--- title: How to Be Healthy: Rules from 1927 Still Apply description: We could all use a reminder sometimes canonical: https://time.com/3670080/rules-for-sane-living/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-21T14:00:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:06:11.390Z article:section: History og:title: How to Be Healthy: Rules from 1927 Still Apply og:description: We could all use a reminder sometimes og:url: https://time.com/3670080/rules-for-sane-living/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How to Be Healthy: Rules from 1927 Still Apply twitter:description: We could all use a reminder sometimes twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # 14 Timeless Rules to Keep You Sane  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jan 21, 2015 2:00 PM UTC  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jan 21, 2015 2:00 PM UTC Back in 1927, at a convention of the American Public Health Association, one Dr. Robert E. Humphreys explained to the crowd that stress caused by financial trouble could lead to health trouble. Nearly a century later, we know that he was right: long-term stress actually [does](http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/stress.aspx) harm your health. And that’s not all he was right about. Dr. Humphreys went on to provide 14 “rules for sane living” that TIME reprinted in the Oct. 31, 1927, issue—and they just go to show that emotional eating isn’t exactly a modern problem.  From the Oct. 31, 1927, issue of TIME Don’t laugh: according to [one 2011 study](http://www.researchgate.net/publication/51865692%5F%27Post-lunch%27%5Fsleepiness%5Fduring%5Fprolonged%5Fmonotonous%5Fdriving%5F-%5Feffects%5Fof%5Fmeal%5Fsize), driving after eating actually _is_ dangerous. Dr. Humphreys is likely no longer alive, but if he is, we officially give him the right to say “told you so.” **_Read the full report on the 1927 American Public Health Association meeting, here in the TIME Vault:_** [Public Health](http://time.com/vault/issue/1927-10-31/page/26/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3670080/rules-for-sane-living/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3670080/rules-for-sane-living/"},"headline":"14 Timeless Rules to Keep You Sane","datePublished":"2015-01-21T14:00:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:06:11.390Z","description":"Advice for healthy living from 1927","url":"https://time.com/3670080/rules-for-sane-living/","keywords":["health"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/health/","name":"health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3670080/rules-for-sane-living/","name":"14 Timeless Rules to Keep You Sane"}}]}] ```