Healthy aging is the process of taking charge of your wellbeing as you age.  Healthy aging is one of the few things in life that’s actually in your control. 

 

Although most people don’t start talking about healthy aging until they hit mid life, true healthy aging begins when you’re young.  Healthy aging is the development and maintenance of optimal physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing. 

 

Enjoying healthy aging depends on two things:  what you do (your actions) and what you think (your attitudes and your beliefs). 

 

Healthy Aging Actions

 

1.  Eat a nutritious diet.  Unlike what many people think, a nutritious diet is not a diet that includes a salad here and there and a piece of fruit now and then.  A nutritious diet includes: 

• Whole, unprocessed foods like fruits and vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds, beans, and lean protein
• Adequate amounts of lean protein like soy foods, fish, chicken, and eggs
• A powerful vitamin and mineral food-based supplement that gives your body the essential nutrients necessary for optimal health (the food you eat will not give you everything your body needs because our food is nutrient-poor) 

A nutritious diet does not include: 

• Processed foods
• Sugar
• Large amounts of alcohol
• Cheap vitamin or mineral supplements

When it comes to healthy aging, nothing is more important than proper nutrition.  Good nutrition effects every aspect of healthy living—hearing and vision, cognitive abilities, physical strength, mobility, and endurance.  A healthy aging diet promotes health by lowering chronic disease risk for heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and osteoporosis.   

 

2.  Drink plenty of water.  You need a minimum of eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day—much more if you’re overweight or if you exercise.  A lack of sufficient amounts of hydration can cause a multitude of physical and mental problems. 

 

3.  Cleanse regularly.  Environmental pollution, inadequate sleep, poor nutrition and chronic stress as well as viruses, bacteria and other disease processes affect the immune system.  You can remove many of these physical and mental toxins with regular cleansing. 

 

Cleansing is done with a combination of herbs and natural supplements that help the clean the colon, liver, kidney, blood and lymph system.  Cleansing at least once a month is optimal. 

 

4.  Exercise regularly.  Exercise is the key to maintaining muscle flexibility, strength, and a positive mood.  It’s one of the best things you can do to give yourself a shot at a long, healthy life.  Exercise can help you retain strength, balance, flexibility, and endurance -- keys to managing the tasks of daily living and remaining independent.  

 

A good exercise program includes three components: 

• Cardiovascular exercise like walking, dancing, etc.
• Strength-building exercises like weight or resistance training
• Stretching like Pilates or yoga 

5.  Get a healthy amount of restful sleep.  Your body needs time for maintenance—if you don’t get good sleep, your cells will suffer.

 

Develop a sleep ritual that’s conducive to sleep—do calming, relaxing activities before bed, sleep in a cool, dark, quiet place.  Meditation can be helpful too—even five minutes a day can teach you how to slow your brain waves so you can get good sleep.

 

6.  Use your brain.  Cognitive functioning declines with disuse.  So don’t just vegetate.  Think.  Create.  Plan.  Reason.  Figure things out.

 

Alzheimer's disease is the fourth leading cause of death among Americans over the age of 65.  This is a disease you don’t want!  You can reduce your risk of the disease by following healthy aging steps, especially this one.  Keep your brain cells pumped up with regular use!

 

Healthy Aging Attitudes & Beliefs

 

1.  Open your mind.  Think in terms of possibility, not in terms of impossibility.  Be willing to accept new concepts and new ways of seeing the world. 

 

An open mind gives you access to healthy aging tools you wouldn’t consider if your mind was closed.  It also uses those brain cells more.

 

2. Let go of the past.  Forget what might have been, should have been, or could have been.

 

There’s just what was, what is, and what will be.  No judgment. 

 

Regrets, resentments, and grief are major barriers to healthy aging.  They create stress on your body’s cells. 

 

3.  Be grateful for what you have.  Gratitude is one of the most positive vibrations you can have.

 

Healthy aging is all about healthy energy.  When you can fill yourself with healthy energy, exude healthy energy, and vibrate at a high energetic level, you slow the aging process and optimize your well being.

 

4.  Live like you have plenty of time.  Forget the “live as if each day was your last” advice. 

 

Yes, you want to cherish each day, but don’t expect your days to be finite.  Plan, dream, and grow, and expect to do so indefinitely.  Your expectation can create your reality.

 

Healthy aging is in your control.  Your actions and your thoughts will determine the level of health and wellbeing you get to enjoy.  Choose the best actions and the best attitudes and beliefs, and you’ll enjoy healthy aging.