Ten Tips for Healthy Aging

September is Healthy Aging Month at the Spa. You can play a role in the length and quality of your life, you just have to learn how — and take action. Follow these Ten Tips for Healthy Aging {1} and you will be lively and robust on mind, body and spirit well into your 80s and 90s.

10: Train your Brain

The old adage “use it or you’ll lose it” has validity when it comes to your mind. The brain, like the rest of the body, needs exercise to avoid becoming sluggish and even disease-ridden. To keep neurological pathways open, the brain needs to be challenged. Set up an exercise plan to get your brain in shape. Learning a new language, reading regularly and brain teasers will keep your noggin in tip top shape.

9: Create your Plate

The American Heart Association recommends that you eat a wide variety of nutritious foods daily to keep a healthy heart.  Even simple, small changes can make a big difference in living a better and longer life. Eat nutrient rich foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain foods. Learn about building a healthy plate at http://www.choosemyplate.gov.

8: Activate the Spirit

Whether it’s through meditation, prayer or learning to forgive, research indicates that you can learn to become happier and even more social through spirituality.

7: Work in the Workout

Regular aerobic exercise is a must-do for anyone committed to slowing the aging process. Take the first step! By exercising for as little as 30 minutes a day, you can reduce your risk of heart disease. Studies show that for every hour of walking, you may increase your life expectancy by two hours {2}.

6: Intake the Antioxidants

One study after another has shown that antioxidants help prevent cancer and heart disease, safeguard memory, reduce the risk of degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, protect joints, soothe pain, reduce muscle soreness and fatigue, avert blindness caused by macular degeneration and cataracts, and even ward off wrinkles {3}.

5: Size up your Supplements

So you want to ramp up the antioxidant quotient in your diet, but there are only so many spinach salads and digestion hours in day. That’s where supplements could pick up the slack. According to the Mayo Clinic, because Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) decreases significantly with age, it makes sense that maintaining proper levels of the substance would make us healthier.

4: Get your Beauty Sleep

You may have heard people say “I’ll sleep when I die.” Truth is, lack of sleep may actually precipitate death. Research shows that if you sleep less than six hours a night, you are at far greater risk of having a heart attack or experiencing a stroke. What’s even more astounding is your mind seems to deteriorate at a faster pace.

On an emotional level, a lack of sleep makes you less peaceful and more prone to anger. Sicknesses related to viral infections are also more prevalent among people lacking proper rest. Eight hours of sleep each night is important for your current physical health, as well as your mood and your longevity {4}.

3: Iron out the Wrinkles

Do you live in a cave? Probably not! The decades of sun exposure, fine lines, age spots and wrinkles begin to make their appearance around age 40.  “Ninety-five percent of wrinkles are due to sun exposure,” says Doris Day, M.D., assistant clinical professor of dermatology at New York University Medical Center. Consider a wrinkle eraser that includes retinol, a form of vitamin A, to reduce fine lines and wrinkles, fade brown spots and smooth skin tone.

2: Find Harmony with your Hormones

Loss of energy, libido and stamina are the symptoms that usually drive patients into the waiting rooms of anti-aging doctors. They’re also the “classic” symptoms of declining hormone levels and the reason hormone-replacement therapy is the No. 1 weapon in the arsenal of prescription anti-aging medicine.

1: Remember to Schedule time for “Me Time”

Sometimes our busy routines take over and we forget to take a few minutes for ourself. With most of us living busy lifestyles and trying to juggle work, school, socializing and working out, finding time to relax and unwind can be difficult. Saying no to that overtime or social arrangement isn’t always easy, even though we know we are exhausted! We always aim to please, but when do we ever take the time to do what pleases us? 

Many people tend to feel guilty about taking care of themselves and visiting a spa on a regular basis. However, visiting a spa is about so much more than simple vanity, and it can be very good for your health. People who visit the spa on a regular basis are much more likely to feel like they are empowered to handle the everyday stresses that come along with life.

Here at the Spa of Essex, we try to provide suggestions to find total wellness not only when you visit the spa but in in your every day life as well. We offer several treatments and skin care products with anti-aging benefits. Click here to request your next experience.

See you at the Spa!

Sources: {1, 4}  Discovery Fit & Health, {2} American Heart Association, {3} Women’s Health Magazine