To look around at all the health articles, tips, tricks, listicles and books, you’d think health was an extraordinarily complicated matter—and must arise from some elusive combination of interval training, crossword puzzles, and avocados.
But it’s not actually that complicated. In fact, what science knows to contribute to health is just a simple handful of things: We should exercise, eat well, sleep enough, avoid toxins, and take care of our mental health. All the other bits of advice generally fall within these five categories. Of course, there are some things that are outside of our control, like genetic predisposition and autoimmune disease.
