If you follow these rules consistently, you will become and stay younger than you actually are
1. Alcohol overview
Alcohol consumption is one of the biggest factors contributing to rapid aging. The skin in particular is marked by years of regular alcohol consumption, but alcohol also accumulates fat more quickly. But the brain also ages faster when we drink: the brain of a 50-year-old who drinks two standard glasses of alcohol a day is on average two years older than the brain of a 50-year-old who only consumes one standard glass a day. The brain of a 50-year-old who consumes four standard glasses a day is even ten years older than a non-drinker. Scientists from the University of Pennsylvania found this out in a large-scale study. It is best to avoid alcohol altogether.
2. Stop smoking
The same goes for smoking. Research has shown that even one cigarette a day is too many. Smoking around 20 cigarettes a day ages the skin by an average of ten years. Because with every cigarette, the body and thus the skin is less supplied with oxygen and nutrients, but with a lot of toxins. The other countless risk factors that smoking favors are well known – including various cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
3. Have healthy relationships
People who live in a stable environment and have many friends and interests are usually happier and more balanced and therefore healthier. Healthy relationships are the best buffer against stress. Healthy relationships go hand in hand with feeling embedded, belonging, secure, and having support in difficult situations.
4. Get enough sleep
If you get enough and good sleep from a young age, you not only prevent cardiovascular diseases, but also dementia. In addition, the much-cited beauty sleep is the best fountain of youth for the skin too!
5. Serenity
Stress is a no-go for health and very often stress is self-made. For example, through many negative thoughts, pronounced self-criticism and the belief that you have to be perfect always and everywhere. Those who master the art of serenity stay young longer!
6. Sports and exercise
Above-average trained people are biologically “younger” than exercisers. This is the conclusion drawn by the physician Ulrik Wisløff from the University of NTNU in Trondheim, Norway: together with his team, he developed a simple questionnaire from complicated algorithms with which the researchers can record how healthy a person is and what “fitness age” they have . Doctors also usually determine a person’s physical capacity by measuring the maximum amount of oxygen they can use during exercise.
7. Eat little and eat healthily & stay slim
Those who eat less stay young longer. Researchers believe that reducing calories by about 15 percent per day will produce the desired results. Fasting and intermittent fasting has also been scientifically proven to be a fountain of youth strategy. The basic rule is to eat meat in moderation and, above all, to rely on whole grain products, fruit, vegetables, high-quality protein and healthy fats from vegetable oils or fatty fish (omega-3 fatty acids) and to largely avoid sugar.
With the strategies mentioned, it is also possible to avoid being overweight. Because if you put too much weight on the scales, you will generally grow old faster. Endurance sports such as cycling, running or swimming strengthen your condition and continuously help to avoid or lose excess weight!
8. Financial Health
Income, assets, debts, standard of living, etc.: A person’s “economic capital” influences their health over the course of their entire life, and this increases with age. Poverty and low income are associated with poorer health, as people are less able to take advantage of a wide variety of offers and are often affected by stress and existential anxiety over a long period of time. It is therefore worth making sure in good time that you are also financially secure and thus independent and free.