11 Ways to Stay Healthy and Live Longer
It’s never too late and age doesn’t matter. So why don’t you start adding years to your life today? Here are some tips on how to stay healthy and live longer!
1. Eat Less
You only have to try eating less in order to maintain a healthy weight. Make it easy on yourself. Try adjusting how much you consume per meal. You might like to heed this ancient advice:
2. Go Ahead and Have a Drink or Two
Although wine has proven health benefits and beer aids sleep, the real magic of moderate drinking may be the social engagement involved. This was found in a 90+ Study by Claudia Kawas, M.D., University of California-Irvine. So feel free to have a drink or two a day!
3. Keep the Faith
Researchers aren’t entirely sure why people who have a spiritual practice live longer. But they do credit the social aspect of it. For instance, religion motivates people toward volunteerism, stress-reducing prayer and meditation and an attitude of gratitude.
In my blog posts on Body, Mind and Spirit HERE, you will find more about how your spiritual practice of choice can improve lifelong health.
4. Cultivate Close Friendships
Good friends are a necessary support as you navigate through life. Loving relationships of all sorts are healthy for your mind and spirit. But as far as your body goes, the best friends for that are fit, active and eat right. Their good habits will rub off on you.
5. Avoid Loneliness
Older adults who see only their spouse or the same two family members all the time do not fare as well as those who engage in a wider social circle. But be aware that while with others, you can suffer toxic loneliness. So it’s wise to choose carefully.
6. Get Social Time
We’ve learned all too well during the Covid pandemic that real, not virtual, social connections are most important. According to John Day, M.D., “one study showed that social isolation is just as much a threat to longevity as smoking or obesity.” Research also shows that the more time spent in social activities (book clubs, volunteering, hobbies) the lower the mortality risk. But of course, when it’s not safe to meet face-to-face, digital social connection is better than nothing.
7. Be of Good Cheer
Nir Barzilai’s longevity study at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine showed that centenarians have an outgoing, easy-going, optimistic personality. These traits keep them engaged with the world. If you’re not born this way, you should still be able to develop a more positive way of seeing things.
8. Stimulate Your Brain
When you choose to study new things, you need to keep leveling up. For cognitive benefit, always reach for better new brain-stretching activities.
9. Exercise 45 Minutes a Day
Aging experts agree lifelong movement – from climbing stairs to walking to lifting weights – is the number one aid to longevity. Gym-rat marathoning is not necessary. It has been found that breaking up your activity throughout different periods of the day works just as well as a full 45-minute exercise session at once.
10. Have a Purpose
When you have a sense of purpose and engage with the world, your body rises to the occasion. Unlike a job, purpose doesn’t end. It gives your life meaning.
11. Eat a Mostly Plant-Based Diet
When it comes to food, it’s the basics that get you to 90 years and beyond. Focus on protein (but not much red meat), healthy fats and complex carbs. Healthy fats include nuts and olive oil. For a mostly plant-based diet, include whole grains, greens, tubers, nuts and beans. A Mediterranean diet is promoted as the best model for the healthiest eating. “Anti-aging” vitamin cocktails don’t do the same job.
This post is based on “11 Ways to Live Longer & Healthier Starting Today” from Parade, June 21, 2020.
Let’s Connect!
Was this helpful to you? Would you like to live to age 90 or more? Please share your thoughts by leaving a reply below!
Like this post? You might also like to read:
- Posts in my “Lifelong Health” category
- “What is the Fountain of Youth Really?”
- “The Secrets of How to Live to 100”
- “What is the Perfect Exercise Plan for Your Body Type?”
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Angie
I need these suggestions since I’m not a great one for taking care of myself. I do minimum exercise and my doctor wants me to up that.
The advice to exercise 45 minutes a day is definitely a challenge, especially for us bloggers who work at a computer!
Great list of ways to live longer and improve the quality of your life! Stimulating the brain is definitely VERY important!
Yes, I guess that would be another aspect of the saying “use it or lose it”!
So wonderful, Angie! I had to laugh about the drink or two per day. Every time I go to my primary care doc for my physical, she always asks how much I drink. And I tell her usually once a week on Saturdays, maybe twice a week. I know it’s one of the questions she has to ask, but it always makes me feel like she thinks I’m an alcoholic (tho I know she doesn’t!)
Now you know that you’re doing great! Although in my post on centenarians, some of them attributed their long life to enjoying as much alcohol as they liked. Lol!