There’s a lot of healthy tips on the internet, but most of them are geared towards people in their prime. As you age, the requirements to stay fit should be adjusted, because your body is undergoing a lot of changes. Your healthy habits should evolve to increase your lifespan.
1. Eating Well
The most important healthy tip is to eat well. The food that you intake has the most impact on your health, and needless to say, you should be extra careful with food as you grow older.
Skip Processed Foods
Nothing beats a meal made out of fresh produce. Stick to fresh vegetables and fruits mostly. While processed foods are easy to make, they are also extremely unhealthy, especially during your senior age. They contain a lot of preservatives and sodium that your body will have a harder time digesting, and will most likely be retained as toxins in your body.
Hydrate
We have all been reminded of how we should drink the proper amount of water daily. You should also take note that as you grow older, you have a lower thirst response. Therefore, you should not wait until you’re thirsty before you drink water.
It’s better to have a regular schedule of drinking water, such as before and after meals, after you wake up and before you sleep. With this, you can easily keep track of how many glasses of water you should still drink.
2. Exercising Regularly
As you reach your retirement age, you will probably need fewer reasons to hit the gym, but exercising regularly has never been more important. However, make sure that you are not doing complicated routines, as your muscles and bones are no longer as strong as they were.
Shed Off Fat
A lot of common health conditions in the elderly are associated with fats. You need to make sure that you are still fit (but not too skinny!) as you grow older. Aside from a strict diet, you should also do aerobic exercise regularly to ensure that your body does not store excess fat.
Keep Your Heart Healthy
As we grow older, the likelihood of cardiac arrests or stroke increases. Cardio exercise for 75 minutes a week should be enough to maintain a healthy heart. A good jog in the morning or doing a routine of jumping jacks should be enough to keep your blood flowing.
3. Getting Good Sleep
Did you know that getting full sleep has a lot of benefits? Aside from helping you rest after a long and tiring day, your body also does a lot of healing while you are sleeping.
During the deep stage of your sleep cycle, your hormones responsible for healing your body are most active. For people recovering from surgery or any other injuries, this is an important part of your sleep.
During your REM stage of sleep, your mind will strengthen. This is important for people who have a family history of dementia, as having long REM stages in your sleep can keep your short-term memory strong.
4. Getting Regular Checkups
A lot of diseases cannot be seen in their early stages. This is why it’s better to make sure that all your organs are functioning properly through regular checkups.
Monthly Checkups
If you have no preexisting condition, you can forego the monthly checkups. But if your doctor has noticed something abnormal in your tests, they might recommend getting checked regularly, often within a few months, if something develops.
You can check yourself regularly for anything abnormal in your body. When you hit your 40s, if you have a history of high blood pressure within the family, you can buy a blood pressure kit and log in your daily blood pressure.
With this method, you can easily lessen the risk of stroke, as you can immediately see if your blood pressure is slowly rising as the days go by.
Yearly Checkups
For annual checkups, you must undergo a thorough examination to determine if anything is abnormal. Your doctor might do further examinations if they find something wrong.
You should get a check-up once a year at any age. This can also serve as a reminder to keep your vaccinations up to date to avoid common diseases.
Health Tips for Women
Aside from keeping your vaccinations up to date, you should also have a regular checkup for other diseases that are common among women, including the following:
- Pap smear test for cervical cancer every five years until 70
- Mammogram tests according to how often your doctor advises
- Bone density test with DEXA scan
Health Tips for Men
- Prostate cancer screening
- Ultrasound for abdominal aortic aneurysms
- Bone density test with DEXA scan
Important Note
If you are a smoker or have quit within the past 15 years, it’s also advisable to get a regular lung cancer screening, depending on your doctor’s advice.
5. Challenging Your Mind
Another tip for a healthy lifestyle is making sure that you have a healthy mind and body. As we all know, health does not stop with how fit your physical body is, but also how well your mind functions.
Board Games
The best way to challenge your mind is to play. As people reach their retirement age, they are often left with nothing to do every day. This can result in boredom, and worse, decreasing mental function. With a simple game of chess a day, you can keep your mind sharp and focused.
Hobbies
Another fun thing to do is keep a hobby. Whether it is painting, writing poetry, or simply reading books, there are a lot of things you can do that can entertain you and keep your mind sharp. You can also join a club related to your hobbies so that you can challenge yourself to become better.
Journal
Keeping a journal is also a good thing. Writing things down daily can keep your short-term memory strong. It also helps you recognize if you are having trouble remembering things, and you can easily consult a doctor to help you with supplements to strengthen memory.
Conclusion
Your health is of the utmost importance. By taking care of your body and having a healthy habit of eating, you can ensure that you will live a long and happy life.
By Admin –
