Waking up often in the middle of the night means your body is getting old! Protect the "five powers" to stay young

Editor's note: With the improvement of living standards, health has become the topic we are most concerned about. What is healthy food? How to prevent physical diseases in life? These have become the focus of everyone's attention. People's Health Network has launched the "Jintai Health Garden" column to take stock of the most healthy lifestyle for you and take you into the health garden.

Waking up in the middle of the night and being unable to open a bottle cap are signs that your body is getting older.

Aging is an inevitable physiological phenomenon, but some people age faster than others. If your body shows the following signs, you need to pay attention to adjusting your physical condition.

1. Hair loss all over the body. If the hair on your arms, legs or other parts of your body gradually becomes sparse, it means you are aging quickly.

2. Frequent bruises on the skin. An often overlooked sign of aging is that the skin bruises more and heals more slowly than before. This is caused by chronic damage to the support structures around small blood vessels, which can cause them to rupture even with minor trauma.

3. The face looks sunken or gaunt. Loss of facial bone creates a typical "senior" look, with sunken cheeks, thin lips, and prominent temples. This can be caused by smoking, poor nutrition, poor cardiovascular health, or excessive weight loss.

4. More wrinkles than people of the same age. Although genes have a certain influence, the number of wrinkles is largely determined by lifestyle. Compared with eating saturated fat, processed and sugary foods, people who often eat fresh fruits and vegetables have healthier skin and fewer wrinkles. Smoking, drinking and sun exposure can also accelerate skin aging.

5. Use a lot of moisturizer. Aging reduces the skin's ability to retain moisture. Even if you just applied moisturizer, your skin will become dry again after a while.

6. Not willing to go out with friends. People with declining physical health are more likely to feel bad or even suffer from depression, and are not as active in participating in social activities as before.

7. Unable to unscrew the bottle cap. Decreased grip strength is associated with loss of self-care ability and increased risk of premature death. A study by McMaster University in Canada showed that people with decreased grip strength had a 16% higher risk of all-cause mortality than their peers with strong and stable grip strength.

8. The pants you wore before are tight around the waist and loose around the legs. The accumulation of abdominal fat is a common sign of aging; aging also causes muscle and bone loss, which leads to less thigh muscle and height loss, and the pants that used to fit you become smaller around the waist and looser around the legs.

9. Frequently waking up in the second half of the night. Insomnia or poor sleep quality are signs of rapid aging of the body, which is usually caused by high cortisol levels. As we age, the level of cortisol rises inevitably, but people who age quickly have a high rate of cortisol rises too fast, which is usually caused by stress. This hormone can also cause weight gain, weaken the immune system, and induce many chronic diseases.

10. Walking slowly. Do you often get left behind when walking with your peers? A person's normal walking speed is an accurate factor in indicating biological age. Walking speed is an indicator of leg muscle strength. In addition, the increasing effort of climbing stairs also indicates muscle and bone loss.

11. Extremely irregular menstruation. Irregular menstrual cycles in women are an early sign of aging. Estrogen imbalance can increase body weight, reduce muscle mass, cause sleep disorders, and make the body age faster.

Protect the "Five Powers" to Stay Young

Good brain power is a reflection of good physical condition

Good brain power is a comprehensive reflection of healthy thinking, cognition, psychology, nervous system, and endocrine function. Gao Fangkun, former director of the Institute of Geriatrics at Beijing Hospital, said that the evaluation criteria for the brain power level of the elderly in different age groups are slightly different. For example, as long as people who are just over 60 years old do not have serious cerebrovascular, neurological or other related diseases, most of their brain functions are similar to those in middle age; when they reach 80 years old, the elderly's reaction ability, memory ability, mental agility, attention, learning ability, etc. will show a more obvious decline, which is a normal manifestation caused by physical aging.

For the elderly, especially the very old, as long as they have good social participation ability and good communication skills, they can basically be regarded as "good brain power". On the contrary, when the problem of memory loss affects daily life, it must be paid attention to. The main signals include: starting to ask the same question repeatedly; getting lost in familiar places; not being able to understand simple instructions; having confusion about key information such as time, place, and people, etc. If you lose things frequently, always forget important things, or even have expression disorders, it may mean that you have suffered from mild cognitive impairment, and you should seek medical attention as soon as possible.

People cannot stop the decline of brain function, but they can slow down the aging process. Because brain function is related to various vascular diseases, the elderly should first control blood sugar, blood lipids, and blood pressure, quit smoking and limit alcohol, eat a healthy diet, exercise moderately, and get enough sleep. In addition, the elderly need to maintain reasonable stimulation of the brain. A study published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry believes that learning a new skill is an important way to maintain brain power; Scientific American suggests that repeating new information, trying to link new information with past memories, or making up a story for information that needs to be remembered can help stimulate the brain and improve memory; research from the University of California, Los Angeles reminds that multitasking is only suitable for young people, and the elderly should not try to do multiple things at the same time, otherwise it will have a negative impact on brain function. More importantly, it is necessary to participate in more social interactions, which is considered one of the main ways to prevent Alzheimer's disease.

Good physical strength, the backbone of daily activities

As we age, our body's muscle mass decreases by 0.5% to 1% per year, and muscle strength declines as a result. These changes can directly lead to obstacles in the elderly's daily lives, such as an increased risk of falling, a shorter walking distance, and even an inability to stand up from a chair.

Grip strength is one of the simple ways to judge muscle strength. In the national physical fitness test standards, the State Sports General Administration has a clear classification of the grip strength of the elderly, with each 5-year-old being an age group and scored in 5 grades. The higher the score, the better, and the difference in grip strength of both hands should not exceed 1 kg. Taking men aged 65 to 69 as an example, if the grip strength reaches 32.1 to 38.1 kg, 3 points can be obtained. Scholars at the Baptist Medical Center of Wake Forest University in North Carolina, USA, also found that elderly people with less thigh muscle and more fat walk 0.05 meters/second slower than other elderly people, and are at greater risk of decreased mobility. Therefore, increased thigh fat is also considered a sign of decreased mobility in the elderly.

The main ways to combat the above negative effects are a balanced diet and proper exercise, especially the latter. To this end, the World Health Organization has issued special guidelines to guide people over 65 years old to exercise scientifically, mainly involving aerobic, strength, balance, and flexibility training. The guidelines recommend 5 moderate-intensity aerobic exercises per week, 30 minutes each time; or 3 high-intensity exercises per week, 20 minutes each time; strength training is best done every two weeks. There is no fixed frequency requirement for balance and flexibility training. It should be emphasized that it is never too late to start exercising, and it is never too little. Studies have shown that even 10 minutes of exercise a day can provide 30% to 50% health benefits.

Absorption capacity, guarantee of nutrient intake

Due to organ aging, the digestion and absorption functions of the elderly will decline to varying degrees. Tooth loss and swallowing difficulties will further affect the nutritional intake of the elderly.

Fang Zhifeng, chief technician of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Center for Disease Control and Prevention, believes that in addition to losing weight and losing muscle mass in the limbs, another simple way to judge changes in digestive function is hunger. If you eat three meals a day normally, without eating too much meat or fish, and without overeating, you should feel hungry at the next meal. Otherwise, it means that your digestive and absorption capacity may be weakened.

Measures to delay the decline of digestion and absorption involve diet, exercise, oral hygiene and other aspects. For example, in terms of diet, we should pay attention to nourishing the stomach and liver, and eat light food, not too salty, too hard, too spicy, too oily, too sour, too cold, and it is best to quit drinking; eat three meals a day on time, and increase the intake of fruits and vegetables between meals as a supplement, and try to eat small meals more often; make sure to drink enough warm boiled water to moisturize the intestines and promote intestinal absorption, and do not drink strong tea. The role of exercise is to increase the basal metabolic rate as much as possible, thereby improving digestion and absorption. Oral diseases can affect food intake. It is recommended to brush your teeth at least twice a day; insist on drinking milk to supplement calcium, which helps to strengthen teeth; wash your teeth every year, see a doctor as soon as possible if you have a dental disease, and don't delay filling or inlaying.

If the digestion and absorption capacity has declined, the diet must be adjusted to ensure adequate nutrient intake. The dietary principles for the elderly are high protein, high calories, low fat, and easy to digest. High-quality high-protein foods are mainly eggs, milk, fish, and appropriate amounts of pork, beef, and mutton; high calories emphasize eating enough staple food, but not too much, and can be replaced with an appropriate amount of potatoes to ensure the intake of whole grains; low fat requires eating less animal oil and replacing it with olive oil and other vegetable oils; easy digestion means more cooking and stewing, less frying, and porridge, soup, and mud foods can be given priority. Elderly people with more serious chewing problems can add some protein powder to milk or porridge. Protein is very important for maintaining muscle strength.

Immunity, a barrier to the outside world

Immunity also declines with age, but the good news is that it declines less rapidly than other functions. In most cases, our immune system can maintain its basic functions at any age to prevent foreign invasions.

Kira Ruposova, an immunology researcher from Denver, USA, believes that the reason why immunity weakens with age is still unclear, but the manifestations of decreased immunity in the elderly can be roughly identified. For example, the effect of certain vaccines is not as good as before; it is easier to get sick due to external changes than when you were young; recovery after injury, infection or illness is slower, etc.

Gao Fangkun explained that immunity is mainly maintained by the nervous and endocrine systems, so maintaining the health of the nervous and endocrine systems is conducive to maintaining immunity. Specifically, the first thing is good sleep. Whether it is too little sleep or poor sleep quality, it will weaken the immune system. If you have problems such as difficulty falling asleep and snoring, it is best to see a doctor.

Eat a good diet. Although there is no super food that can improve immunity, foods rich in vitamins and minerals, such as fruits and vegetables, can generally improve the body's overall function and are also beneficial for protecting immunity.

Doing more exercise and sticking to moderate-intensity exercise can improve your immunity to a certain extent. You should also find ways to relieve stress, because stress slows down the immune system's response. In addition, don't forget to get your flu shot every year.

Action, a reflection of a positive attitude

Motivation is an important manifestation of a person's positive and enterprising attitude. It is part of mental health and promotes physical health. For the elderly, good motivation means taking the initiative to achieve goals without hesitation due to old age. Goals can be learning new skills or fulfilling a dream that you didn't have time to realize in the past.

Too much stress is not good for mental health, but appropriate stress is an effective way to improve motivation. Ursula Staudinger, a German researcher on elderly behavior, believes that no stress will make the elderly more unhappy; on the contrary, those who still have pursuits after retirement, especially those who are engaged in mental work, have less friction at home and are in a better mental state. To some extent, good motivation means a good mental state. If you think of it, try to do it, this is a positive life.

Eat these foods to fight aging

Peas. Research published in the British Medical Journal has shown that peas can help slow down the aging process of cells. The fiber and antioxidants rich in beans are the key to their anti-aging and longevity effects.

Walnuts. Participants who ate nuts (especially walnuts) at least three times a week had a significantly reduced risk of cancer and heart disease, and their life expectancy was extended by 2 to 3 years.

Plant protein. Foods such as rice, tofu, and buckwheat contain almost as much protein as the same amount of meat, and they also provide fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

Carrots. Carrots are rich in carotenoids, which can slow down aging, protect your skin and make you full of vitality.

Sardines. Sardines are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin B12, which help reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Snails. One serving of snails contains about 4 mg of iron, which is higher than red meat. Sufficient iron intake can prevent anemia and prolong life.

Coconut. Research from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark found that coconuts are rich in healthy medium-chain fats. Eating such foods regularly can prevent DNA damage and slow down brain aging.

Sweet potatoes. Researchers at Kansas State University in the United States found that sweet potatoes contain a lot of anthocyanins, which can reduce the risk of cancer.

Pomegranate. A French study found that pomegranate contains precursor compounds related to anti-aging, which can be converted into urolithin A with anti-aging activity by intestinal microorganisms.

Experts also remind that no matter what kind of diet you adopt, if you want to be healthy and live a long life, it is also very important to eat until you are 70% full. "Intermittent fasting" is the secret of residents in some longevity areas in the world.

Endurance training has the best anti-aging effect

According to the American Medical Journal, researchers from the University of Leipzig and Saarland University in Germany found that endurance training can better fight aging than strength training.

The researchers selected 266 healthy young people who usually do not participate in sports. The participants were randomly divided into three groups: endurance training (continuous running), high-intensity interval training (alternating fast running and jogging 4 times after warming up, and finally cooling down the limbs by jogging), and strength training (circular exercise on the equipment, including back bends, crunches, seated pull-downs, seated rowing, seated calf flexion and extension, front leg muscle extension, chest press and supine leg press, etc.), as well as a control group that did not exercise. The first three groups exercised 3 times a week for 45 minutes each time, and a total of 124 people persisted.

At the beginning of the study and after the last round of exercise, the researchers analyzed the telomere length and telomerase activity of white blood cells in the participants' blood samples. The results showed that compared with the control group, the telomerase activity and telomere length of the first three groups of participants increased, which is important for preventing cell aging, improving cell regeneration and healthy aging. However, compared with the strength training group, the telomerase activity of the other two groups was 2 to 3 times higher, and the telomere length also increased significantly.

Researchers say that endurance training is an important mechanism for promoting healthy aging. One possibility is that this type of exercise affects the level of nitric oxide in blood vessels, prompting positive changes in cells. In addition, from an evolutionary perspective, endurance training can better mimic the behaviors of human ancestors such as traveling and fighting. It covers a wide range of activities, including running, swimming, skiing and cycling. (People's Health Network, compiled from Life Times)