Slow Down that Aging Process with these Top Ten Tips
While many people in the Western World can now expect to live for far longer than ever before, we need to ensure that our extra years of life are spent in as good health as possible to ensure our continued independence and quality of life.
We share our suggested top ten tips to slow down that aging process...
1. Take to Travel! It can mean actual travel if that is possible but if not, watching a travel TV show or looking at a new landscape, cityscape or even a gallery online can give your nervous system new stimuli and on the subject of TV shows, avoid watching if you have already seen a program before. Instead look for something new to watch or learn from. And when you come across fresh subject matter - whether it is an historical figure, a new place or a person you meet, do your research to find out more.
2. Of course, fine lines and wrinkles will always make us feel we are aging. While you may not be able to prevent age lines or fine lines in the long term, it is certainly possible to naturally smooth and reduce them around the lips and eyes as well as on the neck with our H-Glow Formula. Specially formulated using the highest quality natural essential oils extracted from plants, the Formula facilitates deep penetration to help with rapid skin repair without the use of harmful additives or chemicals.
3. Cut down or even cut out alcohol. This is because alcohol (and especially too much) can cause damage to you both physically and mentally. Your body can suffer - and your memory and learning can be impaired. Alcohol can also impact on your skin's health remembering that as you get older any alcohol takes much longer to leave your body.
4. Have you ever played chess? Now is the time to start playing again or even to take it up for the first time. The game involves anticipating future situations and analysing possible outcomes. The social element is important too.
5. Meditation is another tip. Did you know that it is good for lowering blood pressure and heart rate while improving your response to stress. And you don't have to be still when you meditate, you can just as easily do it while you are walking or gardening.
6. Avoid feeling isolated. Make the effort to have social interaction and physical contact. Just giving hugs has an important beneficial influence on our feelings as well as on our endocrine system, stress responses and blood pressure.
7. Try not to neglect your dental health. We might be tempted to put off that checkup because of cost or other things getting in the way. Good oral health is beneficial for both the brain and the heart as well as the teeth! Remember that plaque build-up can affect your brain cells. Oil pulling is a helpful method to improve oral health too. As well as killing those harmful bacteria, "oil pulling" with coconut oil can improve your dental health, whiten your teeth and reduce or even eliminate bad breath. Oil pulling may also improve a number of health conditions ranging from eczema to arthritis through its effect on oral bacteria. It may even work its magic on thrush (Candida) when it occurs in the mouth. Find out the few simple steps to start you on the oil pulling route here.
8. Don't take sleep for granted. It is well known that sleep is restorative, rejuvenating and reinvigorating. We all need good quality sleep - and that does not change with age. In fact, recent research has pointed to sleep influencing the clearance of Alzheimer's related neuronal proteins in the brain. Find out more about those sleep disorders that can occur with aging. And if you need help, H-Sleep Aid is a useful tool to relax and get a good night's sleep naturally when one or two drops are massaged on temples and back of neck thirty minutes before bedtime. The Formula can be reapplied during the night if needed.
9. Diet and hydration are so important too. A healthy diet with lots of fresh fruit and veggies to top up those vitamins while avoiding processed foods is recommended while ensuring a good water intake is vital for the body because being dehydrated can also cause cognitive damage. And there is even our own Simply Vitamin Skin Oil to provide vitamins from the outside. This one of a kind nutritional blend of oils is perfect for feeding the delicate skin on your face and neck. Rich in antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and Omega fatty acids, these are all essential for the balance and nourishment of your skin.
10. Vitamin D is No.10 on our tips but perhaps it should be top of the list! Ensuring we are not deficient in this vital vitamin is very important whatever our age but is particularly helpful to slow down the aging process.
- A 2020 study found that average vitamin D levels among residents of twenty different European countries correlated with the incidence of at least one serious acute respiratory infection. Higher vitamin D levels among older adults were associated with reduced rates of deadly infections, while low serum concentrations of vitamin D were linked to higher susceptibility.
- In addition, recent studies have emphasised the importance of daily vitamin D supplementation to ward off dementia because it has been found that those over the age of 60 (and who have a vitamin D deficiency) experience quicker mental decline - as much as three times faster than those with adequate readings.
- Other findings include:
SOURCES:
What is insomnia? National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/inso#. (Accessed, Feb 11, 2021).
Insomnia fact sheet. WomensHealth.gov. http://womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/insomnia.html. (Accessed, Feb 11, 2021).
Sleep-wake disorders. In: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-5. 5th ed. Arlington, Va.: American Psychiatric Association; 2013. http://www.psychiatryonline.org. (Accessed, Feb 11, 2021).
Sleep disorders: The connection between sleep and mental health. National Alliance on Mental Health. http://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-Conditions/Related-Conditions/Sleep-Disorders. (Accessed, Feb 11, 2021).
Benetti, C., et al. (2015). Therapeutic effects of vitamin D in asthma and allergy [Abstract].
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25985947. (Accessed, 2 October 2021).
Conti, P., & Kempuraj, D. (2016). Impact of vitamin D on mast cell activity, immunity and inflammation.
http://pubs.sciepub.com/jfnr/4/1/6/. (Accessed, 2 October 2021).
Gruber-Bzura, B. M. (2018). Vitamin D and influenza—prevention or therapy?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6121423/. (Accessed, 2 October 2021).
Written by Jane Chitty
Jane writes for Healing Natural Oils, a producer and retailer of high-quality, all-natural treatments for a variety of conditions as well as a range of beauty products. Apart from writing about those various conditions, she also covers general health, environmental and other subjects of interest. She has lived in Kenya as well as Cape Town, South Africa and spent time in San Diego, USA. She now lives in Somerset, England with regular visits from her far-flung children and grandchildren. She is a keen gardener and enjoys growing fresh fruit and vegetables with her husband on their joint allotment. As a result, there is something available to use in the kitchen virtually all year round. Her regular posts can be found on our blog.