Living a healthy life is what makes a person feel better. One of the biggest challenges that everyone faces is adding more years to their life. According to the research associates, 12 out of 100 people in the U.S are aged 65 or older. These elder members of your house often fail to cope with the changes that come to their way of living. Well, the three most important things that can only make you feel happier with aging and are – exercise, diet, and sleep. As the phrase says “prevention is better than cure”, one must start following the tips from early aging that can gift them a healthier and happier lifestyle in the future.
Once you start maintaining a proper lifestyle, it will help you to skip the chronic diseases and bless you with a long-living livelihood. Exercise and diet are no doubt the counter stones of living a better life for senior people. If you start participating in exercise regularly, then you can find a noticeable impact on well-being. Some health issues for both men and women like – arthritis, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, dementia, high cholesterol, and depression can be avoided. The research estimates, 1 in 4 Americans suffers from the above diseases. And these chronic conditions of your body may affect your independence and daily active lifestyle as well.
Hence, the well-being of a senior person must not be over-emphasized. You can follow the steps below to win over fatal diseases.
What are the basics of staying healthy?
The following tips can make your body stronger and engage it with a good immune system that can help you fight against the uncertain disease.
Diet and nutrition:
Choosing proper diet food is important! You can notice some significant changes in your body when you are in your 60’s, 70’s or 80’s. Heart and lung disease, diabetes mellitus, stroke, cancer, and memory deficit etc are said to be the impact of the food that you consume.
A balanced diet that is comprised of whole grains, fruits, fibre and vegetables can help your body to receive a proportionate amount of carbohydrate, vitamin, protein, and mineral elements. The portion of food you intake is also important as it allows your body to maintain the metabolic needs.
A healthy diet arms your body with energy sufficiency that you need while ageing. And if you find absolutely nothing abnormal in your health, then you are likely following the right guidance in terms of consuming food.
Drinking Lots of Liquids
People towards aging start losing the sense of thirst which develops urinary infections in their body. To help your body staying well-hydrated start the habit of drinking more water. On the hot days, you should intake water both before and after you are done with your exercise. Liquids that have a lower amount of sodium, fat and sugar must be consumed. Some of the good choices are – low-fat soups, skim milk, water, fruit juices (say cranberry, orange and apple). One must avoid the food that comes up with empty calories such as – alcohol, sodas, doughnuts, and cookies etc.
What to eat?
To install the anti-inflammatory immune system, you must intake a rainbow of brightly coloured food. It will let your body having the nutrients that it requires. Fruits and veggies like – tomato, watermelon, grapefruit, spinach, sweet potato, peach, broccoli, and cabbage and many others should be consumed.
What are there in healthy protein meals?
Some of the healthy meals include –
- Fruits and vegetables (red, orange, green, purple, and blue)
- Low-fat dairy (low-fat cheese and skim milk)
- Lean protein (chicken, eggs, lean meat, seafood, pork, and legumes)
- Whole grains (wild rice, oatmeal, and whole heat toast)
Moreover, foods that are high in Vitamin D must be incorporated in your diet chart.
How much to eat?
People who don’t care about the proportion may face health issues. Everything in your diet chart must be proportionate. People who are in their 50’s or older may check the following food habit each day.
- Vegetables—2 to 3½ cups
- Protein foods—5 to 7 ounces
- Oils—5 to 8 teaspoons
- Fruits—1½ to 2½ cups
- Grains—5 to 10 ounces
- Dairy foods—3 cups of fat-free or low-fat milk
- Sodium (salt) and solid fats and added sugars (SoFAS) — less amount
Regular Exercise
Everyone must involve their body with a regular physical activity so that they can keep their nerves energetic and healthy. For seniors, it will help them skipping hypertension, osteoporosis, heart disease, and diabetes etc.
A minimum of 30 minutes of exercise increases the heart rate by about 75%. If you want to avoid hard exercising techniques, then take a 30 minutes’ walk to the garden every day. Set a lower target to achieve your walking distance. Also, you can do some machine exercise to bring flexibility in your body (avoid weight lifting without professional’s help).
A daily exercise may be beneficial in the following ways –
- Maintaining proper weight as per the height and age
- Good cholesterol level
- Delivering oxygen and nutrients to tissues
- Increasing physical energy
- Excellent sleep and mood-enhancing
- Reducing injuries and falls
Sleep and aging:
Older adults who are aged 50-65 must have 7-9 hours of sleep every night. Those who are 65+ should adopt a sleeping habit of 7-8 hours a day. However, waking up a maximum number of times throughout the night may result in sleep deprivation. But remember, poor sleep may affect your mental as well as physical well-being. It can also give rise to some diseases like – obesity, hypertension, mood disorder, and shortened life expectancy, etc.
If you are facing difficulty to have a good sleep at night, then you can follow the tips mentioned below.
- Avoid consuming more caffeine throughout the day. Also, you should not intake alcohol at an alarming rate.
- Take a light snack or supper before going to bed at night.
- Drinking too much before bed may encourage you to go to pee at night. So, avoid drinking too much liquid before going to bed.
- Also, avoid napping too late in the day.
Tracy Everhart
Tracy Everhart is the Editor for Drug Law Journal. A highly-trained and certified medical professional, Tracy is also an accomplished medical writer. After spending years on the front lines of the medical profession, Tracy now devotes her expertise and skills to researching and reporting on new drugs and devices that enter the market, as well as their side-effects and the real-life stories involved. Prior to joining Drug Law Journal, Tracy wrote for benchmark online healthcare resources focused on families and, in particular, women’s health issues. Tracy holds post-graduate degrees from both the American College of Healthcare Sciences and the Yale School of Nursing. She is also a graduate of both Hampshire College, where she studied microbiology and the University of South Carolina school of nursing.