Five Tips for Aging Well

In this Article (Index)

• A Longer and Healthier Life
• 5 Tips for Healthy Aging
• 1. Keep Active
• 2. Quit Smoking: it is never to late do do it
• 3. Cut back on Alcohol
• 4. Eat a Healthy diet with Protein
• 5. Emotional Wellbeing: Mind and Soul
• Closing Comments

A Longer and Healthier Life

It is never too late to make a change

As mentioned above more people are living longer, but, unfortunately a large share of those over the age of 65 have health conditions such as heart disease, dementia, diabetes, cancer, or respiratory disease that limits their wellbeing.

Simple changes in lifestyle and behaviour, especially if done during youth or middle age will enable more years spent in good health, independence, and wellbeing during the ripe old age.

These changes involve eliminating unhealthy behaviours such as drinking alcohol, being sedentary, overeating,and smoking.

5 Tips for Healthy Aging

Below is our short list with only five tips for healthy aging (3, 4):

1. Keep Active

Physical activity has many benefits regardless of your age. It helps you remain fit, slim, and improves your overall cardiovascular and lung performance.

Bone mass is retained and better circulation improves oxygen supply to the body, muscles, and joints. Flexibilty and muscle mass are preserved.

You should aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week. If you have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, aim for at least 40 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity at least 3 to 4 days a week.

As a guide, moderate intensity exercise is when you are a bit short of breath but you can still talk as you exercise.

Strength training with weights will add mass to muscles and bones.

Check with your doctor before starting any physical activity plan, start slowly and build up gradually (don't hurt yourself by overdoing it).

Use the buddy system: Ask a friend to start an exercise program with you. It does not mean going to the gym either. There are many options to keeping active such as walking, dancing, cycling, swimming, gardening, bowling, or gardening.

2. Quit Smoking: it is never to late do do it

Smoking tobacco can cause many health problems and death. The longer you smoke, the higher the risk of developing a tobacco-related illness.

Smoking shortens life expectancy: each year of smoking after the age of 35-40 shaves off three months from you lifespan.

This is a change you should do before growing old. Quitting tobacco in your middle age improves your life expectancy by 10 years! And not only that, it will ensure an old age free of chronic diseases caused by smoking such as Emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

Smokers have higher chances of developing life threatening conditions such as:

• Lung, mouth, and throat cancers.
• Heart attack.
• Stroke.

Find help and information on how to quit smoking at the smokefree.gov website.

3. Cut back on Alcohol

Reduce your alcohol intake to the limits established by the 2015-2020 U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans: consume alcohol in moderation -up to one drink per day for women, and two drinks per day for men, and this not an average, it is the maximum daily amount. (5)

Alcohol causes liver cirrhosis and increases the risk of dementia (including Alzheimer's).

As you age your liver is less able to process alcohol, so alcohol concentration in your blood will remain higher for longer.

Heavy drinking damages your liver, stomach, and heart. It can provoke insomnia, depression, confusion, and increase the chances of accidents. It deteriorates interpersonal relationships and can interact with medicines with potentially harmful effects.

Never drink and drive.

4. Eat a Healthy diet

A balanced and healthy diet will help ward off both malnutrition and obesity.

As you age the body's metabolic rate slows down and requires less energy to function, adjust caloric intake to maintain your weight.

Diet helps reduce the risk of diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and some types of cancers.

Your diet should include at least three servings of vegetables and two of fruit, whole grain breads and cereals with plenty of fiber as well as nuts and seed; and protein sources like milk, dairy products, meat, fish, eggs, legumes and seafood.

Protein

Regarding protein, a study published in 2024, involving 3,721 participants in the UK, found that "protein intake was significantly associated with higher odds of healthy aging" with higher odds for plant and dairy protein (38%), animal protein (14%). The plant protein was "also associated with higher odds of absence of physical function limitations and good mental status... Conclusions. Dietary protein intake, especially plant protein, in midlife, is associated with higher odds of healthy aging and with several domains of positive health status." (10)

Reduce your salt intake and avoid low quality carbs such as sugars, cakes, biscuits, and sweets.

Keep hydrated; dehydration is a risk among older people. (Visit our webpage on Dehydration, to learn how to prevent it).

A balanced diet with the correct nutrients will help you keep a healthy weight and provide you with energy for your daily chores.

Learn more about how to Prepare a Healthy Eating Plan.

5. Emotional Wellbeing: Mind and Soul

Friends and Social Networks

Social isolation is a problem among older people because friends die or move to assisted living facilities or homes. This increases the risk of loneliness which in turn increases the risk of premature death:

A study by Holt-Lunstad et al. (2015) (6) found tha the risk of death increased by 29% for those who were socially isolated, by 26% by those feeling lonely, and by 32% for those living alone.

Keep connected with your peers (you can bee isolated even if you are surrounded by other people), keep up and about and it will help to reduce stress and stimulate your brain (social interactions require communication, facial expression decoding and listening and answering).

Mental Stimulation

Reading, taking a course, studying a new language, and doing things that keep your brain active will ward off dementia as proven by a recent study by Lee et al. (2018) (7) involving 15,582 individuals with an age of 65 years or older. This study found that "Daily participation in intellectual activities was associated with a significantly lower risk of dementia ... Active participation in intellectual activities, even in late life, might help prevent dementia in older adults."

Alzheimer's disease is more related to genetics and lifestyle choices than brain stimulating activities, but it probably won't hurt to challenge the brain with new intellectual activities to keep it active.

A Postive & Optimisic Outlook

Personality and life history shape our outlook as we age. Some people are naturally optimistic, others see the glass half empty.

There is evidence that optimists fare better than pessimists when it comes to aging: Wurm S and Benyamini Y. (2014) (8) reported that "People who were prepared for physical losses (negative SPA), and who were nevertheless optimistic, were better able to maintain better physical functioning, and lower depressive symptoms."

Positive attitudes also help to ward off depression and keep people from engaging in unhealthy behaviors (alcoholism, over eating, or living a sedentary lifestyle).

A recent analysis (James et al., 2020) (9) of the Nurses' Health Study that included 33,326 women followe over 8 years, found that:

• "The most versus least optimistic women had a 23% greater likelihood of healthy aging."
• "Higher optimism was associated with increased likelihood of healthy aging, suggesting that optimism ... merits further research for its potential to improve health in aging."

We have written an article about 8 skills to manage stress and anxiety that include the following: being Positive, savoring, having feelings of gratitude, summing your Personal Strengths, planning Attainable goals, looking at bad situations with a Positive reappraisal, feeling Self-compassion and the Daily practice of mindfulness.

Closing Comments

Old age is the time of life when the wisdom and skills acquired over a long lifetime can be shared with friends, family and the community.

It is a stage of life which can be enjoyed despite the changes caused by aging. It is not necessarily a period of mental or physical decline. Age-related conditions can be prevented and delayed by some simple lifestyle changes such as keeping active, eating a healthy diet and kicking bad habits such as smoking and drinking. Keeping socially active, and doing brain stimulating activites with a positive outlook will promote wellbeing and prevent dementia.