Age
If you do this, you will live up to 13 years longer
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Eating healthily, not smoking, not drinking alcohol, but doing sport and exercise – if we stick to all of this, we will make it into old age. But a study has now found out what really makes us live longer and that has little to do with what was mentioned.
Of course, it’s logical that we’ll stay healthy longer if we take as good care of our body as possible and don’t allow it to be completely neglected. But to give up all the fun in life? Out of the question at all! Fortunately, a new study plays right into our hands. This means that something else is just as important for a long, fulfilling life as the small daily exercise session or the smoothie bowl for breakfast.
According to a recent study published in the journal According to a study published in the “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology”, psychosocial factors also play a role that should not be underestimated when it comes to our life expectancy. The researchers followed 2,400 study participants over a period of 23 years. At the start of the study in 1996, the test subjects were between 40 and 85 years old. Today they are correspondingly older or, in 871 cases, already deceased.
It depends on the setting
The participants were not only asked about their health, but also about their attitudes towards age and getting older. A comparison with the lifespan of the test subjects showed that those who associate personal goals and plans with getting older can live longer – up to 13 years longer.
“Our study now provides evidence on a larger scale for Germany that people who experience aging as a developmental process actually live 13 years longer,” says Prof. Susanne Wurm, head of the Department of Prevention Research and Social Medicine at the Institute for Community Medicine at the University Medical Center Greifswald.
Fit head and fit body
It’s actually not surprising that mindset is crucial alongside physical fitness. It sounds somehow logical that we keep our brains fit and busy if we continue to set goals, want to learn and make plans even as we get older. Conversely, our control center keeps our body running. Of course, sometimes it’s not that easy to see the positive things in life, even as you get older. We may have already suffered losses, health problems or other worries. In addition, aging has a negative connotation in our society and we often see seniors as senile rather than old age.
“The arch enemy of healthy aging is the attitude of limiting oneself because it is supposedly too late for this plan or that activity. People learn negative images of aging throughout their lives and therefore tend to apply these to themselves when they are old. This age-related self-discrimination needs to be broken,” says Prof. Dr. Susanne Wurm about her scientific findings.
In the end it’s like this: We only have one life and it doesn’t end at 65. We may never know whether that will ultimately be 13 years longer or shorter, but until then we want to damn well enjoy our lives!
Source: www.dmwv.de, www.doi.apa.org