Millennials are starting to feel old!
The leading edge of the Millennial generation – generally classified as those born between 1980 and 1996 – started turning 43 this year.
Forty-three is the average age when Americans stop feeling young, according to a recent study by Worldwide Independent Network of Market Research and published by the Wall Street Journal.
For many who hit their early 40s, it’s the point when they start experiencing the physical signs of aging. This includes graying hair, achy joints, more belly fat, and perhaps the repercussions of previous injuries.
For some, their early 40s confirms a sense of growing older that they’ve tried to ignore for a while. While for others it may hit them like a ton of bricks, especially if they experience serious health problems at this point in life.
Still others may stay in denial for years, until some jolt of reality hits.
Lingering Effects from the Pandemic
It’s no secret that the past three years have made people in all age groups feel older. It’s well-known that stress and loneliness can accelerate aging and trigger disease.
There was more than enough stress and loneliness to go around during the pandemic, and many experts say the effects are still lingering.
Who You Hang Out with May Matter, Depending…
Some people state that spending time with older people, such as your 60s- or 70s-something parents, make them feel younger… based on having more energy, strength, and stamina than their parents do.
By the same token, people in their 40s who work with or teach college students can feel old compared to 20-year-olds who dress differently and use unfamiliar slang.
But there are exceptions. Some older people cite that hanging out with young people makes them feel younger and more vibrant.
However, there’s more to aging than just “feeling” old! There are hard physical realities also.
Can You Walk Away from Father Time?
Some physical changes of aging start as early as the mid-twenties.
For example, Harvard Health reports that the average man’s maximum attainable heart rate declines by about one beat per minute, per year. And the heart’s peak capacity to pump blood falls by 5% to 10% per decade.
That’s why a healthy 25-year-old heart can pump 2.5 quarts of blood per minute, while a 65-year-old heart can’t get above 1.5 quarts. And a disease-free 80-year-old heart can only pump one quart, leading to fatigue and breathlessness with modest daily activities.
Not only that, but starting in middle age blood vessels start to stiffen and blood pressure often increases too. To make matters worse, the blood itself becomes more viscous (thicker and stickier), making it harder to pump.
And most people gain weight in midlife, averaging an extra three to four pounds per year. Simultaneously, people start losing muscle mass in their 40s, so all that extra weight is flab. This also contributes to weakness and disability as muscles and ligaments become stiff and tight.
Reduced muscle mass and increased fat stores also explain why blood sugar levels rise about 6 points per decade, making type 2 diabetes shockingly common during your senior years.
The nervous system and reflexes also slow over time.
No one can stop the clock, but you may be able to slow its ticks.
The Real Cause of Aging
Research shows that many changes normally attributed to aging are actually caused by inflammation… which is largely driven by lifestyle factors over which you have direct control.
This includes actionable items such as a healthy diet, managing stress, avoiding tobacco, and especially exercise. All these activities (and more) help reduce inflammation and extend your good years in life.
Dr. William Buchan, an 18th century Scottish physician wrote, “Of all the causes which conspire to render the life of a man short and miserable, none have greater influence than the want of proper exercise.”
The Dallas Bed Rest and Training Study
Fifty-seven years ago five healthy 20-year-old men volunteered for a research study at the University of Texas-Southwestern Medical School.
It was simple… all they had to do was spend three weeks of their summer vacation resting in bed.
Unfortunately for them, researchers found completely devastating changes in just three weeks – including faster resting heart rates, higher systolic blood pressures, lower maximum heart pumping capacity, more body fat, and less muscle strength.
In just three weeks these young men developed many physical characteristics of men twice their age.
Fortunately, the scientists put these men on a rigorous 8-week exercise program – which more than reversed the negatives of bed rest.
This lesson has been repeated in space travel, and changed medical practice with faster returns to early physical activity after illness or surgery.
30 Years Later They Found…
All five men agreed to be seen again at age 50. They all remained healthy and none were on long-term medication. Still, the years had not exactly been kind to them.
Over the years the men gained an average of 50 pounds and doubled their body fat from 14% to 28%. At age 50 they were far below their 20-year-old best – though not as frail as when they completed their three weeks of bed rest.
At 50, the researchers asked them to begin an exercise program, a gradual 6-month regimen.
After six months, though the men lost only 10 pounds of excess weight, they improved their resting heart rates, blood pressures, and their maximum heart pumping ability return to 20-year-old levels.
Their regimen reversed 100% of the 30-year decline in aerobic power, though it didn’t take them back to their peak performance after exercise at age 20.
The clock did tick, but exercise slowed the march of time.
Essentials for Slowed and Delayed Aging
One thing is for sure… if you abuse your body in ways that most people do in their 20s, you may find that aging comes faster and more furious than you want.
Such abuse can be cumulative. So the sooner you stop the abuse, the better off your cells and overall health will be.
If you prioritize key elements for health in your 20s and 30s, your 40s, each successive decade will have you feeling healthier and more energetic, instead of feeling like life has stripped all your energy from you.
Here are key factors that can make or break your aging speed.
1. Exercise.
The Dallas researchers prescribed walking, jobbing, and biking for endurance training. They could’ve also achieved results with swimming, racquet sport, aerobic dance, and more.
The key is regular activity, preferably 30 minutes per day.
Most of the metrics that worsen with age can be countered with exercise.
2. Prioritize Sleep.
Sleep impacts our overall health – including hormones and your immune system.
The processes that occur during sleep have a profound impact on brain health – and also influence mood, energy level, and cognition.
Numerous studies show that brain changes during sleep affect your ability to learn things, solve problems, and be creative.
Sleep insufficiencies can increase your risks of high blood pressure, obesity, heart disease, depression, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease. And can lead to negative emotions, stressful relationships, and increase falls or accidents.
Getting a good night’s sleep is key to your wellbeing. Having a great day starts with your sleep quality the night before.
Good sleep preserves your quality of life, safety, and energy.
3. Eating (and drinking) the right foods.
If you feed your body garbage and expect it to function well as you age, you’re living in a dream world.
Your body needs high-quality nutrients to function. If you feed it junk, you shouldn’t expect to receive energy and health.
While the definition of foods on a healthy diet varies by who’s advocating the diet, you’ll want to severely limit or avoid certain foods:
4. Keep your mind active and stimulated.
5. Build strong social networks, which is good medicine at any age.
6. Shun tobacco.
7. Take supplements that help make up for nutritional deficiencies, as well as those that help you optimally balance inflammation.
It’s Never Too Late
Aging is inevitable. No man can stop the clock, but most can slow its tick.
Jonathan Swift said, “Every man desires to live long, but no man would be old.” How true!
But regular exercise, a good diet, sleep, friends, and some supplements can help slow the clock of Father Time.
Unseen Microscopic Creatures that Can Destroy Your Health
It is true that what you can’t see CAN hurt you.
Listen to Doug Kaufman of KnowTheCause.com fame, and his story about how he was afflicted with a risky life-threatening infection when he came home from Vietnam. This set him on a life-long search for wellness that’s followed him all of his days… as he’s investigated the unseen enemy he’s written about for most of his life.
Parasites and fungus are a much more common problem than we’d like to believe, and he reveals some big clues about whether you might be affected personally. Including things you probably do and eat every day or every week.
Watch the video on YouTube now. Prefer audio only?
Listen on Spotify now.
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