The Nordic Guide to Living 10 Years Longer. Bertil Marklund

      I’VE SPENT A lot of time over the years thinking about how one should live one’s life in order to have as much time on this earth as possible. Both my parents had multiple risk factors, and unfortunately I lost them far too early. That shook me up. Would their genes have a negative impact on my health and longevity? I decided to get to the bottom of what I needed to do to enjoy as long and as healthy a life as possible.

      I am a Swedish physician with over 20 years’ experience in clinical patient care, working at different locations on the Swedish west coast in and around Gothenburg, and I have treated countless patients throughout the years. I have also done extensive research in areas such as family medicine and public health for more than 20 years. As a doctor and researcher, I’ve had access to all the research I needed, and of course, I was already quite well-informed about the issues. In the medical world, we talk a lot about risk factors that lead to disease and premature death. However, I began to think along new lines and became increasingly interested in the health promotion perspective which has been gaining popularity in Scandinavia—how to boost health rather than focusing on disease and death. I decided to study health factors instead of risk factors, to shift from the negative to the positive, with a focus on new knowledge about why some people are so healthy and live so long. I was of course also looking at many of the people around me; what was it that helps Nordic people, in particular, live long and healthy lives?

      The research showed me what I wanted to know—how to stay healthy and live longer. Studies showed that the genetic component only accounts for around 25 per cent of longevity, with lifestyle coming in at 75 per cent. The figures may vary somewhat between studies, but they all indicate that lifestyle is the critical factor. This was a relatively new finding, and I was pleased to learn that I was the one in control of my longevity, not my genes. I can affect my health by shaping my own lifestyle, and the benefits are fantastic—potentially adding as many as 10 healthy years, maybe more, to my life. It is up to me to decide how I want to age—and don’t want to age.

      Now I want to pass on what I’ve learned, from a Nordic perspective, about lifestyle changes for a healthy and long life to everyone interested in improving and boosting their health and putting the brake on disease and ageing. Hopefully this little book will help you. It can be summed up as a short guide to a long life.

       Why yet another self-help book?

      THERE IS ALREADY a plethora of self-help books on all sorts of health conditions and lifestyle choices and how to make yourself feel better. People tend to buy books about something in their lives that they want to change, and that book is often 300–400 pages long, sometimes even more. If you’re really ambitious, you might read the whole book in less than a week or so. The content is good, the advice plentiful, but the problem is that as you reach the end of the book, there is a considerable risk that you’ll feel completely overwhelmed. There is so much to take in that you have to take deep breaths before you begin putting the new advice into practice.

      There is a long gap between words and action—and that is a problem.

      The changes you are willing to make straight away, preferably the same day or the day after, have a great chance of success. If you start thinking that you have to work yourself up to it and then begin early next week or maybe next month, then there is a major chance that there will be no change. Instead, after a while you might find yourself buying a new self-help book in the hope that it will offer some easier options.

      But this book is different, and I’ll tell you why.

       NORDIC FOCUS

      THE NORDIC COUNTRIES are known for their pared-down simplicity, and in Sweden, we refer to this as lagom. There is no English equivalent to this inherently Swedish word, but it is best translated as “just the right amount,” and in Sweden we often say, “Just the right amount is best.” Lagom can be applied to almost any situation—from the amount of coffee you’d like to how much exercise you should do—but more than that, it indicates balance and a Swedish idea of moderation. The Nordic Guide to Living 10 Years Longer applies this ethos to health—and I want to emphasize that to live a healthy life, you do not have to go to extremes. It’s the small and simple changes that amount to a happier, healthier life.

       CREATES MOTIVATION

      IT IS IMPORTANT to have an answer to the question of why you should change your lifestyle. If the answer is that it gives you a chance to live 10 years longer, and be healthier with it, then this is hopefully a strong motivator to make a lifestyle change. Most people would want a longer and healthier life, and the basis of this book is to explain how you can achieve that.

       ROOTED IN EXPERT KNOWLEDGE

      ALL THE FACTS and tips in this book are based on the experience and knowledge I’ve gained over the years, as a doctor in primary care in the Swedish health system and as a researcher in general medicine and public health. The book’s facts are also founded on extensive studies of scientific literature, health research, and statements by health experts as well as observations on the classic Nordic lifestyle.

       NEW KNOWLEDGE ABOUT INFLAMMATION

      THE BOOK IS based on exciting research showing that the big threat to our health is the occurrence of inflammation in the body. The common thread running through the book is how this happens, the consequences it has, and how we can protect ourselves against it.

       PROMOTION AND PREVENTION