A HEALTHY YOU
Tips for Healthy Aging
September is Healthy Aging Month, the annual observance month designed to focus national attention on the positive aspects of growing older.
The observance month began more than 30 years ago to draw attention to healthy, active lifestyles at any age and the positive sides of growing older.
Health and vitality are important at any stage. No matter your phase of life, aging is something we all experience daily – but that doesn’t mean we’re powerless in the process. After age 50 you may think more about how to promote good health as you get older. We continue to research how to slow or prevent age-related declines in physical health and ways to improve the chances of maintaining optimal health later in life.
There are lots of tips for healthy aging.
Physical activity is a great place to start as exercise helps control blood pressure, prevents heart disease and stroke, and possibly lowers your risk for depression, anxiety, and your risk for certain cancers and type 2 Diabetes. Current national exercise recommendations are 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week and two days of muscle-strengthening training. That’s only 20 minutes a day, 7 days a week, or about an hour a day if exercising three days a week.
A study of adults 40 years and older found that taking 8,000 steps or more per day, compared to only taking 4,000 steps, was associated with a 51% lower risk of death from all causes. Exercise can also help older adults maintain muscle mass as they age, important for protection from falls and bone health. Researchers found that in adults older than 55, muscle mass was a better predictor of longevity than weight or body mass index (BMI).
Taking care of your physical health involves physical activity, proper diet, getting sufficient sleep, limiting alcohol intake, and proactively managing one’s health care. Emerging evidence suggests that poor sleep may worsen depression symptoms in older adults. A recent NIH study found that older adults who did not sleep well and napped often were at greater risk of dying within the next five years. Conversely, getting adequate sleep is associated with lower rates of insulin resistance, heart disease, and obesity. Sleep can also improve creativity and decision-making skills, and even blood sugar levels.
Maintaining mental stimulation is also important for healthy aging.
A varied combination of learning, processing and problem solving will keep the brain healthy and working better. Mental stimulation of all kinds preserves brain cells and can even generate new cells and connections, so it is advised to try to keep mentally active every day. Just as the body needs exercise and movement to stay healthy, so does the brain.
The process of aging is quite varied. How we invest in and care for our body will impact how we experience the aging process. Keep on top of all aspects of health and wellness, both body and mind, to embrace this time of life and manage the sometimes unpredictable changes aging brings.
Other Resources
Learn more about the research and the steps you can take to promote healthy aging. Article by National Institute of Aging.
Check out these tips from NIH Medicine Plus Magazine for some science-based tips on aging.
About the Author
Cynthia Conigliaro is the Sales and Marketing Director for Organizational Wellness and Learning Systems (OWLS), a consulting firm focused on employee emotional wellbeing and organizational culture analysis. For almost five years she has worked alongside the owner of OWLS to design and implement mental health related employee wellness trainings and workshops for organizations across the United States.
For almost 15 years she has had her own health and wellness coaching business. Cynthia works with individuals and groups and runs virtual and in person workshops for employees on a variety of health and wellness topics relating to both physical and mental health. She is an Infinite Possibilities Certified Trainer and a Resilience and Life Coach. She has been a volunteer with the Worksite Wellness Council of Massachusetts (WWCMA) for the past 4 years where she sits on both the Programs Committee and the Marketing Committee. Cynthia has her Master of Social Work and her Master of Business Administration from Boston College and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a Minor in Spanish from College of the Holy Cross.