Wow! We are already in 2020, the dawn of a new decade. Isn’t it amazing how fast time seems to slip by? It makes you think about all of the years ahead and how quickly the future becomes the present.
Every person, animal, and object on Earth is growing older every second of the day, so aging is inevitable. But living a longer, and healthier life is an option we can activate with our daily choices. Here are some of the best ways to make sure you live a healthy, vigorous life for many years to come!
1. Eat less. Keeping your caloric intake on the lower side puts just enough “healthy stress” on your body to put it into conservation and repair mode. Your body is always either in repair mode or growth mode, just like you could be repairing your home, or adding to your home. The problem is that most of us in the first world are always in growth mode. We don’t like feeling hungry so we are always sated, never allowing ourselves to get into repair mode to slow DNA damage, and epigenetic drift, or to regulate our metabolisms. Being hungry once in a while is good for your health! So embrace the healthy hunger. A really popular way to keep caloric counts down is through Intermittent Fasting. There are many versions of Intermittent Fasting and different ones are better for different people. So talk to your doctor to see if it would be smart for you. Intermittent Fasting is not ok for pregnant women, or people with eating disorders, hormone imbalances, etc.
2. Have a good group of friends! Nurture and cherish your relationships with your friends and your family. Not only will you be a much happier person, but having a sense of kinship with people around you has been shown to increase longevity. People with strong social ties bounce back with more resilience to health issues. They are also known to have lower blood pressure, and better functioning immune systems!
3. Do endurance training and weight training. Endurance training, such as running, swimming, or biking has been shown to lengthen DNA telomeres, essentially slowing or even reversing markers of aging on a cellular level. As we know, weight training strengthens our muscles. This is very important because muscle strength is one of the greatest indicators of longevity. In a recent systemic review and meta analysis of almost 2 million people found that people with higher muscular strength had a 30% lower incidence of mortality overall than the general adult population.
4. Eat a mainly plant based diet with focus on nutrient density. In Blue Zone areas of the world, like Okinawa Japan, Ikaria Greece, or Sardinia Italy, where people have legendary longevity, the basis of the diet is beans, whole grains, vegetables and fruits. Too much animal protein activates mTOR pathways, which speeds aging.
5. Check in with your acupuncturist every few months. We are trained to recognize bodily imbalances, in your organs, hormones, muscles, etc. even before they become issues. Get your “tune ups” regularly and your body will thank you for it in the long run.
