Physical health is the cornerstone of your retirement. Good health enables you to enjoy and make the most of your retirement years. As we age, it becomes increasingly important to take care of our bodies and our minds.
Retirement doesn’t mean you check out of life and become sedentary. On the contrary, you can take advantage of your newfound free time to become active, enjoy favorite hobbies, and cultivate social interactions that will improve the quality of your retirement and, at the same time, increase your longevity and quality of life.
Although some of your health is determined by your genetics and family history, it’s not as much as you might think. In fact, new research finds that genes contribute only five to 10 percent to the risk of developing most diseases. The rest is determined by your environment and lifestyle. As for longevity, estimates are that only about 25 percent of your lifespan is determined by genetics.
So, your habits play a big role in determining your health. Retirement may be a good opportunity to make new inroads to healthy living. Maybe before, you were too busy with work and raising children to think much about a healthy lifestyle. But now may be the time to focus on your well-being.
The National Institute on Aging offers the following suggestions for maintaining and improving your health. They can help you build a foundation for a long and fulfilling retirement.
Note: Consult your healthcare provider before starting or changing your diet or exercise routine.
Table of Contents
1. Stay Active
Physical activity is crucial to healthy aging. Those who exercise regularly live longer and have better life quality. A study found that two hours of sitting in front of the TV each day was associated with a 12% decrease in the chance of healthy aging. Conversely, two hours of light physical activity each day was associated with a six percent increase in the chance of maintaining good health.
Staying active doesn’t necessarily mean jogging or aerobics class for an hour each day. Staying active in short bursts throughout the day is as good as a single, longer exercise session. Just walking 8,000 or more steps per day was associated with a 51% lower risk of death from all causes compared to walking 4,000 steps.
Maintaining and increasing muscle mass is a crucial part of staying healthy. We naturally tend to lose muscle as we age, but keeping muscle is important to enable you to perform everyday activities and avoid falls. Loss of muscle makes you tire easily and feel worn out. A study even found muscle mass in adults over age 55 was a better predictor of longevity than weight or body mass index. Regular physical activity can help you keep muscle mass and help your muscles function well.
If you haven’t exercised vigorously in a while, it’s important to start slow and simple to avoid injuries. Muscle strains and injuries could be painful and discourage you from continuing. So start slow and easy.
See these videos for some ideas on simple exercises you can do to help stay healthy:
Silversneakers offers exercise classes online and at the gym, which are often available at no cost for adults aged 65+ through some Medicare plans.
2. Eat Healthy
As we get older, what we put into our bodies becomes more important to our health. Good food choices can help protect you from common health problems and can even promote good brain function.
Vascular dementia, which is associated with decreased blood flow through small blood vessels in the brain, is the second-most common form of dementia. Cholesterol and blood sugar can harden the walls of blood vessels and restrict blood flow.
Similar decreases in blood flow in other parts of the body are associated with diseases in the heart, kidneys, and other organs. Healthy eating can lower blood sugar and cholesterol, which can help ward off these issues.
The National Institute on Aging suggests the Mediterranean-style diet, which emphasizes fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, fish, and healthy fats, with less dairy and red meat than a standard American diet. Another approach is the low-salt DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet, which studies find helps lower blood pressure, reduce weight, and lower the risk of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
The MIND diet combines the Mediterranean diet with the DASH diet and is intended to minimize the risk of dementia and loss of brain function in older adults. A study found the MIND diet to be associated with better mental cognition compared to other eating patterns.
It isn’t necessary to make wholesale changes to your daily eating patterns to reap the benefits. Even small changes, like adding more fish or leafy green vegetables to your meals, can improve health over time.
Staying hydrated is also essential. Many people are chronically dehydrated without realizing it. A study found middle-aged people who were not adequately hydrated were more likely to develop chronic diseases like dementia, lung disease, diabetes, and heart failure. They were also more likely to age faster. So make sure you’re getting enough fluids throughout the day.
See this page for more information from the institute about healthy diet choices.
Here is a presentation on healthy aging:
3. Manage Stress
Stress is an unavoidable part of life. Some kinds of stress can be good, such as getting married or the birth of a child or grandchild. Other types of stress are not so positive. Retirement is a huge life event that can cause enormous stress.
Chronic stress can negatively affect mental processing and memory and increase the risk of dementia. It also can cause increases in cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure, raising the risk of heart disease.
Studies find that older adults tend to be better at managing stress than younger people. A survey conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic found that two-thirds of Americans aged 50 to 80 considered their mental health to be excellent or very good, and as good as or better than it was 20 years prior. Researchers think older adults have more wisdom, life experience, and resiliency that help them manage stress.
However, some studies find that levels of the stress hormone cortisol increase after middle age. In the face of stress, older adults’ bodies produce more cortisol, and their levels take longer to come back down to normal. Furthermore, cortisol affects older adults more, increasing inflammation and affecting physical and mental functioning.
Some common causes of stress in older adults are:
- Caretaking of spouse, children, or parents
- Financial insecurity
- Loneliness and social isolation
- Moving
- Physical or mental health issues
Many people have become so accustomed to stress that they underestimate the amount of stress they’re under. In other words, they’re stressed out without realizing it. It’s important to do something every day to relieve stress.
How to Manage Stress
You can’t always control the events in your life, but you can control how you respond. Some effective ways to manage stress are:
Physical activity. Exercise reduces cortisol levels and produces positive emotions. Just a walk around the block or taking the stairs instead of the elevator can have a positive effect.
Spending time outdoors. Spending time in nature can help decrease stress and anxiety and increase happiness and feelings of well-being. A walk in the park can do wonders for your body and your mood.
Eating healthy. It may be tempting to turn to unhealthy snacks when you’re feeling down, but keeping a healthy diet that includes foods high in good fats like fatty fish, nuts, and vegetables can help control stress and cortisol levels.
Getting enough rest. Inadequate or poor-quality sleep increases stress levels. A good night’s sleep can help you feel better. It also benefits your body. If you’re having trouble sleeping, here are some tips to help you sleep better.
Consider getting a pet. Surveys find older adults who have pets experience less stress. Pets also promote physical activity and social connections. But it’s important to consider which types of pets will fit your lifestyle.
Cultivate social interactions. Isolation and loneliness are unfortunately very prevalent among older adults. In earlier stages of life, people had built-in social interactions, first at school, and then later in the workplace. After retirement, however, many people lose those connections. It takes time and effort to make friends as an adult, and many people are not accustomed. Here are some ideas for cultivating friendships.
Practice stress-relief breathing. Breathing exercises are a simple and fast way to relieve stress. See this page for some ideas.
The 4-7-8 breathing technique can relieve anxiety and help you get to sleep. Anecdotal evidence suggests this type of deep, rhythmic breathing is relaxing. Slow and deep breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which calms and relaxes you, and suppresses the sympathetic nervous system, which causes a stress response.
Here’s a video about the 4-7-8 technique:
4. Get Checkups
Visiting your physician regularly is crucial for good health. Regular checkups can help find and address small problems before they become big ones. They can also help you reduce risk factors for diseases. Technological advances have led to simple tests and scans that can find and monitor signs of age-related health issues. They can detect subtle changes in your body that may occur years before you have any disease symptoms and help your doctor diagnose and treat diseases early.
Many people are concerned about their weight as they get older. Dietary approaches like the DASH diet can help control your weight. But Catherine Toomer, M.D., a board-certified family and community health physician, points out that unexplained weight gain or weight loss is never a condition in itself but is always a symptom of an underlying issue that must be resolved.
5. Take Care of Your Cognitive Health
Many of us experience slight declines in memory and mental processing as we age. “Senior moments” become more common. However, a healthy diet and exercise can help minimize cognitive declines. Mentally stimulating activities like writing, playing games, learning a new language or musical instrument, or learning a new computer skill can help keep you cognitively alert.
A study found that people who followed at least four of the five healthy habits below had a 60% lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s. Even following just two or three of these habits lowered Alzheimer’s risk by 37%. The habits are:
- At least 150 minutes per week of moderate to vigorous physical exercise
- Not smoking
- Not drinking alcohol excessively
- A Mediterranean-style diet
- Engaging in mentally stimulating activities
6. Take Care of Your Mental Health
Your mood and mental outlook have a strong connection to your physical health. Managing depression, loneliness, and stress is essential to healthy aging. Older adults who are socially isolated or feel lonely have a higher risk for heart disease and cognitive declines. They are also at risk for unhealthy behaviors like alcohol and prescription medication abuse, which are on the rise among older adults.
Staying connected with others can improve your mood and overall health. Keep in touch with relatives and friends in person, over the phone, or on social media. Meet new people by taking classes or volunteering in your community. Exercise classes have the added benefit of improving your health while you keep social interactions.
Some other ways to maintain social connections are:
- Attend religious services
- Enroll in continuing education classes
- Join activity groups that follow hobbies or pastimes that interest you
- Volunteer or get a part-time job
- Attend activities at a local senior center or senior community
- Join a travel group
- Try a dating service like OurTime and SilverSingles, for companionship even if you’re not looking for romance
Studies of “superagers,” people in their 80s who exhibit cognitive function comparable to someone in their 50s, find several common habits: a physically active lifestyle, an active social life, and continually challenging themselves mentally to engage their minds.
Here is a TEDx talk about making friends as an adult: