Ways to Extend Your Lifespan
The average lifespan is extending every decade. As a global population, we are living healthy lives long into our eighties, nineties, and even past 100 years old.
Despite living longer than our ancestors in general, it’s still important to live a healthy lifestyle if you want to live well into your nineties. You still need to put in the work to extend your lifespan!
Luckily, there are many things that you can do to maximize your health and live longer. In this article, we’re going to give you some top tips on how you can extend your lifespan. Before we get into the tips, let’s take a look into which populations across the globe are living the longest.
The Blue Zones
In certain areas of the world called Blue Zones, the centenarian population is much higher than elsewhere. The Blue Zones include Okinawa in Japan, Icaria in Greece, Nicoya in Costa Rica, Sardinia in Italy, and California in the United States.
If you take a look at the average population in each of these areas, they may not be any different from elsewhere in the world. However, these areas have a higher than an average number of people living above the age of 100.
There has been a lot of research into why this is the case. What makes these places so special?
It all comes down to the lifestyle that people lead in these areas. Populations in the Blue Zones focus on consuming a healthy and well-balanced diet, they exercise regularly, and they have a strong sense of community.
Top Tips to Live Longer
With all of this in mind, you can probably take a good guess at the best ways to live longer. Below, we’ve listed some top ways to extend your lifespan while staying healthy.
Eat a Nutrient-Dense Diet
Diet is extremely important when it comes to your health and well-being. It’s also important to consider when you want to extend your lifespan.
Consuming a healthy and well-balanced diet fuels your brain and body. You need a range of macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) to function properly.
When you eat a diet that is full of nutrients, it minimizes your risk of developing chronic health conditions and slows down the cellular rate of aging.
Unlike the typical western diet, people in the Blue Zones consume very little junk food. Their diets are full of freshly cooked food that is colorful and nutritious.
Focus your meals around complex carbohydrates like whole grain rice, buckwheat, and bread. Include a source of high-quality protein, such as oily fish, poultry, tofu, and beans. Don’t forget the healthy fats too. You can find these in fatty fish, avocado, nuts, and seeds.
You can also take vitamins to keep healthy joints, bones, and muscles. Supplements are great to prevent nutritional deficiencies.
Exercise Regularly
Moving your body is just as important as fuelling it with the right foods. Regular exercise keeps your heart and lungs healthy, maintains muscle mass, and boosts your mental health.
Exercise becomes especially important as you grow older. Seniors are at an increased risk of heart disease and low bone density. Practicing regular exercise can minimize this risk and keep the whole body healthy.
Studies show that consistent exercise lowers the risk of cardiovascular events, obesity, diabetes, and neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.
Even if you don’t need to or want to lose weight, exercise should still form a central part of your daily routine. It doesn’t need to be anything complicated or vigorous. Something as simple as walking can prove extremely beneficial for the body.
Exercise is also a great way to improve gross and fine motor skills as you age. You can improve your balance, stability, and coordination.
Many elderly adults end up purchasing a medical alert system to get help in case they fall over. While having an alarm is great as a safety net in case you do take a fall, it’s much better to prevent falls from happening in the first place by building strength and stability through exercise.
Be Social
Populations that are family- and community-orientated live happier and longer lives. There is a number of reasons for this, the main one being the increased socialization and support that comes from being part of a family or wider community.
Feeling like you are a valued member of a group of people increases your sense of fulfillment, and makes you feel safer and stronger. You gain the support of those around you and this boosts not only your mental health but also every other aspect of your well-being.
Ways to Extend Your Lifespan
