When you're in your 20s you may think you have your whole life to get healthy and make better choices about eating and exercising. However, changing your lifestyle to a healthier one can be challenging at any age, but seems to be a little more difficult as you get older. Staying healthy in your 20s is strongly associated with a lower risk for heart disease in middle age.
What can you do in your 20s to help you live a healthier life as you age?
Listen in as Lien Nguyen, MD discusses healthy lifestyle tips, and why it is important to start living a healthier lifestyle as early as your 20s because it can carry over to a healthier you as you age.
Selected Podcast
Healthy Living in Your 20s
Featured Speaker:
Lien Nguyen, MD
Lien Nguyen, MD is a family medicine physician with Greenville Health System.Transcription:
Melanie Cole (Host): When you're in your 20's, you may think you have your whole life to get healthy and make better choices about eating and exercising; however, to change your lifestyle to a healthier one can be challenging at any age but seems to be a little more difficult as you get older. My guest today is Dr. Lien Nguyen. She's a family medicine physician with Greenville Health System. Welcome to the show, Dr. Nguyen. Twenty something's tend to feel immortal. They tend not to think so much about eating healthy and getting exercise and the long-term effects of things like sun protection, heart disease prevention -- these kinds of things. What do you want to tell people in their 20's about the reasons and the importance of taking care of some of these things now so they don't have to look back later and regret what they didn’t do?
Dr. Lien Nguyen (Guest): Well, first of all, I would like to thank you very much for providing me with the opportunity today to share about healthy living in your 20's. All those questions are very good and very relevant to the young people in our 20's. So, first of all, fortunately, most young people in their 20's are very healthy, and that's a great blessing. So, my hope for this short discussion today is to impart some ideas of things that one can do to achieve and maintain that healthy lifestyle -- hopefully not only in your 20's but well into your 30's, 40's, 50's and beyond. Let's get started. I'll approach healthy living in your 20's from three main perspectives. I look at it from the physical, the emotional or mental, and the spiritual aspect of being healthy. So, first of all, what are the keys to being physically healthy like you already mentioned. The first key is good nutrition. Eating healthy will help reduce your risk of heart disease and other chronic medical conditions like diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and many other conditions. So, my advice to young people is to avoid fast food, soft drinks, and processed foods as much as possible. Probably best to just eat as much cooking made from scratch as you can because then you know what goes into the food because fast foods, processed foods, and soft drinks and lots of sugars and fats and things like that are just not good for your body. Try to incorporate as much fruits and vegetables as you can into your daily diet and to have good sources of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that are important for disease and cancer prevention. The second key to physical health is exercise. It is recommended that you get at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week of exercise. It can range from going for a walk to jogging, running, cycling, to other more vigorous activities that you would like, and as we all know, the benefits of exercise are numerous including improving one's overall energy level, mood, metabolism, your weight, your sleep, mental health and many others. The third key for me for living a physically healthy life is to avoid the use of substances such as excessive alcohol consumption. This can lead to heart damage, liver diseases, cancers, and many more problems down the road. Also, avoid cigarettes and other tobacco products, which also can cause all types of cancers and heart disease, and certainly we are also know to stay away from illicit drugs. This can cause many health problems, negative effects on the brain, behavioral problems and even birth defects, and I would add to that the fourth part of being physically healthy is to practice safe sex, but of course, birth control methods can offer protection against unwanted pregnancy as well. Keeping in mind, though that condoms are really the only type of birth control that can protect against sexually transmitted diseases. Therefore, unless you and your partner are in a strict monogamous relationship with each other, it is recommended that you always use a new barrier each and every time you have sex.
Melanie: So, that's really great information for listeners to hear. Now, one thing that people in their 20's -
Dr. Nguyen: -- yeah --
Melanie: -- tend to discount a little bit is the health quality of getting a good night's sleep. They stay up on their electronics. They stay up very, very late into the night. So, what do you want to tell them about getting that quality night's sleep?
Dr. Nguyen: Sleep is just so important. Our body needs rest and it is designed to -- when you sleep, your brain gets a rest. Your body gets the rest that it needs to recharge for the next day, so if you abuse your body and don't get that sleep, you get into a lot of issues with stress, sleep deprivation, that can lead to issues with heart disease and just poor concentration so young people need to pay careful attention to make sure that they get a good night of sleep so that they are refreshed the next day to be able to function at their best.
Melanie: Another thing that I noticed with people in their 20's is maybe they stay away from soda because you've talked about nutrition, Dr. Nguyen, and they stay away from soda, but they think then diet soda is going to be a better alternative, and what do you want to tell them about maybe keeping hydrated -- drinking water and what we're finding out more and more from the studies about the effects of diet soda?
Dr. Nguyen: I would say that I agree completely that it is best to stay with water. It is free from chemicals that, you know, diet sodas -- it has high aspartame, levels that are potentially carcinogenic and especially in animal studies, and you don't want to introduce that into your body and staying well hydrated is important for again, concentration, your daily function, keeping your system flushed. So, I would say, staying with water as much as you can is the best practice rather than just throwing that in with diet drinks and just other drinks that could potentially have harmful effects down the road that we don't know as of this point.
Melanie: Another thing we're hearing a lot about lately, sitting is the new smoking, and people in their 20's are getting into the work force now --
Dr. Nguyen: -- yeah --
Melanie: -- so they start to work at a job, maybe at an office and they're sitting for so much of the day, so what would you like them to know about keeping involved in the corporate wellness programs that may be available? Corporate fitness or getting up during their lunchtime, going to take a walk, any of these kinds of tips that you can give them that will let them know that sitting might be the new smoking?
Dr. Nguyen: Yes, leading a sedentary lifestyle is just never good enough. Our bodies are actually meant to move around and be active, and getting up and moving around as much as you can, especially taking breaks when it's allowed -- going for short walks, stretching in place, all that helps improve blood flow to your brain, helps improve oxygen consumption in the cells in your body, and staying physically active is always the best thing to do and not sit around and just not doing anything. Like I mentioned with the exercise part earlier, it can just range from going for a walk -- it can improve your mood. It can improve your sleep at night -- it helps to lose weight. So, especially as young people who are in their 20's and healthy -- there's really not a good reason for you to just sit around, but it's important to get up and move as much as you can. Take the stairs instead of the elevators, and like you mentioned -- if there are exercise programs in the workplace, please join that. It's there for a reason; it’s meant to help you stay in the best health that you can.
Melanie: So, wrap it up for us, if you would, doctor, and let the people in their 20's know what you would like them to know about awareness for the fact that there are these things coming down the pike and the things that they can do while they're in their 20's that might help them avoid so many doctor visits?
Dr. Nguyen: Right. So, practicing good health in your early 20's: so, eating well, exercising, avoiding substances, and practicing safe sex -- all of that can help you to maintain a healthy lifestyle here and now, and it will prevent you from developing other chronic diseases in the future. So, it is not like you say, I want to do what I want to now, and then I'll change my lifestyle down the road because people tend to do the same thing over and over. So, if you start practicing good ways of living now, that will carry into your 30's, 40's, and 50's where you don't have to try to catch up -- you don't have to try to fix the problems in the past, but it's best to go ahead and practice those healthy lifestyles now, and it can save you many unwanted doctor's visits down the road.
Melanie: Thank you so much for being with us today. You're listening to Inside Health with Greenville Health System. For more information, you can go to ghs.org. That's ghs.org. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.
Melanie Cole (Host): When you're in your 20's, you may think you have your whole life to get healthy and make better choices about eating and exercising; however, to change your lifestyle to a healthier one can be challenging at any age but seems to be a little more difficult as you get older. My guest today is Dr. Lien Nguyen. She's a family medicine physician with Greenville Health System. Welcome to the show, Dr. Nguyen. Twenty something's tend to feel immortal. They tend not to think so much about eating healthy and getting exercise and the long-term effects of things like sun protection, heart disease prevention -- these kinds of things. What do you want to tell people in their 20's about the reasons and the importance of taking care of some of these things now so they don't have to look back later and regret what they didn’t do?
Dr. Lien Nguyen (Guest): Well, first of all, I would like to thank you very much for providing me with the opportunity today to share about healthy living in your 20's. All those questions are very good and very relevant to the young people in our 20's. So, first of all, fortunately, most young people in their 20's are very healthy, and that's a great blessing. So, my hope for this short discussion today is to impart some ideas of things that one can do to achieve and maintain that healthy lifestyle -- hopefully not only in your 20's but well into your 30's, 40's, 50's and beyond. Let's get started. I'll approach healthy living in your 20's from three main perspectives. I look at it from the physical, the emotional or mental, and the spiritual aspect of being healthy. So, first of all, what are the keys to being physically healthy like you already mentioned. The first key is good nutrition. Eating healthy will help reduce your risk of heart disease and other chronic medical conditions like diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and many other conditions. So, my advice to young people is to avoid fast food, soft drinks, and processed foods as much as possible. Probably best to just eat as much cooking made from scratch as you can because then you know what goes into the food because fast foods, processed foods, and soft drinks and lots of sugars and fats and things like that are just not good for your body. Try to incorporate as much fruits and vegetables as you can into your daily diet and to have good sources of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that are important for disease and cancer prevention. The second key to physical health is exercise. It is recommended that you get at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week of exercise. It can range from going for a walk to jogging, running, cycling, to other more vigorous activities that you would like, and as we all know, the benefits of exercise are numerous including improving one's overall energy level, mood, metabolism, your weight, your sleep, mental health and many others. The third key for me for living a physically healthy life is to avoid the use of substances such as excessive alcohol consumption. This can lead to heart damage, liver diseases, cancers, and many more problems down the road. Also, avoid cigarettes and other tobacco products, which also can cause all types of cancers and heart disease, and certainly we are also know to stay away from illicit drugs. This can cause many health problems, negative effects on the brain, behavioral problems and even birth defects, and I would add to that the fourth part of being physically healthy is to practice safe sex, but of course, birth control methods can offer protection against unwanted pregnancy as well. Keeping in mind, though that condoms are really the only type of birth control that can protect against sexually transmitted diseases. Therefore, unless you and your partner are in a strict monogamous relationship with each other, it is recommended that you always use a new barrier each and every time you have sex.
Melanie: So, that's really great information for listeners to hear. Now, one thing that people in their 20's -
Dr. Nguyen: -- yeah --
Melanie: -- tend to discount a little bit is the health quality of getting a good night's sleep. They stay up on their electronics. They stay up very, very late into the night. So, what do you want to tell them about getting that quality night's sleep?
Dr. Nguyen: Sleep is just so important. Our body needs rest and it is designed to -- when you sleep, your brain gets a rest. Your body gets the rest that it needs to recharge for the next day, so if you abuse your body and don't get that sleep, you get into a lot of issues with stress, sleep deprivation, that can lead to issues with heart disease and just poor concentration so young people need to pay careful attention to make sure that they get a good night of sleep so that they are refreshed the next day to be able to function at their best.
Melanie: Another thing that I noticed with people in their 20's is maybe they stay away from soda because you've talked about nutrition, Dr. Nguyen, and they stay away from soda, but they think then diet soda is going to be a better alternative, and what do you want to tell them about maybe keeping hydrated -- drinking water and what we're finding out more and more from the studies about the effects of diet soda?
Dr. Nguyen: I would say that I agree completely that it is best to stay with water. It is free from chemicals that, you know, diet sodas -- it has high aspartame, levels that are potentially carcinogenic and especially in animal studies, and you don't want to introduce that into your body and staying well hydrated is important for again, concentration, your daily function, keeping your system flushed. So, I would say, staying with water as much as you can is the best practice rather than just throwing that in with diet drinks and just other drinks that could potentially have harmful effects down the road that we don't know as of this point.
Melanie: Another thing we're hearing a lot about lately, sitting is the new smoking, and people in their 20's are getting into the work force now --
Dr. Nguyen: -- yeah --
Melanie: -- so they start to work at a job, maybe at an office and they're sitting for so much of the day, so what would you like them to know about keeping involved in the corporate wellness programs that may be available? Corporate fitness or getting up during their lunchtime, going to take a walk, any of these kinds of tips that you can give them that will let them know that sitting might be the new smoking?
Dr. Nguyen: Yes, leading a sedentary lifestyle is just never good enough. Our bodies are actually meant to move around and be active, and getting up and moving around as much as you can, especially taking breaks when it's allowed -- going for short walks, stretching in place, all that helps improve blood flow to your brain, helps improve oxygen consumption in the cells in your body, and staying physically active is always the best thing to do and not sit around and just not doing anything. Like I mentioned with the exercise part earlier, it can just range from going for a walk -- it can improve your mood. It can improve your sleep at night -- it helps to lose weight. So, especially as young people who are in their 20's and healthy -- there's really not a good reason for you to just sit around, but it's important to get up and move as much as you can. Take the stairs instead of the elevators, and like you mentioned -- if there are exercise programs in the workplace, please join that. It's there for a reason; it’s meant to help you stay in the best health that you can.
Melanie: So, wrap it up for us, if you would, doctor, and let the people in their 20's know what you would like them to know about awareness for the fact that there are these things coming down the pike and the things that they can do while they're in their 20's that might help them avoid so many doctor visits?
Dr. Nguyen: Right. So, practicing good health in your early 20's: so, eating well, exercising, avoiding substances, and practicing safe sex -- all of that can help you to maintain a healthy lifestyle here and now, and it will prevent you from developing other chronic diseases in the future. So, it is not like you say, I want to do what I want to now, and then I'll change my lifestyle down the road because people tend to do the same thing over and over. So, if you start practicing good ways of living now, that will carry into your 30's, 40's, and 50's where you don't have to try to catch up -- you don't have to try to fix the problems in the past, but it's best to go ahead and practice those healthy lifestyles now, and it can save you many unwanted doctor's visits down the road.
Melanie: Thank you so much for being with us today. You're listening to Inside Health with Greenville Health System. For more information, you can go to ghs.org. That's ghs.org. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.
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