One of the best predictors of aging is your own perception of just how healthy you truly are. How would you compare your health to other people of your own age?
- Poor – Fair – Good – Very Good – Excellent
Assuming we answered honestly, a Fair or Poor rating suggests that you’re 30 times more likely to die within the next 2 years than someone else whose health rating was better. Ouch! The point here, simply, is to make ourselves realize only we can control our health, because only you really knows how you feel. You may even admit that you’re doing things that undermine your long-term health expectations. We’re fortunate, though, because recent scientific findings strongly suggest we can, to a large extent, control our aging processes. But first, a re-thinking of what we think we know about getting older.
Scientists who have studied the numerous systems in the human body discovered that each process is, in essence, designed to perpetuate the human species. In other words, the evolutionary processes that have been occurring over the thousands of millennia prioritize the survival of your genes over the survival of your individual life. These systems are only designed to give you protection during your years of reproduction and child-rearing.
It is a two-edged sword, though – the same biological processes that sustain us so well during our reproductive years begin to deteriorate soon after that, and can and do begin working against you (i.e., how we age). Instead of viewing the aging process through our own personal perspectives, look at it through the perspective of genetics and it all starts to make sense. In other words, the aging process is really just an afterthought in life’s master plan.
Human bodies, as strong as they are, are also like everything else – they occasionally break. Whether it is an acute injury like a torn knee ligament, or just the normal wear and tear kind of breakage we experience over the years, the real factor in living longer is not so much avoiding injury (it is important, though!) as it is being able to rebound from it. Our bodies, then, are primarily designed to repair themselves as effectively and efficiently as they can.
If we consider your car’s lifespan to be similar to your own, we all know that a little preventive maintenance goes a long way to getting the most out of it. Aging occurs because our cells, over time, lose their ability to regenerate themselves. Because of what we now know about the scientific causes of aging, it’s more possible now than ever to do things that help boost their resilience. Another hundred thousand miles isn’t out of the question!
Aging is not only about genetics and internal cellular processes; it’s also about external factors like stress, slippery sidewalks, and nutrition. How you respond to, adapt to, and otherwise deal with those factors helps determine your rate of aging. A person’s rate of aging doubles, in effect, every 8 years. This is, in a nutshell, what we’re trying to manage – our rate of aging.
Most people just assume that getting older is an unavoidable given, and that it’s best to just get used to the idea. New scientific research, though, is helping us find things that we can do to postpone – if not avoid – those dreary outcomes if we’re willing to nudge ourselves gently in the right direction. Addressing these weak areas can pay off in many more years of living, and it’s never too late to begin.
Today’s life expectancy for men is 75 and 80 for women. Right now, you have the ability to live 35% longer than what’s expected, meaning that living to 100 and enjoying a good quality of life is very attainable, particularly if you follow these 3 basic principles – restrict your calories, increase your strength, and get regular, quality sleep. These best practices will control 75% of how well you age.
It’s time to change our perspective. Taking longer to die isn’t what living longer is all about. It’s about having many more moments to enjoy in a longer, healthier life!
After having been the poster boy for obesity and just generally bad health practices, Chuck Viccente now researches and writes about various health and fitness-related topics such as getting older, prostate enlarged symptoms, and how to build muscle how the experts recommend.
categories: aging,getting older,mortality,cancer,obesity,morbidity,self-help,exercise,diet,sleep,nutrition,supplements,living,health