your health In Your 20s and 30s
Now is the time to make healthy habits stick. It’s never too soon to start. You might think that what you do in your early adulthood won’t have much of an impact on your health later on, but that’s where you couldn’t be more wrong. For instance, according to research published in the British Medical Journal’s Clinical Evidence, people who choose heart- healthy habits by age 35 can actually reduce their risk for Alzheimer’s and dementia when they’re older. If you’ve been living an unhealthy lifestyle in your 20s, you could start to see the impact
of that as early as your 30s—when diabetes, borderline high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol start to crop up. Luckily, getting a handle on them now can drastically reduce your risk of complications in the future.
YOUR HEALTHIEST LIFE PRESCRIPTIONS
Get to know your doctor. According to Shantanu Nundy, M.D., staff physician at the University of Chicago Medical
Center and author of Stay Healthy at Every Age: What Your Doctor Wants You to Know, most young adults don’t go for regular doctor’s visits. “It’s important to have a relationship with a physician—even when you feel like you’re young and healthy,” says Nundy. He cites a study in which 95 percent of people who went on to have heart attacks later in life showed at least one risk factor for heart disease earlier in life. Knowing these things now can help you prevent them later. Schedule a well exam yearly.
Stop smoking, or don’t start. According to Nundy, a lot of young adults think their cigarette habit is something they’re just going to get over—
until they actually try to quit. Fast-forward a few decades, and you’re living with the habit— and the consequences, such as premature aging of your skin, which means more wrinkles and sagging skin, not only on your face but on other body parts, such as your inner arms. Smoking also puts you at greater risk for cancer, heart disease and stroke. Talk to your doctor about smoking cessation programs and prescriptions.
Learn your family history. Diseases with a strong genetic link tend to strike early in life. “The better you know your family history, the better you’ll be able to personalize your risk-reduction
strategy,” says Nundy. Get all of the health information that you can on your parents, siblings and grandparents, and share it with your doctor.
Limit your alcohol intake. “For people in their 20s, the most common cause of death is accidents and the majority of those are the result of alcohol,” says Nundy. Even if it’s something you “just do on
weekends,” you should know that even moderate drinking can increase your risk of certain types of cancer by 10 percent. Women, stick with less than one alcoholic beverage a day.
Should you supplement? If you eat a healthy diet (or even a lot of fortified food) chances are, you don’t need a multivitamin. Where many people do fall short is vitamin D. Ask
your doctor to check your levels the next time you have blood drawn. Women might want to consider a calcium supplement if they’re getting less than 1,000 mg a day from food. Women who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant should take at least 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid every day.
» ICONS BY CELIA JOHNSON FALL 2010 | HEALTHY ADVICE 27
STYLIST: JASMINE; HAIR & MAKEUP: BRYNN DOERING; OPENING SPREAD MODELS FROM LEFT: ROSIE DE LA CRUZ/LOOK; JENNY GILES/CITY; NANCY CASSADY/CITY
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