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Pain is an aspect of life that is unavoidable, and everybody will experience it at some point. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly half of all American adults experience pain in their daily lives. The situation only grows more concerning when we look at the elderly as studies based on the National Health and Aging Trends Study show that the majority of adults with recurring pain experience multiple and separate kinds of pain.
Ultimately, pain is a constant reality for a lot of people, and while it's natural that people are affected by aging, it's also possible to age in a healthy manner. The human body is a complex machine, and while that makes it likely to falter, it also provides countless opportunities to help its internal processes to ensure a higher quality of life. Here are three important strategies that can help when dealing with existing aches and prevent future pain.
Exercising and Stretching
Perhaps one of the most common ways to minimize pain is to limit movements and try to be as delicate with it as possible, however, this isn't always the best course of action. A study in 2015 published by the University of Antwerp proved that exercise is effective when dealing with chronic pain, even if it isn't musculoskeletal. This doesn't mean that individuals should force themselves to keep on moving despite the pain. However, it's important to understand that precise movements and professional guidance can help a body recover its old strength and overcome its aching. Muscle weakness as a whole is a major cause of pain, and statistics released by the CDC confirm that it becomes more common with aging.
The prevalence of muscle weakness that comes with age is another important reason to exercise even if no musculoskeletal complications have developed. Strong and active muscles aren't likely to generate aching, and the more developed they are, the more resistant they'll be to impacts and falls. While a lot of individuals correlate exercise with intense regimes and gym subscriptions this doesn't have to be the case. A low-impact exercise, such as yoga, can be easily followed at home and in the comfort of the neighborhood.
A Proper Diet
Perhaps one of the most important aspects when it comes to aging in a healthy manner is a person's diet. An unbalanced diet will undeniably make people more likely to develop health complications and comes with its own set of pains. But when it comes to food, what is consumed can be as important as what is avoided. As such, eating foods that slow down aging is incredibly important in any diet. But likewise, it's important to truly grasp what this means in a medical and scientific context.
In broad terms, while many foods are known to have health benefits when most people discuss anti-aging food they usually mean food that contains antioxidants. Antioxidants are nutrients like Vitamin C and E that can help prevent oxidation at a cellular level. This means that a diet rich in antioxidants can prevent tissue deterioration both inside and outside of our bodies, making it so that the negative effects of aging manifest at a slower pace. Foods rich in antioxidants include broccoli, almonds, Brazil nuts, and asparagus.
The Importance of Supplements
While most antioxidants, vitamins, and other beneficial molecules can be found in food, that doesn't mean they can only be consumed this way. Supplements can be a reliable tool to meet the recommended values for certain vitamins or proteins. Many supplements are explicitly sold under an anti-aging label, meaning that they are easy to identify. The health impact of supplements might not be the same as that of anti-aging foods, but studies have proven their efficiency in various circumstances. For instance, Vitamin C supplement consumption has been linked to reduced cases and severity of colds in both adults and children.
Aging is a reality of life, but that doesn't mean it has to be tied to pain. Pain is a complex process that warns of the issues and injuries a body is experiencing, meaning that the best way to avoid aches as we get older is to have better preventive care. The appropriate level of exercise can help get rid of or avoid musculoskeletal aches. Meanwhile, a proper diet can load a body with important nutrients like antioxidants that slow down aging considerably. Supplements are great to provide that final push a body might need to avoid pain. There are many ways to avoid the aches of aging, and it all starts with the conscious choice to change some habits.
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