Aging gracefully: nurturing one’s body and soul

“You’re only as old as you feel.”

While that statement could be encouraging or discouraging, depending on how you are feeling at the time, there’s quite a bit of truth to the idea that one’s outlook and attitude towards aging affects how that person experiences aging.

(One note as I get going: I realize there is a bit of irony in me, a young-ish person, writing a column on how to age well, but please take it from the internet experts, not me.)

As reported by the BBC, Becca Levy from the Yale School of Public Health analyzed data from the Ohio Longitudinal Study of Aging and Retirement, in which researchers followed more than a thousand people who were at least 50 at the time for several decades. Levy found that people who had positive ideas about their own aging (who agreed with comments such as “I have as much pep as last year” and who disagreed that as you get older you get less useful) lived for an average of 22.6 years after they first participated in the study, while the people who felt less positively about aging lived for just 15 years more on average.

Another study by Susanne Wurm of the University of Greifswald in northern Germany found that while people who had more negative thoughts toward aging did not die any sooner than average, people who had more positive thoughts lived longer than the average lifespan. The difference seemed to be that people lived longer when they believed they would continue to grow and develop as a person, and learn new things as they got older.

One other study from researchers Hannah Kuper and Sir Michael Marmot asked people to identify at what age “old age” began. The people who thought old age began earlier were more likely to have had a heart attack, to be suffering from heart disease or be in poor physical health generally when they were followed up with six to nine years later. “People who say that old age sets in at an earlier age may … be more fatalistic and less likely to seek help for medical conditions or to adopt healthier routines, believing that decline is inevitable,” writes Claudia Hammond for the BBC.

In other words, avoid viewing any certain age as an end point, but rather continue to set goals for yourself and focus on being the healthiest version of yourself you can possibly be. If you can adopt that mindset, you just might live longer.

Barbara M. Morris, RPh, author of “Boomers Can Really Put Old on Hold” also references the importance of how people frame old age, and giving one’s self grace. She said works with young people and “they forget things all the time and never refer to ‘having to a junior moment.’” In my experiences interviewing centenarians or older for the newspaper, of which I’ve had maybe a handful, one similarity among them is they all keep their minds active. Whether it’s reading, knitting or talking on the phone with people, they aren’t just sitting around doing nothing. And they all have some sort of a social network to support them, consisting of family members or friends they regularly contact. That lends some insight into what factors are important for aging gracefully.

The American Heart Association offers an “Essential 8” for slowing down the aging process. The tips are:

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– Eat a balanced diet, including fruits and vegetables, whole grains and healthy protein sources.

– Be active, aiming for at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a week and two days a week of moderate to high-intensity muscle strengthening activities. – Quit tobacco: smoking is the most preventable cause of premature death in the U.S.

– Get a healthy amount of sleep (seven to nine hours.)

– Control cholesterol levels, manage blood sugar and manage blood pressure.

You also may want to consider moderating your entire food intake or periodic fasting. An article for WebMD cites studies in rats showing a 30% calorie restriction leading to longer life, as well as studies of rhesus monkeys demonstrating the same thing. (Studies cited by Marc R. Blackman, MD, chief of the laboratory of clinical investigation of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.)

Several other web sources, including Mayo Clinic, emphasized the importance of consuming alcohol in moderation. As reported by Thorne, a 2019 study found that long-term, excessive drinking (alcoholism or alcohol use disorder) leads to accelerated aging and increases the risk of cognitive problems, like dementia. The health risks of high alcohol consumption also include high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke, liver disease, depression, anxiety, cancer and a weakened immune system. The recommended intake is to two drinks or less a day for men, and one drink or less a day for women.

That same article for Thorne recommends learning to manage one’s stress to achieve greater longevity, as chronic, unresolved stress can lead to a whole host of health problems. Suggested tips for reducing stress include meditation; maintaining strong social supports through family and friends, hobby or faith groups, or other organizations; exercise; and making a point to be grateful. None of this advice is particularly shocking, but it does go to show there are plenty of steps a person can take to promote a longer life. Despite certain factors being “baked in” due to genetics, there’s still a lot we can control when it comes to our own health and wellbeing. And, as much as healthy aging involves physical health, it’s equally about mental and emotional health. A holistic approach is needed.

“Anyone who stops learning is old — whether this happens at twenty or at eighty. Anyone who keeps on learning not only remains young but becomes constantly more valuable — regardless of physical capacity.” ~ Henry Ford Have an excellent week!