Suit yourself for children 36 years old. Not yet offered the year of the holidays that accompany your friends Tour 40always sprinkling us after fall from the fertility cliff And officially – according to certain definitions, shared with me by my sister – in the middle of life.
So far, so commonplace. So when age was splashed in the newspapers this week, I was delighted to see him enjoy a moment in April. Only, it was not quite the story of the Bon-New that I hoped.
‘Why 36 is the age that your health problems start‘ Wh ‘S Health Editor reported, while Time Declared: “The party’s lifestyle is wreaking havoc on 36 -year -old health. “Unhealthy habits hit hard after being 36,” said another, before asking the question that my friends and I also asked: “Is it too late for you?”
The source arousing this existential effort was a study by researchers from Finland – and they took the hours. Over five decades, they followed the health of 326 participants – collecting physical and mental health data at 27, 36, 42, 50 and 61.
In addition to the type of health that you probably follow by yourself smartwatchResearchers assessed participants in their risky habits (more, strong consumption and an approach to the exercise; Less, an appetite for the basic jump).
Unsurprisingly, practicing more risky health habits was associated with weaker mental well-being, a generally less well feeling feeling and a higher number of metabolic risk factors. What has given the researchers to reflect is that this decline starts while you are still attending your friend’s weddings.
By reading research as a freshly struck 37 year old man, I cannot say that I am surprised. I celebrated my 36th Wolf around the sun from the karaoke room of an East London pub – and the Margaritas who lubricated my interpretation of Jolene would be the last that I would drink.
I was not an alcoholic. I was not exceeding the guides of 14 units per week either – I have already changed for months. But the hours struck by anxiety which followed three, two, sometimes only one drink had become wearing; The energy that the previous sobriety periods have delivered reliably, addictive.
It was not a rock -foundation, just the instinct won with the age of knowing what was good for my body – and what was good for my body no longer understood alcohol.
My decision has raised eyebrows. I had my right part of pleasure in my twenties and I continued to live this Time Could call “a party lifestyle” in their thirties, but with bedtime earlier and earlier. But if I was the only one to remove the Uzo at the wedding of the Greek island of my friend in September, I would not be for long.
At Christmas, two friends also tried sobriety For the size, many others cut – and those who did not move away from alcohol took tennis lessons, running marathons And plunge their toes, then the rest of their body, in swimming of cold water. The common characteristic connecting their newly acquired health habits? Holding 36.
That a specific aging alchemy takes place while you always respond to your Whatsapps birthday seems eccentric. More likely to reach a certain age is that we have reached a certain step; The greater more consuming jobs and care tasks and the vigor we have taken as acquired are starting to resemble our most precious asset.
But if it is true that the body maintains the score, it is also true that a 36 -year -old body keeps a trace of each fag, lift and unit with an efficiency that most smart watches kill. And that is not afraid to let you know when, frankly, you take the piss – sometimes noisily, often painfully.
Almost 18 months after this sad Gin-in-the-Tin (to think that my last drink was hot …) I found a health habit that works for me. And although some still try to try me, my friends are not among them (no mom, I don’t want to break 18 months of sobriety with the Pizza Express House to “keep you company”).
The Finnish study was observational, which means that the results cannot speak of causality (you feel depressed in thirty And You drank a lot in their twenties, not because You have drunk a lot in their twenties). But to exist in any The body must undertake your own observation experience. I am anxious after drinking; I feel ecstatic after my race; Yoga is magic emerging from movement. So, although 36 can be the age at which your lifestyle catches up with you, the best time to start a new health habit is now.
Nikki Osman is editor Women’s health. Journalist for 15 years, she wrote, ordered and published thousands of words on the culture of contemporary well-being and how to get involved with her in a way that works for your health rather than against. Passionate about social health, she worked on campaigns designed to help people lead more connected lives, as well as initiatives that aim to offer more equitable access to health.