Five Natural Ways to Slow the Aging Process and Maintain a Youthful Appearance
Growing older is inevitable, but that doesn’t mean it is always welcome. Some people will spend thousands of dollars trying to slow the aging process and maintain a youthful appearance. Whether it’s a surgery to reduce belly bulge or luxurious facial creams to fight wrinkles, the costs of looking young can add up quickly. Fortunately, there are natural ways to stay young without emptying your savings account.
Add Oranges and Berries to Your Diet
Fruits such as oranges, blueberries, and strawberries provide an excellent source of vitamin C, a powerful nutrient that can keep your skin looking youthful. A 2007 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that middle-aged women who consumed more vitamin C were less likely to have wrinkled skin. They also experienced less dryness of the skin. Nosh on berries and oranges, or take a vitamin C supplement, to maintain the appearance of your skin.
Make Sleep a Priority
In order to slow the aging process, you might need to get more beauty sleep. A 2014 study in Clinical and Experimental Dermatology analyzed the impact of sleep on skin aging. The results indicated that individuals who had good sleep quality and slept 7-9 hours per night had fewer signs of skin aging than poor sleepers, who averaged 5 or fewer hours of sleep per night did.
Increase Your Protein Intake
Most people tend to lose muscle mass and accumulate more body fat as they age, but eating an adequate amount of protein can help you to stay lean and youthful looking. A 2016 study in The Journal of Nutrition, Health, & Aging found that men and women who consumed a sufficient amount of protein had more lean body mass. Be sure to include the recommended daily amount of protein in your diet, and your body might appear younger.
Take up Weightlifting
Weightlifting not only allows you to get your exercise, it can also keep your midsection slim as you get older. In a 2015 study in Obesity, researchers found that among adults aged 40-75, each 20-minute per day increase in weightlifting was associated with less of an increase in waist circumference over time. Make a commitment to lift weights, and a tummy tuck won’t be necessary.
Become a Runner
Weightlifting isn’t the only type of exercise that can keep you looking young, as running has also been proven to defy aging. A 2016 study in Preventive Medicine analyzed the impact of several exercises, such as swimming, cycling, running, aerobics, dancing, and stair climbing. Results showed that running was the only type of physical activity that was associated with lengthened telomeres. Running can, therefore, play a critical role in slowing the aging process. As the author of a review in a 2011 publication of Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care explained, telomeres are proteins found at each end of all of our chromosomes, and they grow shorter as we age, which leads to cell death. By increasing telomere length, running could, therefore, slow the cellular processes associated with aging.
Whether you’re concerned about cellular aging, physical fitness, or wrinkles as you get older, there are steps you can take to slow signs of aging and maintain your youthful glow. With natural approaches like sleep, exercise and proper nutrition, staying young is simple and affordable.