Seventeen million pageviews can't be all wrong.

Buckle up, folks.

The book Outliers begins with the story of Roseto, PA, where the incidence of heart disease is half the national average. Upon looking at the small town in detail, researchers found that the diet, nutrition, occupation and exercise levels of Roseto residents were in line with neighboring towns, but that Roseot had imported their small town culture whole from the town in Italy where the entire town had previously lived. Social networks and interactions were imported just as they were in Italy, and it is the sustained and healthy interactions between citizens that accounts for their low rate of heart disease.

http://www.amazon.com/Outliers-Story-Success-Malcolm-Gladwell/dp/0316017930

What would it take for Laguna Beach to build healthy habits as a community?

A way to forestall creeping urbanization and mansionization would be helpful, I feel.

Think of a Healthy Lifestyle Change You Can Make

Healthy Laguna! is all about getting people to make lifestyle changes, however big or small, that promote health. Instead of 3 hours of TV, try 2 1/2 and use the other half hour to take a short walk. Put 1/3 less ice cream in the bowl for that late-night snack. Call a friend you haven't spoken to in a while. Or to take a bigger step, sign up for yoga or an exercise class at the Community Center, sometimes walk instead of ride, volunteer at a non-profit agency, spend time in nature--there is so much of it around Laguna in our hills and beaches. In other words, take action. Change your pattern. Do something in a new and healthier way. It pays off.

Doing something healthy like exercising doesn't work nearly as well when you resolve to do it three times a week as it does when you decide to do it seven days a week. When you resolve on three days a week, TODAY is never the optimal day. And very often that turns out to be the case tomorrow too, when that turns into TODAY.

It's unfortunate but there it is.

Good relationships = better physical health

Is it unhealthful to be lonely? Yes, according to a new study relates loneliness to dealing with stress and its effect on inflammation. Specifically, subjects who reported higher levels of loneliness had higher inflammatory production when performing a stressful task. The May 21, 2013 issue of This Week In Psychological Science, a publication of the Association of Psychological Science, published a study titled “Loneliness Promotes Inflammation During Acute Stress.” Past research has suggested that loneliness is associated with increased inflammation and problems with immune system regulation. This suggests yet one more way in which social relationships impact health and well-being. - MJ

Welcome to Healthy Laguna! Jump in!

Healthy Laguna! is a consortium of leaders from health-centered Laguna Beach organizations.

Our mission is to encourage you to make important changes in your everyday routine that promote better health and more happiness.

Why bother? Research shows that major diseases like cardiovascular, obesity, diabetes and cancer are all lifestyle-related. But if lifestyle can kill, it's also the antidote. Positive changes, even small ones, can bring major benefits to health, a sense of well-being, and aging successfully.

Dr. Roger Walsh of the UC Irvine College of Medicine wrote a paper that has shaped our organization. In it, he identifies eight lifestyle areas that are essential to a healthy, balanced, fulfilling life:

• Exercise

• Nutrition/diet

• Spending time in nature

• Relationships

• Recreation

• Relaxation/stress management

• Faith or spiritual involvement

• Service to community

Take a moment to consider one step, however small, that you could take right now that could:

• Reduce your stress level

• Reduce reliance on alcohol or drugs for relaxation

• Help you eat a balanced, healthful diet

• Get you to stretch, move, and strengthen muscle tone

• Improve an important relationship


• Eliminate a risky behavior such as texting and driving, having unprotected sex, driving with a blood alcohol level over the legal limit

• Strengthen your network of close friends




        

Healthy Laguna! Needs You

This is a community blog. Please tell us your experiences—what worked for you, what didn’t, in working toward a lifestyle change?

We invite you to post:

• Photos

• Recipes

• Healthful Habits

• Experiences

• Solutions

• Questions

• Articles and books

• Links

• Graphics

• Cartoons

• Local Resources

We invite you to get your neighborhood, club, PTA, family, school, exercise class, group of friends, or organization involved with Healthy Laguna. Please join us!