You might hate childproof lids that make it difficult to take an aspirin when you need one fast, but as a direct result of the 1970 Poison Prevention Packaging Act deaths have decreased by 1.4 for every million kids ages 5 and younger. Simple changes have big benefits.
The same is true for the leading causes of death in adults. Most cases can be avoided or significantly delayed if you put a hard-to-remove lid on your activities that trigger inflammation, obesity, and a dysfunctional gut biome.
According to a new study in JAMA Network, the top noninfectious causes of death in U.S. adults in 2020 were heart disease (No. 1) and cancer (No. 2), along with stroke, Alzheimer's disease, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes, and kidney disease.
The interesting thing is that as diverse as those conditions are, they're all influenced by the same lifestyle choices: what you eat, how you move, your sleep quality, your level of chronic stress, and the use of drugs/toxic substances, including nicotine and alcohol.
Cap those activities and you dramatically cut your risk for premature death.
The lifestyle repairs that work are:
• 150 minutes per week of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity
• No smoking of anything
• Limiting alcohol intake
• Eating a plant-based diet with no red meat, added sugars, or highly processed foods
• Limiting added salt
• Controlling your stress response
• Improving sleep quality using mindful meditation and/or talk therapy