Aging gracefully may be impossible if not all aspects are taken care of while you are still younger. Aside from stable finances and relationships, a top priority should also be your overall well-being after you retire. How you feel, think, perform, interact, and look during your senior years should all be considered for truly gracious aging.
But aging may come too fast and you may not be prepared when that time comes. Of course, aging is inevitable but what’s good here is that there are ways to delay the aging process. This makes it important that you should also know that you may be doing some things that are speeding up your aging. Here are the eight most common things that accelerate aging that you should know and avoid:
Smoking
You are getting yourself into a lot of medical conditions if you smoke. Aside from hypertension, smoking can also cause stroke, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, lung diseases, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Your risk for certain eye diseases, tuberculosis, and immune system issues, including rheumatoid arthritis may also increase. Undoubtedly, any of these conditions will let you feel, perform, and interact differently from when you were younger.
How you look will also be greatly affected by smoking. At first, you may not be bothered with the yellowing of your teeth and fingernails and having a black hairy tongue. But it should alarm you if your skin becomes unevenly pigmented with a saggy jawline, baggy eyes, and deeper facial wrinkles. You definitely will look older if you don’t stop smoking.
Lack of Sleep
Prolonged lack of sleep can also get you into several medical issues. You can develop heart disease, heart attack, heart failure, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, stroke, and diabetes. These are usually the conditions most common to seniors, and you must not like to be included there.
Besides the medical conditions that lack of sleep can give you, it can also make you look older with redder and more swollen eyes, hanging eyelids, darker circles under the eyes, paler skin, more fine lines, and corners of your mouth become droopy.
Not Enough Fruits and Vegetables in Your Diet
Plant-based foods are rich in essential nutrients that your body needs. Name it from carbs, proteins, and fats to vitamins, minerals, enzymes, fibers, and antioxidants, vegetables and fruits have them all. Having a balanced diet with fruits and vegetables can prevent you from getting sick from many diseases as they can also enhance your immune system. You can really feel energized with a regular diet of plant-based fruits.
Eating fruits and vegetables also make your skin younger, smoother, and more vibrant. Your skin will also be hydrated and moisturized which keeps pigmentation and wrinkles at bay.
Crash Dieting
Crash dieting will deprive your body of the nutrients it needs which can deplete your energy. Besides that, it can dehydrate your skin leaving it dull and dry.
Not Managing Stress Levels
Avoiding stressful activities and scenarios may not be possible all the time. But managing your stress levels is something doable. Doing your routine exercises, especially breathing exercises can be relaxing. You should also reach out for help if possible. Have time to relax with loved ones.
Prolonged stress can have a negative impact on how our body functions. It can affect our physical, mental, and emotional well-being. You can also develop wrinkles earlier.
Having a Sedentary Life
Lack of physical activities can also lead to a lot of health issues. Obesity and hypertension are common problems of seniors and a sedentary lifestyle can be the leading cause. Being obese and hypertensive may obstruct you to do many things that you used to do when you were younger.
Drinking Alcohol
Excessive drinking of alcohol can lead to liver and kidney damage. These conditions are more prevalent in older people. When the liver and kidneys have considerable damages, your skin, skin extensions, and eyes can show it. Your skin will lose its usual vibrancy with undesirable discoloration and pigmentation. You may also lose your eyesight prematurely. With all of that, you surely will not look and feel young.
Holding on to Grudges
You may wonder how this is included in the list, but it’s true having grudges can accelerate aging. When you are not at peace with yourself because of some old grudges against someone else, you can develop high blood pressure, depression, and anxiety. All these can even lead to more serious medical conditions. So learn how to forgive and forget.
It is not only your looks that make you younger. Having glowing and plump skin will not make you younger if you have some underlying medical conditions that keep you from doing the same things that you enjoy. So get things right by avoiding things that will accelerate your aging process. For sure, you will be achieving a lot more things that will make your senior life more satisfying and enjoyable.