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Doris Obinna
Trying to live longer is a great goal, but those extra years won’t mean much if you are not feeling healthy and energetic. So why not try to help your body act younger than your chronological age, by following a few basic steps towards a longevity lifestyle.
See what changes you should make today, to make your body function in a more youthful and resilient way, months, or years from now. Here are some important things you need to consider:
Quit smoking: Stopping this one habit will likely do more for your longevity and your health in general than any other change you make. Numerous studies have chronicled the toll tobacco takes on the overall well-being and health status of both men and women. More specifically, continuing a heavy smoking habit past the age of 40 has been shown to chop as much as a decade off your life. It can worsen many age-related diseases like heart disease and diabetes. Smoking also causes premature skin aging, making you look older.
Maintain a healthy weight: While there remains some controversy about how obesity is measured; using Body Mass Index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio, skinfold thickness, or simply the number on the scale, most longevity researchers agree that too much fat on your body predisposes you to many serious conditions like heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer.
Stay active: The benefits of being physically active are numerous: better cardiovascular health, lower risk of cancer and diabetes, improved stress management, and better longevity. A 2011 study on more than 416,000 men and women published in The Lancet showed that subjects who exercised an average of 15 minutes per day, at a moderate-intensity (e.g. brisk walking), lived an average of three years more, than those who did little or no activity.
Eat an anti-aging diet: Eating a well-balanced diet based on fruits, vegetables, lean protein, plenty of low-mercury fish, whole grains, and moderate amounts of healthy fats, has consistently been linked in research to better longevity.
Manage your stress intake: Even people who are very diligent with diet and exercise may overlook the impact of stress on their health. The fact is, stress has many physiological effects, including raising your level of cortisol, a stress hormone that can contribute to cardiovascular conditions, dangerous belly fat, depression and poorer resistance to disease.
Stay social: Another important aspect of a longevity lifestyle is being part of a larger social network, with the support of friends and family. In fact, in their research on 1,500 Californians followed from childhood into old age, psychologists Howard Friedman and Leslie Martin found that staying connected and remaining integrated within their community were some of the most significant predictors of greater longevity.
