How to Stay Younger for Longer

What is the secret of youth?  As in my job I come in contact with a lot of older people many of them still going strong in their 70's and 80's!  This week the subject of keeping one self as young as possible for as long as possible came up a far bit.

A couple who are in their late 70's recently came back from a cruise and told me that they were dancing all night and other people were saying to them "I wish I could do that, but I'm too old!"  The irony was that they were much younger in age but both physically and mentally they were much older. 

This couple jokingly say that they were going on holiday with the 'oldies'.  Despite their age they didn't consider themselves as 'old'.  That is the key I think to staying as 'young' as you can be.

I see a lot of people who just because they've turned 50 or 60 have decided in their own minds that they are 'old' and should start acting and being like that.

If you start thinking you're getting old than you will become just that- a self-fulfilling prophecy.

My Mum is now 76 and she is still doing loads of running, entering a 10K or half marathon nearly every week, wearing trainers and jump suits, there seems no stopping her despite a lot of her so called elderly 'friends' telling her that she 'shouldn't be doing all this at her age'.  These are the same people who are 10 years or so younger than her but look older and act older than her, all over weight with health problems because they've just been sitting on their arses since retiring, drinking and eating far too much.

Scientists in search of the Fountain of Youth have found in their research the 'superaged'.
These are people who despite their true age act and look a lot younger.

"With aging, we've always studied things that decline," says Changiz Geula, PhD, research professor of neurology at the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine. But now she and other experts are looking instead to unlock the secrets of the "superaged," those lucky individuals who seem to stay vital well into their 80s and beyond.

 Here's some of their latest research, with advice on how you can add years to your life.

Stop Eating So Much

In Okinawa, Japan—home to some of the world's oldest people—centenarians stop eating when they're 80 percent full, says The Blue Zones author Dan Buettner, who studies longevity all over the planet.

 Scientists at St. Louis University found that, while both exercising and eating less led to weight loss in the study's volunteers, cutting calories also lowered production of T3, a thyroid hormone that slows metabolism. The researchers believe that lower T3 levels may also slow down the aging process.

Use your brain

Dr. Geula, who has studied 80-year-olds who perform at the same level as people in their 50s on neuro­psychological tests, has found that the superaged have fewer brain tangles—deposits of protein linked to Alzheimer's—suggesting that their brains have some sort of protection that normal brains don't. While scientists puzzle this out, there's a lot you can do to keep your own synapses firing. Learn Italian, take up the cello—even driving a new route to work can wake up sleepy brain cells.

Eat more Plants

In a study of centenarians, researchers found the longest-living people tend to eat less meat and more plant based foods, such as beans, soy and nuts.

Lose the Belly

In one large study published in 2009, researchers who tracked 6,583 people for more than 30 years found that having significant belly fat in midlife can nearly triple your risk of dementia.

Now you know in order to stay 'youthful' it's best to don't act and think 'old',  eat less calories, lose the belly, eat more plant based foods and use your brain more.