13 Healthy Habits to Improve Your Life

By Dulce Zamora WebMD Feature

Disregard them and you may well be taking a big gamble with your mental and emotional well-being.

There are 13 ways to boost your chances of living a happy, healthy life. More can be added to this list, but, for simplicity's sake, we'll stick with this typically unlucky number.

Instead of bringing misfortune, however, the 13 habits promise a life of vigor and vivacity. There are, of course, no guarantees, but many of the practices mentioned here have been published in scientific journals. Disregard them and you may well be taking a big gamble with your mental and emotional well-being.

Healthy Habit 1: Eat Breakfast Every Morning

Breakfast eaters are champions of good health. Research shows people who have a morning meal tend to take in more vitamins and minerals and less fat and cholesterol. The result is often a leaner body, lower cholesterol count and less chance of overeating.

Healthy Habit 2: Add Fish and Omega-3 Fatty Acids to Your Diet

The AHA recommends a serving of fish two times per week. Besides being a good source of protein and a food relatively low in the bad type of dietary fat called saturated fat, fish has omega-3 fatty acids—which have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease.

Healthy Habit 3: Get Enough Sleep

"Your body has to have enough time to rest," says Michael Fleming, MD, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). Otherwise, he says you may find yourself feeling cranky and tired.

Healthy Habit 4: Make Social Connections
Community ties also help improve mental functioning, Fleming says. Group activities can help keep the mind active and maintain desirable levels of serotonin—the brain chemical associated with mood. "Lack of social interaction will [decrease] serotonin levels," Fleming says

Healthy Habit 5: Exercise for Better Health

• Helps control weight
• Maintains healthy bones, muscles and joints
• Reduces risk of developing high blood pressure and diabetes
• Promotes psychological well-being
• Reduces risk of death from heart disease
• Reduces risk of premature death

Healthy Habit 6: Practice Good Dental Hygiene

Flossing your teeth every day could add 6.4 years to your life, according to Michael Roizen, MD, author of RealAge. In his book, Roizen lists flossing as one of the most important daily activities—along with exercise and quitting smoking—that could extend life span.

Healthy Habit 7: Take Up a Hobby

Look up the word "hobby" in the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and you will find the definition as "a pursuit outside one's regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation." Since they are relaxing activities, hobbies are usually enjoyable. Some people find joy in craftwork, bird-watching, sports, going to flea markets, walking in the park or playing cards.

Healthy Habit 8: Protect Your Skin
Avoiding the sun, however, is not always ideal or practical. To reduce the risk of skin damage, the AAD offers the following tips:

• Always wear sunscreen with SPF 15 or higher.
• Don a hat with a brim and wear other protective clothing.
• Don't deliberately sunbathe.
• Try to avoid sun exposure between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m

Healthy Habit 9: Snack the Healthy Way

The ADA recommends five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day as part of a healthy diet. These plant foods can do many things to boost good health

Healthy Habit 10: Drink Water and Eat Dairy

Water and milk are essential fluids for good health, but they can also help with shedding pounds. The body needs water to keep properly hydrated, and individuals vary widely in how much water they need. Joints need it to stay in motion, and vital organs such as the heart, brain, kidney and liver need it to work properly

Healthy Habit 11: Drink Tea
There is some evidence that tea may help in improving memory and preventing cavities, cancer and heart disease. Fleming says, though, that the overall research is still inconclusive.

Healthy Habit 12: Take a Daily Walk
We're not talking about taking the time out of your busy schedule to work out—that's important, too—but infusing life- and limb-saving movement into your waking hours. "Just move. Pace during phone calls, while you're brushing your teeth, while watching your son's soccer game," says Bryant, noting that every 20 steps a person takes is one calorie burned.

Healthy Habit 13: Plan

There is, perhaps, no better word in the English language to better illustrate how you can incorporate healthy habits into your everyday life. "A little planning goes a long way," Johnson says. "Eating healthy never happens by accident."

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