Get Healthy With Simple Life Changes

Jan. 18, 2006 — -- If you think you don't have much influence over your health and your aging, think again. Doctors now know that you, not your genetics, control 70 percent of your aging process.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, host of the forthcoming Discovery Health Channel special "You, The Owner's Manual," says that by making simple changes, you can have a huge positive impact on your health.

Oz's Tips for a Healthier You

Two weeks of healthy behavior can affect your life span. Even if you've eaten junk food for years, give it up for two weeks and it will change where you are on the life curve.

Push-ups are a simple way to test how fit you are. Women ages 30 and under should be able to do 45 knee push-ups, and men ages 30 and under should be able to do 35 full push-ups. For every decade older you are, you can lose five push-ups.

Avoid soda. Try not to consume products with high fructose syrup, because not only is that substance high in calories, but it blocks your body's ability to tell whether it's full.

Cutting 100 calories a day can have an enormous impact. That reduction in calories will result in a 10-pound weight loss per year.

Choose butter over margarine, but olive oil over both. Our ancestors ate butter, so the body recognizes it and knows how to metabolize it. But olive oil has much healthier fats, so that's the best choice. Keep olive oil in the refrigerator so the fats stay stable and so it doesn't go rancid.

For more information on Oz's special on the Discovery Health Channel, visit http://health.discovery.com/