When should you start thinking about a healthy aging routine? The sooner the better. Taking care of your mind and body should be a top priority at all times. The sooner you adopt a healthy living regimen the better off you will be later on in life. Aging is often looked at in a negative light but if you take care of yourself now, you will find yourself feeling younger and healthier as you age. Start 2021 off strong with a few of these changes to your current lifestyle.

Take Care of Your Immune System

The COVID-19 pandemic is a greater threat to older adults and those with compromised immune systems. Some people qualify for both categories, doubling their risk if they were to become infected. Now more than ever older adults should be attempting to make changes to their self-care routine in order to make their immune systems stronger and healthier.

A healthy immune system works to protect you by creating a barrier that stops antigens from entering the body. Although, if one were to slip by the barrier, the immune system produces white blood cells, and other chemicals and proteins, which will attack and destroy harmful substances.

However, if you do not have a healthy immune system, it makes it easier for these harmful substances to pass through the protective barrier and make you ill. There is not one solution that will build a healthy immune system overnight, rather older adults should be adopting a healthier lifestyle to protect their immune systems now and in the future. Try including the following practices in your everyday routine:

  1. Exercising: Immobile lifestyles make you and your immune system sluggish.

  1. Sleeping: Adequate sleep keeps you from feeling fatigued and vulnerable to infection.

  1. Eating Healthily: A healthy diet filled with antioxidant vitamins can protect you from infection.

  1. Supplement: Taking daily organic supplements can help boost your immune defense to fight viruses.

An effective exercise routine will help your body boost immunity. Simple activities like taking a brisk walk 3 times a week will even increase your immunity because you are increasing your heart rate and those who exercise have been proven to have higher-functioning white blood cells. The body also uses sleep as a means of healing itself—the more restful sleep you get the healthier you will be. Lastly, eating a healthy diet and supplementing go hand-in-hand. If you supply your body with healthy immune boosting foods and support them with supplements, like Deca Aloe’s Supreme Immune Health Formula, you can enhance the production of chemicals that help your body respond to infection. Much like antioxidant rich foods, the Supreme Immune Health Formula is made up of rare Aloe arborescens, and raw honey, which when combined supply a great source of phyto-nutrients and antioxidants.

Adding these simple yet effective activities to your daily routine will help you protect your immune system and fight off viruses more easily if you’re infected.

Be Mindful of Your Mental Health

Another important aspect of healthy aging is taking care of your mental well-being. Poor mental health largely affects your ability to make healthy decisions and fight chronic disease. More importantly, if you neglect your mental health you are at a greater risk of developing other serious health conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and reduced cognitive function. Mental and physical health are strongly connected and one can easily determine the success of the other. For example, regular exercise increases your endorphin and serotonin levels, which can decrease anxiety, depression, and stress.

It’s common for people to develop anxiety or depression as they age for many common reasons, such as developing new or worsening health conditions, fear of aging, isolation from family members, or loss of family or friends. When older adults experience situational depression like this it can lead to lifestyle decline or poor self-care, which in-turn decreases the effectiveness of the immune system.

It can be difficult for older adults to take care of their mental health at the moment if they are limited in their abilities due to COVID-19. Requirements to stay home and socially distance from loved ones to avoid infection can cause depression and lead to a compromised immune system. If you are at a higher risk due to age or have underlying health issues consider speaking to an online therapist who can help guide you through these difficult times and set-up a better self-care routine in addition to practicing the activities listed above.

Be Mindful of Your Physical Health

As mentioned before, physical health can greatly affect mental health and the immune system. Therefore, it’s extremely important that you remain on top of it. Although this does mean exercising, eating healthily, and keeping up with personal hygiene, it’s equally, if not more important that you stay up-to-date with doctors appointments. As you age, the amount of doctors appointments you have and their frequency usually increases. For example, it’s suggested that older adults visit their eye doctor every 1-3 years if they are 55-64 and every 1-2 years after age 65. This is a precautionary measure used because eye diseases and vision decline are more commonly developed later in life and can also develop as a result of autoimmune diseases like diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and more. Older adults should also increase their primary care physician appointments based on their personal health care needs.

Much like maintaining mental health during this time, it can be difficult for older adults to see their doctors in person as frequently as they need because healthcare offices have limited schedules and a higher risk of spreading the virus. In order to stay on top of your health care needs during COVID-19 and after, consider using telehealth apps like the Warby Parker Prescription Check app, which allows you to speak with an eye doctor to assess how you’re seeing through your current prescription and renew it when it expires. This is a quick and easy way to determine if your eyesight has changed for any reason over the past few months, without having to go into the office. Also, consider using a telehealth service like Teladoc for more general or serious health care needs. An online service like this allows you to speak to a doctor safely and at your convenience, and you can even have a prescription sent to your local pharmacy if needed.

Healthy Aging: More Important Than Ever

Remaining healthy as you age takes time and commitment. Staying on top of immune, mental, and physical health may seem overwhelming, but they are all interrelated and once you find the right balance all aspects of your health will fall into place. The year 2020 was extremely hard on everyone’s overall health, so it’s time to regain control in 2021 by enhancing immune health, practicing positive mental health, and adjusting physical health care appointments based on your age and current needs.