← Notes to self

Stacking the deck

When you hear people say

“He smoked all his life and lived to 100”

or

“She was a health nut but still got cancer”

I think people are missing the point

When it comes to health, stacking the deck in our favour roughly doubles the chances of a long healthy life

How to stack the deck:

  1. Eat mostly vegetables
  2. Exercise regularly and widely
  3. When not exercising, move regularly
  4. Sleep well
  5. Don’t drink or smoke
  6. Be social
  7. Spend a decent amount of time outside
  8. Challenge all of your brain: learn music, learn languages, practise logic and reasoning, be creative
  9. Avoid stress
  10. Reset regularly with meditation

Here’s the data

Without stacking the deck in your favour:

Chance of getting cancer: ~50%
Chance of getting heart disease: ~30%
Chance of getting dementia: ~15%

Stacking the deck…

Chance of getting cancer ~32%
Chance of getting heart disease ~13%
Chance of getting dementia ~9%