110 | August• 2017
WORDS TO LIVE BY
women, the risk reduction was 23 per
cent. Healthier people may be more
likely to go to the shops in the first
place, but shopping every day could
help you live longer by increasing
your social contact, physical fitness
and mental agility.
Move.In Australia’s largest ongo-
ing study of healthy ageing, research-
ers analysed the daily routines of
more than 230,000 people and found
thatsleepingtoomuch(morethan
nine hours per night), sitting too
much(morethansevenhoursaday)
and not exercising enough (less than
150minutesaweek)correlateto
quadrupling the risk of dying
prematurely.
Host.Throwing a party – deciding
whom to invite, what to serve and who
sits where – forces your brain to make
complex social decisions and strength-
ens your social contacts, both of
which reduce your risk of developing
dementia, writes Dr Kenneth S Kosik
in his bookOutsmarting Alzheimer’s.
Carrots.In a study in the Oxford
academic journalBehavioral Ecology,
Caucasian men who took a supple-
ment of beta-carotene, the substance
that makes carrots orange, were rated
by women as looking more healthy
and attractive than men who had not.
Sunshine.Low levels of vita-
min D have been associated with
osteoporosis, diabetes, hypertension
and cancer. It gets worse: according
to new research, adults who don’t get
enough of the ‘sunshine vitamin’ are
26 per cent more likely to die early.
A 12-year study of 13,000 men and
women didn’t identify any one cause
of death, “because vitamin D’s im-
pact on health is so widespread,” says
researcher Dr Michal Melamed, an
associate professor of medicine, epi-
demiology and population health at
New York’s Albert Einstein College of
Medicine. In addition to taking a sup-
plement, you should aim to get ten to
15 minutes of midday sunshine (11am
to 3pm) several days a week.Colour.“Wearing darker shades
tends to read more conservative and
has more of a polished feel, which is
not bad,” says Dina Scherer, a ward-
robe stylist and the owner of Modnitsa
StylinginNewYork.“Butitcanage
you because it takes away from your
approachability.” Brighter shades
make you seem more open and fun,
which in turn makes you look younger.
Wearing brightly coloured accessories
such as scarves, necklaces and
brooches near your face is a particu-
larly good way to highlight your fea-
tures, Scherer says.Dig.Hand strength, flexibility and
coordination are essential for every-
day tasks such as opening jars and
carrying packages. And gardening is
the perfect way to hone those fine