10 scientific lifestyle hacks to live longer and fruitful amidst COVID-19 pandemic

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We the people continuously cope up with this ever changing universe through implausible advances in science and technology, medicine etc. but, a sharp falling is noticed in life expectancy, even suicide rate is elevated in many countries including India and Japan nowadays. 

This incredible advances wrap us with a new device or a life saving pill, surely they can relieve our tasks but, still we are not happy with these technologies, we seems to be depressed in our life. Instead of these, the COVID-19 pandemic is another cause of depression nowadays. 

So, we need to be more relaxed, healthful and joyous. To increase the life expectancy something more is needed to adopt in our life. So, this are some simple scientifically proven steps we can follow in our everyday life those may help us to live longer, to lead us many fruitful years, as well as it is good for our mental health also.

1. Eat fiber rich food: 

In a study in New Zealand, it has found that there is 16% -24% reduction in mortality in case of patients with heart disease, colon cancer, diabetes etc. who choose to high fiber food than with low fiber diet persons. 

Fiber rich food promoted the growth of good bacteria in the gut. In 2014, a research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition stated that, daily dose of 35 grams of fiber is linked to lowering our chances of cardiovascular disease by 54% and reducing our mortality risk by 37%. 

So, include more vegetables and fruits in your diet to lowering the risk of such diseases. Fruits and veggies are rich in vitamins and minerals also which can give a boost to our immunity in this pandemic condition. Studies showed that our mothers were right about the eating of more veggies. 

2. Grab a book:

A chapter a day- keeps a doctor away. Books can introduce a people to a new place or new people, a good book is better than so many friends, but it has scientifically proven health benefits also. 

In day to day life this mind refreshing time is very important to get relax and stress free. At Yale University, a research, as long as 12 years was published in Social Science and Medicine, which claims that there was a 20% reduction in mortality in case of book readers than non-book readers. 

It also concluded that, book readers had a four month survival benefit compared to non-book readers. So, it is recommended to reading at least 30 minutes each day to live happily on an average of 23 months longer compared with non-book readers, despite of gender, wealth, marital status, education or health.

3. Get a pet: 

A study has published in a peer-reviewed journal of American Heart Association rendering that, having a pet can facilitate you to live longer than others. Researchers found that there was 24% reduction of mortality risk of dog owners. 

People with cardiovascular problem may experience a greater benefit. You can pet another animal also except dog. You need to take care of them like a kid, so, an emotional attachment grows with your pet. 

At first, it seems a lot of work or physical activity but after some time you will get used to it. After a long hectic day when you see your pet, it may be a dog or a cat or even a fish, you will get relaxed and found something to live for. 

4. Indulge in brisk walking: 

A quote from Heart Association can motivate you, i.e. "For every hour of brisk walking, life expectancy for some people may increase by two hours." Regular brisk walking possesses innumerable health benefits that play a role to both our mental and physical health.

A research published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings stated that, brisk walking can increase your longevity that slow walking. In a study of European Society of Cardiology, it is scientifically proved that daily 25 minutes of brisk walking can tot up as seven years to our lives. The life expectancy of Brisk-walking men and women ranged from 85 to 87 an 87 to 88 compared to slow-walking men and women, who had a life expectancy of 65 to 81 and 72 to 85 respectively. 

Brisk walking can help your mental well beings also. It can improves self-esteem, self-perception, mood, sleep quality, depression etc. It can clear our mind to conceive pure thoughts. So, indulge yourself to a brisk walk regularly. 

5. Distance from Social media:

There are so many negative effects of social media including depression, anxiety, fear of missing out something that someone else is having, detrimental sleep patterns, cyber bullying and addiction to it etc. All these are enough to break you down physically and mentally. 

So, it is better to take some distance from it. It is important to not to check it first in the morning. 

6. Limit your TV:

We all somehow know that too much TV is bad for our health. But do we know the limit of too much? Usually, TV watching is now most common daily activity except working and sleeping. Nationwide lockdown period has a role to increase the TV time.  

Researcher J. Lennert Veerman of the University of Queensland, Australia stated that "every single hour of TV viewed may shorten life by as much as 22 minutes." In 2011, the research confirmed that unlimited TV watching is connected with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes etc. So, it is better to limit the time of watching the stupid box.

7. Build a healthy habit of yoga and meditation:

Start your day with a warming yoga instead of Facebook. Yes, health benefits of yoga and meditation is now scientifically approved. You may notice that many yoga instructors appeared younger than their age; because it is now proved that we can slow down and reverse the effects of aging by yoga and meditations. 

So, include it in your daily routine for maximum benefits and experience it yourself. 

8. Go for Mediterranean diets:

Mediterranean diets or eating the whole food, mainly vegetables, fruits, oilve oil and fish can help to reduce the risk of all-cause mortality by 10% - 20%. This diet has a significant role to control the BMI, cholesterol and other disease risk. But happiness is always important to our life. 

So, eat food that makes you happy, i.e. one cheat meal per week may be okay.

9. Find a satisfying job:

Yes, it may create some questions on your mind but it is true that one best predictor of our longevity is a satisfying job. 

At Duke University of North Carolina, professor Erdman Palmore studied so many people over many years to predict the average life span, from which he concluded that people who felt useful and were doing meaningful work during their latter years of employment were most likely to live longer. So, try to do a meaningful job in your life. 

10. Find your sense of humour:

Laughter is the best medicine; try to locate your sense of humour. In a study prsented on the Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine at 2016 showed that the sense of humour was significantly associated with lowering the all-cause mortality in women but not in men, in case of men it was associated to lowering death by any infectious disease. So, the sense of humour is a health-protecting cognitive coping resource. 

This is only the primary list. We all know that the change is not so easy, but, to live longer and happily you must have to force yourself to engage into it.   

*Picture used are all self captured.