Most people want to live to a ripe old age. Unfortunately, some people do not realize that it takes deliberate effort to increase your lifespan and some do not take this seriously until they are older. They may begin to wonder: “Is it too late to take steps so that I can live longer?”
The Tendency
When you are young, it is easy and natural to think you will live a long time, so most young people pay little attention to advice about healthy living. With this attitude, it can also be difficult to understand how wrong habits may shorten your life. Things like smoking and drinking heavily, poor eating habits, and not being concerned about potential health problems such as diabetes, gum disease, and more, are often far from the mind.
At some point, unless instructed earlier by parents or friends, you may have come to realize that what you do will affect your health later. If you realize this later in life, it may be too late to reverse some of the bad effects of accumulated poor choices.
Your Genetics
At one time it was thought that your genes alone determined how long you would live. The thinking was – up until recently – that your age limit was pre-determined by your genes and that there was not much you could do about it. This line of thinking is no longer considered valid.
Your genes are now only thought to play a smaller role in your age limit – about 30 percent of it. This means that other factors may play an even larger part in determining your lifespan. They include some that you can do something about – but the sooner you act, the greater the impact.
The Impact
Many research studies have been done and more continue to be conducted to discover how to live longer. Part of the research is aimed at finding out how long can you live? No one really knows yet – and there are two lines of thinking. Some scientists believe that life is limited to around 120 years but others think it can be longer.
Recent research has shown that it may not matter how old you are when you start taking steps to live longer. It has been found that people as old as 84 have decreased their likelihood of death by making changes to their lifestyle. Although people older than that have not been studied closely, you do not know how long you will live unless you try to find out.
The Time Is Now
If you want to live longer – no matter what your age – it is time to adopt some healthy practices. Several things are known to increase longevity and reduce the likelihood of early death. They can slow down and even start to reverse the harmful effects that may already be in place and can even help prevent some fatal diseases.
The more of these practices you do, the greater the likelihood you have of living longer. People that continue to practice the opposite are unlikely to live to 90. To live longer, you need to:
- Eat healthy foods (Mediterranean diet)
- Exercise about 150 minutes per week
- Maintain a healthy weight – lose the excess weight
- Quit smoking and minimize or eliminate alcohol
- Control diabetes, cholesterol, and high blood pressure.
Although every person is different, if you want to live longer and enjoy better health while older, too – why not start now to take steps to do so? What new habits can you start today? It is not too late.
