They say age is only a number. The phrase is cliché, but there’s some truth to it. After all, your chronological age, or the number you tell people when they ask how old you are, can seem vastly different from your biological age, or the condition of your body at the cellular level.
While 20 percent of your rate of biological aging is due to genetics, you can chalk up the remaining 80 percent to environmental and lifestyle choices, many of which are in your direct control. With these five tips to slow down aging, you can delay your biological clock even as time keeps ticking.
Lift Weights
For generations, it was thought that age-related muscle loss—known as sarcopenia—was simply a function of aging. Getting older meant your strength, endurance, vigor, and resilience declined, while body fat and lethargy increased.
However, keeping up your weight lifting routine is shown to result in relatively stable muscle mass and even muscle gain in someone as old as 70. It turns out that compounded muscle loss is about more than just aging—it’s about chronic disuse and lower activity levels that tend to come with getting older. Keep making trips to the gym a priority to help you maintain muscle mass and the strength and energy that come with it.
Go for a Run
Maintaining muscle mass is important, but lifting weights isn’t the only type of exercise you should engage in. Aerobic exercise is vital, too, because it works out your heart, your vascular system, and even your brain.
Plus, running, biking, or swimming helps to stimulate the production and repair of mitochondria in your cells. One of the foremost theories on aging is that mitochondria stop producing energy efficiently as your chronological clock ticks by. Since aerobic exercise improves mitochondrial function, it helps to slow down aging.
Go Mediterranean
Are you familiar with the Mediterranean diet? This way of eating focuses on natural food and healthy fats, including fish, nuts, avocados, and olive oil. The Mediterranean diet is praised for its ability to protect the brain and slow the cognitive decline that comes with aging.
This shows that not all fat is bad. In fact, nuts and plant-based oils have antioxidant properties that help stop the brain from degenerating. So if you want to slow down mental aging, take a closer look at the Mediterranean diet.
Eat More Fruits and Veggies
In addition to healthy fats, the Mediterranean diet also focuses on eating unlimited fruits and vegetables. These are packed with essential nutrients not found in any other food source. When your body has the tools it needs to thrive, you can slow down aging.
Fruits and veggies also contain antioxidants, which help protect against oxidative stress caused by smoking, eating processed food, and being exposed to chemicals and pollution. As with aerobic exercise, eating produce also helps improve mitochondrial function.
Here are the top produce items to include in your diet:
- Red bell peppers
- Broccoli
- Sweet potatoes
- Watercress
- Spinach
- Avocado
- Papaya
- Pomegranates
- Blueberries
Get Enough Restful Sleep
Sleep is the body’s best recovery tool. When you consistently miss out on getting a good night’s sleep, everything from your cognitive function to your hormone levels to the health of your skin can be affected. In fact, poor sleep can accelerate signs of skin aging and weaken its ability to heal itself.
Restful sleep doesn’t just help you look and feel younger—it can even help you live longer! Do whatever you can to get at least six to eight hours of sleep every night. Remember, that doesn’t count lying in bed watching TV or looking at your phone. In fact, it’s best to keep screens out of the bedroom since the blue light can interfere with your ability to fall asleep.
Slow Down Aging Even More at Spine Correction Center of the Rockies
Whether you suffer from an acute injury or a chronic illness, nothing makes you feel older than being in pain. Your activity level becomes severely limited and your quality of life suffers.
At Spine Correction Center of the Rockies, we tackle health problems head-on with regenerative treatments like stem cell therapy to reduce your pain and help restore your youthful vigor! Call us at (970) 658-5115 today to let us know what ails you. We’ll tell you if stem cell therapy or other treatments can help your condition. You can also attend one of our free regenerative stem cell seminars to learn more.
