How to Identify Lifestyle Characteristics Associated With a Healthy, Long-Lived Adult

At some point in your life, you've probably seen someone who looks "great for their age." Although the person is older, they have a youthful, energetic radiance about them they could probably make millions from if they bottled it.



Contrary to popular fantasy, these folks have not stumbled upon some type of modern-day fountain of youth but rather have simply adopted a long-time healthy lifestyle that has aided them in their appearance.

Instructions

Lifestyle Characteristics Associated With a Healthy Long-Lived Adult

• 1

  Look at a 65-year-old. If they barely have a wrinkle on their body, chances are they've never smoked a day in their life. Cigarette smoke releases a chemical called acetaldehyde, which bonds skin tissues together and causes it to look weathered. Smoking also restricts the blood vessels robs your skin of oxygen and essential nutrients.

• 2

  Observe the physical activity of older individuals. That gray-haired man who just whizzed by on his bike is warding off adverse health conditions, and ensuring that he will still be able to be on that bike years later. According Dr. Miriam Nelson, researcher at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston, "Much of what we associate with aging is actually the culmination of a lifetime of inactivity and poor nutrition." In other words, use it or lose it.

• 3

  Learn the eating habits of healthy older people. What you eat plays a major role in how you look on the outside and how well you maintain your inside. Antioxidants, found in foods such as blueberries, plums, apples and kidney beans, work to help thwart and restore oxidative stress, a process that damages your body's cells and has been linked to the development of cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's disease.

• 4

  Pay attention to your mental health, which is just as important as physical health when it comes to a truly, overall healthy lifestyle. A study from Psychiatric Center GGZ Delfland in the Netherlands found people who described themselves as very optimistic had lower death rates ten years later from cardiovascular disease, compared with those who had more cynical, negative attitudes.

• 5

  Laugh more. A sense of humor could improve or even save your life. A study led by Dr. Michael Miller of the University of Maryland School of Medicine found laughter is linked to healthy function of blood vessels and may even help lower blood sugar levels. It was also found to even help prevent heart disease. Study participants who were diagnosed with heart disease often responded with less humor to everyday situations and had an overall hostile attitude.