By Julie E 
Photo Credit (Freepik)
When it comes to living a long life and getting older with grace, things like food, exercise, and even attitude can be just as important as genes. Even though Bette Davis once said, “Old age ain’t no place for sissies,” you don’t have to stress out every birthday. Naturally, getting older causes changes in almost every part of your body, such as your hair, skin, heart, muscles, brain, and more. But if you want to age well, it might be as easy as starting to do these healthy (and mostly easy) things every day. These tips will help your body and mind as you get older.
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Keep a good attitude about getting older.
As you age, you become what you think you are. The Journal of the American Medical Association says that seniors who see getting older as a way to gain wisdom and general happiness are more than 40% more likely to recover from a disability than seniors who see getting older as a way to become helpless or useless.1. So your attitude and point of view can have a big impact on how physically and mentally strong you stay as you age.
Full-fat foods are good for you.
Food is a big part of how your body changes. Doctor Jeffrey Benabio, who is in charge of Health Care Transformation at Kaiser Permanente Primary Care, says, “New research shows that a low-glycemic diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein is the healthiest.”2
It’s easy to see why the Mediterranean diet was named the Best Overall Diet for the fifth year in a row by U.S. News & World Report in 2022. Plant-based foods, whole grains, nuts, fish, and healthy fats make up this all-around, nutrient-dense diet. You can even drink red wine (in moderation). On the Mediterranean diet, you should eat fish twice a week and limit your salt intake. Harvard Medical School says that research shows that this kind of food may help you age better by lowering your risk of heart attacks, strokes, and dying too soon. As an added bonus, Dr. Benabio says that foods high in Omega-3 fatty acids, like salmon, walnuts, extra-virgin olive oil, and flaxseed, help your skin make the oils it needs to protect itself and can make it look younger3.
Dr. Benabio says that unhealthy fatty foods, sugary foods, and carb-heavy foods, like chips, soda, and white bread, can speed up the aging process.4 “So, when shopping or dining out, opt for whole grains and natural sweeteners,” he adds.
You should only eat until you’re full, not stuffed.
Chronic overeating, which means eating way past the point of being full and pleased, can cause health problems like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and a shorter life span.5 It’s best to stick to a balanced diet and good eating habits if you want to age well and live longer. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025 has a lot of information, study, and tips about what people should eat.
Regularly work out.
A big part of staying healthy as you age is staying busy. Fabio Comana, an exercise physiologist and staff instructor at the National Academy of Sports Medicine, says that between the ages of 30 and 70, a woman can lose 23% of her muscle mass. Comana says that resistance training can help you gain mass and strength even well into your 90s, even though you lose muscle more quickly as you age.
A study in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease suggests that staying fit may also help slow down memory loss that comes with getting older.6 Also, Comana says that Alzheimer’s disease causes about 60 to 70 percent of all dementia cases. He also says that getting more active can lower this number by 25 percent.7.8 The hippocampus, the part of the brain that handles learning and working memory, gets stronger when you work out.
Make friends and stay in touch.
It’s important to stay in touch with people you care about and be a part of a group. Not only is it fun to spend time with family and friends, but it can also help you live longer. In a study released in the journal PLOS Medicine, people with strong social ties were found to have a 50% higher chance of living longer than people with weak or no relationships.9
Protect yourself from the sun.
Sunburn and wrinkles can happen if you spend too much time in the sun. But putting on sunscreen can help keep your face from getting old.10 And while the sun’s UV rays do make vitamin D, which is important for bone health, that’s not really a reason to be outside. The doctor says, “These are the facts.” “After a few minutes of sun, your skin stops making vitamin D—and starts making skin cancer.” Most people get enough Vitamin D, but if you think you might not, eat more salmon or eggs (don’t skip the yolk). Every day, even on days you’ll be inside or traveling, make it a habit to use sunscreen as part of your normal skin care routine. Get a sun hat that you love and sunglasses that really block UVA and UVB rays.
Sleep a lot.
You likely know that you need seven to nine hours of sleep every night and that a good power nap can help you make up for lost sleep. But did you know that not getting enough sleep on a regular basis makes you more likely to get diabetes, Alzheimer’s, obesity, and heart disease?
It turns out that the idea of “beauty sleep” is real. Dr. Benabio says that while you sleep, your body creates a growth hormone that helps rebuild collagen and elastin, which are two important building blocks for healthy, young skin.11
As Dr. Benabio points out, new study has also found a link between insomnia and brain aging faster.12 That is, not getting enough sleep on a regular basis can hurt the structure and function of your brain and make you age faster. “Too many of us treat sleep as a luxury instead of a need,” he says. “If I could encourage people do make one healthy change, it would be to sleep more.”