Healthy Aging: Best Lifestyle Choices For A Fulfilling Life

No matter how much you fear it, aging is a natural phenomenon. All of us are destined to age, with our bodies getting more and more sensitive with time. As we age, we become more prone to all sorts of health complications. From reduced immunity to increased susceptibility to infections, elderly patients are more exposed to health issues.

This makes healthy aging important. While we cannot control the years adding to our lives, we can do our best to keep ourselves healthy. Healthy aging is all about looking after your physical and mental health as you grow older. It involves eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, and seeking suitable medical care whenever needed.

Especially in a country like India where people’s lifestyle choices are exposing them to serious conditions like heart attack, the elderly section of society needs to be more health conscious. We all can switch to a healthy lifestyle right away before it is too late.

Why Is Healthy Aging Important?

Before getting to the lifestyle choices that ensure healthy aging for seniors, let us quickly understand why healthy aging is important:

Better Life Quality While Growing Older

As we grow old, our bodies are bound to get weaker. Healthy aging allows us to keep them strong for as long as possible. It gives us more control over our bodies as we grow older. A better quality of life keeps us away from physical and mental health complications. Healthy aging also lets you enjoy your independence as you grow older, giving you more freedom of choice from a broader perspective.

Reduced Healthcare Expenses

A large chunk of elderly citizens of our country spend a fortune on their healthcare expenses. From a range of different medications to hospital visits and diagnostic tests, it is common for older patients to shell out a lot of money as they grow older. Healthy aging significantly reduces these expenses for you and your loved ones. If you are healthy while growing old, you need not seek medical care for your health complications. This helps you save more as you enter the winter of your life!

Enhanced Mental Well-being

A lot of healthy aging is about ensuring sound mental health. It doesn’t take much for an elderly individual’s mental health to go for a toss. Mental well-being is extremely important to lead a healthy and fulfilling life. Life will not be kind to anyone. It is how we keep ourselves sane that makes all the difference!

Avoiding Chronic Illnesses

Old age often invites a range of chronic illnesses, such as hypertension, low blood pressure, arthritis, and a host of cardiovascular complications. Healthy aging keeps you mindful of these conditions and ensures that you keep chronic illnesses at bay. If nothing else, it lets you delay unavoidable complications as much as possible.

Leading A Long Life

Ultimately, healthy aging adds more years to your life. When you live a healthy life as a senior citizen, you prevent your body from falling prey to a plethora of health issues.

Best Lifestyle Choices For Healthy Aging

Now that we know why healthy aging is important for all of us, let us explore some of the best lifestyle choices that help you with the same:

Focus On A Healthy And Balanced Diet

Unless you encounter a serious injury, the most important key to healthy aging is eating well. You can avoid most health complications common in elderly citizens by eating a healthy diet. No matter how tempting they seem, avoid processed foods as you grow older.

If possible track the calories you consume and limit them according to your age and weight. It is advisable to eat foods rich in fiber to stay healthy while growing older. While saturated fats are harmful, it is not the best idea to remove all fats from your meals. Have a balanced diet rich in all macro (protein, fats, and carbs) and micro (vitamins and minerals) nutrients. Monitoring your daily diet is the simplest and most effective way to ensure healthy aging.

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Exercise Regularly

When it comes to exercising, we often focus on young people hitting the gyms. However, older people need regular exercise more than the younger ones. Irrespective of how old you are, it is important to exercise regularly. If possible, indulge in some physically demanding activity every day to enhance your musculoskeletal health.

Healthy aging involves keeping yourself strong while you grow old. While you need not exercise like a 20-year-old, ensure that your body gets enough work every day. If nothing else, go for at least two walks every day. When it comes to healthy aging, it is important to treat your body like a machine. It needs regular oiling to run smoothly for long. If you keep it idle for too long, it is bound to get rusty!

Stay Social

This is an often overlooked aspect of healthy aging. Along with building a healthy body, it is equally important to have a healthy mind while growing older. Staying alone in your old age is never healthy for you. It is advisable to build your social circle and be active in it.

Whether you interact with your family members, friends, colleagues, or all of them, ensure that you have your social circle. Regular social interactions keep your mind sane and happy. Spending a lot of time alone can have catastrophic effects on your mind. While it is healthy to have your private space, do let more people in from time to time for better mental health.

Go For Regular Health Checkups

As you grow older, the need for regular health checkups increases. To know the best ways to look after your body and mind, it is important to seek regular medical help. If you have a general physician you have been consulting for a long time, continue seeking their help as you venture into your old age. If you do not wish to make hospital visits, see if the healthcare professional offers doctor on call services.

Either way, it is necessary for elderly individuals to stay in touch with doctors, dieticians, nutritionists, and other healthcare professionals. Even if you feel healthy and have no noticeable symptoms of any disease, you should go for health checkups to confirm the same. Many health complications make themselves noticeable only when they reach advanced stages. It is always better to be safe than sorry!

Keep Taking Your Medications (If Needed)

If you are already put on specific medications by your doctor, it is important to continue taking them as you get older. Know that your body will keep getting more sensitive with age. For example, if you have diabetes and are taking medicines for the same, get stricter with your schedule as you grow older.

It is common for elderly patients to forget to take their medicines, especially if they take a lot of them. If this is the case with you, establish a schedule and set reminders on your phone. If you live with your family members, have them remind you to take your medicines every day. If you live alone and cannot afford to skip your medications, seek suitable home nursing services.

Limit (Or Avoid) Alcohol Consumption

If you have been drinking alcohol in your adult life, you should keep it in check as you get older. Healthy aging prefers complete avoidance of alcohol. While the best way to lead a healthy life is to get rid of alcohol, it is better to limit yourself as much as possible.

Prolonged alcohol abuse can be life-threatening. It manifests itself in several ways, leading to complications like hypertension, heart attacks, cardiac arrests, and much more. Alcohol increases the build-up of plaque within your arteries, making your heart work extra hard to pump your blood. If you do not control alcohol consumption during old age, this can have dire implications.

Get Enough Sleep

Finally, it is better to get a good night’s sleep to ensure sound physical and mental health. Healthy aging requires elderly citizens to get seven to eight hours of sleep on average. If you cannot sleep, reach out to your doctor for help. Stay away from sleeping pills for as long as possible.

If you have trouble sleeping, you should try mindfulness meditation before sleeping. It is also advisable to stay away from your phone, laptop, television, and other screens before you go to sleep. Even if you have managed to stay healthy with less sleep in your youth, you shouldn’t take sleep lightly as you grow older.

Ensure Healthy Aging By Having Access To Qualified Physicians At Home With Docville

Seeking comprehensive medical care is instrumental in ensuring healthy aging. Docville ensures that you always have access to some of the most qualified general physicians in Mumbai and Thane. Our doctors, nurses, and their assistants provide personalized and holistic medical care to you at your home. With Docville, you can age gracefully and lead a fulfilling life while keeping health complications at bay.