Dr. Sarah Berry has revealed the four key pillars of health that are integral to making sure you feel and look your best
A top doctor has shared the four key pillars of health, and they’re so straightforward you’ll kick yourself for not clocking them.
Dr. Sarah Berry, with a hefty two decades of nutrition research experience, is a Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at King’s College London and has led over 30 human nutrition studies focusing on cardio-metabolic health.
In a recent appearance on the Zoe Science and Nutrition Podcast, hosted by Jonathan Wolf and Professor Tim Spector, Dr. Berry highlighted how “interlinked” diet, sleep, stress, and physical activity are. She emphasised starting with diet as the cornerstone for overall health improvement.
Echoing Dr. Berry’s sentiments, Dr. Rangan Chatterjee, the renowned GP behind ‘The 4 Pillar Plan’ and ‘The Stress Solution’, also preaches about his version of the ‘four pillars of health’: food, movement, sleep, and relaxation.
He suggests that even minor tweaks, particularly in our eating habits, can have a massive impact on our health and wellbeing. A proponent of the 12-hour food window, Dr. Chatterjee encourages fitting all your grub within—you guessed it—a 12-hour timeframe.
“I say if you can do 12 hours a day, tick it off, and move on to another recommendation. Try and get that balance. It’s a very simple change that I’ve seen be transformative for people,” he divulged.
There’s a heap of science out there underscoring the fact that sleep is a vital cornerstone of health, according to experts.
Pioneering studies kicked off in 1925 with the world’s first sleep research lab at the University of Chicago, and thanks to the groundbreaking work by Professor Allan Rechtschaffen, a leading figure in sleep study and the long-time boss of the university’s Sleep Laboratory, a shocking revelation was made; mammals literally need sleep to survive.
His experiments on sleep-deprived rats ended up with them suffering dire health issues and kicking the bucket within a fortnight. Decades of scrutiny into why sleep is so essential for keeping us ticking over have followed, but we’re still scratching our heads over the exact ways in which a lack of this wreaks havoc on living creatures.
All of which means, getting your forty winks down to a fine art is bound to do wonders for wellbeing.
Another key factor in the wellness stakes is managing stress and its chill-out cousin, relaxation. The American Psychological Association (APA) has issued a stark warning: “The long-term activation of the stress response system and the overexposure to cortisol and other stress hormones that come with it can disrupt almost all of your body’s processes.
“This can put you at increased risk for a variety of physical and mental health problems, including anxiety, depression, digestive issues, headaches, muscle tension and pain, heart disease, heart attack, high blood pressure, stroke, sleep problems, weight gain, and memory and concentration impairment. Chronic stress may also cause disease.”
To combat this, the APA suggests identifying the causes of stress, forging strong relationships, stepping away when angry, giving your mind a break, and seeking help from a mental health professional. Exercise is another cornerstone of good health, with the NHS stressing its importance: “It’s essential to be physically active if you want to live a healthy and fulfilling life into old age.”
The WHO warns that “physical inactivity is one of the leading risk factors for noncommunicable diseases mortality.”
Insufficiently active individuals face a “People who are insufficiently active have a 20% to 30% increased risk of death compared to people who are sufficiently active,” highlighting that “Physical activity is beneficial to health and well-being and conversely, physical inactivity increases risk for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and other poor health outcomes.”
Small but sincere efforts to improve these four pillars of health can greatly enhance one’s life quality.