Thousands of studies have been done on aging and many are beginning to point to an inescapable conclusion: our lifestyle choices, what we eat, and what we don’t eat may actually affect our aging process. Yes, those wrinkles and achy joints may be more in your control than previously believed, and may explain why some people look young for their chronologic age while others do not!
Here are the steps everyone can take to slow the aging process:
- Get active. The Go4Life Program, from the National Institutes of Health, suggests that regular exercise can help people maintain healthier hearts, brains, blood sugar control, and more! Some studies have suggested that for every minute of exercise, you prolong your life by seven minutes.[1]
- Reduce stress. Sustained stressors such as emotional trauma, feeling threatened, or feeling insecure appear to be associated with faster aging.[2]You can reduce the stress you may feel from such events by practicing relaxation techniques such as meditation, breathing exercises, and biofeedback.
- Maintain your ideal weight. The National Institutes of Health counts maintaining a healthy weight in their top 7 Steps to Healthy Aging, because being overweight is associated with many chronic diseases.[3]Achieving your ideal weight can be hard, but there are many tools available that can help you lose weight healthfully.
- More sleep. Lack of sleep can have devastating effects on our health, impacting our mood,[4]our memories,[5] and even our resistance to infection.[6] To improve sleep, make an effort to maintain a consistent sleep schedule, use your bed only for sleep, try a “white noise generator” such as a fan, and avoid caffeine in the afternoon and evening.
- Stay connected. Good social relationships are important to our overall health. As we age, having close friends and a variety of social activities is linked to happiness, better cognitive skills,[7]and even a longer life.[8]
- Eat fruits and vegetables. The ChooseMyPlate Program, developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, suggests that everything you eat is important. Since only nine percent of Americans eat the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables per day, the opportunity for improving health (and longevity) by improving diet is great.[9]
- Take a multivitamin. The National Institutes of Health suggests a multivitamin/mineral for those of us who don’t always make the best food choices. Deficiencies of vitamins such as B6, B12, C, E, niacin, and folic acid and minerals such as iron and zinc can lead to accelerated aging.[10] Everyone should consider a good multivitamin to cover their basic nutritional needs.
- Load up on polyphenols. Found in many fruits, vegetables, green and black tea, red wine, coffee, chocolate, olives, and extra virgin olive oil, polyphenols are plant-based nutrients that have antioxidant benefits and protective effects against cellular aging.[11] You can also supplement with Vivix®, which contains a proprietary, all-natural blend of diverse polyphenols designed to help protect and repair DNA to slow aging at the cellular level®. It is also 13x more powerful than resveratrol alone in slowing a key mechanism of aging.**
The trajectory of your aging lies, in part, in your hands. There is a lot you can do to help your body look and function better over time. While you can’t stop the clock, you can incorporate some of the above suggestions to help achieve your healthiest aging!
**In laboratory studies, Vivix key ingredients help slow the formation of AGE proteins that can lead to cell damage.
References:
[1] Moore SC, Patel AV, Matthews CE, et al. Leisure time physical activity of moderate to vigorous intensity and mortality: a large pooled cohort analysis. PLoS Med. 2012;9(11):e1001335. PMID: 23139642.
[2] Price LH, Kao HT, Burgers DE, Carpenter LL, Tyrka AR. Telomeres and early-life stress: an overview. Biol Psychiatry. 2013 Jan 1;73(1):15-23. PMID: 22831981;
[3] Field AE, Coakley EH, Must A, et al. Impact of overweight on the risk of developing common chronic diseases during a 10-year period. Arch Intern Med. 2001 Jul 9;161(13):1581-6. PMID:11434789.
[4] Cole MG, Dendukuri N. Risk factors for depression among elderly community subjects: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Psychiatry. 2003 Jun;160(6):1147-56.. PMID: 12777274.
[5] Schmidt C, Peigneux P, Cajochen C. Age-related changes in sleep and circadian rhythms: impact on cognitive performance and underlying neuroanatomical networks. Front Neurol. 2012;3:118. PMID: 22855682.
[6] http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/immune-system-lack-of-sleep
[7] Seeman TE, Lusignolo TM, Albert M, Berkman L. Social relationships, social support, and patterns of cognitive aging in healthy, high-functioning older adults: MacArthur studies of successful aging. Health Psychol. 2001 Jul;20(4):243-55. PMID: 11515736.
[8] Kern ML, Porta SS, Friedman HS. Lifelong Pathways to Longevity: Personality, Relationships, Flourishing, and Health. J Pers. 2013 Aug 8. PMID: 23927423.
[9] Ames BN, Shigenaga MK, Hagen TM. Oxidants, antioxidants, and the degenerative diseases of aging. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1993 Sep 1;90(17):7915-22. PMID: 8367443.
[10] Ames BN. Micronutrients prevent cancer and delay aging. Toxicol Lett. 1998 Dec 28;102-103:5-18. PMID: 10022226.
[11] Fraga CG, Galleano M, Verstraeten SV, Oteiza PI. Basic biochemical mechanisms behind the health benefits of polyphenols. Mol Aspects Med. 2010 Dec;31(6):435-45. PMID: 20854840.
