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Simple Habits For A Healthier Lifestyle Starting Today

Published on 03/01/2023
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You don’t have to make drastic changes to be healthier. Here are some simple habits worth making a daily routine.

Simple Habits For A Healthier Lifestyle Starting Today

Maintain Friendships

Why It’s Worth It: Research has shown that strong social bonds through friendship, family and community contribute significantly to our physical and mental well-being – while loneliness and social isolation are known risk factors for health problems. Studies have found that feeling lonely can increase your risk of stroke, heart disease, depression and dementia.

Pay Attention To Your Sleep Quality

Why It’s Worth It: The importance of our sleep can’t be underestimated. Between 6 and 9 hours of sleep per night is recommended. This allows our body and brain to regenerate and recover. Not only does restful sleep boost the immune system, but it also helps maintain a healthy weight, increases fertility, and promotes mental well-being. Poor sleep on a regular basis, on the other hand, increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer, obesity and depression.

Bring Movement Into Your Everyday Life

Why it’s worth it: There’s strong evidence that at least 2.5 hours of moderate exercise a week can help reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke. Physical activity has countless positive effects on our health – from maintaining a healthy body weight to better mental health to longer life expectancy. The challenge is to incorporate regular exercise into our daily routine. Start with 30 minutes: Just half an hour of moderate exercise a day can have a positive effect on your health. You should also avoid sitting too much. So try walking more, standing up for work, or just dancing to your favorite music.

Eat More Colorful Things

Why it’s worth it: In general, the more colorful the selection of food, the more nutritious the diet. So-called phytonutrients, which have an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effect, ensure the variety of colors. It has long been known that the colorful Mediterranean cuisine, which is characterized by a high proportion of fruit and vegetables, nuts, whole grain products, fish and healthy fats (olive oil), is healthy. A study now proves that the “Mediterranean diet” ensures a longer life expectancy for over 65-year-olds. In countries with a Mediterranean diet, there are fewer cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure and obesity.

Stay Curious

Why It’s Worth It: This habit isn’t easy to form, but it’s important. It’s about doing more of the things that make you feel valuable, that you belong, that you’re part of something. This not only makes you happier and more joie de vivre, but can also help reduce your risk of health problems such as stroke and depression. Make a list of all the activities that make you feel good or that you enjoy spending your time on. Mark the things that you want to prioritize more in your life.

high calcium foods to nourish bones and promote good health:

Calcium is an essential mineral that plays a vital role in maintaining strong bones and teeth, muscle function, nerve transmission, and other important bodily functions. However, many people do not consume enough calcium in their diet, which can lead to a variety of health problems, including osteoporosis, a condition that weakens bones and increases the risk of fractures. Fortunately, there are many high calcium foods that can help you meet your daily calcium needs and support healthy bones and overall health.

Dairy products are the most well-known source of calcium. Milk, cheese, and yogurt are all excellent sources of calcium and other important nutrients like vitamin D, which helps the body absorb and use calcium. However, some people may be lactose intolerant or have a milk allergy, which can make it difficult to consume dairy products. If you are unable to consume dairy, there are other high calcium foods you can incorporate into your diet.

Leafy greens like spinach, kale, and collard greens are another excellent source of calcium. These greens are also high in other important nutrients like vitamin K, which plays a role in bone health by helping the body use calcium. In addition to calcium and vitamin K, leafy greens are also rich in antioxidants, fiber, and other vitamins and minerals that are essential for good health.

Nuts and seeds are another great source of calcium. Almonds are one of the best sources of calcium among nuts, with one ounce providing about 8% of the daily recommended intake. Sesame seeds and chia seeds are also high in calcium and can be easily incorporated into your diet. Additionally, nuts and seeds are a great source of healthy fats, fiber, and protein, making them a great snack option.

Tofu is a plant-based protein source that is also high in calcium. Made from soybeans, tofu is a popular ingredient in many vegetarian and vegan dishes. Half a cup of tofu provides about 20% of the daily recommended intake of calcium. Additionally, tofu is a good source of protein and other important nutrients like iron and magnesium.

Finally, there are many fortified foods that can help you meet your daily calcium needs. Fortified foods are foods that have had extra nutrients added to them, such as calcium, to make them more nutritious. Breakfast cereals, plant-based milks like almond milk and soy milk, and orange juice are all common sources of calcium-fortified foods. However, it's important to read the labels carefully, as not all fortified foods are created equal. Some fortified foods may be high in added sugars or other unhealthy ingredients, so it's important to choose wisely.

In conclusion, incorporating high calcium foods into your diet can help you meet your daily calcium needs and support healthy bones and overall health. Dairy products, leafy greens, nuts and seeds, tofu, and fortified foods are all excellent sources of calcium that can be easily incorporated into your meals and snacks. By eating a varied and balanced diet that includes plenty of high calcium foods, you can support strong bones, healthy muscles, and overall wellbeing.

Personality, satisfaction linked throughout adult lifespan

  • Personality

Certain traits related to satisfaction in life regardless of age, study says

Read the journal article

  • The Link Between Personality, Global, and Domain-Specific Satisfaction Across the Adult Lifespan (PDF, 537KB)

WASHINGTON — Certain personality traits are associated with satisfaction in life, and despite the changes people may experience in social roles and responsibilities over the course of their adult lives, that association is stable regardless of age, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

“Many studies have shown that people with certain personality profiles are more satisfied with their life than others. Yet, it had not been extensively studied whether this holds true across the lifespan. For example, extraverted—that is sociable, talkative—people might be particularly happy in young adulthood, when they typically are forming new social relationships,” said study co-author Gabriel Olaru, PhD, an assistant professor at Tilburg University. “We thus wanted to examine if some personality traits are more or less relevant to life, social and work satisfaction in specific life phases.”

The research was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

To determine how the relationship between personality traits and life satisfaction changes over time, researchers analyzed data collected from 2008 to 2019 by the Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences (LISS) panel survey, a nationally representative survey of households in the Netherlands. Over 11 years, 9,110 Dutch participants ranging from 16 to 95 years old at the time of the first survey answered multiple questionnaires to assess their Big Five personality traits—openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and emotional stability/neuroticism—and their satisfaction with their social connections and their life overall. Only the 5,928 participants who were employed at the time of the survey also answered questions about their satisfaction with their work lives.

The researchers found that most of the relationships between personality traits and satisfaction remained the same across the adult lifespan, and that emotional stability was the trait most strongly associated with people’s satisfaction with their life, social connections and career.

“Our findings show that – despite differences in life challenges and social roles – personality traits are relevant for our satisfaction with life, work and social contacts across young, middle and older adulthood,” said Manon van Scheppingen, PhD, an assistant professor at Tilburg University and another co-author on the study. “The personality traits remained equally relevant across the adult lifespan, or became even more interconnected in some cases for work satisfaction.”

The researchers also found that different personality traits were related to people’s satisfaction with their social lives and careers—most notably conscientiousness for work satisfaction, and extraversion and agreeableness for social satisfaction. People who saw increases in these traits across time also reported increases in their life, social and work satisfaction.

People’s satisfaction with their work was the most affected by differences in age. As participants in the study aged, the relationship between career satisfaction and emotional stability grew moderately stronger.

Despite a weaker correlation between openness and life satisfaction overall, the researchers found that people who increased in openness also increased in life satisfaction across the 11 years measured by the LISS survey. This relationship may be explained by indirect processes, according to the researchers.

“Emotional stability likely shows a strong link with global and domain-specific satisfaction because this trait colors people’s general view of the world,” Olaru said.

“A good example of how personality interacts with the environment can be found in the work context. One of our findings was that the link between emotional stability and work satisfaction increases across age. This might be explained by the fact that emotionally stable people are less scared to quit unsatisfactory jobs and more likely to apply for jobs that are more challenging and perhaps more fulfilling and enjoyable in the long run,” van Scheppingen added.

Future studies should examine how variables that change with age, such as income, employment status, marital status and health, affect the relationship between personality traits and overall satisfaction with life, according to the researchers.

“While we did not examine what caused these changes, [the research] shows that our personalities and our happiness are not set in stone,” van Scheppingen said. “Perhaps we may even be able to influence how we change: If we try to become more organized, outgoing, friendly, this might increase life, social or work satisfaction as well.”

Article: “The Link Between Personality, Global, and Domain-Specific Satisfaction Across the Adult Lifespan,” by Gabriel Olaru, PhD, and Manon van Scheppingen, PhD, Tilburg University, Wiebke Bleidorn, PhD, University of Zurich, and Jaap Denissen, PhD, Utrecht University. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, published online March 20, 2023.