Is it Too Late to Experience the Benefits of Adopting a Healthier Lifestyle?

March 19, 2024

Few would disagree that a healthy lifestyle – healthy eating, regular exercise, etc. – offers many benefits, such as reducing the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, etc. But what if you’re older – in your fifties, sixties, seventies, or eighties – and you have an unhealthy lifestyle? Is it too late to change and reap the benefits – such as living independently - of adopting a healthier lifestyle now?

You might wonder, “Now that I’m retired and have time to exercise, is it really worth the effort?” Or if you’ve smoked most of your life, and now you’re in your fifties, you may think, “The damage is done. Why quit now?” Or maybe you’ve been a junk-food junkie all of your life, and now that you’re in your sixties, believe, “It’s too late to teach an old dog new tricks.”

First, the good news is that according to the American Psychological Association. “The adage ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ is [a] myth.” Therefore, if you put your mind to it, you can make lifestyle changes… at any age.

Secondly, while it is true that the sooner you make healthy changes, the better, research has found that making changes when you’re in your fifties, sixties, and beyond can improve the quality of your life and allow you to remain independent. Furthermore, even small changes can make an impact.

For example, one study found that changing from a typical diet to a healthier diet at age 60 would increase life expectancy by eight years for women and 8.8 years for men, and 80-year-olds making healthy changes would gain about 3.4 years.

Furthermore, according to the Pan American Health Organization, “After just 20 minutes of quitting smoking, your heart rate drops. Within 12 hours, the carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal. Within 2–12 weeks, your circulation improves, and lung function increases. Within 1–9 months, coughing and shortness of breath decrease. Within 5–15 years, your stroke risk is reduced to that of a non-smoker. Within 10 years, your lung cancer death rate is about half that of a smoker. Within 15 years, your risk of heart disease is that of a non-smoker.” Furthermore, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), people who quit smoking at the age of 65 typically gain 1.4 to 3.7 years of life.

10 Tips for Adopting a Healthier Lifestyle at Any Age

Stay in touch
Socializing is essential for mental health and well-being and may help improve cognition.
Exercise Your Brain
Like your body, your brain needs exercise (crossword puzzles, a new hobby, etc.) to stay healthy.
Stay Physically Active
Experts recommend that adults 65 and older do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity weekly activity.
Stretch
Stretching can decrease your risk of falling and improve your ability to move around with less pain.
Eat Healthy
Healthy eating can prevent heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and more.
Attend to Your Medical Needs
Typically, the earlier a health issue is discovered, the easier it is to treat, and getting regular check-ups and screenings is key to catching health issues as early as possible.
Be Positive
Positive thinking can provide greater resistance to illness and reduce the risk of death from cancer, respiratory conditions, infections, and more.
Give Back
Giving back to your community (donating time and resources) helps you achieve a more active social life, gives your life purpose, and makes you feel more connected.
Reduce Stress
Stress has been linked to many health problems, such as headaches, high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, arthritis, etc.
Protect Your Heart, Lungs, Kidneys, and Skin
As we age, heart walls become stiffer and fill with blood more slowly, breathing muscles weaken, kidneys may not remove waste from our bodies as efficiently as they once did, and our body produces less collagen.