How To Slow Down The Aging Process
June 15, 2011 by
Filed under Aging
As people grow old, they become conscious of their health and looks. Signs of aging are showing in terms of how we feel and look physically. We tend to feel pain and soreness in some parts of the body, wrinkles are showing on your face and skin, and we may be even losing our teeth and hair. Yes, the aging process is something that worries a majority of people as they grow older. But can you really slow down the aging process?
The aging process depends many factors, including genetic and environmental. And no two persons affected even by the same genetic and environmental factors will experience the aging process in the same way. The aging process can happen in different ways for each individual. Some genetic disorders speed up the aging process, but mostly environmental conditions have a big impact on aging, such as air and water quality, healthcare and even the practices and behavior of other people.
The aging process is also affected by the person’s lifestyle, like smoking, drinking, sleep and rest, exercise and diet. If you smoke, drink a lot, don’t get enough rest, and you don’t exercise and you don’t watch what you are eating, you will age faster than the next person. This is not a way to slow down the aging process; it is speeding it up.
Avoid tobacco and heavy drinking
To slow down the aging process, you can use natural means like avoiding tobacco and alcohol abuse. These two factors will affect your blood, and body organs. Also get enough rest and sleep so your body can replenish, heal and rejuvenate. According to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), adults should have between seven and nine hours of sleep each night so that the body has time to fight infection and replace old cells in organs and muscles, and do its maintenance tasks – biochemical, neurological, and physiological.
Get Proper Exercise
Exercise is also important to slow down the aging process. Studies show that many of the muscular changes attributed to aging are caused primarily by disuse. And the 18th-century Scottish physician, Dr. William Buchan, said: “Of all the causes which conspire to render the life of a man short and miserable, none have greater influence than the want of proper exercise.” It is important to note as we age, we are concerned about our cardiovascular function, so the type of exercise we would want is endurance exercise. It is considered the optimal way to shield our body’s metabolism from the effects of aging.
Eat the right foods
Food and diet plays a major role if you want to slow down the aging process. According to experts, people who are getting older need to take in more calcium, fiber, iron, protein and vitamins A, C and folacin. Other recommended steps are lower fat intake, and reduce overall fat content in the diet to cut calories. Also remember to take smaller servings of foods that are high in fat, sugar and sodium — and most importantly, eat a variety of foods so that you get the full range of nutrients.
Yes, you can slow it down
Yes, you can slow down the aging process by being more aware of what we take in into our body, how we use our body and how often, and how we rest it and for how long. Get enough exercise and sleep, avoid tobacco and alcohol abuse and eat healthy foods. That is no secret to long life.
Resources:
Aging in the past: demography, society, and old age
David I. Kertzer, published 1995, 408 pages
Improving data on America’s aging population: summary of a workshop
Dorothy P. Rice, National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on National Statistics, National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Population, published 1996, 51 pages
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published 2000, 217 pages
National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Chemical Toxicity and Aging, Robert N. Butler, Emil A. Pfitzer, National Research Council (U.S.). Commission on Life Sciences, published 1987, 219 pages
