Changes When We Age (Part 1)

Body changes, due to aging, is something we will have to encounter at some point in our lives - without fail. It is a natural process of the body, which causes stress and worry among the elderly even though it's not healthy nor productive to worry about it (as it’s unavoidable) - but stress is a significant factor results in many illnesses. Fortunately, there are ways to cut down on our stress levels, as we experience the aging process. 

Healthy aging is not too hard to achieve if we understand how the aging phenomenon impacts our body, and also if we know how to properly deal with bodily changes due to the gradually aging process.

YOUR SKIN WILL CHANGE 

What changes will take place?

Skin changes are the most visible signs of aging, on the human body. As we age, our skin health gradually deteriorates. Its youthfulness is decreased since the body can produce less collagen, a substance essential for healthy skin. Loss of elasticity in skin arises resulting in sag, wrinkles and fine lines. The decrease of skin oil production impacts on dry skin leading to itchy skin.

Skin health is gradually deteriorates when we age.
Image credited to www.agein.com
 

What to do:

Paying attention to taking care of our skin, can help to delay aging skin conditions.

• Eat more foods containing high antioxidants including olive oil, tomato, fish, dark chocolate and leafy vegetables.
• Doing more physical activities which is a good assistant to fight off aging appearances because physical activities can help to robust the overall body from the inside out.

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• Beware of sun exposure since it is a powerful enemy that can destroy our skin health. It breaks down skin's connective tissue called collagen together with elastin fiber that brings about loss of skin's strength and flexibility.

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• Don’t drink too much alcohol. As aging already causes the reduction of skin hydration, if we add more amount of alcohol, the level of hydration in the skin will be extremely reduced.
• Don’t smoke. Tobacco products have the unfortunate ability to damage our skin especially around the mouth. It causes more apparent and obvious wrinkles.

BONES, JOINTS and MUSCLES CHANGES 

What changes will take place?

The body’s natural aging process has great impacts on our bones, joints and also muscles. 

• The bones become more fragile due to loss of density and vigorousness. Therefore they actually shrink in size.
• The muscles will lose flexibility as well as strength leading to balancing problem.
• As we grow older, the joints that are continually used become weaker, consequently we get inflammation and pain in our joints.

What to do

• Take more calcium. Calcium is a mineral essential for healthy bones. The Institute of Medicine recommends that 1,000 milligrams of calcium a day is an adequate amount for adults ages 19 – 50 and men ages 51-70. For women over the age of 50 together with men over the age of 70 should take 1,200 mg of calcium a day.

Calcium is a mineral essential for healthy bones.
Image credited to www.istochphoto.com

• Take sufficient amounts of vitamin D. Try to eat more foods rich in vitamin D including egg yolk, fish oil, fortified milk and also take a vitamin D supplement. The Institute of Medicine recommends that adults ages 19 – 70 should take 600 international units (IU) of vitamin D per day.  The amount increase to 800 IU for people who are more than 70 years old.

Vitamin D
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• Take more vitamin K.  Vitamin K is responsible for helping the body in protein production for healthy bones.

Vitamin K
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• Doing daily exercises. Many physical activities can help to boost up our bones, joints and also muscles. Some useful exercises for strengthen the bones includes weight-bearing exercises such as running, walking, jumping robe. Resistant exercises such as stretch bands also increase vigorousness in the bones as well.
• Eat more protein to increase density of muscles. 

VISION CHANGES

What changes will take place?

The natural aging process has some influences on our vision as well surprisingly. We may be faced with a potential problem of focusing on close objects (called presbyopia) because the sharpness of vision decreases.  Insufficient tear production in our eyes can cause dry eyes, and that can be developed due to possible scarring of the cornea.  Moreover, senior citizens have a higher risk to develop eyes diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, and diabetic and hypertensive retinopathy. Being unable to tolerate light glares is another big problem for aging eyes. It means that our eyes cannot optimize between darkness and a bright light. Therefore aging can affect our eyes’ lens leading to clouded vision (cataracts). 

The aging process has some influences on vision.
Image credited to www.bestofhomecare.com

What to do

• Well protect the eyes by wearing sunglass together with hat to prevent the direct exposure to the sun.
• Eat good food useful for eyesight. Add foods comprised of omega-3 fatty acids, lutein, zinc, and vitamins C and E can help to protect our eyes from eye health conditions related to aging. Some good foods useful for our eyesight include leafy vegetables, fish, egg, bean and citrus fruits.
• Stop smoking because it is the factor increasing the risk of being cataract.