Healthy Lifestyle Tips to Live Well Past 80
Healthy lifestyle tips can be adopted at any age. Try these common sense tips if you want to improve your chances of being healthy past 80.
The first place you have to look for healthy tips is the types of foods you eat. There are many healthy foods to eat. The question is whether you will give up the junk food you are used to eating and begin consuming good healthy foods. The benefits of a healthy diet are well worth the effort you will put into making healthful food choices.
Healthy Eating Guidelines To Stay Youthful
Easy healthy diets can be constructed from a few simple rules pertaining to daily eating.
Eat at least five servings of raw vegetables and fresh fruit every day. This simple step will give your body the enzymes and antioxidants it needs to fight off the ravages of time and decay.
Consume whole grain products such as bread, pasta, and cereal instead of refined grain products. This common tip will give your body an array of nutrients as well as the vital fiber it needs to maintain normal, daily functioning.
Limit your daily protein consumption to a piece of meat about the size of a pack of playing cards because it is not needed in great quantities. However, a slight increase in protein intake is advised as you progress into your later years.
Drink lots of pure water. Water is used in many chemical reactions constantly taking place in all areas of your body. It is also lost in substantial amounts when waste is flushed from your body.
To keep your body operating efficiently and youthful you must be able to efficiently flush toxins from your body. Plenty of water consumed throughout your day provides this vital resource.
These are the basics that will make it easy for you to consume healthy foods regardless of the time or place of your next meal.
Water, Enzymes And Vitamins
Now you have to begin to slowly integrate these types of foods into the meals you currently consume. It’s easy to do if you begin serving a salad or raw vegetable platter as an appetizer to every lunch or dinner you eat. Consider serving water with the meal and saving your other drinks for snacks or as an after dinner treat.
It is important that you consume raw vegetables with each meal because cooking kills all of the vital enzymes and most of the other nutrients.
Why would you want to eat foods that are missing nutrients?
Adding an adequate amount of whole grains to your daily eating regimen will offer big dividends in the long run. Here is an easy way to begin consuming more of these healthful foods.
Buy whole grain bread in addition to the tasteless white bread you usually buy and begin alternating them. This will allow you to effortlessly transition to the healthier bread. You will soon find yourself buying only the whole grain bread because you will begin appreciating the fuller flavor it offers.
Good Sleep
Sleep is when your body heals and replenishes itself. Without adequate sleep and rest it will suffer increased wear and tear. That leads to premature aging. An adult needs eight hours of sleep a night while teens demand 10-12 hours per night.
And don’t forget afternoon naps! Yes, it is OK to take an afternoon nap. It is even strongly advised to take the time to nap. Your work will wait.
There is a definite sleep cycle demanded by your body in the middle of the afternoon. This is a time your bodily functions and mind slow down. That is why you often feel tired or sluggish in mid afternoon.
In countries where they take a “siesta” every day the heart attack rate is much lower than in places where naps are not taken as a rule. An afternoon nap should not be excessively long. Fifteen to thirty minutes is sufficient. More sleep may make you groggy.
So take afternoon naps and be happier, more productive and healthier.
Good Exercise
Exercise is essential to keep your body healthy well past 80. It should begin as early in life as possible and continue throughout your entire life span.
Exercise does not have to mean you go to the gym and sweat with a bunch of strangers. It only means that you are moving your body instead of sitting in front of the TV all day.
Do you like golf or bowling? They are exercise and provide a lot of fun and relaxation.
Do you like taking walks? That is also exercise.
Whatever you want to do to move your body is OK. Daily exercise will keep your vital body functions operating at peak efficiency to help you maintain your health well into your later years.