Do you feel younger than the number of candles on your birthday cake? Turns out, seniors who are young at heart may actually be more youthful than their peers.
Conventional wisdom tells us that the ravages of time affect us all in similar ways. We all age at the same rate. But new science is showing that may not be true.
Young at Heart — And Head
According to a recent study and the first study to make this link, under MRI scans, spry seniors who felt younger than their actual age showed fewer signs of brain aging. They scored higher on memory tests, were less likely to report symptoms of depression and had more gray-matter volume in key areas of the brain.
So which comes first? The youthful attitude or the young brain? Perhaps people who feel younger are more likely to exercise and lead mentally stimulating lives? Or perhaps older brains lead to less activity and older self-images?
This conundrum brings us to the clash between our subjective age — the age we feel we are — and the chronological age on our driver’s licenses.
Why Do We Age?
Science suggests aging may have something to do with our telomeres. These protective nucleotides attached to the ends of our chromosomes keep them from fusing or deteriorating. The older someone is, then their telomeres tend to be shorter.
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle may actually lengthen telomeres.
Stopping the Clock
It’s true that people are living longer — and healthier — than ever before. Today, the average American woman lives to 81. That’s eight years longer than she did in 1970. And the average American male lives to 76 — five years longer than his 1970s counterpart.
And we are constantly redefining what it means to be young. Forty is the new 30, 65 is the new 55. Genetics account for about 15 to 30 percent of our aging, but the rest may be up to us. If that’s the case, then it’s about choosing a salad over a steak, or a walk in the park over a couch marathon.
So even though the march of time is unstoppable, there are things we can do to attempt to turn back the clock.
Determining Your Real Age
Unlike the number of candles on your birthday cake, your real age may be determined by all kinds of controllable, behavioral factors, such as your Body Mass Index (BMI), how much alcohol you drink, how you deal with stress and how often you eat red meat.
Other factors include your education level, your social connections, your community involvement, your smoking history, how often you exercise, what you eat, whether you drink coffee, how much you sleep and how often you have sex.
Ways to Lower Your Real Age
Here are some ways that may help in your efforts to lower your real age:
- Exercise regularly and maintain a BMI of less than 24 percent
- Cut back on alcohol consumption
- Eat red meat less than twice a week
- Find positive ways to relieve stress
- Receive higher education
- Volunteer regularly
- Develop a social support network
- Don’t smoke
- Drink two or more cups of coffee a day
- Sleep seven to nine hours a night
Living Healthier, Longer
Maximizing health benefits and managing risk factors may lead to all kinds of potential health improvements — better breathing, sharper minds, less depression, lower blood pressure and better cholesterol. And that could mean more years of feeling young at heart, no matter the age on your driver’s license.
With a few healthful tweaks, seniors can prove that age truly is just a number.
