Doctor Shares 5 Daily Habits to Boost Health, Sleep & Longevity

Three months have passed since we entered 2026. Some of us may have followed through with our new year resolutions and vice-versa. The truth is, we don’t have to wait till the arrival of a new year to change our lives. In a recent YouTube Podcast, Dr Jeremy London, a board-certified cardiovascular surgeon with more than 25 years of clinical experiences provided 5 simple habits that we can adopt from today onwards in order to uplift our physical and mental health. Lets explore these habits in this article.

Start making positive changes to your life with this simple step first i.e., by adjusting your sleep time. Dr Jeremy said: “Set an alarm for the time that you want to go to sleep every night. Why is this important? Well, going to bed at the same time is just as important as waking up at the same time every morning. That consistency of that sleep-wake cycle helps to set your body into rhythm, into a normal wake-sleep cycle. The bottom line is, if your sleep isn't good, it permeates every aspect of your life… When we're asleep, our brains actually get washed of the waste material that is built up through the day. And so poor sleep then results in increased waste material within the brain tissue itself, and our brains don't have time to rest and recover so that we're prepared for the next day.”

Getting some sunlight everyday is the second best habit to change our lives for the good. The Dr said: “Get outside every day and get sunlight into your eyes. You don't want to stare directly into the sun because that can be dangerous, but you want to look in the direction, particularly of the rising sun, if that works in your schedule, but get outside and get sunlight in your eyes, particularly early in the day. It initiates cortisol release for your entire system at a time when you need it so that you have cortisol, which is a wake-up type hormone through the course of the day. It helps set the clock for melatonin release later in the day when it's time for you to go to sleep. Melatonin is a hormone that's released in the brain that helps you relax and actually go to sleep.”

It has been scientifically proven that walking 10-20 after a meal can reduce our blood sugar levels and can support us in weight loss. A 2011 study published in the National Library of Medicine concluded that engaging in a brisk walk for 30 minutes soon after dinner or lunch will lead to weight loss.

Even though drinking alcohol is a personal choice, Dr Jeremy pointed out that quitting would uplift your health. In his own words: “Drinking alcohol is absolutely a personal choice. Your body, your rules. And I am not judgmental. If it is something that you choose and you feel like it's important for you, I have absolutely no issue with that. What is important to me is that you are educated about what it means to drink alcohol. I want you to understand that even moderate alcohol use is no longer considered safe.”

The Dr asked us to engage in aerobic exercises: “One day a week, you need to be doing high-intensity aerobic training. If you're walking, walk faster, walk at an incline. If you're running, work sprints in. I'm not looking for you to go from walking to doing stairs at a stadium someplace that's way out of your reach. Unless that's something that you want to do. This is all relative, and here's why. VO2 max is a measure of your cardiovascular efficiency, which is your heart and cardiovascular system's ability to deliver oxygen and nutrients to your tissues, to all the organs in your body. Higher VO2 max, more efficient heart, means it moves the needle for longevity. VO2 max is the single most powerful indicator of longevity. And the way to move that needle effectively is to push yourself one day a week.”

Similarly, he also recommended lifting weighting or resistance training as well: “Just like VO2 max and aerobic training, muscle mass is a very important indicator of health span and longevity.”

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