Nine Easy Ways to Gain Control of Your Health in Your Forties

“Good advice that in my opinion can apply to all ages.”

— Dr. Dale

From Nine Easy Ways to Gain Control of Your Health in Your Forties 

What lifestyle changes should you make to stay healthy through your 40s? originally appeared on Quora - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights.

Answer by Keck Medicine of USC, 500+ internationally renowned doctors at a leading academic medical center, on Quora:

Getting older has its perks. Chances are you’re more confident, have more direction and a defined sense of self. While your health is likely not a primary concern, it’s important to take steps now to stop subtle changes before they become major health issues.

Your 40s is the decade that your habits start to catch up to you. If you’ve been taking care of yourself, you’ll reap the rewards of more energy, a more youthful appearance and better health overall. And if you haven’t been as good as you should have been, well, you’ll start to notice that too. You may feel sluggish, look older than your years and may have early risk factors for heart disease, including being overweight and having high blood pressure. Now is the time to commit to a healthier lifestyle — it’s not too late!

Here are 9 small lifestyle tweaks to make now that will keep you healthy and happy for decades to come:

1. Eat a healthy diet.

In your 20s or 30s, you may have been able to get away with regularly eating burritos for lunch and frozen pizza for dinner with copious amounts of coffee in between, but in your 40s it’s time to grow up, nutritionally. You may find yourself feeling sluggish after an indulgent multi-course dinner or notice that your fingers have puffed up after a dinner of takeout Chinese food. These habits have longer-term effects on your waistline and cholesterol or blood pressure levels. In yours 40s, your metabolism slows down by about two percent from a decade earlier, and that creates a host of new problems. For one, you’re digesting your food slower, which can lead to indigestion. Second, you have to try harder to lose and, even simply, maintain your weight. Extra pounds up your risk of heart disease, diabetes and other diseases.

Eating healthfully doesn’t have to be boring — try having one meatless dinner a week and substitute fish or beans for your regular protein, search out different quinoa recipes on Pinterest or sign up for a healthy cooking class to get inspired.

2. Lift weights.

Even if you’re fit and trim, it’s important to add weight lifting to your regular fitness routine. As you enter your 40s, the average woman has lost about 6 to 7 pounds of muscle from a decade ago, and your metabolism may be slowing down, too. Lifting weights helps you build muscle mass, which also helps boost your metabolism. Another benefit: weight bearing exercises help you maintain your bone mass, which has been dropping by about one percent since you turned 35. You don’t need to lift ultra-heavyweights, either — you can do more repetitions with weights as low as three to five pounds to keep you healthy.

3. Get flexible.

Years of sitting behind a desk will start taking their toll and when you combine that with a natural loss of muscle elasticity you’ve got a potential recipe for disaster. If your muscles are short and tight, a quick jerky movement (like a sudden lunge to stop your phone from falling or a tennis match over the weekend) can result in a painful tear.

While a full yoga class is excellent, even 5-10 minutes of stretching can make a big difference. Do a series of toe touches first thing in the morning, stretch out your shoulders at your desk or rotate your neck from side to side the next time you’re stopped at a stoplight.

4. Take care of your eyes.

It may creep up slowly: one week you can’t read the menu at a dimly-lit restaurant and then reading a magazine in a well-lit space becomes trying. All of the sudden, it’s time for reading glasses. Reading glasses will help prevent headaches and stop you from squinting, which can cause wrinkles.

While it’s fine to pick up a pair of non-prescription specs at the discount store, don’t skip the optometrist altogether. It is recommended that men and women 40 years old and older have regular eye exams every two to four years.

5. Make time for romance.

It’s not unusual for your sex drive to take a nosedive in your 40s, due to hormonal changes and high stress levels. However, it’s important to make quality time with your partner a priority. Intimacy helps your body produce the hormone oxytocin, aka the “cuddle hormone.” Not only does this help you bond with your partner, a studyhas shown that higher levels of oxytocin help keep blood pressure and stress levels in check. Not in the mood for sex? Holding hands, hugging and kissing also release oxytocin.

6. Meditate.

It’s pretty inevitable that as you age, your stress levels go up. In your 40s your plate is full with varying potential worries depending on your lifestyle. You may be concerned about school tuition for your kids, your parents and their declining health, your career demands, or how you’ll ever have enough savings to retire, the list goes on. All this stress makes it particularly important that you learn how to de-stress.Meditation is one of the most proven ways to do it. If you’re not sure where to start, try downloading an app like Calm, which offers a variety of guided meditations.

7. Go out with friends.

You don’t need science to tell you that spending time with your friends is fun, but often friendships fall by the wayside in your 40s when you’re caught up with the demands of everyday life. So if you need another reason to schedule that lunch date, consider that research has shown that women who have a large social circle have lower blood pressure and a reduced risk of heart disease, strokes and diabetes than women who don’t. The same goes for men. A study found that men without friends were 20 percent more likely to die over the course of a 10-year period than those with a strong social network. Research has also shown that men and women with no close friends were 50 percent more at risk to have a first-time heart attack. Consider that the next time you think about rescheduling a friend date!

8. Consider taking a low dose aspirin.

If your cholesterol or blood pressure levels are high or you know you are otherwise at risk for a heart attack or a stroke, it may be time to start taking a therapeutic dose of aspirin. Aspirin thins your blood to improve your circulation. Consult with your doctor to see if he or she thinks it’s a good idea for you.

9. See a physician annually.

If you haven’t been getting checked out regularly, now is the time to start. In addition to your blood pressure, cholesterol levels and weight, your 40s may be time for you to start getting regular mammograms (if you’re a woman) or prostate cancer screenings (if you’re a man). Schedule your annual appointment with your primary care physician.

Hooked on Our Smartphones

“An enjoyable read most of us can relate to.”

— Dr. Dale

From Hooked on Our Smartphones

The many men, women and children who spend their days glued to their smartphones and social media accounts might learn something from Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the groundbreaking megahit “Hamilton.” Asked in an interview with Delta Sky magazine when and where he finds time to be creative, Mr. Miranda, an avid reader of books and enthusiast for unfettered downtime, replied: “The good idea comes in the moment of rest. It comes in the shower. It comes when you’re doodling or playing trains with your son. ‘Hamilton’ forced me to double down on being awake to the inspirations of just living my life.”

Mr. Miranda’s observation bodes ill for the future, not just of creativity but also of healthy bodies, minds and relationships. No doubt you’ve seen the following scenarios, probably many times:

• Young couples out to dinner pull out their smartphones to check messages, emails and social networks even before scanning the menu, and check their phones repeatedly throughout the meal.

• Shoppers and commuters standing in line, people crossing busy streets, even cyclists and drivers whose eyes are on their phones instead of their surroundings.

• Toddlers in strollers playing with a digital device — a parent’s or perhaps even their own — instead of observing and learning from the world around them.

• People walking down the street with eyes on their phones, bumping into others, tripping over or crashing into obstacles.

Observations like these have prompted a New York psychotherapist to ask, “What really matters?” in life. In her enlightening new book, “The Power of Off,” Nancy Colier observes that “we are spending far too much of our time doing things that don’t really matter to us.” Both in and outside her practice, she has encountered many people who have become “disconnected from what really matters, from what makes us feel nourished and grounded as human beings.”

The near-universal access to digital technology, starting at ever younger ages, is transforming modern society in ways that can have negative effects on physical and mental health, neurological development and personal relationships, not to mention safety on our roads and sidewalks.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m no Luddite. I love technology. I love the convenience and assistance afforded by the myriad apps on my cellphone, a pocket-size information bank. I remember being amazed, as a Times reporter back in the early 1980s, when I started using word processing and realized how much faster I could write an article. Now computers save tons of time and effort and avert countless embarrassing errors because I can look up facts, figures, spelling, definitions and scholarly publications without leaving my ergonomic chair.

But I also love putting my computer in sleep mode and going for a walk with my dog, meeting and chatting with friends, acquaintances and strangers, some of whom have become friends.

As with so much else in life, moderation in our digital world should be the hallmark of a healthy relationship with technology. Too many of us have become slaves to the devices that were supposed to free us, giving us more time to experience life and the people we love. Instead, we’re constantly bombarded by bells, buzzes and chimes that alert us to messages we feel compelled to view and respond to immediately.

“Most people now check their smartphones 150 times per day, or every six minutes,” Ms. Colier wrote. “And young adults are now sending an average of 110 texts per day.” Furthermore, she added, “46 percent of smartphone users now say that their devices are something they ‘couldn’t live without.’”

In “The World Unplugged Project,” investigators at the University of Maryland reported that “a clear majority” of students in the 10 countries studied experienced distress when they tried to go without their devices for 24 hours. One in three people admitted they’d rather give up sex than their smartphones.

I fear we are turning into digital robots. Will future generations know how to converse with one another face to face? Will they notice the birds, trees, sunrise and the people with whom they share the planet?

Instead of visiting art galleries, attending concerts or walking on picturesque wooded paths, one woman I know who came to Woodstock, N.Y., last summer spent the weekend on her iPad communing with her many “friends” on Facebook. All I could think was “What a waste!”

Why, you may ask, is it so important to limit our digital lives? “Without open spaces and downtime, the nervous system never shuts down — it’s in constant fight-or-flight mode,” Ms. Colier said in an interview. “We’re wired and tired all the time. Even computers reboot, but we’re not doing it.”

She continued, “It’s connections to other human beings — real-life connections, not digital ones — that nourish us and make us feel like we count. Our presence, our full attention is the most important thing we can give each other. Digital communications don’t result in deeper connections, in feeling loved and supported.”

How often is your real work interrupted by signals from your smartphone that you find impossible to ignore? Have you ever avoided intimacy with your partner because you’re in the midst of iPhone Scrabble? Is endlessly snapping selfies and posting your every action and thought on social media creating an unhealthy self-centeredness?

As for physical well-being, every hour spent on a device is likely to be an indoor, sedentary one. Screens are stealing time that children and adolescents should be spending on physical activity and sports, reading, or creating and engaging directly with other children, all of which are critical to healthy physical and social development.

“Children who overuse online media are at risk of problematic internet use, and heavy users of video games are at risk of internet gaming disorder” (translation: addiction), the American Academy of Pediatrics wrote in its latest policy statement on media use.

Ms. Colier, a licensed clinical social worker, said, “The only difference between digital addiction and other addictions is that this is a socially condoned behavior.” While her book contains a 30-day digital detox program, in our interview she offered three steps to help curb one’s digital dependence.

1. Start by recognizing how much digital use is really needed, say, for work or navigation or letting family members know you’re O.K., and what is merely a habit of responding, posting and self-distraction.

2. Make little changes. Refrain from using your device while eating or spending time with friends, and add one thing a day that’s done without the phone.

3. Become very conscious of what is important to you, what really nourishes you, and devote more time and attention to it.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Food Triggers

“For my patients who need more information on IBS.”

— Dr. Dale

From Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Food Triggers 

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic digestive condition which is associated with cramping stomach pains, bloating of the stomach, and alternating diarrhea and constipation.

This condition is thought to affect up to one in five people at some point in their life, and it usually first develops when a person is between 20 and 30 years of age.

Different people have different symptoms, of varying severity. Even in the same person, symptoms wax and wane, lasting for a few days or months. Flare-ups occur during periods of stress, or in response to specific trigger foods.

The prevalence of IBS is about 20%, overall. Typically, it starts between the age of 20 and 30 years, and is twice as common in women as in men. Though it lasts a long time, significant remission may occur as time goes on.

Causes

IBS is due to some unknown pathology which causes the digestive tract mucosa to become hypersensitive to ordinary food.

The resulting mucosal changes lead to indigestion and bacterial proliferation, with the production of several toxins which further aggravate the symptoms.

The pathophysiology of IBS includes:

• Slowing of gut movements and an increase in mucosal permeability. This allows toxins to cross the mucosa, affecting gut integrity.

• Changes in the gut flora accompany altered interactions between the gut and the brain.

• Food triggers are increasingly being identified, with 84% of patients finding that symptoms start or become worse after a meal.

• Bloating due to bacterial fermentation of undigested food produces pain. Delayed or rapid passage of food through the gut may also occur, depending on the exact processes that are occurring. Stress also plays a role in altering normal gut metabolism.

Food triggers

It is observed that some foods may worsen the symptoms of IBS. These may include:

• Fatty foods which produce bloating, nausea and pain: patients with IBS have a lower pain threshold in the intestine for normal stretching in response to food. Fat molecules may slow bowel transit, leading to the accumulation of gas which accounts for the symptoms.

Again, the motility of the colon is stimulated by the gastrocolic reflex which is more active in these patients, causing diarrhea after each meal.

IBS patients are primarily either constipated or diarrheal, and the same lipid meal can cause different reactions, of rectal pain and rectal urgency respectively.

• Lactose-containing foods, possibly because of lactase deficiency. The sugar then passes unabsorbed into the large bowel, and is fermented to produce gas and short-chain fatty acids, which cause further symptoms as discussed above.

• Alcoholic or caffeinated beverages which can irritate the gut mucosa, worsening diarrhea.

• Artificial sweeteners in significant amounts.

• Foods which ferment readily such as cabbage or beans.

How to identify food triggers

People with IBS can try to pinpoint which foods cause their symptoms by keeping a food diary. This will contain:

• What foods are eaten at what time

• What symptoms are experienced, and the time

After a few days, these entries can be discussed with the health care provider to help formulate a list of foods which should be avoided.

IBS dietary guidelines

People with IBS may consider going on a diet which greatly reduces or avoids foods such as starches and other carbohydrates that cannot be easily digested.

This is called a low FODMAP diet, the letters standing for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides, and Polyols.

This describes the types of sugars found in the following foods, which are not quickly digested and absorbed.
As a result, bacteria in the gut feed on them, releasing gases which cause bloating and cramping.

These foods are avoided over the first 1.5 to 2 months. They are then carefully reintroduced one at the time, to test how they are tolerated.
During this period, developing a food plan is important to avoid deficiency diseases.

Some foods that should not be eaten include:

• Fruits or fruit juice, including apples, apricots, mangos, watermelons, as well as canned fruit which contain a lot of natural fruit juice

• Vegetables such as artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, garlic-containing spices, onions, mushrooms, lentils and other legumes

• Milk and milk products

• Foods containing wheat and rye which contain little absorbed, short-chain carbohydrates that are ideal for bacterial fermentation; these not only hold water but also produce gas, leading to stretching of the gut which is interpreted as pain because of the known hypersensitivity of the gut in these patients

• Sweeteners such as honey or high-fructose corn syrup, as well as products containing sweeteners such as sorbitol, mannitol, or xylitol