My health

Some tools and thoughts to maintain good habits. I don't want to obsess over my health, but I do want to stay healthy enough to fully enjoy life.

The basics

Based on the strongest scientific literature, there are several habits that can significantly improve my health: a balanced diet, daily physical activity, regular sleep schedules,¹ no tobacco,² little to no alcohol,³ avoiding air pollution,⁴ reducing UV exposure,⁵ and quality social relationships.⁶1 – Regularity predicts mortality better than duration, with the most regular sleepers showing 20 to 48% lower all-cause mortality than the least regular ones ☞ Windred DP & al (2024). Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration. Sleep 47(1) Source2 – Smokers lose at least a decade of life expectancy, and quitting before 40 removes about 90% of that excess risk ☞ Jha P & al (2013). 21st-century hazards of smoking and benefits of cessation in the United States. N Engl J Med 368(4) Source3 – Once the abstainer bias is corrected, the supposed benefit of moderate drinking disappears. Worth knowing that the NASEM 2025 review concludes the opposite, so the debate is still open ☞ Zhao J & al (2023). Association between daily alcohol intake and risk of all-cause mortality. JAMA Netw Open 6(3) Source4 – I currently live in Toulouse, France, which has a good to moderate air quality. But I plan to move to Helsinki, Finland, in the near future, which has excellent to good air quality. Either way it is worth the attention, as an extra 5 µg/m³ of PM2.5 raises natural-cause mortality by 13%, and the effect holds below the regulatory limits ☞ Strak M & al (2021). Long term exposure to low level air pollution and mortality in eight European cohorts within the ELAPSE project. BMJ 374 Source5 – In the only randomised trial on the question, daily sunscreen use left about a quarter as many invasive melanomas after ten years of follow-up (HR 0.27) ☞ Green AC & al (2011). Reduced melanoma after regular sunscreen use: randomized trial follow-up. J Clin Oncol 29(3) Source6 – The WHO links around 871,000 deaths a year to loneliness and social isolation, and a meta-analysis of 148 studies puts the survival advantage of good social relationships at 50% ☞ WHO Commission on Social Connection (2025). From loneliness to social connection: charting a path to healthier societies Source; Holt-Lunstad J & al (2010). Social relationships and mortality risk: a meta-analytic review. PLOS Med 7(7) Source

Everything else tends to be marginal, less proven, not actionable, or irrelevant for me, when it isn't an outright marketing scam.

What I mean by a balanced diet is a diverse and mostly plant-based one, with enough protein, fibre, and healthy fats. I don't want to avoid all salty, processed, and sugary foods as long as they stay occasional, and even less to follow strict diets that are hard to maintain, guilt-inducing, and often not backed by science. To help me get there, I first leaned on frozen ready vegetables, then on HelloFresh – with more variety and the pleasure of cooking, but for a higher price.

Physical activity

I got back into training in 2026 with a single goal, long-term health. As usual, I chose to lean mainly on the scientific literature, rather than the fitness media's obsessions,⁷ and to aim for a simple programme: most of the mortality benefit of muscle strengthening is captured in the first hour a week,⁸ and the dose-response curve flattens fast, so the frequency and volume that separate a decent programme from an optimal one barely matter when I chase neither performance nor looks.⁹7 – A good half of what gets argued over online (free weights against machines, this progression method, that piece of kit, etc) has no measurable effect at twelve months.8 – Maximum risk reduction lands at roughly 30 to 60 minutes of muscle strengthening a week. The curve rising again beyond that is most likely an artefact of self-reported data, and is no reason to cap volume ☞ Momma H & al (2022). Muscle-strengthening activities are associated with lower risk and mortality in major non-communicable diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. Br J Sports Med 56(13) Source9 – At equated volume, frequency has a negligible effect on muscle growth, volume shows sharply diminishing returns, and most of the strength gain is already there at two sessions a week ☞ Pelland JC & al (2026). The resistance training dose response: meta-regressions exploring the effects of weekly volume and frequency on muscle hypertrophy and strength gains. Sports Med 56 Source

In practice, a home base for cardio, core, and mobility (Darebee's Drifter programme) plus two weekly strength sessions at the gym around loaded compound movements (squat, deadlift, presses, and rows). Always two or three reps in reserve, never to failure, which costs almost nothing and buys recovery and technical margin.¹⁰ The main lifts stay heavy, as bone responds to load magnitude rather than to volume or modality, and light exercise is inert for it.¹¹10 – Despite limited evidence, I don't think training to failure is a bad bet for a competitor chasing every last gain… But I'm not one, and besides, it saps my motivation, makes me feel awful, and leaves me less productive the next day.11 – Intensity is the discriminant. Low-intensity protocols are without effect, and heavy resistance combined with impact is the most osteogenic stimulus ☞ Kistler-Fischbacher M & al (2021). The effect of exercise intensity on bone in postmenopausal women (part 2): a meta-analysis. Bone 143 Source; Watson SL & al (2018). High-intensity resistance and impact training improves bone mineral density and physical function in postmenopausal women with osteopenia and osteoporosis: the LIFTMOR randomized controlled trial. J Bone Miner Res 33(2) Source

As always, I offload the discipline to software: my own tracker and planner at body.goulven-clech.dev (work in progress) writes progression in advance, so no tedious manual maths, and no session hangs on the mood of the day. It is local-first by design, and syncs across devices only when it can. It also keeps a simple sleep log and holds me to a floor of 6,000 steps a day, separate but equally important problems.

Mind activity