Getting older by living a passive life is a major dilemma for many people. A sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy food are the major contributors to old age health and fitness problems. Follow the below-mentioned tips for healthy aging to spend a lively active life.
Achieving healthy aging is sometimes quite difficult for people who have not cared for their nutrition and fitness in young age. Consequently, all the unhealthy practices devastate their health. However, these people can still improve their health and lifestyle even in their 40s or 50s.
What is Healthy Aging & Why is It Important?
“Healthy aging is living a well-optimized happy, fit, and contented life in your old age beyond 40 that improves your lifestyle and relationships.”
Spending disease-free life in old age is a symbol of a healthy body but not of quality life. By the time being in old age, you lose your functional ability– the capability that makes you able to spend life with your own choice.
Healthy aging is essential to revive your functional ability, fitness, physical and mental health as well as the quality of your life.
By following these below-mentioned vital points for healthy aging, you can revive your functional ability as well as fulfill your ambitions and basic body needs.
Secret Tips for Healthy Aging
1- Physical Activities-Tips for Healthy Aging
Researches demonstrate that people with sedentary lifestyle age faster and earlier. Healthy aging is all about taking care of the two fundamental aspects of life i.e body, and brain.
These are linked and dependent on each other. The physically inactive person may develop symptoms of anxiety and depression. He or she is also at a higher risk of chronic diseases like fatty liver, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis, and many more.
Being physically active is a key to reducing aging complaints like mood swings, disturbance in sleep patterns, lost fitness, and frequent disease attack.
It also maintains and improves your body’s health. Consult your health care advisor for choosing the right type of activities. He will recommend you the proper activities depending upon your health condition and gender.
2- Weight Control-Tips for Healthy Aging
Nutrition requirements for old people differ significantly from young ones. At a young age, you may take extra nutrients in food to meet the demands of the body and other life activities. Your metabolism rate (taking energy from food) is also high so food gets easily digested and assimilated (nutrients become part of the body) in the body.
In old age, you have to be much careful about the food choice as your body’s metabolism rate is much slower now due to little activity.
Obesity in old age may result to get into the risk of cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, and kidney disease. However, an under-weight person itself faces weakness and issues of the immune system. So a well-maintained weight is a prerequisite for healthy aging.
Similarly, being underweight in old age indicates:
- Malnourishment
- Bones and muscles weakness
You can check whether you have a healthy weight or not by finding your BMI-Body mass index. It tells you about your ideal weight according to your height.
Check out this online tool to calculate your BMI. This would indicate whether you are overweight, underweight, or of normal weight.
3- Healthy Balanced Diet- Tip for Healthy Aging
Your food choice depends on your age, weight, gender, metabolism rate, and daily activities. Generally, adults, men, and physically active people need more calories than aged persons, women, and people with sedentary lifestyles respectively.
A balanced nutrient-rich diet is essential for healthy aging. When you say a balanced diet, it means food that contains a balanced proportion of essential micro and macronutrients. Healthy aging needs a variety of food types that are listed below:
High Fiber Foods
Taking a high fiber food in your diet plan, boost up healthy aging. High-fiber foods include whole grains, nuts, seeds, cereals, fresh fruits, and vegetables.
Calcium & Vitamin D
Your health care advisor recommends you take enough calcium and vitamin D in your diet for strong bones and an energetic body. So, add low-fat milk or milk products, eggs, yogurt, quinoa, almonds, fish, meat, and other foods rich in calcium and vitamin D.
Increase your Fluid Intake
Increase your fluid intake even if you feel less thirst like water and fresh juices help to maintain good metabolism. However, if you have a hernia or bladder-related problem, then talk to your physician about the concentration and type of fluids you can take.
Fresh Fruits & Vegetables
Raw fresh vegetables and fruits are incredibly good not just for physical wellbeing but also for mental health in each age. You can select the food items that are healthy, energetic, and nutrient-rich with less cholesterol levels.
- Vegetables-beans, green leafy vegetables, cucumber, carrots, tomatoes, red bell pepper, and peas.
- Fruits- include raspberries, blueberries, apples, bananas, oranges, avocados, and papaya
4- Supplements Intake as a Tip for Healthy Aging
Taking a healthy balanced diet is always a much better option to avoid supplements. When you cross 40 years of age, your body demands more nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.
The most important supplements you need at this age are calcium, Vitamin A, D, B6, and B12. Choose the best supplement depending upon your age and gender by consulting your health care advisor.
5- Take Good Sleep
According to The National Sleep Foundation, people having age more than 65 years must take at least 7-8 hours of sleep at night. In older age, most people suffer from slight or acute insomnia that causes hormonal disturbance and depression issues.
6- Do What Makes You Happy
When you are in your second half of life, you are more likely to develop feelings of loneliness and depression. Some researches show that desolated people develop dementia, immune system disorder, and inflammatory issues than lively cherished people.
So in your old age, you should stay connected to your old friends and loved ones. Volunteer you to help someone that can give you delight.
7- Spend a Stress-Free Life
Stressful life put a vast detrimental impact on the body ranging from mental trauma to life-threatening diseases. People who spend a pessimistic and depressed life undergo premature aging. There are multiple proven ways to get rid of stress as:
- Regular exercise and morning walk
- Pursue your hobby
- Using relaxation techniques like meditation and yoga
- Company of your close friends and co-workers
8- Be Optimistic- A Tip For Healthy Aging
Being optimistic, while going through the ups and downs of your life do wonders in your life. Optimism can be achieved by time and practice. Just follow these simple points to be optimistic:
- Smile more & indulge yourself in some healthy activity
- Help someone to satisfy your soul
- Stay away from negative and depressed persons
- Stay motivated
9- Quit Smoking For Healthy Aging
In old age, smoking damages your lungs with more severity than when you are young and energetic. Tobacco smoke is a hub of several toxic chemicals that damage you physically. It accelerates the aging process by destroying the respiratory tract and cardiovascular infections. Some researches indicate that nonsmokers live a long healthy life as compared to smokers.
Similarly, Quitting smoking proves to be beneficial for brain health in old age.
10- Regular Lab Tests and Screenings
A regular checkup and lab tests must be included in your schedule to avoid any complications due to old age. Check your levels of cholesterol, calcium, vitamin D, diabetes, and blood pressure. Make regular appointments and follow strictly the advice and prescription of your physician.
11- Maintain Your Blood Pressure
A well-maintained blood pressure around 125/80 to 135/90 is a good indicator for healthy aging. For this purpose, you have to adopt the life and diet choices that are suitable for maintaining good cardiovascular fitness.
What Can You Expect in the Aging Phase?
Aging is itself not a warning sign for the upcoming diseases and body weaknesses. You can expect these body changes more early and with more severity if you don’t pay attention to healthy aging tips and tricks mentioned in this article.
Still, there are chances to develop these signs of aging in your body:
Bone-related Disorders
With age, your bones become too weak and brittle with less bone mass. This is due to an unhealthy diet or calcium, protein, and vitamin D deficiency in your body. So, chances to develop osteoporosis increase with age that eventually resulting in bone fracture.
Plan to visit your doctor more frequently in old age to decide your diet plan and supplements to avoid bone-related issues-particularly osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.
Cardiovascular Issues
Arteriosclerosis- (stiffer arteries) and atherosclerosis (formation of fats called plaques in arteries that cause coronary heart diseases) are the two most important issues to focus on in old age.
Both these issues result in hypertension and interruption in blood flow to the heart leading to a heart attack. However, you can prevent yourself from these issues by carefully managing your healthy diet and physical activities.
Teeth and Gums Problems
Over the years, your teeth start to decay due to the loss of preventive enamel causing the formation of cavities.
Research published in the American Journal of Public Health, in 2017 reports that about half of the individuals over age 65 suffer from moderate to severe gum problems.
According to The American Dental Association report, with age, your teeth nerves become much smaller causing less pain sensation. It results in delayed diagnosis of cavities or cracks.
Frequent Digestive Problems
As you age, the functionality of the digestive tract starts to decline which causes recurrent stomach issues like pain, constipation, diarrhea, or nausea.
To prevent these problems, you should take high-fiber foods and plenty of fluids in your daily routine. Please don’t forget to manage your daily walk routine.
Mental Health Problems
CDC mentions that about 6.2 million people in the U.S having age above 65 suffer from Alzheimer’s disease– a most common form of dementia. These people face attention deficit, recognition issues, and difficulty in decision-making.
CDC also reports that dementia is not inevitable for aging instead 40% of cases can be delayed or prevented by maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Sexual Dysfunction
Generally, males at their aging phase face the issue of erectile dysfunction. Similarly, females after menopause have less estrogen level in their body so complain about less lubrication. That’s the reason for less sex drive in males and females in old age.
Foods to Avoid- Tips for Healthy Aging
You need fewer calories, more nutrients, and less cholesterol in your diet in old age. Avoid foods that are having many calories but few healthy nutrients. Some of the foods to avoid for healthy aging are listed below:
- Processed, packaged foods or Fast Foods
- Foods with added sugars-Artificial Sweetened Foods, Juices, Carbonated Drinks, Corn Sugar, Sucrose, Candies, Cookies, Donuts, Cakes, etc
- Foods having high cholesterol and solid fats-Butter, Margarine, Red Meat, Beef Fat, Full- Fat Cheese, Cream, Sausages, Fried Foods, etc
- High sodium foods
Common Myths about Aging
People have developed their own perceptions regarding old population needs and problems. Most of these myths are worthless instead; these myths are only passed from generation to generation without any reality. Some of these are listed below:
Myth#1: Avoid exercise at an older age
People think that people in old age should not do exercise to avoid any fracture or muscle damage. It has no scientific proof instead exercise keeps your body flexible and strong even in older age. However, you should talk to your fitness advisor about the choice of exercise and its duration.
Myth#2: Dementia in old age
You will develop dementia in your late 60s or 70s that is totally a wrong perception. Dementia is not a part of the aging process so many people spend their lives without memory loss even in their 80s or 90s.
Myth#3: Older People Can’t Learn New Technology
Learning modern technology gadgets is as understandable for aged persons as young ones. They should be connected to modern technology to cover the gap from the young generation.
Myth#4: Reduced Sleeping Hours
It is a common misconception that you need fewer sleeping hours than adults instead you need more calm sleeping hours than adulthood. As long as, you remain stress-free and happy, you get more peaceful sleeping hours.
Myth#5: Osteoporosis in Old Age
People believe to have osteoporosis as aging progresses. However; it is concerned with persons who don’t have enough physical activities as well as those who don’t take enough calcium and vitamin D through food and supplements.
Some people think that getting older will change the priorities and engagements of life. However, it is not the case with people who know about healthy aging tips and tricks. They know very well, how to stay healthy and fit with each passing day of their life. They make their more appropriate routine of exercise and diet than in adulthood to live an active & valuable life.
