What really works to make sustainable changes in diet and lifestyle It’s probably not what you think. Years of clinical research proves that the real keys are pleasure, joy and , not our power of will or austerity (苦行). Joy of living is sustainable; fear of dying is not.
Why Because life is to be enjoyed. There’s no point in giving up something you enjoy unless you get something back that’s even better, and quickly. When people eat more healthfully, exercise, quit smoking, manage stress better, and love more, they find that they feel so much better, so quickly, it reconstruct the reason for these changes from fear of dying to joy of living. Fortunately, the latest studies show how dynamic and powerful are the mechanisms that control our health and well-being.
When you exercise and eat right: Your brain receives more blood flow and oxygen, so you become smarter, think more clearly, have more energy, and need less sleep. Two studies showed that just walking for three hours per week for only three months caused so many new nerve cells to grow that it actually increased the size of people’s brains!
Your face receives more blood flow, so your skin glows more and wrinkles less. You look younger and more attractive. In contrast, an unhealthy diet, lasting emotional stress and smoking reduce blood flow to your face so you age more quickly. Smoking accelerate aging because nicotine (尼古丁) causes your blood vessel to become narrower, which decreases blood flow to your face and makes it wrinkle prematurely. This is why smokers look years older than they really are.
One of the most interesting findings in this study was that the mothers’ perceptions of stress were more important than what was objectively occurring in their lives. The researchers made a survey among women and asked them to rate on a three-point scale how stressed they felt each day, and how out of control their lives felt to them. The women who perceived that they were under heavy stress had significantly shortened and damaged telomeres (染色体端粒) compared with those who felt more relaxed. Conversely, some of the women who felt relaxed despite raising a disabled child had more normal-appearing telomeres.
In other words, if you feel stressed, you are stressed.
What can we learn about the study carried out on mothers