Human life spans have gained a lot of ground over the last hundreds and even thousands of years. Both men and women have an average life span near eighty years old, which is fantastic. But what about how to live to 100 years old? Is it genuinely obtainable in today’s day and age? It may very well be if you stick to some of the easy-to-follow recommendations below.
This applies to the actual foods you are ingesting and the portion size of foods you eat. Eating right is a general term that doesn’t explain all that much. As you age, your dietary needs alter. What was once much needed in your fifties may not be required in your seventies (wholegrains, lower, calcium intake higher, for example) and vice versa.
You can never go wrong with a diet of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and wholegrain foods. The Japanese people, for example, are known for their longer life spans compared to the worldwide average, and this is partly due to their diet, which consists mainly of unprocessed vegetables and fresh seafood. “Cheat” foods, including sugary desserts, fried foods, and fatty proteins, should be eaten in extreme moderation.
For a professional program of nutritional foods to eat throughout your life, contact your family physician, who can guide you to the best information, or an accredited dietician to formulate a plan and help you to meet your goals.
People take their vehicles to be serviced every three, six, or twelve months, yet so many individuals need to visit their doctor for their own checkups once a year, which could have short and long-term effects on your overall health. Routine blood tests, EKGs, and other once-a-year tests given by your physician can help detect anything out of the ordinary that’s happening within your body.
Early detection is the key to stopping most medical conditions that can develop into life-shortening diseases or illnesses. Too often, people either feel that serious diseases only happen to the “other guy” or that they are too young or too in shape to acquire anything that could be life-threatening.
Additionally, many people fear that the doctor will find something wrong with them if they go for a checkup, so they avoid going as if that will prevent it. Of course, this is a foolish mindset, and if you want to live to reach one hundred, see your doctor at least once a year.
Staying active is critical to a long, healthy life, which applies to physical and mental aspects. First, actively working your muscles keeps a person strong, improves blood circulation, and helps with balance and bone support.
This could be through a weightlifting program or less organized activities like gardening, around-the-house cleaning, and home-based exercise programs. Additionally, aerobic activities like walking, jogging, dancing, tennis, and riding your bike help the cardiovascular system, which includes the heart, blood vessels, and overall blood circulation.
Mentally, you can fall short. Keeping the mind active through puzzles, mystery novels, learning new skills, learning a new language, and socializing with friends, all help to boost your brain health and keep memory loss and mental decline to a minimum as you age.
Everyone has heard that Mr. Whoever lived to the ripe age of ninety-five and smoked and drank most of his life. Well, he was the exception. Hearing one example like this doesn’t give you free rein to engage in health-affecting vices and think it won’t affect your overall health and life span because it will.
Alcohol, over time, will damage many bodily organs like your brain, lungs, liver, bladder, kidneys, heart, and GI tract. Smoking, of course, blackens your lungs with the chances of acquiring lung, throat, kidney, liver, or acute myeloid leukemia cancer at a very high percentage. The good thing is that if you can quit these vices, your body will begin to heal, and although you won’t be at the level of a non-smoker or non-drinker, you will be healthier, and your life span should technically be longer.
Humans are social animals, and interactions with others are vital to a person’s health and well-being. All through a person’s life, but especially when they get older, social interaction helps with mental and physical health.
Building relationships and belonging allow humans to thrive, while isolation and loneliness can cause depression and poor mental and physical health. The key takeaway? Stay socially active. Join a club, attend a class or two (like painting, chess, or ceramics), or volunteer. You’ll have friends around you and possibly learn something new that you’ll grow to love.
Roughly one-third of your life is spent sleeping, so those hours must be restful for your body to heal and recover from the day’s activities. Good sleep practices are needed to maintain a healthy life, including having a wind-down period before sleeping, avoiding caffeine, sugar, and heavy meals before bedtime, and generally going to bed at the same time every night. Although life throws curveballs, which cannot always be accomplished, if you follow most of these tips, you’ll feel rested and refreshed when you awake.
They say, “stress kills,” and this is so true. Although you may not realize it, mental stress from any number of issues can affect your body in several negative ways. Stress can lead to high blood pressure, constant headaches and body aches, heart problems, skin conditions, and mental issues like depression and anxiety.
Wherever possible, try to eliminate useless stress from your life. This includes problems that are not your own, things in life you can’t control, and the knowledge that not everything always goes as you plan it. If you have legitimate stress, learn to handle it through breathing techniques and visits to a consular who may help you understand that things are not as bad as you think.
Now that you know how to live to 100 years old, and it may be a worthwhile goal, it shouldn’t keep you from enjoying your life to its fullest throughout the decades. Moderation is the key to a balanced life. If you keep the “bad” in check, you can enjoy all the “good”; who knows, hitting that one-hundred-year mark may very well happen.