Abraham Lincoln once said “In the end, It’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years”. No matter how many years you have in your life it’s never to late to develop some new habits. Especially when those habits can help you look and feel younger! Here are 3 that can help keep you young no matter what your age.
Exercise Your Brain
As you get older you require more brain power than you did when you were younger. In fact, there’s an acronym for this called HAROLD or (hemispheric asymmetry reduction in older adults). So if you want to feel younger it’s important to keep you mind sharp and health. One way to do that is to give your brain a workout everyday. Studies show that when you make it a habit to read, do math problems, learn something new or let your creativity shine it strengthens your brain.[1]
Exercise Your Body
Along with exercising your brain, exercising your body can help keep you younger! Research published by the National Academy of Sciences shows that regular exercise can reduce almost all the visible and functional effects of aging in mice. [2] The research was conducted using two separate groups of mice. One group exercised on a wheel for 45 minutes a day 3 days a week while the other group did no exercise at all. By the time both groups reached the equivalent of 60 years old in humans the non exercise group was in poor shape and died shortly there after. The other group, however, looked and functioned more youthfully. The bottom line; exercising your body can help improve your quality of life and help you look and feel younger.
Exercise Good Sense when it Comes to Nutrition
To round out your daily habits for staying young let’s talk about exercising some good sense when it comes to nutrition.
Drink Green Tea – Antioxidants help fight age related oxidation. A Chinese study found that people who drank 3 – 5 cups of green tea a day were biologically five years younger than those who drank less than one cup a day.[3]
Limit or Eliminate Sugar – Sugar is a damaging molecule that contributes to inflammation in the body and speeds the ageing process.[4] If you’re looking for a better alternative try Stevia. It’s a natural sweetener. Organic honey or molasses are other good options too but you should use these in moderation.
Drink Plenty of Water, Eat Whole Foods, Fruits and Vegetables – Many of the preservatives used in processed foods aren’t helping preserve you. Phosphates, a preservative used in soda and processed foods, has been shown to accelerate the ageing process in mice and contribute to age related diseases. [5] On the other hand a well balanced diet of whole foods, fruits and vegetables can provide your body with the nutrients needed to functional optimally.
Summary
By making some simple changes to keep your brain active, exercise your body and eat a well balanced diet you can look and feel younger at any age. In the end, when you have your health you have more options and that puts life into your years.
References
- Uchida, S., & Kawashima, R. (2008, March). Reading and solving arithmetic problems improves cognitive functions of normal aged people: a randomized controlled study. Retrieved February 09, 2017, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2276592/
- Garcia, O. (n.d.). How Exercise Keeps You Young. Retrieved February 09, 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/oz-garcia/exercise-aging-_b_832231.html
- Chinese tea consumption is associated with longer telomere length in elderly Chinese men. (n.d.). Retrieved February 09, 2017, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19671205
- Why Avoiding Sugar is a Good Anti-Aging Strategy. (n.d.). Retrieved February 09, 2017, from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/02/22/how-sugar-accelerates-aging.aspx
- Alleyne, R. (n.d.). Fizzy drinks and processed foods linked to premature ageing. Retrieved February 09, 2017, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/7639387/Fizzy-drinks-and-processed-foods-linked-to-premature-ageing.html
