Regardless of your age, taking care of your body to prevent any illness is important. However, if you are past the age of 65, something as small as flu can lead to some complications. This includes secondary infections such as bronchitis, sinus infection, or pneumonia. On top of that, if you have a chronic condition like asthma, any respiratory illness can worsen it.
For healthy ageing, making healthy choices is important.
What is healthy aging?
Healthy aging is defined as the process to develop and maintain the functional ability that enables well-being in older people, by WHO. It includes an older person’s ability to:
- Encounter their basic needs
- Maintain relationships
- Give their contribution to society
- Learn and make decisions
Tips to promote a healthy lifestyle for senior citizens
We have rounded up some natural health tips for senior citizens below.
1: Get Active
To boost your immune system, you must engage yourself in physical activity. Doing so enables your body to fight inflammation and infections.
Know that your movement does not necessarily have to be strenuous. You can also opt for low-impact exercises, based on your bodily needs.
You can opt for walking, swimming, biking, and low-form aerobics. In order to reach a recommended total of 150 min per week, you can divide it into 20-30 min per day.
For your muscles to strengthen, you can choose weight lifting or yoga. It also helps with flexibility and coordination. In the initial days, you will have to continuously modify your exercise to see what fits best for your body.
2: Maintain a healthy diet
When you get old, your digestive system works slower than usual. Therefore, many older adults suffer from problems like hard stools, and constipation. In order to reduce the risk, you must try to take dinner at least 3 hours before you sleep.
You must take a diet that contains fruits, and vegetables to help your immune system. Fruits and vegetables not on help your body to fight against harmful viruses but also act as a good source of antioxidants.
You should also avoid taking foods that are high in sugar content. It can trigger inflammation in your immune system. Apart from sugary foods, limit your alcohol consumption and focus on drinking more and more water.
3: Take necessary supplementation
To promote a healthier immune system, you should take some supplements. However, before starting, you must consult your doctor to check if they are safe. Recommended supplements include calcium, Vitamin D, Vitamin B6, and B12.
4: Get adequate sleep
It is recommended for the elderlies to complete their 8 hours of sleep cycle. Poor sleep usually results in stress, high blood pressure and increased blood sugar levels.
In order to ensure a peaceful sleep, you must have your dinner 3 hours before your bedtime. Try to have a light dinner. You can also use warm milk, chamomile tea, or almonds to aid your sleep. It is one of the easiest ways to stay healthy at home.
5: Socialize
Socializing helps older people to kill loneliness. You can connect with the seniors living in your area. It will promote better mental, physical and emotional health. You can catch up with your old friends whenever you can. If you do not have friends, you can try making some new friends.
Other ways to socialize include going on a walk with your family, inviting them over to dinner and cooking delicious food for them, or spending some time with your grandchildren. You can also keep a pet, such as a dog to keep yourself engaged.
6: Schedule checkups
As you get old, you will have to get your teeth, blood pressure, sugar levels, and eyes checked on a regular basis. Even if you do not have a history of diseases, you must get active screening to help in detecting the diseases early.
It is better to get yourself tested by the same doctor who is an expert in old age health problems and solutions.
7: Keep health apps
To keep a check on your health, you can keep some applications. These applications will help you in tracking your medications and will also remind you to take your medicines at the proper time. You will also get a reminder of checking your blood pressure, exercise at home, and relax your body. In order to find the best-suited app for yourself, consult your doctor.
8: Find new hobbies
When you get old, you have plenty of time at hand. You can pick a new hobby for yourself and make friends with people who have the same interests as you. Here are some hobbies to pick from:
- Gardening
- Gaming
- Knitting
- Cooking
- Reading
- Learning a new language
- Solving a jigsaw puzzle
9: Learn stress management
Taking too much stress can increase the production of stress hormones in your body. This hormone can interrupt many functions going on in your body. Therefore, you much learn how to reduce stress. It can get managed if you are keeping your diet healthy, maintaining your physical activity, relaxing, and enjoying your life.
10: Work on your overall Mental Health
When you grow old, you are at a high risk of getting Alzheimer’s, dementia, or depression. It interferes with your brain memory and overall mental health. You can keep it on track by playing Sudoku and solving puzzles and riddles.
How does age affect your body?
As you age, your body gets less active. Your joints, muscles, and bones are affected the most. The bones shrink in density and size, making them weak as you age. The muscles lose their strength and flexibility. This can put an impact on your overall stability, coordination, and balance. It also puts you in a poor posture that is followed by joint problems.
If you are eating without maintaining a proper diet, you might also put on weight. It then results in obesity, leading to an increased risk of blood pressure, heart diseases, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and kidney diseases. Hence, in order to prevent all these, one must closely follow the above-mentioned natural health tips for senior citizens.
