How Many Of These Super-Agers' Habits Are You Doing?
There's aging and then there's super-aging. Super-agers are described as people whose biological age is younger than their years. For example, an 80-year-old who exhibits the cognitive abilities of someone in their 40s or 50s. In an effort to uncover their secrets and bring the fountain of youth to the masses, super-agers have been the subject of many studies. While genetic factors certainly play a role, there are also healthy habits exhibited across the board that we should all incorporate into our daily lives if we want to live a long and healthy life. Here are 20 tips for maintaining our health well into our old age, according to super-agers.
1. Stay Active
The best thing you can do for yourself to mitigate aging is to stay active. Regular exercise reduces your risk of developing age-related illness. One study on super-agers found that they have better speed, agility, mobility, and balance than typical adults.
2. Continue to Learn
Your brain is a muscle like any other and it requires regular exercise to stay fit. Super-agers are typically curious people who continue to challenge their brains with new activities like learning an instrument or a language.
3. Socialize
Good news for the social butterflies out there. Super-agers tend to connect with their friends daily. Socializing has been linked to less shrinkage in key areas of the brain, reduced anxiety, and depression.
4. Push Yourself Physically
It's not enough just to exercise daily. Super-agers really push themselves physically in everything that they do. For example, when they walk up the stairs, they'll do it quickly enough to get their heart rate up.
5. Avoid Stress
Stress is a silent killer. It can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes. Super-agers tend to avoid things that cause them stress and prioritize their mental health.
6. Protect Your Eyes & Ears
Research suggests that memory gets worse as the brain puts more effort into decoding blurry signals from the outside world. Correcting poor vision with eyeglasses or hearing with a hearing aid may prevent dementia.
7. Prioritize Sleep
Studies have shown that frequent trouble falling or staying asleep worsens memory and brain health. Super-agers prioritize sleep by practicing good sleep hygiene.
8. Create
Super-agers tend to engage in creative activities like crafts, music, or art. These kinds of activities boost mental health, brain health, and even immune system function by increasing the amount of white blood cells.
9. Drink Coffee
Drinking moderate amounts of coffee daily has been linked to boost longevity due to its antioxidant content. Caffeine improves mood and may protect against cognitive decline. A review found that indulging in a daily cup of joe may add 1.8 years to your life.
10. Keep Alcohol Consumption Moderate
Alcohol consumption has been linked to increased blood pressure, heart disease, and immune system suppression. Interestingly though, while drinking more than the recommended amount is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, people who indulge in the occasional glass of alcohol were found to be 23 percent less likely to develop the disease, according to a recent study.
11. Read
Super-agers tend to be bookworms. That's because reading strengthens neural connections and creates new ones, enhancing memory, and slowing cognitive decline. It also reduces stress and anxiety.
12. Eat Your Greens
Super-agers eat lots of dark leafy greens which contain essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that combat age-related illness. One daily serving of green leafy vegetables has also been linked to slower cognitive decline.
13. Snack On Nuts
As if you needed an excuse to reach for the cashews, the healthy fats in nuts like omega-3s and monounsaturated fats can extend your life expectancy. They're also packed with fiber and antioxidants.
14. Find Joy
In case you need an excuse to engage in activities that bring you joy, it's a significant factor in healthy aging. Feeling joyful enhances your immune function, reduces stress and depression, increases energy, improves sleep, and enhances your cognitive function.
15. Have A Positive Attitude Towards Aging
People who approach aging with fear or negativity and obsessively engage in activities that prevent it aren't typically super-agers. Super-agers tend to have a healthy attitude towards age, accepting it as a natural part of life, and even enjoying the enhanced wisdom and perspective that comes with it.
16. Dine On Fish & Chicken
Foods high in omega-3 fatty acids like fish enhance heart, brain, and eye health, and are anti-inflammatory. Meanwhile, chicken is a great source of protein, amino acids, and B vitamins which are all essential for maintaining strength and bodily function.
17. Lift Weights
While cardio exercise is beneficial for calorie burning, it's weight-bearing exercise that's exceptionally good for healthy aging. This is because it enhances bone and muscle density, preventing osteoporosis, frailty, and falls. It's also been linked to improved attention and memory.
18. Eat More Berries
You've probably heard the benefits of berries being touted time and again as a superfood. Well let us toot their horn once more: they're packed with antioxidants that super-agers swear by for reducing oxidative stress, slowing cognitive decline, and even improving heart health.
19. Take Nicotinamide Mononucleotide Supplements
High-profile super-agers like Bryan Johnson swear by nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) supplements for their ability to boost nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) levels. NAD, which reduces with age, is responsible for DNA repair and cellular energy.
20. Never Smoke
Smoking really is a one-way ticket to an early grave. In addition to making you look old by drying out your skin and giving you wrinkles, smoking reduces your bone density, disturbs your sleep, damages your eyes, ages your cells, and increases your risk for developing chronic diseases like cancer.
