Some secrets for healthy ageing
This is largely an inside-out job! And also should be addressed long before you consider yourself to be an ageing person!
As someone who is well into my second half of life I can say for sure that they can be some of the best years ever! Chances are that you understand yourself better, feel more comfortable in your own skin and feel more confident than you did as a youngster. You are almost certainly more patient and understanding than you were before. And you have greater wisdom gained from your life experience.
One could probably create a long list of things so to ensure happy and healthy later years but really there are just a few that are fundamental. Let’s consider those.
Eat well
This is a lifelong mantra, actually, but as we age we might need to pay special attention once more. As you age it might just feel like more of a chore to prepare food and pay attention to what you are eating, but it remains important.
Simply put, we should eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, lean meat, fish and chicken, and much less sugary and processed foods, fatty meats, bad fats and empty carbohydrates (cakes and cookies).
There are many studies that support the idea that what you eat determines your longevity and quality of life! Especially important is that, if you start soon enough, you can prevent or delay the onset of many chronic diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, joint disease, diabetes, and deteriorations such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. In my book, anything I can do to achieve those benefits would be worthwhile!
Just an added point: it is also true that it becomes more difficult to actually get a good ‘dose’ of all the important nutrients on board through diet alone. We tend to have less interest in preparing food, smaller appetites, and are less efficient at chewing, digesting and absorbing our food. So I strongly recommend nutritional supplements and personally take them on a daily basis. And I don’t recommend just any supplements but a range that I have investigated and used consistently for about 3 decades now. I’d love to share that information with you if you are interested!
Be sure that you stay physically active
It doesn’t have to be fancy – simple walking is excellent! A good idea would be 30 minutes a day – broken up into smaller periods over the day if necessary. What is important is that you are actually challenging your body a little – like feeling slightly breathless as a result of the activity.
Among the many benefits are improving blood circulation and thus delivery of oxygen throughout the body. This keeps your brain cells healthy and can delay or arrest the onset of mental decline such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Other benefits include keeping your bones and muscles strong, improving your balance, helps sleep, boosts mood and sense of well-being, help with weight management, and reduces chances of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Maintain your social connections!
Being well and happy is what we all hope for, and it turns out that there really is a lot we can do to make it so.
While exercise, eating a wholesome diet, not smoking and drinking in moderation all play a role, the real predictors might surprise you!
We need to have close relationships with at least 3 people. These are people to whom we can go when we need support, people who really do have our backs, and people that we trust.
But more important than those strong relationships, as it turns out, is the social network that we enjoy. Even just a passing greeting, a chat with the guard at the gate, an interaction with another person at any level matters – both weak and strong bonds contribute.
Loneliness increases the likelihood of depression or even dementia. It also weakens our immune systems so we are more prone to infections.
Face to face interactions release a cascade of neurotransmitters which lower stress, give us a ‘high’, reduce pain, and show us again that we are thinking, feeling, sentient beings who belong to the community.
Develop your Happiness Quotient
Chances are you haven’t heard of this before? Son the Happiness Quotient is a measure of our general state of happiness and contentment.
About 60% of our Happiness Quotient is determined by our genes and our life experiences, so the good news is that about 40% is directly within our control. In a very real sense we are the masters of our own fate as far as happiness goes.
That’s both the good news and the bad news! Bad because no-one else is to blame for how we feel, and good because we have it within our power to determine how happy we feel.
So what are some things we can pay attention to?
- Be compassionate towards others. Give them the benefit of the doubt before you judge their actions or words and they will respond kindly towards you in return.
- Monitor your thoughts. We are constantly bombarded with bad news and we need to be very vigilant as it has a negative impact on our happiness. What you focus on becomes your reality so focus on good things.
- Stay connected. This might be more challenging at the moment, but there are ways and means. Make the effort to do so – both you and the other people in your life will be the happier for it.
- Do what you love. Find something that brings you joy and start doing it. Then do more of it! Remember Grandma Moses became a world famous naive artist but she only sold her first painting at the age of 79!
Contact me if you would like to talk about some supplementation to help boost your health.
084 506 3643
andre.positiveoptions@gmail.com
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