5 Ways to Stay Young
It's not that we age but how we age that matters. We're all going to grow old and, from all scientific accounts, eventually die. Some of us will do it more gracefully than others. Although genetics will play a role, we have a lot of control over how the aging process affects us. Modern medical enhancements have allowed us to alter the aging process to a degree, but there is no reason to get upset if you can't afford a plastic surgeon, because nothing can modify the way you age like a few lifestyle changes. Here are five steps that will help you age more gracefully than Hollywood's elite.
- Exercise harder (though not necessarily longer). Far and away, the most important thing you can do to offset the aging process is exercise. You don't need to spend a lot of time doing it, however. Short bouts of intense exercise are more effective than longer workouts. Long, easy workouts have their place in a fitness program, especially for aerobic efficiency and fat burning, but nothing comes close to high-intensity training for keeping your body young. Find a great exercise you enjoy doing will help you stay with your exercise program longer.
- Eat less food, especially sugar. A now-famous study was done on two monkeys, in which one was fed a yummy, filling diet (no overeating) and the other was deprived of calories. The monkey on the "normal" diet aged much more quickly. Even starker was the contrast in lifestyles—the calorie-restricted monkey was extremely virile and active into old age. Studies in humans are recent but seem to show a decrease in free-radical damage to proteins, lipids, and DNA. The older you get, the lower your caloric requirements. This doesn't mean you shouldn't eat, but small frequent snacking is the way to go, and calories should be altered daily depending on your activity level.
- Supplement your diet with aging in mind. As stated above, nothing increases hormone production as well as exercise. Second on this list is doping—also know as anti-aging medicine that includes hormone injections. The cheaper—and safer—alternative is to use natural food supplements. Remember that hormone production is a natural process and that the healthier your body is, the less quickly hormone production will diminish as you age. Therefore, almost any healthy dietary supplement is a plus. This means that simple multivitamin and mineral supplements help with the anti-aging process, as do pretty much any positive changes that you make in your diet through foods, drinks, or supplementation. Here are a few that are more directly responsible.
- Improve your ability to sleep. Sleep also increases GH production, along with many other things that repair breakdown from the rigors of living. Sleeping 7 to 8 hours a day—along with short naps when you can manage it—will keep your body tuned and ready to run. Deep sleep is where we make the most dramatic changes in our bodies' physiologies. Those changes are directly related to what we do when we're awake but, if we don't take the precautions to ensure we get a good night's rest, our hard work can get sidetracked.
- Take care of your skin. Your largest organ, your skin, needs both internal and external protection, and most of the steps listed above help keep it smooth, elastic, and youthful looking. Another huge factor is hydration, which, conversely, helps all of the other processes as well. Drinking enough fluid, water to be precise, is a huge factor for overall health, but nowhere will the effects of dehydration be more obvious than on your skin. You should drink six to eight glasses of water per day, at a minimum, and more when it's hot or you're exercising. Daily moisturizing can also keep your skin soft and vibrant. It's best to apply it as soon as you get out of the shower, and do your best to make this a ritual. Post-shower, when your natural oils have been washed off, is a vital time for moisturizing. Even if you're pressed for time, taking a few minutes to add moisturizer to your entire body is worth it, since your skin absorbs it best when it's warm and damp. You don't have to limit this to once a day—your skin would be pressed to get too much lotion—but after a shower is by far the most effective time.
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