Aging is a natural part of life. It officially starts from the moment we are born when our bodies begin changing at the biological level. However, most people refer to aging as the time in life when age-related changes become more noticeable. Generally, these changes begin happening in one’s 40s or 50s.

Some of these changes include the following:
• accumulation of greater amounts of fat and less muscle mass, affecting one’s physique
• cognitive changes, such as starting to forget simple things or misplacing keys
• dimming eyesight and hearing
• age spots appearing in the skin
• hair color turning gray or white
• wrinkles appearing in the skin
• inability to move freely in all directions
• balance problems
• strength problems
• loneliness and depression

Delaying Aging is Easier Than What is Currently Thought

However, studies have found that it’s possible to delay symptoms of aging by paying more attention to one’s lifestyle.

Some of the positive lifestyle changes that have been known to affect aging include:

1. Paying Attention to Caloric Intake
Eating fewer calories than one needs on a regular basis is a strategy to outsmart aging. Long-term caloric restriction of as much as 25% or about 500 calories for those who consume 2,000 calories a day, without depriving essential nutrients preserves your DNA. When you prevent damages from occurring to your DNA.

Eating fewer calories can increase stem cells according to experiments. Studies have also found that this strategy can turn back the clock in animals who have already aged and even help restore vision. And it’s a safe strategy to use.

Obesity can easily accelerate aging by increasing inflammation in the body and causing the development of various chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and other health disorders. These diseases are believed to shorten the telomeres of the chromosomes, which are correlated with longevity. On the other hand, cutting calories lengthens the telomeres.

2. Eating a Healthy Diet and Taking Supplements When Needed
Getting all the nutrients needed to sustain life that your body needs. This means going beyond taking a simple fiber supplement. It means getting all the vitamins and minerals you need for your body based on blood tests, hair analysis tests, and other tests that can determine how close you are to optimum functioning.

Although going to this level is not generally practiced by many people, it makes a difference because having the right antioxidant levels helps prevent infectious disease, rejuvenates cells, tissues, and organs, and supports every system in the body.

For example, getting the right nutrients can result in vision changes, such as the improvement of macular degeneration. Magnesium supplementation has improved hearing loss.

3. Sociability Matters
As we get older, our friends and family members may pass away, leaving us with fewer options to socialize. Yet our brain is built for us to socialize, and loneliness or grief will cause declines in our ability to cope with life.

4. Staying Mentally Sound
Staying intellectually alert and continually learning is another good habit to develop to prevent aging. When you are learning, you feel more alive. When you are not learning anything new, your mind becomes fixed on certain ideas and philosophies, and you may tend to become inflexible. A mind that is easily adaptable and open to new ideas is one that radiates youth.

5. Hormone Replacement and Exercise
Exercise is also exceptionally important to prevent aging. Some doctors who specialize in anti-aging consider that men will begin to have gradual and minimal muscle loss in their 20s and 30s but the slow decline in muscle mass starts in their 40s and 50s. The technical term for age-related decrease in lean body mass is sarcopenia.

Changes in muscle mass from aging are associated with a loss of strength of 10-15% per decade and decreased physical performance. It slows down metabolic rate, increases inflammation, and causes insulin resistance.

By their 60s and 70s, accelerated muscle loss, accelerating to 25 to 40% per decade after the age of 70. By their 80s, there is significant muscle loss. This is usually accompanied by declines in testosterone as well. However, doctors have found that hormone replacement, along with proper diet and exercise that incorporates weight training, goes far to reverse muscle loss.

Women also are faced with sarcopenia and can expect a 3.7% decrease in muscle mass per decade.

You can define your own aging by taking control of the little changes that start occurring. Start by making small lifestyle changes and keep progressing.