Last week Sylvia Thompson gave 20 tips for a longer healthier life. One vital ingredient was missing. Here, she explains what it was and selects a sample of your suggestions for the missing element
Well done to all of those readers who pointed out that sleep was the missing component of a healthy lifestyle, featured in the article "Twenty tips for a long healthy life" in last week's Health Supplement.
Considering that we spend up to one-third of our lives asleep, it is indeed an absolutely essential aspect of the experience of being human. However, one in four people have trouble sleeping and one in 10 consider these sleeping difficulties to be a major health problem.
Creating a good sleep environment will encourage better sleeping. Good quality mattresses, pillows and comfortable duvets are important, as is a well- ventilated room. Many sleep experts discourage watching television or reading in bed as it stimulates the mind too much at the end of the day. Drinking alcohol in excess or eating heavy meals late in the evening can also result in interrupted sleep.
Moderate exercise, meditation, yoga and camomile tea are all considered beneficial to inducing a good night's sleep. Psychologists advise parents to follow bedtime routines at the same time each night to encourage good sleeping habits among children
Below is a sample of the replies we received about the missing step to a healthy lifestyle:
• I very much enjoyed the challenge of identifying the missing tip, it enhanced the usefulness of the article for me as I was challenged to engage more deeply with it and think for myself. The missing tip is adequate sleep and it is as important as any of the other tips, perhaps more so.
Mary Killeen McCarthy
• My 21st tip is a good night's sleep - minimum seven hours.
Pauline Maguire
• I think a very important element that was not listed was sleep. I know myself that I feel 100 times more positive and productive and even happier after having a great few nights' sleep in a row. After having a baby within the past year, I fully understand the implications of a lack of adequate sleep.
Wendy McGrath
• I think that the missing ingredient in the list of ways to have a long life is "a good night's sleep". Long ago, light faded in the evening and too much burning of the gas lamps or candles was an unnecessary expense and so people went to bed to sleep. They rose earlier, with the light, but they had the old adage of "an hour before midnight is worth two after it". Now it is all late night bars, late-night films, discos, etc and we are living more hectic lives and trying to survive on less sleep.
Rhona Kelly
• The missing tip for a long healthy life has to be sleep - nothing beats the restorative power of a good night's sleep for mental, physical and emotional wellbeing.
Maria Whelan
• Enough good quality sleep.
Maria Murphy
• I believe "early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise" should have been included, as well as regular meals.
Michael Berkery
• Sleeping well. Music: playing, singing and listening. Reading.Switch off the news.
Peter McNamara
• What's missing? Is it de-stress? Reduce stress by seeking an acceptance of those things in life that we cannot change.
Don McNally
• Heredity: choose your parents carefully.
Christopher Dick
• It is clear that as individuals we can do much to improve our health. However, the determinants of health extend well beyond our individual choices and behaviour and we need to remember that health is as much about politics as biology. Our chances of a long and healthy life are hugely influenced by our physical, social, economic, cultural and political environment.
Thus I would suggest adding the following to your list of tips for a healthy life:
Get a good education and a well-paid job where your work is respected and valued by your peers and wider society.
Live in a democratic and just society.
Prof Ivan J Perry, MD, PhD, Professor of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, UCC
• Live in the moment. You can do nothing about what's gone. Leave tomorrow alone, it will take care of itself. Planning for it is a waste of time and energy, it might never come. Stop thinking and worrying about yourself, look outwards and do things for others. As the kids say, get a life and chill.
Margaret Boner
• Courage and leadership from Government and the media in promoting those 20 tips for a healthy life.
Brendan Marnell
• Routine adds greatly to the quality of life and removes stress. My father, aged 93, swears by this, is in excellent health and has all his faculties and takes no medication. Look at nuns in convents: they usually live to a great age. They live by routine and everybody knows their responsibilities. We no longer have routine in our lives, we eat when we can, go places on the spur of the moment. In other words, [ we have] very little old-fashioned quality time.
Phil Murphy
• I think the missing tip is have some fun. I was advised of the importance of this by a friend, so do something you enjoy, whether it is a sport, a class, dancing, taking up a hobby, etc.
Mary Hunt
• Could the crucial aspect of staying healthy that you didn't mention possibly come with fur and a wet nose? I know that studies have shown that people with pets live longer and are healthier. Having to care for a living creature gives us a sense of purpose and they also provide companionship for those who might be lonely otherwise.
I have two rescue dogs and they get me out for a walk every day which I know is doing me good as I am in my 50s and need to pay attention to remaining fit and flexible.
Marion Redmond
• I enjoyed your tips for a long healthy life and for me what is missing is a pet, in my case a dog and that dog in question, Lucy, keeps the family entertained and exercised and she doesn't care if we have not combed our hair or applied our make-up - she loves us anyway. When she wants to display her talents with a ball this provides us all with entertainment, which definitely helps us to forget about ourselves or any pressing issues of the day.
Dermot Kelleher
• I note (116-year-old) Maria Esther enjoyed a wide variety of interests, so my suggestion is to cultivate hobbies (not just skills, as in tip 12) such as sport, reading, listening to music. Activities that are creative and challenging calm the mind and lower stress levels.
Barbara Fleming
• Music. Great for releasing those feel-good endorphins.
Ger Kennedy
• I think number 21 would be your career or job. Most people spend the greater part of each day at work and many do not find this fulfilling. It can be a cause of stress, both in the workplace and in the traffic to and from work. Of course, retirement brings another form of stress - sometimes to the retiring person's spouse.
May DuBerry
• Thanks for this article. I found it interesting. I agree that all the points listed are important and helpful but I would like to also add any/all of the following: Quietness: a chance for a little peace and quiet each day. Sleep: obviously. A hobby. Work: preferably paid employment but in any case a job that gives satisfaction, recognition, appreciation and a sense of well-being. A holiday.
Brigid Gilboy
• Don't worry. How many hours are spent worrying about something that never happens?
Nancy McKeever
• A positive attitude - "always look on the bright side of life . . .". Something we all know but is sometimes easier said than done.
Aoife Nelson
• My suggestion for longevity: daily Mass (or other daily communal religious service). I see the benefits as the following: Physical: the routine of setting the clock and going out each day. Psychological: the reassurance that one is paying another instalment on a ticket to the next life. Social: one can go for a morning cup of coffee with fellow worshippers every day. Economical: it doesn't cost very much. This is my recommendation, but it's not for me.
Fidelma O'Brien