5 Practical Ways to Boost Your Longevity

Even though it’s impossible to stop the aging process, you can enjoy a long and healthy life — if you take steps that promote your overall well-being and longevity. At Wasatch Peak Family Practice in Layton, Utah, our providers help men and women at every age enjoy an optimal quality of life.

We’ve put our heads together and created this list of the top five ways you can live longer and feel healthy and vibrant well into your golden years. Keep reading to learn what you need to know about boosting longevity.

1. Eat for longevity

If you want to boost your lifespan and be as healthy as possible as you get older, nothing is more important than eating right. This may mean making dietary changes to ensure you get the best nutrients for your body.

Your Wasatch Peak Family Practice provider can help by making personalized dietary recommendations to meet your unique needs so that you enjoy optimal health for many years. In the meantime, here are some things you can do to eat for longevity:

• Plan meals and snacks around vegetables and consume at least 3 cups per day
• Eat at least 2 cups of fresh fruit every day
• Focus less on meat and more on plant-based proteins, like legumes or beans
• Avoid eating processed meats (e.g., deli meats)
• Eat a handful of nuts and seeds each day

Eating for longevity also means cutting out processed foods, fast foods, and foods high in saturated fat; reducing your sugar intake; and eliminating (or at least minimizing) alcohol.

2. Get physical

Along with eating right, exercising regularly is one of the best things you can do to improve your lifespan. This is because regular physical activity lowers your risk of many health issues — especially as you age. This includes problems like: 

• Heart disease
• Type 2 diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Most cancers
• Osteoarthritis
• Dementia and other cognitive changes

Once you’re cleared by your Wasatch Peak Family Practice medical provider, aim to get in at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day. Be sure to pick activities you enjoy, so you stick with them for the long run.

3. Quit smoking (or don’t start!)

Smoking is bad for your health and bad for your lifespan. In fact, smoking causes about one out of every five deaths in America, and it shortens your life expectancy by at least 10 years on average. 

Even using tobacco products only occasionally can affect your lifespan. Studies show that compared with people who never smoke, occasional smokers have a decreased life expectancy and a greater risk of dying from heart disease, respiratory illness, and cancer.

Bottom line? If you don’t smoke, don’t start! And if you’re a smoker and want to improve your longevity, talk to your Wasatch Peak Family Practice provider about quitting. 

4. Prioritize sleep

Not getting enough sleep affects many aspects of your health, including your weight, skin health, immunity, memory, mental health, and more. Most of the time, problems with sleep result because of an underlying health issue, like depression or anxiety, untreated sleep apnea, prostate issues, or gastrointestinal conditions. 

When you don’t get enough sleep, your long-term health (and your longevity) pays the price. You can stay ahead of your sleep by addressing any underlying health concerns with your Wasatch Peak Family Practice provider. 

In addition, you can improve your sleep by practicing good sleep hygiene and making sure you make sleep a priority by going to bed and waking up around the same time each day. 

5. Maintain routine health appointments

Six in ten American adults have a chronic disease, like hypertension or type 2 diabetes. Many of these chronic conditions can be treated and even reversed — provided they’re caught early. 

At Wasatch Peak Family Practice, our team helps you stay healthy with our comprehensive preventive and therapeutic care. Your annual physical exam is a great way to stay on top of your health, and it allows your providers to keep track of key markers year over year. 

Keeping your routine health appointments also allows your provider to monitor any chronic conditions you do have and make changes to your treatment as needed. We can also recommend the right screenings at the right time, to keep you healthier, longer. 

Ready to learn more about how you can live your healthiest life? Schedule an appointment online or over the phone with a provider at Wasatch Peak Family Practice.