Could our ability to control, maintain, and alleviate chronic illness be as simple as a lifestyle choice? What exactly is a lifestyle? Which lifestyle is best for optimum health and wellness in aging? Silver Chats will address these questions and explore the answers.
What is a lifestyle? Is it where you reside? Is it the size of your residence? It is defined as the way of life a person or group lives. Moreover, the way you live reflects who you are. It can include income and residential location, but it also contains habits, attitudes, moral standards, and behaviors. A lifetime of habits, behaviors, and attitudes is hard to change, but can what carries over into aging affect chronic illness? Because regardless of economic status, chronic illness affects everyone.
What are chronic illnesses? “They are non-communicable diseases emerging later in life and result from long-term exposure to unhealthy lifestyle choices.” The most common ones are cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, stroke, osteoporosis, obesity, and depression. These conditions are directly linked to years of smoking and eating diets high in saturated fats (like fast food), sugars, and salt. Other bad habits we carry over and are direct causes of chronic disease are lack of physical activity, inadequate sleep, and high alcohol consumption. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4789030/
There is another term for this, and it’s called lifestyle diseases. These are non-communicable diseases that are linked to a person’s lifestyle. The 10 most common lifestyle diseases are heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), Alzheimer’s disease, asthma, and chronic liver disease. The primary causes of lifestyle diseases are poor diet, lack of physical exercise, alcohol consumption, drugs, and smoking.
We are seeing a theme here. Unhealthy lifestyle habits raise the risk and are the cause of chronic illness as we age. The main lifestyle factors that contribute to chronic aging are:
- Poor nutrition: eating a diet high in saturated fats, sugar, salt, and fast and processed foods.
- Lack of physical exercise: not getting enough exercise, sitting or lying to much, a sedentary lifestyle
- Tobacco smoking: this includes cigars, cigarettes, vaping, and chewing.
- Excessive alcohol use: drinking too often and even overindulging on a single occasion can be harmful to aging health.
- Poor sleep: not getting enough sleep or having poor quality sleep.
- Social isolation: not having strong social connections or limited social interaction.
- Overmedicating: polypharmacy, taking multiple medications, and self-medicating.
- Stress: accelerates biological aging
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There are aging lifestyle behaviors that can improve and mitigate chronic illnesses. They are a healthy diet, sufficient exercise, high-quality sleep, stopping smoking, and stress reduction. Let’s take a closer look:
- Diet: A diet rich in whole foods, like fresh fruits and vegetables, is the best. Choose lean meats like grass-fed beef and chicken. Avoid fatty meats like pork, lunch meat, and filler meats like hotdogs and sausages. Avoid highly processed and high-calorie foods containing trans fats, sugar, and salt. These include chips, candy, baked goods, soda, and prepackaged foods. Drink 6–8 cups of water daily, avoiding fruit juices and drinks with added sodium content. Look for foods high in nutritional value containing calcium, vitamin D, potassium, fiber, and B vitamins. Consider adopting a Mediterranean diet or a more plant-based diet. Both are proven to reduce inflammation and contribute to healthy weight management. https://silverchats.com/the-reason-food-is-the-key-to-healthy-aging/
- Exercise: The CDC recommends adults over 65 get at least 150 minutes of moderate to intense aerobic exercise per week. That translates to 2 ½ hours per week, breaking it down to 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. They also recommend muscle training twice a week and exercises to improve balance. Examples of aerobic exercise are brisk walking, bicycling, treadmills, stairs, rowing, and dancing. Muscle training can include weights, resistance bands, yoga, and pilates. Balance exercises can be stretching, walking, climbing stairs, single-leg balancing, toe taps, and lower body exercises. https://www.cdc.gov/physical-activity-basics/guidelines/older-adults.html
- Sleep: There are several ways to improve the quality of sleep. A consistent pattern of bedtime, reading, listening to music, or taking a warm bath can help relax the mind and body. Avoid screens in the bedroom, like televisions, laptops, computers, and cell phones. Don’t drink caffeinated drinks late in the day and avoid alcohol consumption. Make sure your bedroom is comfortable, quiet, and at a low temperature. Consider any medications you are taking because some can affect your sleep, like pain, arthritis, asthma, and diabetes medications. Try sleeping on your back to relieve pressure stress on joints and internal organs. Avoid eating close to bedtime and keep your bedroom dark. https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/sleep/good-nights-sleep#:~:text=Keep%20your%20bedroom%20at%20a,they%20can%20keep%20you%20awake.
- Stop smoking: Stopping smoking is one of the biggest choices we can make in aging. It lowers the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease, improves overall health, and extends life expectancy. Here are some ways to quit smoking: Talk to your healthcare provider, combine counseling with medication, break routines that trigger cravings to smoke, and get rid of obstacles like ashtrays and lighters in the house. Replace behaviors with exercise, like taking a walk, instead of a smoke break, and plan for temptations by having nicotine gum or another substitute on hand to help with triggers and cravings. Practice relaxation techniques like deep breathing or meditation to rewire smoking thoughts. Ask family and friends for help. https://www.lung.org/quit-smoking/i-want-to-quit/top-tips-for-quitting-smoking
- Stress: Stress and inflammation are directly linked. There are many ways to reduce stress and lower the risk of related chronic illnesses. Daily exercise, even as little as 10 minutes a day, can help. Try walking, dancing, or just moving around the house. Practice mindfulness, deep breathing, or making a daily gratitude list of 5 things. Stay social, connecting with friends, family, and social groups. Avoid alcohol or other substances as a way of coping with stress. Get enough sleep, eat a healthy diet, and avoid smoking. Learn to recognize the triggers of stress and choose healthier ways of coping. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7400286/#:~:text=People%20exposed%20to%20chronic%20stress,deleterious%20effects%20of%20oxidative%20stress.
Silver Chats believes that by using holistic aging practices, we can all experience the endless possibilities of aging. Part of that is choosing a lifestyle that improves or alleviates chronic illnesses. There are genetic and environmental factors that contribute to chronic diseases, but the most important factors are within our control. We can make choices that affect our mind, body, and mental health in positive and healthy ways. Silver Chats encourages through information and examples on how to make those changes and choices and experience ultimate health and wellness in aging. https://silverchats.com/how-to-live-a-holistic-aging-lifestyle/
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