Good sleep is important! Click on that link for discussion and my solution.
Since I was around 20 years old, I've been following a health food diet with a lot of self-discipline. My goals in this are:
It has worked very well for me, as so many people have commented. While genetics determines a lot, so does environment.
There are so many chemicals and unnatural modifications of food, and I have researched these (including the effects on brain performance in laboratory rats fed these diets over time), and have often been well ahead of the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) warnings and those of others. Having a scientific background, I can judge fairly well what's fad and unbased claims vs. what looks real.
I also eat in moderation, and avoid free radicals such as burned or grilled meats. Slightly undereaters live longer. I'm the same weight and waste size as I was 25 years ago.
I would like to share my knowledge with others, and also open up my presentation for comments, critiques and improvements.
I've written a fairly good page on healthy diet.
(I am also working on a separate, practical "Mark's Menu" page for adding my dishes to the internet selection of health foods, as well as for my girls and guests to choose from.)
Excessive stress should be avoided. I had a few years when I was under tremendous financial stress -- 1999 to 2002 -- and worked extremely hard. I got heartbeat problems (PVC irregular heartbeat and sometimes sudden racing, very scary!!), skin rashes, as well as spots where hair fell out, especially my facial hair, a condition called alopecia. Every time, when the stress went away, all the hair came back and/or the skin rashes subsided, and my heart returned to normal. I've always been particularly concerned about my heart because my grandfather died suddenly at age 42 of some sort of heart failure, and he was a lean and generally fit guy judging from the photos (and he died long before I was born). It's a wonder my hair didn't turn grey during that period!
I have never done psychoactive drugs (except smoke marijuana sometimes when young, though I stopped that after reading about the effects on the brain), and while I sometimes did binge drinking of alcohol, I pretty much stopped drinking alcohol altogether back around the millenium, though I am an occasional light social drinker. I have seen the research on the effects of alcohol on the brain, and moreso I have seen a lot of people change after periods of heavy drinking -- performance, inability to control emotions even after being sober awhile, and loss of objective reason.
One exception: I drink a cup of tea in the morning, and another cup after my mid-day nap. I rarely drink coffee, and whenever I do, it's just a little bit.
I don't take any special vitamins or pills to boost mental performance (like some people suggest to me), and take a purely natural foods route.
It's difficult to keep up in this field, so any information you'd like to send or any suggested links would be quite welcome. I'd like to set up a "health foods and nutrition" section on my Links page.