Aging may be inevitable, but aging well depends on making smart decisions about diet, movement, and sleep that combined can lead to more healthy, independent, and truly golden years.
“Healthy habits can help us get more use out of our tissues and put less stress on ourselves,” says Les Cler, MD, FACP, CPE, internal medicine physician on the medical staff at Methodist Southlake Medical Center.
Dr. Cler talked about these three modifiable lifestyle factors and how they can contribute to our quality of life and life expectancy with a group from Methodist Generations, an education and enrichment system for older adults.
EATING WELL
Regularly consuming a well-rounded diet plays a role in the way the cells in the body reproduce. What you eat can also keep your cells from getting damaged and lower your risk for chronic conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, and kidney disease.
Studies have shown these diets to be among the best for lengthening your lifespan:
- Mediterranean diet: This diet includes lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and extra virgin olive oil. It emphasizes eating fish and poultry over red meat. Experts have linked this diet with a reduced risk of coronary artery disease, healthier blood sugar levels, and slowing the decline of brain function as we age.
- DASH diet: This diet is similar to the Mediterranean diet, emphasizing low sodium and two or three servings of low-fat dairy daily. The evidence has shown this diet can reduce the risk of cardiovascular events, diabetes, and dying from cancer.
- Nordic diet: This diet is also similar to the Mediterranean and DASH diets. It promotes eating lots of fruits, vegetables, and seafood, while limiting sugar and increasing fiber. The Nordic diet also emphasizes canola oil, which has less saturated fat than the extra virgin olive oil found in a Mediterranean diet.
- Okinawa diet: This diet has even lower saturated fats than the first three diets while being the highest in carbs. People who follow this diet eat more soy-based food, more green or yellow vegetables, and less animal proteins. Eating this diet could allow you to live longer with less chronic illnesses.
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Overall, Dr. Cler recommends cutting down on red meat, processed meat, trans fats, sodium, and sugary beverages. Eating a lot of these foods can contribute to the creation of unhealthy levels of visceral fat, the fat that surrounds your organs.
“Visceral fat tends to send out signals that are pro-inflammatory,” Dr. Cler says. “If we can keep that down through diet and exercise, that reduces the chronic state of inflammation, and it makes a difference.”
When inflammation gets out of hand in the body, it can lead to a higher risk of common chronic conditions that come with age, Dr. Cler says.
“Osteoporosis can be sped up because of a pro-inflammatory state,” says Dr. Cler, referring to a condition that weakens bones. “With more inflammation, you also have a higher risk of dementia.”
EXERCISE REGULARLY
Regularly exercising enough to sweat has been associated with a higher chance of living into old age, better odds of being able to function independently, and a lower stroke risk.
Dr. Cler recommends moderate-intensity exercise lasting at least 30 minutes per day, five days per week. He emphasizes the importance of not sitting for too long or too much during the day.
“On the cellular level, when we exercise, we train our bodies on how to reduce chronic inflammation, and we demand more energy,” Dr. Cler says.
Focus on these types of exercise to keep your muscles and bones working properly:
- Aerobic exercise: Activities like cycling and swimming speed up your heart and breathing, which increases endurance. This type of exercise reduces your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer
- Resistance training: Activities like weightlifting stimulate bone growth, improve balance and posture, and reduce stress and pain in the lower back and joints
- Flexibility exercise: Aging causes your muscles and tendons to become less flexible, which increases the risk for damage, cramps, and falling. Stretching routinely makes your muscles longer and more flexible, thus increasing your range of motion
GET ENOUGH SLEEP
For adults, getting between six and nine hours of sleep every night is optimal for a healthy lifestyle.
“Your body is healing itself when you are getting good sleep,” Dr. Cler says. “There are things happening on a cellular level. You can reduce dementia and improve your body’s healing processes.”
Sleep habits change as we age, with some people getting to bed earlier and waking up earlier. Health problems can also cause you to wake more frequently in the middle of the night.
Other reasons some adults may not get the sleep they need, Dr. Cler says, include napping during the day, excess caffeine, too little exercise, too much screen time, and even some medications.
It’s important to get enough sleep, but it needs to stay within a healthy range. Sleeping too much or too little has been linked to a higher risk of disease, cognitive decline, depression, and a higher body mass index (BMI).
IT’S NEVER TOO LATE
The best time to start these healthy habits is when you’re young, but it’s never too late to start making better choices.
“The people who had been sedentary up until midlife and then started exercising, they still saw significant benefits,” Dr. Cler says.
He says combining a healthy diet, regular exercise, and adequate sleep can increase disease-free life expectancy by up to 10 years.
“The modifiable things that we have in our power are diet, exercise, and sleep,” Dr. Cler says. “All of these things have limits, we just have to do our best.”
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