The health benefits of living well

Simple changes in lifestyle can be all you need to live a better life. As you'll see it doesn't involve giving up on the fun and things you enjoy.

• Simple lifestyle changes can slash your risk of cardiovascular disease and reduce your chances of succumbing to a heart attack or stroke. In fact, what you do can make as much difference to your risk as medical interventions — and often more.
• While your doctor can give you medication to treat high blood pressure, losing a little weight and cutting down the amount of salt you eat may be sufficient. You may think it's easier to pop a pill, but it's important to remember that all medications can have side effects. Eating more healthily has multiple benefits and definitely will not hurt you.
• Similarly, the miracle of statin drugs is revolutionizing the lives of people with high cholesterol — but why not avoid the problem altogether? Eating less saturated fat helps to prevent plaque from ever building up in your arteries. And while technological developments can often save you if you suffer from a heart attack or stroke, why take the risk, when there are so many easy ways to avoid these hazards?

• Having a heart-healthy life is not all about self-denial. A healthy life is also a full, enjoyable, interesting life. There are many ingredients you can put into a plan that are positively self-indulgent, such as chocolate, comedy and companionship. That's a crucial factor about protective lifestyle measures which is often overlooked: Unlike drugs, they rarely have isolated results.
• While scientists can pinpoint individual chemicals with specific effects, such as resveratrol in red wine, all natural foods are made up of a host of different ingredients that, together, can have effects far greater than the sum of their parts. Similarly, red wine is often enjoyed in a supportive, social setting, along with friends and good conversation.
• So while each component of making an effort towards a healthier life is important, for optimal results make a variety of them a permanent part of your life. For example: don't allow yourself to become impossibly stressed at work. Learn to relax or you risk undoing, for instance, the good effects of a healthy diet or losing excess weight. Look for support from family, friends and health professionals.
• But most of all, stay positive. Instead of beating yourself up if you have a slip-up, think about how far you've come, and look to the future.