Welcome to the Wellness Explorations Newsletter. The purpose of this letter is to give you brief updates on health news or research that I find interesting, as well as to offer you my personal reflections about various aspects of life and health. The letter is sent to interested subscribers, but the main text of the letter will also appear on this blog site each month. 

This first report is a particularly apt one for January. We’ve known for some time that health behavior has a powerful influence on quality of life as well as on mortality. A study done by the University of Cambridge in England documents how much four basic health behaviors affect life. 

The study was done on over twenty thousand men and women between the ages of 45-79, following them for an average of eleven years. None of these people had any evidence of cardiovascular disease or cancer at the start.

The four health behaviors evaluated include non-smoking, physical activity, moderate alcoholic intake (two drinks a day or less,) and fruit and vegetable intake of at least five servings a day. The results were eye opening.

After eleven years, those with four desirable behaviors, compared to those with none of them, showed a four-fold lower risk of mortality. The authors of the study calculated that for those with all four desirable factors, this was equivalent to being fourteen years younger in chronological age. 

What made the study even more convincing was the step-wise progression of risk. That is, all four desirable behaviors were associated with the best results, three desirable behaviors had the next best results, and so on, to the group with none of the desirable health behaviors who had the worst results. 

For those thinking about enhancing their health outlook in 2009, this study provides powerful motivation. One’s improved quality of life is worth any added self-discipline it may take to follow a healthy lifestyle. 

To shift gears at this point, I’m flying on the first leg of a trip to Ethiopia later today. I will be there with a volunteer group from Taylor University for the month of January, and am looking forward eagerly to this venture.

For those of you who did not read my article about Ethiopia in the Chronicle last week, it is now on my website under the category heading of Chronicle columns. If you would like to read that article, return to the home page and find Ethiopia in the Chronicle columns. It explains why I’m so interested in this trip.   

Since time is flying by, I will bring this letter to a conclusion. Part of it will appear on my website blog, for the sake of people who are not subscribed to this newsletter. If you would like to respond to anything in this letter, my suggestion is to do so on the website blog. I am turning my computer off at noon today, and will be essentially incommunicado for the next four weeks. 

This will be a monthly newsletter. There will be no advertising of any health products of any kind, though on occasion I may mention health meetings or conferences that may be of interest. Your privacy will be respected and your name and email address will be kept confidential. If at any time you wish to unsubscribe, simply send me a quick email with the word “Unsubscribe.” 

Be Well!