Want to Know How to Age Gracefully?

What is aging today when 50 is now midlife? In reality we begin to age from the day we are born, but most of us don’t consider ourselves old until we reach a certain milestone—such as 20, 30, 40, or some later decade birthday. Regardless of our definition of aging, the good news is that we can do a lot in order to age gracefully.

We can respect our bodies by caring for our hearts, lungs, minds, bodies and spirits. We can care for our teeth, skin, hair, hands and feet. We can watch our weight and eat healthy food. We can challenge our minds and nurture our souls. We can make an enormous difference in the quality of our lives by doing just a few things to improve our overall health.

Here’s our top 10 ways to age gracefully:

Diet
Eat a well-balanced diet, choose foods high in fiber, and drink eight glasses of water a day.

Protect Your Skin
Take preventive measures to protect your skin by limiting sun exposure, using sunscreen, hats and protective clothing, and avoiding sun beds and tanning salons.

Exercise
Exercise helps lower blood pressure and the risk of heart disease. Exercise strengthens your lungs, heart and bones. It keeps joints flexible, keeps muscles strong, gives more energy, reduces stress, anxiety and depression and improves balance.

Depression
Retirement, death of friends and family, chronic illness, loneliness and financial concerns can trigger depression. You may need to be treated with medication, counseling or other support. Talk to people you can trust.

Injury
If an injury or fall should occur, it should be evaluated and treated promptly.

See Your Doctor
Women as they age should continue to get yearly checkups and let their doctors know all the medications, vitamins and natural remedies that they are taking.

Cigarettes
If you smoke, quit.

Your Brain Health
The brain works in the same way as the heart—when blood and oxygen can’t pass through our arteries to our brain, it can’t function properly. So avoid fried, artery clogging foods.

Folate
Make sure to get your folate. Found in asparagus, artichokes, Brussels sprouts and sunflower seeds, folate is an anti-aging weapon for your brain. Another “in the news” age fighter is coenzyme Q10 because it stimulates energy pathways in your brain tissue.

Stay Active
The physically active population has a better chance of being more functional with aging.

At the Facial Bungalow we have an entire menu designed to aging gracefully!  Please visit our website for additional details, or call our office to find out more at 323-570-2664.