Written by: Meghan Jarvis, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
You have been through major lockdowns and increased your awareness of your health and wellness; now you're ready to know precisely how to keep your body and mind young, healthy and nimble as you age.
It comes down to many things, but the most important is how you feel about yourself and how you approach aging mentally. If you keep pushing yourself, keep challenging yourself and look after yourself, you can enjoy an entire healthy life at any age. But it also comes down to the details. You can use strategies, tricks, and techniques to slow down aging and look better.
Here are some of our favourite and critical anti-aging tips to protect your brain, looks and health.
Have a Berry Smoothie
Berries are one of the best sources of antioxidants, and a smoothie provides a convenient and tasty way to get them into your diet quickly.
Eat Fish, Meat, and Soybean
Not only are amino acids essential for your health and longevity generally, but increasing your intake of these sources will provide you with cysteine – an essential building block in glutathione – one of the most critical antioxidants often considered the 'master' antioxidant.
Ionize Your Water
A water ionizing filter can help reduce your water's free radical activity, thus helping you look younger and longer while also avoiding the onset of cancer.
Consume Caffeine
Caffeine has been shown to help reduce the likelihood of age-related neurological decline and protect neurons against oxidation.
Play Chess or Crosswords
One of the unique ways cognitive function declines as we get older is in fluid intelligence. While knowledge (crystallized intelligence) increases, the ability to store information and reason abstractly is impaired. This is due to a reduced working memory, but you can keep this alive and well by supporting it with activities that challenge the brain to store information and plan. Chess is perfect for this!
Keep Learning
Even more important is to keep stimulating the brain by learning new things, taking on new challenges, experiencing new places, and interacting with as many people as possible. This keeps the brain plastic, meaning you'll more easily learn new things and meaning you'll be less likely to see impairments in brain function over time. This is how to disprove the saying 'you can't teach an old dog new tricks'.
Meditate
In the short term, meditation will help you to prevent the adverse side effects of stress on the brain. It also enhances brain plasticity and learning.
Sleep
Sleep is essential for the brain and the body. Over time, a lack of sleep will cause cumulative damage that can add up and cause many negative effects associated with old age.
HIIT
HIIT is 'High Intensity Interval Training'. This is an exercise that involves alternating between periods of intense activity and periods of relative calm and recovery. This has been shown to help support the mitochondria and thereby encourage greater efficiency. This can give you the vigour and youthful energy of a much younger person, even in old age, and further prevent oxidative damage!
Mobility Exercise
It's also a good idea to consider mobility exercises as a way to stay mobile and limber and avoid many of the aches and pains we feel 'normal' as we age. These are not normal, and keeping yourself flexible and healthy as you age is essential. Yoga can help, as can gymnastics. Read the book Becoming a Supple Leopard for more.
Weight Training
Weight training is generally an excellent idea as you get older too. This keeps the muscles and the bones more vital, preventing the weakness that can lead to accidents, falls, breaks and other problems. Not only that, but weight training can also stimulate testosterone production in men and has been shown to support brain function further.
Diet
Eating the proper diet is essential for maintaining youthful looks and healthy cells and organs. Vitamins, minerals, enzymes, amino acids… they're all responsible for countless important functions in the body. When you don't get these, you will find it adds to cumulative damage that can become obvious in old age. Make sure you eat a healthy and balanced diet, and you should be able to avoid these
negatives.
Stress Less
Stress can cause serious problems over time as it harms your body and mind. If you live a very stressful lifestyle and are constantly putting out fires in your workplace, consider the impact on your long-term health.
Groom
Grooming yourself as you age will help you look younger and feel healthier. This changes the way you feel about yourself, as well as the way that others think of you! Women can use makeup to look younger (see the book), while men, in particular, need to remember to trim nose hairs and eyebrows as they start sprouting more hair. Dress for your age, and you will find ways to 'work' a more mature look that makes you feel a million bucks.
Moisturize
Moisturizing is essential as you age to keep the skin looking youthful and hydrated. Look for a moisturizing cream with a bit of sunblock in it, as mentioned, to help prevent damage to the cells over time. Moisturize your hands too! Hands often give away our actual age, even if we look otherwise young.
Lifestyle
Drinking lots of water is very important as you age and will help you keep yourself healthy and prevent cumulative damage. Avoid smoking and drinking in large amounts, avoid sunbathing… generally maintain a healthy lifestyle now to look and feel amazing later!
In conclusion, many of us are frightened of getting older, and the reasons are often the same: we don't like the idea of becoming less mobile and less able to look after ourselves. Some of us will have seen our loved ones suffer as they get older, and we'll be frightened that we may face the same fate.
Getting older will inevitably mean some decline in your health, but it doesn't have to tell you to become reliant on others. Here we have looked at some of the things you can do now while you're young and healthy to avoid letting your health deteriorate too much as you age.
Meghan Jarvis, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
A former World Class BMX bicycle racer, Meghan came to Australia to play professional basketball and stayed as a lead lecturer at the Australian Institute of Fitness. Meghan's passion for fitness and entrepreneurialism led her to found WellCorp Health and Wellness and Buzvil, a global health and fitness app. She most recently appeared as an actor and stunt woman in the new Blockbuster 'Elvis', the Portable Door, Aqua Man and has been a 'Ninja' on Channel Nine's Australian Ninja Warrior. She is also the head of Total Gym Fitness Equipment Australia, Suspension Training and Altitude Training International Master Coach, making her an authority on peak performance and an international speaker. Her experiences as an athlete, educational portfolio (Masters of Education and Coaching Science, Kinesiologist, Sports Scientist), entrepreneurial ventures, and enthusiastic character have shaped her as a formidable leader in health and fitness. She believes strongly in the importance of redefining and bridging the gap between physical and mental health. Meghan has guided many people to achieve complete personal breakthroughs and phenomenal mind, body, and business growth.
