What’s the Key to Healthy Aging?

Are you aging as healthfully as you could be? Find out why aging healthfully is important, as well as 5 ways to protect your health as you age.

We are all aging; every day we’re alive, we’re older than the day before. But the real question is: Are you aging as healthfully as you could be?

Why Healthy Aging Is Important

The National Library of Medicine reports that healthy aging is important for a few different reasons. (1) One is that it enables us to better deal with the physical and mental changes that occur as we grow older.

Physically, our cells and organs don’t function as effectively as they once did, we experience an increase in the buildup of waste products and fatty substances in our bodies, and our connective tissue becomes stiffer. (2) Mentally, we may find it harder to find the right words, pay attention, or multitask. (3)

Another reason healthy aging is important is that it helps protect us from disease. Aging increases our risk of diseases involving our cardiovascular, metabolic, musculoskeletal, nervous, and immune systems. (4) By taking action to prevent health issues, we can age in a way that enables us to live our lives more fully.

Although aging is unavoidable, there are still actions you can take to grow older as healthfully as possible. They include:

#1: Get Regular Health Screenings

The sooner a potential health issue is identified, the easier it is to treat. Go to your doctor every year for a physical exam to monitor any changes in your blood pressure, weight, cholesterol, and nutritional levels.

Also, get any additional preventive health screenings recommended for your age. For instance, women between the ages of 40 and 75 should have a mammogram every 1 to 2 years to screen for breast cancer while men should have a PSA blood test to screen for prostate cancer as often as their healthcare provider suggests based on their personal risk factors. (5)

#2: Look for Ways to Move More

Staying active helps keep our joints moving with greater ease, also improving the strength of our muscles and bones. Although daily exercise is good, also find ways to simply be less sedentary.

Go for walks versus camping out in front of the TV for hours. Walk around the house when talking on the phone and use a standing desk when working on the computer.

#3: Play Brain Games

While you don’t want to spend all day on a computer, smartphone, or tablet, setting aside a few minutes daily to play brain games can help you retain your cognitive abilities with age.

Download an app that helps improve your memory or speeds up your ability to process information.

If you still get a newspaper, do the crossword puzzle inside. Buy puzzle books and do one or two a day.

#4: Be Social

Humans are designed to be social. Plus, aging increases our risk of certain mental health conditions like depression and anxiety. (6)

Keeping in touch with family and friends can help reduce feelings of isolation, especially if you live alone.

Joining support groups or other groups of interest (such as a book club if you like to read or a pickleball group if you enjoy this activity) can also be great for forging social connections with others.

#5: Avoid Things That Can Make You Age Quicker

Just as it’s important to know what actions you can take to promote healthy aging, it’s also critical to know which actions to avoid because they can cause you to age faster than you’d like.

Habits that can make you age quicker include: (7)

• Eating a lot of sugary foods and not enough fruits and vegetables
• Smoking and/or excessive alcohol consumption
• Spending too much time in the sun
• High levels of stress
• Not getting enough sleep

Avoid these habits (or change them) to help slow the aging process.

Is Reverse Aging Possible?

Maybe! In an animal study published in Nature Aging on January 24, 2024, researchers revealed that they had developed a therapy capable of eliminating the cells that contribute to aging (called senescent cells). (8) This could essentially reverse, or at least prevent the progression of physiological aging.

Another study suggests that senescent cells can be reprogrammed, potentially making it possible to reverse aging and restore youth rather quickly — as in, less than a week — by using certain “chemical cocktails.” (9)

Until more research is conducted and these anti-aging strategies are tested for safety and effectiveness, you can still take the five actions recommended above to help you age more healthfully, helping improve your quality of life.