Seven Habits That Cause You to Age More Rapidly

While aging is a natural process, some habits you may be engaging in are hastening the process of everyday age-related activities such as wrinkled skin, aches and pains, mental decline, and predisposition to diseases.

How you look and feel as you get older may be influenced by how you live your life as you get younger. To a large extent, good elderly health entails making wise decisions early in life because quality elderly care starts with oneself. While life should be a balancing act of indulgence and healthy choices, there are some habits you may not even be aware of that are prematurely aging you.

Let's take a closer look!

1. Adhering to an Unbalanced Diet

A diet is an impact to our health that we frequently overlook or take for granted, such as aging and skin health. A diet high in fatty, carbohydrate-laden foods is a significant cause of premature aging. Eating processed foods, red meat, white bread, and margarine causes inflammation. This swelling can cause skin flare-ups and wrinkles. These foods also increase the amount of sodium, cholesterol, and fat in your body, increasing your chances of becoming obese.

2. Inadequate Sleeping

As you get older, you may believe that you don't need as much sleep, but experts say you still need seven to eight hours of sleep per night for optimal senior health. Sleep deprivation causes impaired cognition and memory performance. Prolonged sleep disruptions can harm our immune systems, decision-making processes, response time, and other critical brain functions. 

3. A Sedentary Way of Life

Poor circulation deprives the organism of micronutrients, water, and oxygen. Prolonged sitting, if not supplemented by activity, can cause hormonal imbalance and, as a result, premature aging.

4. Excessive Stress

Nothing ages you faster than a constant state of worry, anxiety, and stress. Long periods of stress have been shown in studies to alter your DNA. Chronic stress from work, family strife, or other sources causes high blood pressure, sleep disruptions, and acne breakouts. All of these conditions harm our aging process. Identify your stressors and find ways to avoid or mitigate their effects using relaxation techniques such as meditation or yoga.

5. Alcohol Consumption

While a glass of wine here and there is nothing to worry about, excessive drinking can cause you to age faster. Because alcohol is a natural diuretic, the more you drink, the more dehydrated you become. Your body relies on healthy fluids like water to perform its normal functions. Inadequate hydration causes organ damage and premature aging of the skin.

6. Poor Posture

Poor posture causes the backbone to deviate from its normal alignment, causing the muscles and bones to become abnormally tense. These injuries cause pain and fatigue, frequently resulting in permanent deformity.

7. Lack of Physical Activity

Last but not least, regular physical activity is the foundation of healthy aging. According to research, people who do not exercise regularly have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and other age-related illnesses. They also sustain more injuries than their more active counterparts. As we age, injuries become more dangerous and frequently result in fatal complications.

While aging is an unavoidable process, you can do your part to slow it down. As previously stated, senior citizen care should begin when you are in your 30s so that by the time you reach your 60s, age is just a number.