GNED 140 Assignment 2: Vitality Compass Re-Test Analysis

This assignment, for GNED 140, focuses on analyzing the results of a Vitality Compass re-test. The student is required to compare their initial and re-test scores, reflecting on any changes in their "Healthy Life Expectancy" and providing explanations for these shifts. The assignment emphasizes critical thinking, requiring the student to address lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise, mental health, and social connections as they relate to longevity. The student is expected to reference the Blue Zones website and integrate information on topics like meat consumption, junk food, sodium intake, friendships, depression, anxiety, stress management, and anger management. The assignment also includes a title page, reference page, and the original and re-test Vitality Compass reports. The overall goal is to understand the impact of lifestyle choices on health and potential life expectancy, using the Vitality Compass as a tool for self-assessment and reflection. The student's ability to critically analyze the results and provide well-supported explanations is a key aspect of the assessment. The student has provided the solution for this assignment which will be published on the Desklib platform.

LIFE EXPECTANCY - JUNE 20, 2019
You could add 35.0 more years with a few simple changes.
20.0
65.4
100.4
Your Healthy Life Expectancy
Your Life Expectancy
Your Potential Life Expectancy
ADD 35.0 MORE YEARS
Your Life expectancy is 65.4 years and your healthy life expectancy (the years free of cancer,
heart disease, and diabetes) is 20.0. You can add up to 35.0 more years to your life and add
healthy years to your life by optimizing your lifestyle and environment. Below are
recommendations specific to you and information on how to implement these
recommendations. For a more comprehensive approach to making these changes try our our
online course Staying Alive: 9 Habits for Living a Longer, Healthier Life
EAT LESS MEAT
The World Health Organization recently issued a report that had a lot of meat-lovers seeing
red. It concluded that eating processed meats like bacon, ham and lunch meats can increase the
risk of developing certain types of cancer, noting that red meats like beef and pork are
“probably carcinogenic.”

In the Blue Zones, people don’t eat nearly the amounts of meat that Americans do. We found
that people there on average were eating small amounts of meat, about 2 ounces or less at a
time (a portion the size of a deck of cards), about five times per month.
Looking for ways to eat less meat? The American Cancer Society offers this tip: Treat meat
more like a side dish, not the main one. And the American Heart Association offers this advice:
Limit yourself to lean meat like skinless chicken and fish, and less than 6 ounces total per day.
For more, check out the Reducetarianmovement, which urges people to reduce meat
consumption (but not cut it out altogether).
Here are four tasty and filling Blue Zones plant-based recipes that make a great main dish for
any meal:
• 5-Minute Tasty Squash and Beans
• Cauliflower-Chickpea Tacos
• Ikarian Longevity Stew with Black Eyed Peas
• Longevity Minestrone Soup
DUMP JUNK
The joys of junk food are clear: It’s cheap, fast, tasty and available everywhere. But America’s
favorite sweets, snacks and fast food are also chock full of calories from refined sugars and
artery-clogging fats, loaded with sodium and lacking anything of nutritional value, including
fiber, vitamins and minerals.
There’s no question that junk food has made America fat and is a growing health hazard
worldwide. Eating these foods can lead to any number of ailments, including high blood
pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease and many types of cancer.

But here’s the good news: Cutting junk food out of your diet may not be as hard as you think.
Blue Zones Checklists offer science-backed tips on how to set up your environment to cut out
junk food and eat healthier.
CUT SODIUM
Shaking your salt habit will help you lower blood pressure, which can curb risk of stroke and
heart disease. A recent study also suggested that high sodium intake is also bad for our bones.
But Americans love their salt. The American Heart Association recommends that adults get no
more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day; U.S. government guidelines recommend less
than 2,300 milligrams. But most U.S. adults get way more than that, roughly 3,400 milligrams.
And the salt shaker is not our biggest enemy. More than 75 percent of our sodium intake comes
from restaurant and processed foods (roughly 40 percent of it comes from a list of 10 of high-
sodium foods, including pizza and deli meats).
For tips on how to change your environment to eat less salt and lead healthier lives, check out
our Blue Zones Kitchen Checklist.
BE FRIENDLY
Research suggests that strong friendships may lead to a longer life. That certainly seems true
in the world’s Blue Zones, where social connectedness is the traditional norm. In Japan, they
have a name for close knit circles of friends who lean on each other for support throughout
their lives: moai.
It makes sense when you think about the things our friends do for us. As the Mayo Clinic notes,
friends take an interest in our health and well-being, increase our happiness and reduce stress,
help us cope with trauma and drama in our lives, and boost our sense of purpose (which is also
among the secrets to longevity in the Blue Zones).

The lesson? Nurture the friendships you have, especially the ones with healthy, happy people.
You can learn more about about tending those relationships in these articles:
• For Years and Money: 5 Rules for Building True Friendships
• Friends Nourish the Body and Soul
DON'T IGNORE DEPRESSION
Science tells us that depression is a real enemy of longevity. The condition is often associated
with a number of unhealthy behaviors, including smoking and drinking, getting too little sleep
and overeating. A World Health Organization survey concluded that depression can be even
more damaging to health than chronic diseases like asthma, diabetes and arthritis. And
depression is not uncommon – roughly 7.6 percentof people in the U.S. over age 12 suffer from
it.
Important Tips:
• Most important, if you suspect you or a loved one is suffering from depression,
don’t ignore it – get medical help. A wide variety of treatments are available, which
may include therapy or medications, and health care professionals can help you decide
what’s best for you, the WHO notes.
• Pay attention to your diet. For example, studies suggest that people deficient in
folic acid have higher risk of depression. Good sources of folate include green leafy
vegetables, citrus fruits, grains and legumes. Also pay attention to how you feel when
you eat. People who eat when they feel depressed tend to have the most trouble losing
weight, which can lead to other health problems.

• Exercise. If you are depressed, exercising might seem like the last thing you
want to do, but it could make a big difference, the Mayo Clinic says. Here are
Mayo’s tips on how to get started.
• Lean on your friends and family. A strong support network is key to recovering
from depression – and reaching out for help is not a sign of weakness, notes
HelpGuide.org, an emotional health website. The site offers 10 tips for reaching out
and building relationships.
• Get screened for depression, especially as you get older. Depression is the most
common form of mental illness among older adults, but it is also one of the most
successfully treated illnesses, the CDC notes.
• Have faith. Recent studies have suggested that people who are more religious
are at lower risk of depression than those who are not spiritual.
ANXIETY AND STRESS
We’ve all felt moments of stress and anxiety. And in our busy in lives in a fast-moving world,
sometimes we feel it routinely, along with the ill-health effects that stress creates.
But as with depression, stress is very treatable. A number of healthy habits can help you handle
stress, from exercise and eating right to sleeping more and spending time with friends.
Learn more about maximizing health and longevity with this Blue Zones article on stress
management, which includes four tips on effective strategies for combating stress in your life.
The American Heart Association also has good advice on how to reduce stress.
IMPROVE YOUR ATTITUDE
Anger can surface in many places – in line at a coffee shop, or in traffic. Or maybe your anger
runs deeper in the form of a long-simmering frustration over an issue at work or at home.

Anger is a normal human emotion, but coping with it effectively is key to your health. Festering
anger can eventually erode important relationships in your life, as well as put you at higher risk
for ailments from high blood pressure to heart disease.
So finding the right coping strategies can both smooth out your days and improve your
longevity. One strategy: For one week, note the events and situations in your life that trigger a
negative physical, mental or emotional response. Then seriously consider: What could you do
differently next time to make yourself feel better about these events?
For more, check out these three suggestions from the Blue Zones Power 9 Principles designed
to help you outsmart anger.
The Mayo Clinic also has “10 tips to tame your temper,” which include using humor, and
learning to let go of a grudge.