To put it plainly, if you want to live longer, then you need to make the right choices in your life. It’s not just a question of being around for more years, either. The healthier life you lead, the more chance you have of enjoying your old age. Today, we’re going to look at ten ways you can increase your life expectancy – and ensure you enjoy as much of your time left as possible.
Healthy eating, permanently
Make changes in your life to eat more healthy food – but don’t go on constant diets. Most will not work for you as you need to develop a lifestyle choice, not a 20, 30 or 60-day meal plan. Eat a broad range of vegetables, whole grains, and eat less processed foods and sugar. You will feel better and live longer – and have fewer health problems as you age.
Keep fit
Don’t just get fit, stay fit. Integrate regular exercise into your daily routine. Twenty minutes a day is fine, although as you build up your fitness you should aim for half an hour or so of intense physical exercise. You will lose weight, gain muscle, and feel more confident about yourself. Exercise has also been proven to reduce stress, lower blood pressure and be great for defending against heart problems.
Give up smoking
Smoking is still a massive killer across the world, so give it up before you become part of the statistics. Nicotine is highly addictive, so giving up can be pretty tough. However, since the dawn of the e-cigarette, it has never been easier. Although studies have yet to prove that e-cigs are healthy, here is a lot of evidence to support the fact they are far healthier than smoking tobacco. And, if you ask your doctor, most would be delighted if you traded your tobacco in for e-liquid. Take a look at some of these vaping box mods to see the kind of thing you can expect. As you progress, try and reduce the amount of nicotine you use, and begin to wean yourself off it entirely.
Avoid stress
Stress is another killer because many people don’t understand the strain it can have on the body. When things get on top of you, it can raise your blood pressure to dangerous levels. This puts a massive strain on your vital organs – particularly the heart. Make sure you are doing all that you can to live a stress-free life. Try meditating, or go for more walks in natural environments. Have somewhere that you can go to that has no stress present whatsoever. Get a dog and take them out to new places. Take up a musical instrument. There’s a lot you can do when it comes to managing stress – visit your doctor and discuss your options.
Train your brain
Of course, by the time you get to a senior age, all that fitness won’t be worth a jot if you aren’t still mentally capable. Make sure you are doing brain boosting activities every day and testing your mental powers. Read more challenging books or do a crossword. You could learn a new language, or take up a brand new hobby. Anything that you can do that makes your brain think in a different way will help you as you get older. It could make the difference between a fantastic life in retirement and the onset of some form of dementia or memory loss.
Build up close friendships
It’s vital to keep social connections going throughout your life. Seeing people that you have close ties with can be food for the soul, and helps you feel better about yourself. Those people you have close bonds with will also be around for you when you get ill – and may even spot it when something is wrong. In general, though, good social connections can help you stave off depression and give the immune system a boost.
Have more sex
Great new for everyone! There is a correlation between living a long and healthy life and having more sex. In fact, men can reduce their risk of heart disease by almost up to half just by having sex two or three times a week. It also helps you reduce stress – and gives you an extra bit of exercise to add to your weekly calorie burn.
Sleep more
Regular sleep is vital for your body to recover and recuperate. Without it, you just won’t repair yourself as well as you can, and you will slowly start to feel it. Over the years that all adds up – and it could have a drastic toll on your body. Make sure you are getting somewhere between six-and-a-half and seven-and-a-half hours sleep every night.
Visit your doctor more
People who have regular checkups live longer than those that don’t. That shouldn’t surprise you, but given that very few people actually do it, it’s something you might want to think more about. Without regular checkups, you are going to run the risk of missing severe ailments developing. Heart disease, high blood pressure problems and diabetes can all be caught at early stages. And, if they aren’t, could be fatal. Visit your doctor more, and you will live longer – period.
Laugh more
Laughter is the best medicine, so the old saying goes. And it’s true. Laughing helps your blood flow to the heart more efficiently, which helps you reduce the risk of developing heart disease. In fact, being in a good mood all around will do wonders for your lifespan. People with positive outlooks tend to live much longer than their more pessimistic peers. All you need to do to find proof is watch an interview with anyone over the age of one hundred. They are, without exceptions, shiny and happy people.
Obviously, there are many things that didn’t quite make our list this time around. But we would love to hear from you. What are you tips for a long-lasting life? Let us know in the comments section below.
