Living close to nature, walking, doing planks, and chatting with friends and relatives helps increase life expectancy by many years, according to experts.
Genetics professor Steve Horvath, University of California (UCLA), was one of the first people to find a way to calculate biological age. Accordingly, biological age is the rate at which you physically age, while normal age is the number of years you live. Real age always increases, but biological age can be reduced thanks to some medical measures or healthy habits. For example, some people’s normal age is 50, but their biological age is 45.
Experts suggest some habits to help reverse biological age as follows:
Living near trees helps increase longevity
According to research published in the scientific journal Science Advances, closeness to nature not only increases average life expectancy by 2.5 years but also improves overall health. Scientists followed a group of more than 900 people in four US cities for 20 years, finding that green space has a positive effect on the biological aging process, thereby improving quality of life.
Preventive medicine professor Lifang Hou from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, who led the study, emphasized: “Through our research, we discovered that living environments near green areas can cause adverse health effects. biological or molecular changes, and these changes can be monitored through the blood.”
Scientists conducted a 20-year study to understand the effects of living near green spaces on the aging process. They compared the participants’ age-related biological changes with the amount of green space around where they resided. According to Hou, based on DNA analysis from blood samples, the research team evaluated biological age on the molecular level, studying small changes in gene activity related to aging.
They found that people whose homes were surrounded by 30% of trees within a 5km radius were on average 2.5 years younger biologically than those whose homes were surrounded by 20% of trees.
Biological age not only reflects how long people have lived but also reflects their lifestyle. If your biological age is higher than your actual age, your risk of age-related diseases such as cancer, heart disease, or Alzheimer’s will increase. This is not only due to our diet or daily physical activity, but also due to our surrounding environment and the community we are a part of. Hou’s research highlights the importance of living in a healthy environment, not only for individuals but also for the entire community.
David Rojas-Rueda, an epidemiologist at Colorado State University, emphasized the positive impact of green spaces on reducing premature deaths. He points out that the new research provides insight into how nature can influence our bodies by changing gene expression.
“This is the first time we have clearly seen how living close to nature, in a green environment, not only soothes the soul but can also cause important changes in relevant biological indicators to aging,” Peter James, an environmental epidemiologist at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, commented on the study.
Hou emphasized that this study encourages people to pay attention to their living environment as an important factor in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, along with eating a balanced diet, getting enough sleep and staying physically active. matter. James also expressed hope that these findings will inspire policymakers, motivating them to take action to make nature an indispensable part of daily life.
Closeness to nature not only increases average life expectancy by 2.5 years but also improves overall health. Image: Pexels
Walk
Regular physical activity is part of a healthy lifestyle. Much evidence shows that being sedentary can cause death for many reasons. According to World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, each person needs to exercise at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of high intensity each week.
Currently, many studies show that with activities such as climbing stairs and hiking, you can still achieve health benefits equivalent to many hours of exercise at the gym. Even taking advantage of short breaks during office hours to move around is good for the musculoskeletal system and joints.
According to research published in Nature Medicine, 4 to 6 minutes of exercise scattered throughout the day, which increases heart rate, is enough to reduce the risk of premature death. Another analysis shows that this frequency of exercise can also prevent cancer.
Do planks or wall exercises
Besides cardio exercises that increase heart rate, muscle training also helps the body age more slowly, avoiding many old age diseases. Studies show that combining cardio (running, cycling) and resistance exercise helps increase longevity.
Simple exercises like plank (stand on your hands, hold your back and squeeze your buttocks to make your body straight like a board, parallel to the ground), combined with wall lean (lean your back against the wall, calves and thighs form a right angle)
These two exercises use body weight and can be done outside the gym to help practitioners stay active, full of energy and improve endurance.
Besides the above tips, getting enough sleep, not smoking, eating healthy, controlling weight, blood pressure, keeping cholesterol at a reasonable level, especially talking and interacting with family and friends are also important. is a habit that helps reverse aging.