The Key to Longevity
The key to longevity isn’t found in the stars, a handbook, or a doctors office. It seems that anyone who has lived past the age of 100 has their own story, or secret to tell. But, that secret is never the same as the next person… so how do we find this key to link ourselves and our own journey to living longer?
In this article I want to break down 5 healthy habits that we can incorporate into our lives. Although disease, sickness and death will never be avoided as humans, we can find links between creating our own healthy lifestyle and in turn possibly find the key to longevity.
Drink more Water!
The body is made up of almost 70% water from the time you’re born, to around middle age. As humans begin to settle into an elderly stage, the body begins to lose muscle mass, weight, and in turn can be made up of about 50% water by age 70. This percentage can also decrease more as you become even older.
This strikes an interesting place on the hammer. Water could potentially be one of the most important things that we should be consistently putting into our bodies. Replacing what we are losing, and staying hydrated could give our muscles, brain, heart, skin, and joints the support it needs to decrease aging and keep our organs working longer. It’s more than looking young on the outside, keeping ourselves healthy from the inside out could add years more of living.
Find Happiness
We have to ask ourselves what is our motivation in life, why do we want to live longer? Certainly no one would want to live a life of stress, anger, or depression. As humans we need purpose, love, and happiness to give us the strength to continue what we have here on earth.
Studies have shown that being positive and happy can boost the immune system, protecting the body from disease and sickness. It creates a better platform for mental health, decreasing stress and anxiety (one of the biggest reasons for early death).
Find happiness in your relationships with friends, family, careers, hobbies, religion and home life. If you aren’t happy in a situation, give yourself the opportunity to change it. Happiness is created within your own individual self, giving yourself time to reflect on yourself could be one of the biggest steps to creating a happier change and living a longer life.
To live in Sobriety or Not?
Although the common thought on the subject of longevity may immediately take you to “drinking alcohol is bad”. It may in fact be somewhat of a myth after looking at it statistically. Studies are now saying that people who are consuming 1-2 alcoholic drinks a day are in fact living longer then those who don’t.
Creating a life of balance is key to this thought, as well as being aware that abusing alcohol can and will lead you down a path of disease and health issues. Being an alcoholic can increase your chances of different cancers, and can potentially cut your lifestyle almost in half. So next time you pick up a drink, shift your awareness to how much you’re consuming, and create limits.
Exercise Daily
We are taught from a very young age that exercise is incredibly important to having a healthy life. Exercise will keep our muscles and joints stronger, boost endorphins and combat many different diseases. So, this is one of my obvious choices to finding longevity. In fact, studies show that people who do some kind of physical activity daily can increase their life expectancy by years compared to those who don’t. So the bottom line is exercise more and stay active to increase your number of years even more. Could this be the key to longevity?
Eating Naturally
With all of the rising diet trends it’s so hard to keep track of what the best way to eat is. So, I want to break it down to what I feel is most important about eating and that is, eat natural.
Eating foods that are organic, unprocessed, grown locally, or even grown in your own home garden can be a good rule of thumb when trying to decide on diet.
Local foods are going to possess the most nutrients because they have been harvested and reach your plate sooner then imported foods. Eating local foods also gives you the chance to enjoy different crops as they change throughout the seasons. Humans have lived and eaten by the seasons for centuries, giving the body what it needs depending on the climate you’re in and how the seasons progress.
Food can be more then just tasting good. It can have purpose in so many different ways. Being mindful about something that fuels and strengthens you can in turn create longevity in your story.
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