Six Secrets to Longevity

We have been searching for the secret to living longer and looking younger for centuries.

Unfortunately there is no “Fountain of Youth” or a pill that we can take to make us live forever but there is a way to live a fuller and healthier life.

We need to take care of our health in the best way possible.

Each cigarette shortens a smoker’s life by around eleven minutes. Nicotine is addictive and increases cholesterol levels in your body. Smoking causes blood clots, lung cancer and heart disease. Stop and your body will start repairing itself only twenty minutes after you quit. Not to mention your skin will become healthy again and you will look ten years younger. Smoking ages you by inducing free radicals, which makes you age faster. It breaks down the collagen in your skin, making it less supple and smooth. Nicotine limits the supply of oxygen to your skin, leaving it dehydrated and puckering the face each time you smoke causes expression wrinkles. Give it up!

Drinking plenty of water keeps your skin moisturized and reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Water helps with weight loss and prevents puffiness and bloating. It increases your life span by preventing daytime fatigue, lubricating joints and helping your kidneys and liver detox. Each cell in your body depends on water to function normally. Water makes up more than half of your body weight and a person cannot survive for more than a few days without it. Our blood contains water which carries oxygen to all the cells in the body and without oxygen the cells would die. Try and drink eight glasses per day, even if you don’t like it, water is the only “Fountain of Youth”.

Eat sweet potatoes, they have beta –carotene in them which balances the ph in your skin and promotes cell turnover, resulting in smoother skin. Beta-carotene is an antioxidant and prevents cell damage. It can also be found in apricots, carrots and broccoli.

Salmon is amazing and you should eat it at least once a week. The pink pigment called astaxanthin fights rogue molecules that damage cell membranes and cause the skin to age.

Tomatoes have lycopene which is an antioxidant that shields the skin from sun damage.

Vitamin C builds collagen and can be found in many citrus fruits.

Spinach prevents wrinkles and inflammation

Cherries, cranberries and a glass of wine have antioxidants in them and are super for keeping you young.

Antioxidants are dietary substances that can prevent damage to your body cells or repair damage that has been done.

Stay away from pasta, rice and bread as they destroy the collagen and elastin. Carbohydrates lead to increased sugar levels in the body which causes wrinkles.

All it takes is two hours a week. Dance to your favourite music; swim in the ocean or just simply take a walk. It is good for your heart and it makes you feel happy. Exercise stimulates the release of endorphins which are the body’s natural pain and fever relievers.

This influences your memory, productivity and your reflexes. Losing sleep over a period of time can reduce your functioning capacity. Cellular regeneration occurs while we sleep. People who get a maximum of four hours increase the risk of diabetes as it changes the glucose tolerance and endocrine function, also representing the effects of advanced age. Getting less than seven hours sleep per night disrupts hunger - regulating hormones that could cause you to gain weight and cause other problems. Kidneys repair themselves from eleven to two in the morning. So get to bed!

Get yourself a good comedy once a week or find a joke everyday to keep you living longer. It eases pain and even helps fight disease. There is nothing better than having a good side splitting laugh.

Laughter allows us to exercise the muscles of the lungs, diaphragm, abdomen, chest and shoulders, stimulating the respiratory system and exercising the breathing muscles. The pulse rate, heartbeat and blood pressure drop below normal and the skeletal muscles become deeply relaxed, reducing stress. It also controls pain by increasing the production of endorphins which is the body’s natural pain killer.

There is unfortunately no way to make you live for all eternity but scientists are working on it and some say that they will find a way to stop the ageing process or ensure that when your heart is done for they will be able to make you a new one. The thought of that just makes me cringe and “who wants to live forever?” I would like to make the most of my life, look as good as I possibly can and be as healthy as my body will allow.

These six tips will help you look and feel younger in no time at all and remember to have fun, love, and laugh and live your life in balance and moderation. Take time off to de-stress and do as the Italians do; eat, sleep and be merry!