Steps to Enhance Your Life Span Increasing life expectancy is a complex puzzle with no guaranteed solutions, but extensive research has shed light on lifestyle choices that can enhance our chances of enjoying longer, healthier lives. These choices span various aspects of our daily existence, encompassing not only dietary adjustments but also social connections and intimate relationships.
Remarkably, even seemingly ordinary habits, such as the act of flossing your teeth, can play a role in extending your lifespan.
10 Steps to Enhance Your Life Span
These recommendations are grounded in current scientific research, offering a roadmap for those seeking to optimize their well-being and vitality as they navigate the journey of life.
By making informed choices and embracing these practical tips, you can empower yourself to live a longer, more fulfilling life, characterized by greater health and vitality. So, let’s embark on this journey to uncover the secrets to a longer, healthier, and more vibrant existence.
1. Go Outside and Soak Up the Sun
One of the simplest ways to increase life expectancy is by stepping outside and basking in the sunlight. Sun exposure triggers your skin cells to produce vitamin D, a crucial nutrient that plays roles in bone growth, remodeling, muscle contractions, and glucose conversion into energy. Vitamin D deficiency can lead to a higher risk of fractures, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and osteoporosis.
Surprisingly, 50% of adults with low vitamin D levels don’t get enough sun exposure. Just 15 minutes of sun exposure per day is sufficient for maintaining healthy vitamin D levels. If sunlight is scarce, vitamin D supplements and vitamin D-rich foods like dairy products, fish, and egg yolks can help increase your vitamin D intake.
Vitamin D Deficiency and Life Expectancy: A 2019 review of studies concluded that vitamin D deficiency is associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality, including a two-fold increased risk of cancer-related mortality.
2. Foster Meaningful Relationships
Your life expectancy can significantly benefit from spending time with friends and family. Research has consistently shown that individuals with strong social connections tend to enjoy better overall health. The reasons behind this connection are multifaceted and not entirely understood.
It could be that people in positive relationships are less likely to engage in risky behaviors and are more inclined to take care of their health. Alternatively, having a support system may reduce stress levels. Furthermore, engaging in meaningful relationships, characterized by open conversations, shared interests, and enjoyable activities, can contribute to longevity.
Relationships and Longevity: A study published in PLoS Medicine found that individuals with strong social relationships had a 50% lower risk of premature death compared to those without such connections.
3. Prioritize Daily Exercise
Regular exercise is a potent tool for increasing life expectancy. Numerous studies have demonstrated that individuals who engage in routine physical activity, even as little as three hours per week, can live up to 6.9 years longer than their sedentary counterparts.
Consistency is key when it comes to exercise; establishing a daily exercise routine, even if it’s just for 20 minutes, is more effective in the long run than sporadic intense workouts followed by extended periods of inactivity.
Keep in mind that daily exercise doesn’t require a gym membership; activities like yoga, stretching, swimming, brisk walking, and free weights can be highly beneficial, especially for older adults.
4. Floss Daily for Oral and Heart Health
Surprisingly, maintaining good oral hygiene by flossing daily can have a positive impact on life expectancy. Flossing helps prevent gum disease, which can otherwise allow bacteria in your mouth to enter the bloodstream and potentially infect and damage the heart muscle and valves. Gum disease affects a significant portion of the global population and is linked not only to an increased risk of heart disease but also to a higher risk of death from heart attacks.
5. Embrace Your Sexuality
Embracing your sexuality and engaging in sexual activity may contribute to an extended life expectancy. Sex has been shown to improve overall well-being, motivating individuals to take better care of their health. Some studies even suggest that high orgasm frequency is associated with a reduced risk of all-cause mortality.
Moreover, beliefs about the importance of sex in health play a significant role in longevity. People with sex-positive beliefs were found to be 78% more likely to reach their expected life expectancy.
6. Explore Vegetarianism
While it’s not necessary to abandon meat entirely, adopting principles of vegetarianism can potentially increase life expectancy. Vegetarian diets help overcome barriers to good health, such as obesity, excessive sugar consumption, and the intake of saturated fats from animal-based foods.
By doing so, individuals can reduce their risk of aging-related conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and even colon cancer. Multiple studies have linked vegetarianism to a longer life, with one study indicating that females and males who practiced vegetarianism lived 6 and 10 years longer, respectively, than their meat-eating counterparts.
7. Manage Stress Effectively
Chronic stress can have detrimental effects on life expectancy in two ways. Firstly, prolonged stress can directly harm the body, leading to conditions like anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, and heart disease.
Secondly, stress can accelerate cellular aging at a molecular level, promoting cell breakdown and the production of free radicals that damage DNA and increase the risk of cancer. To manage stress effectively, consider mind-body therapies like mindfulness meditation, yoga, deep breathing exercises, and progressive muscle relaxation.
8. Reduce TV Time
Excessive television watching can adversely affect your health and life expectancy. It often leads to a sedentary lifestyle, weight gain, chronic back and neck pain, stress (especially if you’re a news enthusiast), and reduced opportunities for quality social interaction.
Research from the Australian Diabetes, Obesity, and Lifestyle Study suggests that every hour of TV viewed after age 25 reduces life expectancy by approximately 21.8 minutes. Cutting back on TV time can be a simple yet effective way to improve your health and extend your life.
9. Avoid Unnecessary Risks
Taking unnecessary risks can compromise your life expectancy. While young people often face risks related to accidents and violence, there are risk behaviours that become increasingly significant as you age.
These include prolonged sitting, high blood pressure, chronic underweight, smoking, alcohol abuse, physical inactivity, and type 2 diabetes. Combining several of these risk factors can compound the risk and significantly reduce life expectancy.
10. Prioritize Health Screenings and Tests
Regular health check-ups are vital for maintaining your life expectancy. Schedule annual comprehensive physical exams with your healthcare provider, and consider more frequent visits if you have chronic medical conditions.
Don’t overlook vaccinations, including annual shots like the flu and COVID vaccines, as well as scheduled vaccines like shingles and meningococcal vaccines. Routine screenings based on your age and gender, such as mammograms, colonoscopies, Pap smears, and STI screenings, are essential for early disease detection and treatment.
By following these 10 simple steps and making them a part of your daily life, you can potentially increase your life expectancy and enjoy a longer, healthier, and more fulfilling life.
Disclaimer: All the information provided in this article for only for informative purpose, Please consult your physician if any of the causes arises.
Also Read: Types of Abortion
