WOMEN LIVE LONGER THAN MEN!
This is true all around the world! Women live longer than men. For example, life expectancy at birth in Quebec in 2016 was 84.4 years for women and 80.5 years for men. And in Canada, 84 years for women and 79.9 years for men.
WHY?
Among other things, for BIOLOGICAL REASONS. According to scientific research, women benefit from their CHROMOSOMES and HORMONES. For example: In women, body fat accumulates under the skin rather than around organs in the abdomen, such as is the case for men. This helps reduce the risk of heart disease for women, at least before menopause.
But also because of their BEHAVIOUR. Generally speaking, women have LESS RISKY behaviour than men and commit suicide less.
And because they ARE MORE CONCERNED WITH THEIR HEALTH than men are. Several studies have shown that women are especially ON THE LOOKOUT FOR INFORMATION ABOUT HEALTH.
WHAT ABOUT LIFE EXPECTANCY WHEN HEALTHY?
However, the World Health Organization shows that healthy life expectancy is, on average, about 10 YEARS LESS THAN THE OVERALL LIFE EXPECTANCY. This perspective seems much less encouraging than the first one.
Therefore, even though women live longer than men, they suffer from CHRONIC DISEASES more often than men do.
Hence the importance of adopting a HEALTHY LIFESTYLE that can help reduce your risk of having these diseases and allow you to live a longer full and active life.
Thus, here are 5 great ways
TO LIVE A LONG AND HEALTHY LIFE
Vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts and seeds, whole grains, fish, meat, dairy products and good fats will help you maintain a healthy weight or lose excess weight. Avoid processed and ultra-processed foods that are often the cause of excess weight, putting you at risk for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers. If you worry about your diet not providing you with all the needed nutrients, consider taking multivitamins and calcium supplements to prevent osteoporosis.
- Moderate your drinking. We recommend: no more than 1 to 2 glasses a day. Risk of breast and liver cancers.
- Don’t smoke or expose yourself to second-hand smoke. Risk of lung cancer.
- Don’t use drugs.
- Don’t have unprotected sex.
- Don’t overexpose yourself to the sun. Protect yourself against UV rays to prevent wrinkles, aging and skin cancer.
- Pap test for cervical cancer screening (from 21 to 69 years old, every 2-3 years);
- Mammography for breast cancer screening (from 50 to 69 years old, every other year or every year and younger if you have a family history of breast cancer);
- Bone mineral density testing by osteodensitometry for osteoporosis (65 years and over, once);
- Fecal immunochemical or fecal occult blood test for colorectal cancer (from 50 to 74 years old, every other year).