Healthy habits are the key to a long and healthy life.
Following good health habits can increase your life expectancy by over 10 years, according to studies.
It’s not only about maintaining your physical health for seniors. You also need to pay attention to your mental health.
Here are our 8 tips for aging with grace. Let’s go!
1. Eat a Healthy and Balanced Diet
As the old saying goes, ‘you are what you eat’.
You need to eat a rich and wide variety of fruit and vegetables.
A healthy diet builds up your immune system, which helps to fight viruses and infections.
You need to reduce your consumption of bad stuff, especially sugar, fatty, and processed foods. This can cause inflammation and weaken your immune system.
You could also consider alternative kinds of diet. For example, there is evidence that vegetarian or vegan diets lead to longer and healthier lifestyles.
If you’re not sure you get the vitamins and nutrients you need to stay healthy in old age, you could also consider supplements. Make sure you speak with your doctor to advise you on what to take.
2. Good Sleep Patterns
Did you know that sleep is the single most important determinant of a long and healthy life?
When you’re sleeping your body is repairing itself. Therefore, you need to make sure you’re getting enough sleep.
Sleep has also been proven to improve memory and concentration.
Research says that seniors don’t require as much sleep as the average adult. However, it’s still important to get a good night’s sleep.
If you’re experiencing problems sleeping, then you should speak with your doctor about possible solutions. This may include medication or lifestyle changes.
3. Reduce Alcohol Consumption
We have always known that alcohol consumption could damage your health. However, it appears that even moderate alcohol consumption is worse than we thought.
In fact, alcohol has been declared the leading cause of death worldwide. That’s a pretty big warning!
There is no single answer about how much is a safe amount of alcohol to drink per week. But you should definitely cut down if you want to stay in good health in old age.
If you want to know more, ask your doctor for more information and advice on alcohol consumption.
4. Physical Activity
We know that seniors who exercise regularly experience a significantly reduced physical decline.
However, too many people think of exercise as intensive and exhausting. This kind of exercise is extremely difficult for seniors.
And yet, many of the benefits of physical activity can be achieved with low impact movements.
You could go for health walks on a regular basis? You could go swimming a couple of times per week? Have you ever done yoga or tai chi?
Just twenty minutes per day could make a significant difference to your health in old age.
5. Manage Your Stress
It is well established that chronic stress can result in multiple negative health conditions. Even the anticipation of stress can speed up the aging process.
Stress can also result in a number of negative mental health problems, such as Alzheimer’s disease. You could even find that your inability to deal with stress can cause you hearing and vision loss.
So, what can you do to manage stress better?
You may need to reduce your working hours if you’re still working full-time.
However, many lifestyle changes can improve your management of stress. For example, physical activity and lots of sleep.
You should also pursue relaxation practices, such as walking in the woods and mindfulness practice.
6. Socialize in Your Life
One in three older people in America claims to be lonely.
It’s really important as people get older to stay socially active and connected. This important if you want to avoid depression, which contributes to a number of health problems.
It’s especially recommended to join clubs and community groups to stay socially active in old age.
If your loved one is a senior who doesn’t get enough social interaction, then you should read more here about how you can find help.
7. Don’t Stop Everything When you Retire
One of the biggest challenges seniors encounter is retirement plans.
Many people worry about the sharp decline of mental stimulation and physical activity during retirement.
Unfortunately, studies have demonstrated that people who retire early often die early too. Therefore, some experts have warned ‘never retire’ if you want to know the secret to a long life.
However, the answer is probably somewhere in between. You want to pursue healthy habits that allow you to maintain an active life into old age.
This doesn’t necessarily need to be employment. You can volunteer in the community, pursue your passion or join a sports club.
8. Get a Routine
For many people, the secret to aging with grace is routine. It may sound dull to some people, but many centenarians live by regular patterns.
This means eating the same kind of diet and doing similar activities each day. This also includes going to bed and waking up at the same time every day.
Life doesn’t need to be boring if you have a routine. You just need to get the basics of life out of the way, so you can concentrate on enjoying the rest of it.
Good Health Habits?
Now you know the good health habits you need to pick up to age with grace.
Eating a healthy diet and staying fit or keeping a regular routine and spending time with friends. it all contributes to a healthy lifestyle as you get older.
If you want to discover more about being healthy as a senior, check out our blog here.