I do not know for sure at what age, people start to pay attention to healthy aging strategies, perhaps after someone close to them got sick and passed away. What I know is that many are seeking the secrets to longevity. Who does not want to live a long and healthy life?

 

    Some lifestyles and eating habits I would call classics (see blogs Less is More and How to Live to Become a Centenarian?). Eating 70% full or small portions for example is an easy-to-remember strategy that not only can help you to keep a healthy body weight but also possibly increase your lifespan.

 

    If you look closely at what people who live long healthy lives eat, such as the Japanese Okinawa diet, you may find a list of healthy foods that you can add to your food list. My grandma, who is currently 105 years of age in 2022 as this page is being written has some healthy habits that I wrote a blog on in 2018 (Healthy Aging - nutrition secrets from my 102-year-old grandma). The important part is that my grandma is still mentally sharp, playing great computer games (Healthy Aging: Centenarian Plays Video Game), and when she plays Majiang with others she still wins. I would call that health state healthy aging.

 

    Mental sharpness is one of the main interests of many older folks since this is one of the questions that I got asked about frequently. Many foods can help you to maintain and improve cognitive sharpness, see blogs Plant-based Diet and Cognitive Function, Purple Foods Rich in Anthocyanins Can Improve Cognitive Function, Drinking Tea Might Help to Keep Mental Sharpness, Neuroprotective Effects of Ellagic Acid.  These are only a few foods that I have written blogs on, but there are a lot more foods, especially foods with colors since color pigments in plants are mostly generated in response to environmental challenges for self-protection, in other words, plants produce these colorful plant pigments to protect themselves. These plant pigments are usually powerful antioxidants with anti-aging properties. That is why people who eat a lot of plant foods may look in general younger. In addition, fish or seafood as a food group has many health benefits including mind and cognition.

 

    Need to emphasize the importance of maintaining muscle mass for healthy aging.  People start to lose their muscles in middle age.  Without muscles' support for coordination, a person may fall and break bones, which happens in the elderly more often and leads to hospitalization. To prevent that you need to continue doing activities to keep the muscles strong, such as Activities for Health and Longevity, and eat healthy foods for stronger muscles (see blogs Wound Healing, Muscle Building, and Wrinkle Reducing,  Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Muscle Synthesis, and Fall Prevention).

 

    Have you heard about the news that if you eat NAD you may live to 150 years of age? I got asked by friends about this “magical thing”. If you read about my blog on it (Healthy Aging NAD) you can see that that NAD is a metabolite from B vitamins. That is why eating whole grain (like brown rice) can be more beneficial than eating white rice since the B vitamins have been removed in the rice processing.

 

    There are many interesting topics to discuss related to healthy aging, feel free to join our monthly online discussions if you have any questions or want to share your stories and want to learn more about nutrition and health. It will be every third Saturday from 9-10 am Beijing time for discussions in Chinese, and 9-10 am US central time for discussions in English. Sign up using the contact us form to receive the meeting link and specify which language option you would like to be in.