Aging
Aging, of course, it is a part of life. However, all of us are constantly trying to feel as young and fresh as possible, as doing so can improve our quality of life, make us look more youthful, and generally lead to more happiness.
However, there is no question that many of the ways in which we live causes affect aging. Thankfully, being aware of these potential issues can help lead towards major lifestyle improvements, a fresher appearance, and an overall improved quality of life. As such, here are some lifestyles that can strongly affect aging – and how you can make a positive difference and slow down the aging process.
Diet at Aging Period
There is no question about it: Diet can impact your aging. According to a slew of research, aging negatively impacts your body in many ways, including shrinking the thickness of your skin, atrophying muscle mass, and reducing the amount of stomach acid that you produce. All of these changes are inevitable, but they can be exacerbated by your own nutrition.
Many of the foods that increase the aging process are unsurprising. Fried foods, fatty foods, and foods with high sugar content can damage your skin, make you gain weight, and overall hurt your help. Many of these foods also have zero nutritional value, thus robbing you of the opportunity to eat in a way that is healthy and can benefit your body and mind. It is also likely possible that the foods you eat will exacerbate many common illnesses, such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.
Furthermore, adults who continue to eat the same way they did when they are younger may find that they are gaining weight as they move less and are less active. As such, older adults should try to reduce their caloric intake if they want to maintain the same weight.
Thankfully, there is also no question that a variety of foods can make a positive impact on aging and slow the process. In general, if an older adult can reduce their caloric intake, they will be healthier. Furthermore, older adults should strive to increase their intake of a number of important nutrients, including Vitamin D, calcium, protein, and Vitamin B12. Doing so can help to keep your joints less stiff, ensure that you lose less muscle mass, and protect your bones from damage or falls.
Exposure to the sun
Exposure to the sun can have a dramatic and negative impact on aging. This is because of the various types of rays that are in the sun, and specifically ultraviolet rays. Indeed, these ultraviolet rays can damage your skin by negatively impacting the elasticity of the fibers that keep your skin taught and smooth, causing wrinkles and sunspots to develop. All of this will hurt the thickness of your skin and make you appear significantly older.
Unfortunately, many lifestyles result in extensive sun damage, including many jobs that people have. This includes outdoor work, laboring, or even jobs that may lead to unintentional exposure to the sun, such as driving a truck.
Thankfully, there are many habits to protect against sun damage, even if you work in a field that requires extensive exposure to the sun. Regular and generous application of a high SPF suntan lotion can help to stop the worst of sun damage by ensuring that your skin is protected against the sun’s most harmful rays. Furthermore, suntan lotion can reduce the odds of suffering from skin cancer, a common and deadly killer of thousands in America. Furthermore, protecting clothing and working in the shade can help to minimize sun damage.
Exercise
From an aging perspective, there is very little more important than exercising on a regular basis. Many studies have shown that exercise can slow the impact of aging, help to maintain muscle mass, prevent heart disease, stave off illness, reduce weight gain, and more. Indeed, the impacts of exercise are absolutely unparalleled. They also affect a wide array of areas that you may not have expected. For example, exercise has been shown to improve cognitive function and even keep your skin looking relatively young and healthy.
Furthermore, leading an active lifestyle – one that involves extensive moving, as opposed to sitting down most of the time – has been shown to have a slew of positive impacts on your health, including slowing a variety of age-related problems.
The impacts of exercise can stay felt even with moderate exercise, with studies showing that intensive weight training is not necessary to feel the benefits of exercise. Even people who exercise on a moderate basis – but do so consistently – can feel the positive benefits of exercise.
Aging Social Interactions
Perhaps the most interesting area of aging is the positive impacts that social interactions can have on the aging process. Many studies have found that regular social interactions can slow the aging process. For example, studies have found that people who regularly socialize with others are 50% less likely to experience the cognitive decline that often comes with aging. It is thought that social connections can help to stimulate the body and brain, thus ensuring that a person stays younger for longer periods.
As such, hanging out with your friends is more than just fun: it’ good for you. This means that elderly individuals should do whatever they can to maintain healthy friendships and stay involved in community activities, including social activities, group exercises, or religious services. All of these interactions can create a critical buffer against aging.
Aging is unquestionably scary. However, as the above has hopefully demonstrated, you are not powerless to stop its negative impacts. By taking control of your life and your health, and by making good decisions, you can go a long way towards protecting your body and your mind.