Health Tips for the Senior Man.
With average life expectancies for the senior man extending to the late 70s, and looking set to rise further as the decades progress, it’s important to know how to age healthily. Current research suggests that the route to a healthier old age is paved with the beneficial effects of a well-maintained diet and plenty of gentle exercise. So here are a few top tips on what to eat and how to keep moving as your metabolism changes.
1: It’s Never Too Early to Start
The more healthy your diet and lifestyle through your formative years, the better equipped your body is to resist the degenerative effects of the ageing process. If you have always eaten healthily, plenty of fruit and vegetables and not too much heavy fat, then you’ll have given yourself a firm platform to build on as you age. So whatever your current age, start changing your lifestyle to one that keeps you full of vitamins and active: every day you follow good advice is a day in the bank for later!
2: Keep on Moving
Exercise doesn’t have to be intense. In fact, heavy exercise carries more pitfalls than benefits for most of us. Unless you’re an athlete following a properly constructed training programme, hours of unfocused sweating and straining in the gym can simply lead to stiff muscles, pulled joints and an overworked heart.
No, the best kind of exercise for the older man is gentle aerobic and non-load bearing anaerobic. In other words: walking and swimming. Walking is by far and away the best exercise for all of us – it’s what our bodies were built to do, it doesn’t take a great deal of effort and it gets you out in the fresh air too. Gentle swimming will keep you supple and strong thanks to its mild anaerobic effects – the water offers resistance to your major muscle groups without placing undue strain on your heart or your lungs.
3: You Are What You Eat
As we age our metabolic rate changes – meaning that certain foods are harder for us to properly dispose of. Certain foods can help.
Extra virgin olive oil is capable of increasing the good cholesterol in the male body, and also has anti-inflammatory properties similar to those found in ibuprofen. Nuts deliver protein without cholesterol, and white fish is an excellent choice for lean protein too.
Perhaps the most important foods of all are the ones that the younger generation tends to overlook: fruit and vegetables. Fruit, pulses and green vegetables all raise the levels of free radical-suppressing antioxidants in the blood, promote healthier digestive transit and stronger bones.
4: Sex and Lowered Testosterone
As the male body ages, its testosterone levels decrease. The traditional view of the senior man as less interested in sex, though, is one that is given the lie by anecdotal evidence. Many men (and women too of course) enjoy a fulfilling sex life well into their 80s.
The better your overall health, the more likely it is that you will continue to experience a rewarding sex life for as long as you want. Look after your body and it will look after you!
