Healthy lifestyle. What is likely to kill us, and can we prepare for it?

No crisis is as bad as it is portrayed in media. We are human beings, and we are capable of finding meaning in all conditions. The focus of the current article is a healthy lifestyle.

I got depressed in a very simple way. I binge-read about 300 articles on psychologytoday site. That is worse than it sounds. In the next couple of days, I might address a subject of “finding meaning in inescapable suffering“. Or I might totally ignore the issue, depends on how I feel about it and your feedback. You may choose to read more here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Four noble truths

There is a Buddhist tradition which is called “Four noble truths”. I will reformulate it in my words. We all are born with a potential for suffering due to aging, getting sick and eventually dying. To suffer or not is in our control. If we do not stress about something we cannot get, some suffering should stop. Following the right path, we can reduce suffering. This does not mean we will not die, but at least we can live well.

Grim statistics

Now, the good news is we will not die like our ancestors.

Research of primitive societies shows that many people used to die from stupid accidents: falling from trees or fighting over women. If you are a young healthy man in your 30s, you are likely to live long or die from similar reasons even today. Or maybe suicide. If you are living in US and happened to buy a gun recently, then probably you increase your chances. Guns are twice more likely to be used for suicide than homicide. Being locked with your loved ones for two weeks in a small house it is better to keep the guns locked in a safe box with a complex combination key.

The medieval society was much more civilized than we think. While nobility tended to fall from horses the injuries rarely resulted in death. The main reason of death up to 1900 was infectious diseases. In 1900s, we are talking about the nasty results of poor hygiene, like multiple cholera epidemics. And I am happy to say that in the last 100 years the infectious disease decreased very dramatically. Even pandemics like AIDS in 1980s or COVID-19 in 2020s do not change these statistics drastically. Worrying about pandemics is more likely to kill us. Why?

Number 1 and 2 causes of death are heart diseases and stroke. And they a relevant to all ages above 60. And so far this is still true.

How can our lifestyle kill us

If we follow the guidelines, the staycation still might kill us, but not as we thought:

• Weight gain. A very nasty side effect of insufficient physical activity, extra weight can increase the chances of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. All of these are terribly potent killers.
• Alcohol and tobacco. When we are stressed and bored, we abuse substances. Sales of alcohol and tobacco substances went up abruptly during COVID-19 crisis with potentially deadly effects. Typically lung cancer and liver failure are among 10 of the most probable killers.
• The financial crisis also may kill us. In a modern economy, governments prefer to print money rather than suffer a prolonged crisis. Each crisis tends to be short and followed by the ever-rising national debt. Eventually, we may see the collapse of society due to aggregated debt, but not in the foreseeable future. The stress of economic uncertainty IS likely to kill us. Why? It makes us prone to overeating, substance abuse, and suicide

So in staycation, we effectively reduce the chances do die from infectious disease but increase the chances of overall premature death.

The benefits of religion

One of our biggest losses in the 20th century might be the loss of religion. Religion was great in preparing people for their death and meeting the inevitable demise gracefully. While religion may lead to crowding and spread of infectious disease, our ancestors did not know it. What did they know?

Religion reduces stress and thus prolongs life. The mechanisms are not entirely clear and the statistics controversial. We know that the elements of ritual, purpose, and social belonging are beneficial to our psychological well-being.

Faith may perform miracles.  Also known as the placebo effect. You do not really need religion to get the effect. Using vitamins you also heal. Try vitamin C, omega 3, zinc, vitamin D, magnesium. I take a pill every day and so far I am OK. I also drink coffee. 3 cups of coffee per day reduce the chances of dementia – another prolific killer.

The lost art of dying well. If we happen to feel bad, there is not so much we can do right now. Our ancestors could ease conscious with a religious professionals, finish open businesses with other people, get a positive outlook of the next life. We can use certain exercises like mindfulness, grounding, and gratitude we can get some of these benefits. Maybe we can contact a psychologist or a mentor. Accidentally, many people recovered shortly after making the order of their businesses.

Cravings and stress

Possibly the root cause of all our troubles is stress, and we are stressed often due to the rat race we are in. We can try to find a silver lining for the staycation. Reducing temptations, activity, and excitement we also reduce noise. We may get fewer invitations to parties, food commercials and suggestions to buy luxury items.

It is easier to focus on mindfulness, learning, and compassion when there is no noise. We can use the time we have for example to write a gratitude diary. Reducing stress we improve or immune system, as well as reduce the chances of dying from heart disease, stroke, and complications of substance abuse.

Technology is not necessarily a cure

Every year life expectancy increases. Partially this is due to dental care, better drugs, and fewer medical mistakes. The technology helps us up to a limit.

Let us take a use case. With all the progress with heart operations and stents, they are often less effective than the state-of-the-art drugs. The argument is long and complex, and you should research it for yourself. The heart conditions are #1 killer and the heart is simple enough to be fixed or even replaced by an external pump. What is going on? Simply it makes sense for the doctors to put stents in the patients. Drugs often are perceived by patients as not sufficiently aggressive, and heart operations are too aggressive. The patients might opt for a second opinion. So it makes sense to ease the pains via a stent and hope for the best. A disclaimer: my grandmother had two stents and died from a heart condition, and my wife’s grandfather had 3 operations on open heart and is still with us.

Additionally, all of the chemistry we use in agriculture is not really great for our bodies. Our ancestors did not have to face chemistry. The areas where many people live above 100 are often remote areas in technologically advanced countries: clean air, organic food, physical work, modern medicine.

Other reasons

If we live well, we may hope for a life without suffering and dying from “other reasons”. We can control what we eat and drink, whether or not we smoke, how much we allow stress to influence us and how strong is our immune system. With coffee and memory training, we are also less likely to suffer from dementia. This takes care of the main killers we have today.

There are also many other smaller things that can kill us. Some of them are urban legends, others are very real. I prefer my death to surprise me. There is nothing more depressing than dying from known and preventable reasons.