, yet they struggle to get at least 7 hours of sleep.
In my opinion, it is not due to a genetic predisposition to overeating or to a lack of motivation. Most of the time, it is about your relationship with yourself because most of us were never taught how to be caring adults to ourselves. We were told that we had to take care of others, make sacrifices, and work hard.
But what if you could keep these serial killers out of your home by finding healthy foods you love? Not just healthy food… healthy food you love. Food that your brain can link to happiness. What if you try a different physical activity every month until you find the one thing that makes you feel awesome and proud of yourself? One activity a day to keep the serial killer away.
Exercise, nutrition, rest… they were never meant to be about punishment or looks. They are about health: physical health and mental health. They are about reconnecting with yourself and feeling good, not only today but also as you age.
Genetics can´t be modified, but the way we use our bodies can be
Last week, I was trying to convince the elderly ladies at the gym not to be scared of weightlifting, so I mentioned studies showing that lifting heavy objects significantly improves bone density, which is even more important if a woman has been pregnant. One recent systematic review and meta-analysis shows that exercise significantly improves bone mineral density, even in people with osteoporosis or at risk of it. This means that if you want to avoid breaking your hip when you fall (and we all will as we get older), stay mobile and improve your quality of life as you age, exercise will help you all the way down to your bones.
Similarly, if you want to live longer, improve your diet. Many studies show that better dietary patterns correlate with significant gains in life expectancy, even when changes are made later in life. PLOS Medicine modelling study shows that sustained dietary changes can add years (sometimes even up to a decade) to your life, depending on when you start.
We have the scientific data to justify investing in ourselves. Our bodies allow us to think, feel, dance, swim, carry heavy things, give hugs, and climb stairs, ideally without being breathless. This is what will allow you to go to the Great Wall of China when you are eighty and actually walk a part of it, not just take a picture and go back to Starbucks.
Health also helps your confidence. You feel better with yourself. You reconnect with your body. We are not supposed to live in our brains all the time.
So, next time you watch a serial killer show on TV, or hear about an NCD, think about what you can do to keep it away from your own house.
Because, literally, your life depends on it.
Resources:
Amabile, T. M., & Kramer, S. J. (2011). The Power of Small Wins. Harvard Business Review.
https://hbr.org/2011/05/the-power-of-small-winsBJ Fogg (2020). Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
https://www.tinyhabits.com/book/Charles Duhigg (2012). The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. Random House.
https://charlesduhigg.com/the-power-of-habit/National Institute on Aging. Adopting Healthy Habits: What Do We Know About the Science of Behavior Change?
https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/adopting-healthy-habits-what-do-we-know-about-science-behavior-changeNational Institutes of Health. Changing Your Habits for Better Health.
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/weight-management/changing-habitsCenters for Disease Control and Prevention. How to Make a Healthy Change.
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/losing_weight/getting_started.htmlProchaska, J. O., & Velicer, W. F. (1997). The Transtheoretical Model of Health Behavior Change. American Journal of Health Promotion, 12(1), 38-48.
https://doi.org/10.4278/0890-1171-12.1.38Schultz, W. (2015). Neuronal Reward and Decision Signals: From Theories to Data. Physiological Reviews, 95(3), 853–951.
https://doi.org/10.1152/physrev.00023.2014Wood, W., & Rünger, D. (2016). Psychology of Habit. Annual Review of Psychology, 67, 289-314.
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122414-033417
Stay in the loop.
Thoughts on health, habits, movement, food and rest - delivered occasionally, without the noise.
Continue reading
More thoughts on health, habits and behaviour.
Connect
Contact
Whatsapp: 41 79 798 3392
Email: michelle@michellecartin.com