Middle Aged Slackers still have time to be healthy
Researchers from the University of South Carolina say those in their 40s and 50s can catch up to a healthy lifestyle after four years of changing bad habits.
From the American Journal of Medicine, via Reuters:
Middle-aged adults who began eating five or more fruits and vegetables every day, exercising for at least 2 1/2 hours a week, keeping weight down and not smoking decreased their risk of heart disease by 35 percent and risk of death by 40 percent in the four years after they started."The adopters of a healthy lifestyle basically caught up. Within four years, their mortality rate and rate of heart attacks matched the people who had been doing these behaviors all along," said Dr. Dana King at the Medical University of South Carolina, who led the research.