17 Healthy Anti-aging Habits to Fight the Effects of Aging, Feel More Youthful, and Look Younger than You Really Are
Yes young people this is for you too
Don’t just “go with the flow” when it comes to getting older, at least not without putting some twists on it.
Look, we all know that if we live long enough, we will age. There’s no magic pill or potion to stop the inevitability of aging.
But, there are a host of habits you can adopt as anti-aging strategies so that aging doesn’t ambush you from all sides, wreaking complete havoc due to factors that could have been controlled.
Granted, there are many factors that are out of a person’s control but here we will take a look at 17 factors you can take control of and age more gracefully and comfortably.
Keep it moving
Don’t be a couch potato!
Lounging too much can be a factor in pre-mature aging by being detrimental to body functions and causing problems with range of motion, flexibility, circulation and can lead to health risks such as heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke and certain cancers. Instead of chilling it out lying around, work it out instead most of the time.
A University of California San Diego Health Sciences study showed that “older women who have less than 40 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day and are sedentary for more than 10 hours a day are biologically eight years older than women in the study who were more active.”
Get in those anti-oxidants
Eating your fruits and vegetables are a tasty way to pack a punch to your anti-aging routine.
The old saying an apple a day will keep the doctor away is not far-fetched, in that it simply implies that fruit and vegetable consumption every day is good for your health. Including plenty of fruits and vegetables in your diet helps to prevent diseases related to aging as well, which helps contribute to a longer life span.
Meditation and mindfulness
Meditating and practicing mindfulness are two activities that may offer many anti-aging benefits.
Meditation can also evoke a connection on the level of your spirit, and spirituality (which is not the same as religion) has a positive effect on overall health. Meditation and mindfulness are centuries old practices that can offer health benefits like lowering blood pressure and heart rate, reducing stress, controlling anxiety, and reducing age-related memory loss. Also, listening to music, practicing yoga, taking nature walks, doing deep breathing, reciting positive affirmations, or even focused gardening are examples of ways to connect with mindfulness.
Reduce sugar intake
Is your sweet tooth aging you?
Although an occasional sweet treat is ok, indulging too often in eating desserts and sugar-filled foods is not good for your health and can lead to or increase wrinkles as well as chin and neck sagging, making you look old. Too much sugar in your diet not only causes you to look old, it actually ages you on both the inside and outside. So it is a good idea to just say no to that sweet tooth more often than not.
Water — drink it
Are you getting the recommended 8 glasses a day?
Getting an adequate amount of water intake is essential to ensuring that the body functions properly and preventing dehydration, and hydrated skin looks younger. In his book, “The Water Secret”, Dr. Howard Murad, M.D. states that water is the key to anti-aging.
Other age fighting benefits of drinking water include joint lubrication, brain and spinal cord cushioning, body temperature and blood pressure regulation, and body waste flushing, to name a few. Lemon water is especially good for anti-aging because it makes the water alkaline. So drink up!
Cut back on sodium
It’s not just about the salt that you shake at the table.
According to a Harvard Medical School publication, one of the worst things that you can do as a detriment to your health and age you body is consuming too much salt (sodium) in your diet. And this is true for people of all ages, even teenagers!
Too much sodium in the diet accelerates the aging process. And high sodium is found in more foods and drinks than you may realize such as soups, vegetable juice, processed foods, canned foods, frozen shrimp, condiments, pizza, boxed potato casserole, chips, dried meats, tortillas, pickles, hot dogs, lunch meat and much more. So read labels and watch sodium content in what you eat even more than just shaking table salt.
Don’t smoke
No ifs, ands or butts about it — smoking contributes to pre-mature aging.
Not only is smoking bad for your health with increasing heart and lung disease risks (to name just two), it also contributes to speeding up the aging process by activating enzymes that cause your skin elasticity to break down. Smoking also decreases oxygen and blood circulation in the skin, causing your skin to look older, wrinkled, and weathered, noted by Dr. Bahman Guyuron, a lead research study author on the subject and cosmetic surgeon in Cleveland, Ohio.
So, it’s a good idea to quit smoking if you do and don’t start if you haven’t, as another way to fight the aging process.
Get enough sleep
Sleep deprivation has long been studied as a precursor to a host of physical, mental, and emotional health issues, which can contribute to problems as you get older.
Not getting enough sleep can cause disturbances in the way your body functions and lead to serious complications, which can be worse as you age. Sleep loss can speed up the process of aging, according to a UCLA research study, as this can make cells age faster.
Get that shut-eye! It is recommended that we get 6–8 hours of sleep each night and practice good before-bed routines, which is known as good sleep hygiene, for a better night’s sleep.
Keep the mind active
Keep learning and challenging the mind.
Whether in a classroom, online class, joining a book club, learning a new craft, learning about another culture, or whatever your interests, a healthy mind is one that stays active. Making your brain smarter helps to keep the brain young. This goes for people of all ages. It pays to strengthen your memory and keep your brain sharp.
Take care of your skin
Since the skin is the largest organ on the body, it is naturally a big part of the aging process.
Any anti-aging routine should include a good skin care regimen. We can’t actually stop the aging clock, but there are ways to slow or speed up the clock and taking care of your skin is definitely a way to slow it down somewhat.
To start, here are some skin care focus points to include in your routine: Use facial cleanser, serums, moisturizer, sunscreen, and exfoliate to have healthier, younger looking skin. And this goes for all of your skin, not just the skin on your face.
Don’t neglect your skin!
Ditch the junk and processed foods
“What you put on your plate is even more important than what you put on your skin.”
That’s deep.
The old saying: You are what you eat, really does hold merit. NYU Medical Center Clinical Nutritionist, Samantha Heller, MS, RD says that everything we eat becomes a part of the inner being as well as the outer fabric of the body.
Think about that.
Junk foods and processed foods go against anti-aging, particularly when it comes to the skin looking younger and more vibrant, as well as it relates to overall health, which decreases the life span.
This is one of the things that I find myself doing and that is contemplating and analyzing everything that I think about eating throughout the day. I know I won’t be perfect with the perfect diet, but I figure if I just choose the healthier choices most of the time (80/20 rule or even make that 90/10), then I’m doing myself a huge favor.
Practice disease prevention
Get your preventive health screenings.
I’m sure we’ve all heard someone say at some point that they never get sick and hate going to the doctor. Well, this is not a good mindset to adopt. Why? Because many illnesses can be silent killers (i.e., high blood pressure and heart disease) and regular check ups, blood work, and health screenings can be what makes the difference. This is particularly true the older we get. As we age, health issues can arise more readily, so don’t ignore symptoms and get checked out regularly whether you have symptoms or not.
Limit alcohol consumption
Heavy drinking of alcohol directly affects physical and mental health in negative ways.
Over indulgence in alcoholic drinks can cause you to age faster than normal. Heavy drinkers also can suffer from malnutrition, which limits the body’s own maintenance ability and make a person look older due to more rapid aging.
It is best to only indulge in alcohol consumption in moderation.
Manage stress
Learn to master stress management.
We all have stress, for sure. But, it is how we handle and manage the stress that makes the difference. If you are chronically stressed, it is likely a major reason why you may have accelerated premature aging, which is caused by shortening of DNA telomeres (protective caps on the ends of DNA).
So, take time each day to practice stress relief such as meditation, relaxation, yoga, exercise, tai-chi to name a few.
Do facial exercises and smile (a lot)
Don’t be embarrassed to make some funny faces!
Exercising the face is a great way to stave off and even reverse signs of aging, according to a research study published in JAMA Dermatology magazine. Practicing routine facial exercises work to fight aging in that it tones the facial muscles and helps to fill out contours to give the face a more youthful look.
There are plenty of websites and YouTube videos that give instructions on how to do facial exercises. Just Google search it.
Enjoy the outdoors
Go outside!
Spending time outdoors engaging in physical activities that you enjoy can profoundly change you life, such as walking or taking a nature hike. according to new research.
A University of Michigan study found that people participating in group nature walks were significantly less depressed and stressed with a much better sense of well-being. Outside activities also keeps vitamin D levels in check, which is essential to good health and health aging.
So get out and enjoy the fresh air!
Do cardio for the heart
Get that heart muscle working.
One of the best ways that you can actually slow the aging process at the cellular level is to get aerobic exercise, according to new research. However, the clencher is to add high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and endurance exercises to your workout routine. The recommendation is to exercise for 45 minutes, 3 times a week.
This research mentions telomeres and how they start to shrink with age and found that older people with longer telomeres experience less vascular aging than people with shorter telomeres. Exercise helps to keep telomeres healthy.
To Recap
Here are the 17 takeaways on tips for anti-aging:
- Don’t lounge too much
- Eat plenty of fruits and veggies
- Practice meditation and mindfulness
- Reduce sugar intake
- Drink plenty of water
- Watch your sodium intake
- Don’t smoke
- Get enough sleep
- Keep an active mind
- Get a good skin care routine
- Don’t consume junk and processed foods
- Get regular check-ups and health screenings
- Limit alcohol consumption
- Practice stress management
- Do facial exercises
- Enjoy outdoor activities
- Get regular cardiovascular exercise
These are some tips on how to slow the process of aging, and as the subtitle states, these tips are not just for older people. In fact, the sooner you begin to implement these techniques, the better. It has everything to do with biological age and not just chronological age, as explained below.
May you age well!
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Disclaimer: For information purposes only. Information in this article was sourced from research and based on my own personal experience and observation. The article is not medical advice and should not be looked at as such. You should consult your physician before trying any of the suggestions in this article.
Thank you for supporting my passion for writing! You are appreciated.
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