Speaking at a Plenary Panel titled ‘80 is the new 50’ on the second day of the Forum, he said that women gain an awareness of mortality by the time they reach puberty. The various changes that happen to their body make them tune in to their health. Later in life, having babies makes them not only focused on their own health but also the health of their children.
“The real way in which women are going to play a more powerful role in the world in general, but especially in the region, is by looking at health. Women are attuned to health. It is subtle but it is always there.” By talking to women, who he called “Chief Family Officers” you can put health on the agenda.
Host of 'The Dr. Oz Show' and Vice-Chair and Professor of Surgery at Columbia University, Dr. Oz challenged many notions of health that we take for granted, and gave his perspectives on how we can reinvent the way we look at health so that we can adapt to our future.
At the outset, he sought to define what a good life is. “The good life is about what really matters to you, what really drives your happiness in life. It’s about living life 100% of who you want to be,” he said.
The pressures of modern life and career, he said, often give people too much responsibility that makes it hard to pay attention to health issues that matter. However, he stressed that it is possible to go into old age with grace and vitality.
Reinforcing the importance of “giving”, Dr. Oz said that when your energy is focused on giving, you grow as a person. He also said that in dealing with imperfections, we should remember that what makes us beautiful are our flaws.
Dr. Oz touched on four areas that hold people back from change – time, money, knowledge and fear. He said that rather than focusing on time management, people should focus on energy management since it is possible to gain energy from what they do.
He also said that one of the biggest factors that hold people back from change is fear. Emphasising that feelings are more important than facts to create change, he said: “People change based on what they feel.” He also stressed the importance of making it easy to do the right thing, for example, by keeping healthy foods closest to your reach and less healthy ones the farthest in the fridge. He also said it was important to “adore your solutions”. “Eat food you love that happens to be healthy,” he said.
He outlined five life adjustments that people need to make to improve their health – bringing blood pressure to the 115/75 range; exercising for at least 30 minutes a day, having a healthy diet that is easy to love; controlling stress and having good sleep; and curtailing addictions.
On reducing weight, he pointed to the importance of maintaining an optimal waist size since it has the biggest impact on health. To ensure health, waist size should be maintained below half a person’s height. However, he said that reducing weight using conventional diets can be challenging because they depend on will power. “One’s biology always beats one’s will power,” he said. Instead, he suggested that people eat healthy foods that they love.
He strongly emphasised the benefits of cutting down sugar. He talked to the audience about his 14-day plan to remove sugar cravings, which includes avoiding white foods like rice and white pasta. “If you get rid of sugar, your whole world will open up,” he said. Dr. Oz also talked to the audience about ways to ensure high quality sleep, another aspect of life that deeply impacts health.
The Global Women’s Forum Dubai 2016 is taking place at the Madinat Jumeirah from February 23-24, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai; and led by Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the UAE Gender Balance Council, President of Dubai Women Establishment and wife of HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, UAE. The Forum is organized by Dubai Women Establishment in cooperation with the Women's Forum for the Economy and Society.
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