Nov. 5, 2025
Healthy habits for longevity
In this episode, hosts Ron Aaron and Dr. Tamika Perry sit down with Raysa Hache, NP. They explore practical and powerful habits that promote long-term health and vitality. From nutrition and movement to mental wellness and preventive care. Whether you're just starting your wellness journey or looking to enhance your routine, this episode is packed with inspiration and guidance.
Docs in a Pod focuses on health issues affecting adults. Clinicians and partners discuss stories, topics and tips to help you live healthier.
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Show transcript
Podcast transcript
INTRO
Welcome to Docs in a Pod, presented by WellMed. Over the next half-hour, Docs in a Pod will educate you about the health and wellness of adults everywhere. Co-hosts Dr. Tamika Perry and award winning veteran broadcaster Ron Aaron will share information to improve your health and well-being. And now here are Ron Aaron and Dr. Tamika Perry.
RON AARON
Hello everybody, and welcome to the award winning Docs in a Pod. We come to you every week with a look at a variety of health and wellness issues that affect folks, especially seniors, but really anybody. I'm Ron Aaron and our co-host, Dr. Tamika Perry is with us today. Dr. Perry is an associate medical director for WellMed. Her goal is to support providers at a number of WellMed clinics as they deliver quality care and a compassionate patient experience. She's been with WellMed for 11 years following the acquisition of her private practice. Dr. Perry earned her undergraduate degree from Prairie View A&M University and graduated from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, where she was National Health Service Corps Scholar. Next, she completed her family medicine residency at Methodist Shelton Medical Center, where she served as chief resident. She's board certified by the American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians and Perry is also a diplomat of the American Board of Obesity Medicine. She and her daughter love traveling in their free time. Often, we talk to her just as she got fresh back from a trip or two. Dr. Perry, good to be with you again.
DR. TAMIKA PERRY
Oh, I am glad to be here, as always, but I am super excited about today's guests. I'm going to take some of her tips and tricks about living a long, healthy life away with me.
RON AARON
What we're going to be talking about is healthy habits for longevity. Raysa Hache is with us, and I want to tell you a little bit about her. She's got a really neat background. Dr. Hache is a primary care nurse practitioner who specializes in caring for older adults. She's motivated by a desire to help others and make a change in their lives. Their principal goal is to make impactful change in the health of her patients. She was inspired to enter health care by her father who was a small-town doctor. She studied medicine and earned a medical degree in the Dominican Republic. When she came to the United States, she attended a program for Florida International University for foreign physicians to train as nurse practitioners. She went on to receive her master's and doctorate in nursing, and we are delighted to have her with us. Thanks for joining us, Dr. Hache.
RAYSA HACHE, NP
Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure.
RON AARON
Well, great. We really look forward to it. What Tamika said is true of all of us. We've got you down to talk about healthy habits for longevity. If you've got the magic bullet for that, that would be great. What do you recommend? What do you tell your patients?
RAYSA HACHE, NP
I have several recommendations for my patients. But mostly, I summarize it into seven important things to make it easier for them. I work with geriatric patients, and I don't want to go overboard and give a lot of information that sometimes they will probably not remember. So, I summarize my tips for longevity in seven points, and I will start with the main one for me, which is diet. I always recommend my patients to eat a plant-based Mediterranean diet. This is simply to increase or include in the meals a lot of rich vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, nuts and healthy fats. I also tell them the importance to avoid processed food, foods with added sugars, red meats and mostly to keep hydrated and practice mindful eating.
RON AARON
When you say when you say healthy fats, I immediately think of avocados.
RAYSA HACHE, NP
When we talk about healthy fats, we try to keep on getting those files from, for example, the fish, your omega threes, your oils, which are healthy. Sometimes, patients ask me, should I avoid eggs, for example, thinking that eggs have fat. Actually, you can eat your eggs because those are healthy fats. But most importantly, I tell my patients and balance. I have a lot of patients that are diabetics or hypertensive, and they tell me, I was told that since I'm diabetic, I pretty much am going to be eating legumes. And I said, it's not true. You can eat pretty much everything. Increase the good ones, like I mentioned before, and limit the sugars. We don't want to eat a lot of sugars and stuff like that. But balance for me is my clue. Because remember what elderly patients or in general, my patients, when you make or suggest a diet, when you limit too much and just keep the healthy stuff, it is more difficult for them to be compliant. So, I try to be more flexible on that. Trying to push them for the good fats, the good fruit, nuts, and try to avoid, like I said, processed foods and a lot of added sugars.
RON AARON
I want to come right back to you, but I want to let folks now who may have just joined us, you're listening to the award-winning Docs in a Pod. Our podcast is available wherever you listen to your podcasts. We're also on the radio in several cities in Texas and Florida as well. Our fabulous co-host, Dr. Tamika Perry is with us, and we're talking on our Docs in a Pod hotline with Dr. Raysa Hache, who is an MD in the Dominican Republic, also earned a doctorate in nursing. We are delighted to have her with us. She's talking about first, diet and healthy eating. One of the challenges that many of us have, I know, Dr. Perry, you're with us on this is portion control. How much do you need to eat? How many calories do you really need in a day?
DR. TAMIKA PERRY
That's going to be patient dependent. Your goal is to not eat until you feel stuffed. Your goal is to eat until you feel satisfied. The American diet or American restaurants or eateries, we put way too much food on your plate. A popular restaurant here is Pappadeaux. And I love Pappadeaux, so I'm not trying to call them out in a in a bad way. It's a seafood restaurant, and when you get these large portions, I always give my patients the example, when you go to a restaurant or restaurant of the like, really, you should share that meal or have an appetizer as your meal and always included a green vegetable. Once again, we are we put ourselves in a calorie overload here. I think one of the interesting things that Dr. Hache said, and by the way, I just feel like she's bragging. She's an MD and a DNP. Not everybody is that smart. That is so awesome. One of the things that she mentioned was that plant based Mediterranean diet. Ron, you and I have mentioned several times the blue zones in the world where people live 100 plus. One of the common themes in these blue zones is that plant-based diet or Mediterranean diet. In fact, one of the blue zones is in Ikaria, Greece, and that is the exact diet that they have.
RON AARON
I want to let folks know who may have just joined us. I mentioned a moment ago, you're listening to Docs in a Pod, and I want to pass on, Dr. Perry, a suggestion. You mentioned the giant plates and servings at some restaurants. My friend, Dr. Robin Eickhoff, when she goes into a restaurant, sits down, places her order, and asks immediately for a to-go box and brings the box to the table. She takes half of what's on her plate, puts it in that to go box into a bag away from her, and that is how she handles those large portions.
DR. TAMIKA PERRY
I've heard Dr. Eickhoff speak and mention that and I think that's a great idea. I tell my patients to either share with the person you went with or if you don't want to eat the same thing, that really should be two meals. So, when you go to that restaurant, one, you get a bigger bang for your buck. Two, it's in the best interest of your body. That is your dinner today and your lunch tomorrow.
RON AARON
And that works?
DR. TAMIKA PERRY
It works for me. I do that every time I go to any restaurant. That's my dinner today and lunch tomorrow.
RON AARON
How important is it, Dr. Hache, to be aware of calories? Is that something you recommend people take note of?
RAYSA HACHE, NP
It is important, but like Dr. Perry said, it depends because we have patients with different diseases. For example, diabetic patients, renal patients. So, the diet varies between patients and their conditions. But it's important to be mindful with the calories, like Dr. Perry said. I have a patient of mine that is a very good shape, and she said, I always go for the kids menu and that always works for me. So, that's an option. When you include healthy things on the menu and you get the portions, like you said, a small portion is easier for you than when you're sitting with a big plate, and then you feel that you have to finish the whole thing. Like you said, weÕre overeating.
RON AARON
So, order the kids portions. I like that.
DR. TAMIKA PERRY
Yeah, I've done that too. Especially, Dr. Hache, cover your ears, the few times I go to a fast-food restaurant and have something that's not so healthy, I will definitely get the kids portion. My kid turned 20 today, but when I ordered the kids portion, I look at my imaginary kid in the back seat and say, honey, do you want cheese on your cheeseburger? Okay, I'll take a cheeseburger kids meal, please.
RON AARON
I like that.
DR. TAMIKA PERRY
You were talking about calories earlier, and if you really want us to get a little bit mathy, there's a number called your total daily energy expenditure. That number is the total calories you need every day to maintain your current weight. The calories you need to breathe, for us to talk back and forth, for you to sleep. Think of that number as the amount of gas you need in your car for your car to run for that day. If you want to lose weight, once you calculate that value, subtract anywhere from a third to an eighth away from that value. If you want to gain weight, you want to add to that value. But that's how many calories you need to maintain your current weight.
RON AARON
I don't have any problem gaining weight.
RAYSA HACHE, NP
Most of us don't.
DR. TAMIKA PERRY
But that's a real mathy way for you to say, how many calories do I need to consume in order for me to lose weight? For example, if Dr. HacheÕs body consumes 2,000 calories a day, but she really eats 2,500 calories a day, that means the extra 500 calories goes in her reserve tank, which is her body Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. There are only 3,500 calories in a pound, so if she eats 500 calories more every day, like the Starbucks coffee I'm drinking now, she has an extra one every day, theoretically, she could gain a pound every week. But if she subtracted 500 calories from that value that is unique to her, she would lose a pound every week.
RON AARON
Let's move on from food because it's so depressing. Talk a bit about other suggestions that you have for healthy habits for longevity.
RAYSA HACHE, NP
As I mentioned before, I seven points. We mentioned the diet and I'm going to move to the next one, which is exercise. Good thing to start, I tell my patients and most of the people I know, start by weighing yourself. You need to know your BMI. Your BMI is pretty much your height and your weight. We have to have a measurement for ideal BMI, overweight or underweight.
RON AARON
BMI is body mass index.
RAYSA HACHE, NP
Yes, body mass index. I start with that, so you know your point. Where are you at? I start with that and then I start suggesting patients do activities. The one thing we recommend the most is to at least weekly to do 2.5 to 3 hours of exercise. Pick the one you like because, for example, for me, I don't like to have a treadmill in my house and just walk. I need to go outside, see something interesting, and walk or swim. But there's different types, right? You pick the one you like so you're consistent with it. You can do weight training, you can do walking, you can do hiking, you can do swimming. Find something that you like and you enjoy and make sure that you're consistent. I know a lot of people that say. I work. I cannot do this every day. But at least three times a week, if you do it consistently within 45 to an hour exercise, I think that's good enough. That's fair for me to say. Other stuff that I also recommend is sleep. Sleep deprivation is one of the reasons that people have stress and irritability, which can lead to depression. Sleep is very important for all of us. We recommend at least seven hours of sleep. When I say sleep, try to keep in a schedule. Try to set up yourself, if it's possible, over the same time. You train your brain to sleep from one time to one time. Sometimes I even do it with my phone, and I set up the timing. Probably the first week or so you're not used to it because we're running and working and have a lot of stuff going on, but if you try to adjust more or less, it's good for you.
RON AARON
Hold that thought. We're going to get right back to you. We need to do a little business and on our end for folks who have just joined us. You're listening to the award winning Docs in a Pod. I'm Ron Aaron and along with our co-host, Dr. Tamika Perry. Raysa Hache is with us, a doctorate in nurse practitioner and an MD out of the Dominican Republic. We're really glad you're with us right here on Docs in a Pod.
AD
WellMed and you can rely on WellMed and Optum doctors to care for and understand the health needs of older adults. Our commitment to quality is why the Institute of Healthcare Improvement recently designated WellMed and Optum as an Age-Friendly Health System. This means WellMed and Optum care teams provide reliable, evidence based, high quality care to older adults. To get the benefits of an age-friendly care team, go to wellmedhealthcare.com to find a doctor near you.
RON AARON
We are so pleased you're sticking with us right here on the award winning Docs in a Pod. I'm Ron Aaron. Dr. Tamika Perry, our co-host is with us, and we're talking with Dr. Raysa Hache. She's a nurse practitioner and works in Miami, Florida for Optum. We're talking about healthy habits for longevity. We've gotten through the question of diet and nutrition. We're talking about exercise. You're speaking in many cases to people who are couch potatoes, Dr. Hache. How do you get them off the couch to begin that exercise program?
RAYSA HACHE, NP
I tell my patients to start making small, realistic goals. For example, with exercise, you cannot expect somebody to go from the couch to walking for 45 minutes. That's not realistic. So, I encourage them, like I said at the beginning, to see their way. When they see their weight or their body max index is they're saying they're overweight or even if they're not, they seem more motivated to start right then. I tell them to start slowly. Start with 20 minutes and then go increase it until you get to your goals. If they start with 45 minutes, sometimes they say not 10 minutes after I'm super tired and exhausted. So, make small goals. Go little by little. Maybe you can do three or four or five days, which is ideal. But start once today, twice or three times a day, and if you can do it in seven days, that will be amazing. Once you get started, your body tells you that you can go for more, which is the goal. So, you continue to increase and then you'll realize that the first day you could do 10 minutes or 20, and a week later you can do 30 minutes, even 45 minutes. So, little by little. It is more small steps. That's my recommendation.
RON AARON
Walking is certainly one thing to do. What about weight training?
RAYSA HACHE, NP
Weight training is also good. For example, in my case, there's people that get bored while walking. With weight training, sometimes people say, I don't have the money to pay for a gym or something. I tell them listen, even at home you can do that. You can buy your weights. You can start with 5- or 10-pound weights and do repetition. You can do it at home while you're watching TV. The key is consistency. Continue doing it along with the diet and like I mentioned before, with a good night's sleep because you need to refresh. You need to give your body the chance to recuperate so you can start fresh and continue doing what you need to do. Another thing that I talk to my patients about is manage the stress. We live in a world of stress. Stress at work and stress at home. Try to find a thing that will help you to decrease the stress. If it's meditation, deep breathing, yoga, going out with somebody and have a coffee and a conversation, whatever works for you. But try to minimize the amount of stress that you live.
RON AARON
What does stress do to us?
RAYSA HACHE, NP
Stress is one of the causes most of our diseases, Cardiovascular, obesity and other diseases that increase mortality. Stress is caused by constrictions to the arteries, and I don't want to get too medical into that. It's no good for you for your body. So, try to relax as part of living a healthy and unique quality of life.
DR. TAMIKA PERRY
IÕll get just a tad bit medical. There's actually a syndrome called broken heart syndrome, and you can actually have cardio strain, enlargement of the cardio muscle, decreased muscle contractility, as if you're having a heart attack from emotional or physical stressors. So, keep this in mind. Like she says, when you become stressed, there is an adrenaline situation that happens in your body, which is the same thing as epinephrine.
RON AARON
What is epinephrine?
DR. TAMIKA PERRY
That's that fight or flight response hormone. So, if you come in contact with the big bear, you're either going to fight or you're going to fight. But either way you have vasoconstriction of your arteries. That blood pressure goes up, your pupils are dilated, your heart starts to palpate, you start panting. This all takes a toll on your body. One of the common things in these blue zones where people live over 100 is they are very mindful, and they live a very stress-free life. It's all good. No worries type life. Keep this in mind. It is just as important as exercise or eating right on her list that sheÕs said thus far.
RON AARON
Very often people say, I have so much stress, but it's caused by outside forces. I have stress in my marriage. I have stress at work. I have stress here and stress there. And you can't control those externals.
DR. TAMIKA PERRY
No, you can't control the externals, but you can control yourself and your response to it. I think I've said this before on a on a show, my worst boyfriend taught me the best lesson in life. He said, I was stressed out about how things were going with us. And he says, love me like I am or leave me alone. I cannot change everybody else. The only person I can change is myself.
RON AARON
I thought you said the worst boyfriend you had gave you the best advice.
DR. TAMIKA PERRY
He did.
RAYSA HACHE, NP
That was good advice.
RON AARON
And you took his advice and left him.
DR. TAMIKA PERRY
I did. I left him alone.
RON AARON
We've got a few minutes left, Dr. Hache. We've got nutrition. We're talking about exercise. We're talking about controlling stress. Are there other habits we ought to look at for happier, longer lives?
RAYSA HACHE, NP
Yes. To add to that, avoiding stress to your body, avoid harmful things to your body, like smoke, for example. Limit your alcohol intake. It's part of a healthy life. We know that smoking is also one of the main causes of cardiovascular disease. So, avoiding smoking, straight drugs, limit the amount of alcohol that you drink is also good for your health. Also, support your brain health. Stay mentally active. It could be by reading, learning new skills, doing puzzles, whatever you like. Taking good supplements. We talked before about omega-threes. There are some supplements that you find out there that I like, for example Crete oil or things like that that are also good for your brain health. I read a book that I believe changed my life. It's called Ikigai, The Japanese Theory for Lone Health. The Ikigai Book, I want to summarize it really quick, and it says that you have to find your purpose in life. What you love to do and what you are good at. When you find something meaningful that gives meaning to your life, that will improve your quality of life. Helping others or doing something that you like is very rewarding and itÕs part of the mission that we have here. I'm doing something rather than just go to work and coming back home. I was talking before with Dr. Perry because we do medical missions. For me, helping others gives me a lot of satisfaction and reward. It could be a different thing. Like daily book says, find your Ikigai. Find what you like to do. There's another book that I read also. Find your 20%, which is besides the daily life things that we do, find something that you really like and enjoy and indicate that to improve your mental stay, your quality of life, helping others, like I said, is always something good. That is my seven-point recommendation for living a healthy life.
RON AARON
Dr. Perry, we will give you the last words. As you think about what Dr. Hache said, how much of that have you already embraced?
DR. TAMIKA PERRY
I've embraced most of it, to be quite honest. Margaritas are still my favorite drink, but I'm working on that. Otherwise, I've embraced most of it. But what I want the listeners to remember is that self-preservation is not selfish. Do what you have to do for you.
DR. TAMIKA PERRY
That's right.
RON AARON
When you say self-preservation, take care of yourself.
DR. TAMIKA PERRY
Yes. Take care of yourself.
RON AARON
I co-host a show called Caregiver SOS On Air, looking at the millions of caregivers across this country. We tell them, take care of yourself.
DR. TAMIKA PERRY
That's right.
RON AARON
Thank you both for being with us today. We really enjoyed it. Dr. Hache, thank you for the work you're doing. Dr. Perry, as always, it is great talking with you. We'll do it again soon. Thanks to all of you for listening to the award winning Docs in a Pod.
OUTRO
Executive producer for Docs in a Pod is Dan Calderon. The producer is Cherese Pendleton. Thank you for listening to Docs in a Pod presented by WellMed. Be sure and listen next week to Docs in a Pod presented by WellMed.
DISCLAIMER
This transcript is generated using a podcast editing tool; there may be small differences between this transcript and the recorded audio content.
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