We continue to answer the question, Can a Healthy Lifestyle Improve Your Healthspan?  Dr. Chaney writes, " Diet and some of the other lifestyle behaviors were remarkably constant over 34 years in both the Nurse's Health Study and the Health Professional's Follow-up Study.  That means that the lifespan and HealthSpan benefits reported in these studies probably resulted from adhering to a healthy lifestyle for most of their adult years.  However, it is never too late to start improving your lifestyle.  You may not achieve the full benefits described in the studies in last week's article, but you still can add years and disease-free years to your life.  
     How to Calculate Your Alternative Health Eating Index:  Simply add up the points you score fore each food category:

1. Vegetables: Count 2 points for each serving you eat per day (up to 5 servings).  One serving = 1 cup green leafy vegetables or 1/2 cup for all other vegetables.  2. Fruits: Count 2 1/2 points for each serving you eat per day (up to 4 servings). One serving = 1 piece of fruit or 1/2 cup of berries.

 3. Whole Grains: Count 2 points for each serving you eat per day (up to 5 servings). One serving = 1/2 cup whole-grain rice, bulgur and other whole grains, cereal, and pasta or 1 slice of bread.

4. Sugary Drinks and Fruit Juice: Count 10 points if you drink 0 servings per week. Count 5 points for 3-4 servings per week (1/2 serving per day).  Count 0 points for 70r more servings per week (> 1 serving per day).  5. Nuts and Beans: Count 10 points if you eat 7 or more servings per week (> 1 serving per day). Count 5 points for 3-4 servings per week (1/2 serving per day). Count 0 points for 0 servings per week.  One serving = 1 oz. nuts or seeds.  1 Tbs. peanut butter, 1/2 cup beans, 31/2 oz. tofu. 6. Red and Processed Meat: Count 10 points if you eat 0 servings per week. Count 7 points for 3-4 servings per week (1/2 serving per day). Count 3 points for 3 servings per week (1 serving per day). Count 0 points for > 11/2 servings a day.  One serving = 1 1/2 oz. processed meats (bacon, ham, sausage, hot dogs, deli meat) or 4 oz red meat (steak, hamburger, pork chops, lamb chops, etc.) 7. Seafood: Count 10 points if you eat 2 servings per week. Count 5 points for 1 serving per week. Count 0 points for 0 servings per week.  1 serving = 4 oz.
     Now that you have your total, the scoring system is : 41 or higher is excellent, 37-40 is good, 33-36 is average (remember that it is average to be sick in this country), 28-32 is below average and below 28 is poor.  
     If you calculate your diet with the Alternate Healthy Eating Index, you will see that most of us fall short of perfection. Supplementation/vitamins can fill in the gaps. ~ Mary Ann

Next week: Could Toxic Chemicals Lower a Child's IQ?