Published by Programme B
Aging is inevitable. That much is clear, and there’s nothing you or anyone else can do to stop it. However, there is a great deal that you can do to determine how you age. You can prevent or at least slow down the visible signs like sagging skin and greying and falling hair. Besides the external signs, some techniques can maintain the performance of vital organs like your brain.
By slowing internal and external aging, you’ll effectively increase your overall quality of life. You’ll have the wits and physical ability to perform most tasks independently hence saving money that could have been spent in a care home. It also gives your children and grandchildren the freedom to pursue their dreams and enjoy their youthful years without worrying too much about your wellbeing.
Here are a few tips to help you pull this off:
1. Exercise Regularly
Maintaining an active lifestyle is one of the best ways of ensuring your body is performing optimally. In this report from Harvard Medical School, scientists showed that endurance training improved the heart’s pumping ability, heart rate, and blood pressure significantly among 50-year-olds. The results were actually comparable to 20-year-olds!
The most interesting part of the report is that the 50-year-old volunteers were not subjected to intensive training sessions. They were simply placed under a gradual 6-month program involving jogging, walking, and cycling.
The exercises improved cardiovascular functions, which is critical because heart diseases are rampant among seniors. It also enhanced cholesterol profile and improved metabolism. It reduced body fat, improved insulin sensitivity, and lowered blood sugar levels.
Activities such as yoga are known to be very useful as well.
2. Challenge Your Brain
Dementia is prevalent in old people. The condition is characterized by symptoms of cognitive decline like memory loss, poor processing speed, terrible communication, etc. These conditions can become severe and life-threatening.
Challenging your brain with quizzes, puzzles, etc., and keeping the organ active for as long as possible will maintain optimal cognitive functions.
How can you challenge your brain? Several brain training techniques are known to be very effective in supporting cognition. These include:
- Learning a new language
- Learning a new musical instrument
- Reading and writing regularly
- Taking puzzles like crosswords
- Playing games: both video games and tabletop games
3. Eat Healthy Foods
The food we eat plays a crucial role in determining how we age, both internally and externally. For instance, foods rich in antioxidants protect your cells and tissues against oxidative damage caused by free radicals. This saves you from several medical conditions and helps maintain the proper functioning of major organs in the body. Anti-inflammatory foods are also great for preventing inflammation which is linked to various severe medical conditions like cancer and heart diseases.
Sadly, finding healthy foods is not as easy as it sounds. For starters, there is a lot of misinformation online. Food bloggers publish contradicting information all the time, which can be very confusing for someone who is already clueless. Also, most of the aging “diet plans” don’t really work.
On the brighter side, several proven foods can have a profound impact on how you age. Here are some of them:
- Fatty fish
- Vegetables
- Green tea
- Avocados
- Bone broth
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Sweet potatoes
- Tomatoes
- Garlic
Remember to drink lots of water.
4. Protect Your Skin
An anti-aging master plan would be incomplete without discussing the skin.
Skin shows the clearest signs of aging, so it makes perfect sense that everyone is obsessed with having youthful skin.
There are several ways of protecting your skin and preventing wrinkles. One of the most important ones is shielding your skin against the sun. This can be done through sunscreens, sunglasses, wide-brimmed hats, long-sleeve shirts, and pants.
You can also keep your skin glowing by moisturizing regularly, cleaning yourself with the right products, and leading a healthy lifestyle.
What if your skin is already showing signs of aging and unpleasant irregularities? This is where you need to consult experts for a good treatment plan. These treatments are usually very effective, but the results will vary depending on the specific condition, its severity, and other factors. Also, some treatments are one-off, while others like ipl photofacial may require multiple appointments. Whatever the case, make sure you’re in the hands of trained and experienced professionals.
5. Shed Off Bad Habits
If you needed extra motivation to quit alcohol and smoking, then this is it. Cigarettes and other drugs speed up the aging process.
As you can tell, there is more to anti-aging than the expensive, ineffective, and possibly harmful products sold online. Sure, there are some brilliant anti-aging items on the market, but the only way to get wholesome results is by making drastic changes to your diet and lifestyle.