While we all wish we could drink from the eternal fountain of youth, it’s pretty heartbreaking to realise we are in fact aging.
While we can’t fight every battle (because contrary to widespread belief, Botox isn’t always the answer), we can take some pretty easy steps to help keep our skins glowing and our heart and bodies healthy for as long as possible.
Here are seven everyday habits that people who age well credit to their youthful appearance.
View the Glass as Half-full
Keeping a positive mental attitude is your first step in staying forever young. A study from The Journal of the American Medical Association found that senior citizens who think of age as simply wisdom and experience are 40 per cent more likely to recover from a disability than those who associate aging with helplessness or uselessness.
Move to the Mediterranean…
Or at least adopt their diet. Packed with fish, fruit and vegetables, as well as whole grains, nuts and a glass of red wine, this type of diet may help you age better by warding off heart attacks, strokes, and premature death.
But Keep an Eye on Those Portions
Maintaining a healthy weight can help your body from dealing with health complications or pressures in later life. Try to eat a balanced diet including all the food groups, and reduce your intake of high saturated fats. Being overweight or having a BMI of 25 or over could leave you at higher risk of contracting type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure or breathing and sleeping difficulties.
Stay in Shape
Exercise and staying active are key ingredients to aging well. While women can lose 23 per cent of their muscle mass between the ages of 30 and 70, performing resistance workouts can increase mass and strength well into your 90s. Staying active can also help keep your mind active, as exercise strengthens the hippocampus, the region of the brain associated with learning.
According to the journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, this kind of continuous exercise can help in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease.
Keep Your Friends Close
That best friend could actually be a lifesaver. Studies have proven that those with an active social life have a 50 per cent higher chance of living longer. There’s an excuse for a night out if we ever heard one.
Prosecco?
Be Sun Smart
We can’t stress this enough – but protect your skin from the sun. Use a good suncream, with a high SPF factor, apply regularly and try stay in the shade. Use large hats and avoid exposing your skin to the sun for long periods of time.
As well as causing wrinkles and damaging the overall quality of your skin over time, sun exposure is a huge contributing factor to cancer.
Catch Those Forty Winks
If you want to reduce the risk of obesity, heart disease, diabetes and improve your memory, the easiest thing you can start doing is start catching up on that beauty sleep.
According to sleep experts at the National Sleep Foundation, there has been an increasing link between insomnia and accelerated brain aging.
So turn off the Netflix, switch off the phone and curl in for a good night’s sleep. It could be the difference between youthful looks or pots of wrinkle cream.
H/T Time
