Leaders in women’s health have attended this week’s Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit and are full of tips for anyone hoping to live a longer and healthier life.
Debra Whitman, executive vice president and chief public policy officer at AARP and author of The Second Fifty: Answers to the 7 Big Questions of Midlife and Beyond, gave four tips for anyone, not just women, to follow if they want to live longer and be healthier during a panel on how women can reclaim their midlife.
1. Continue your healthy routine.
“The foundation for a long, healthy life always comes down to the basics: don’t drink too much, don’t smoke, eat a healthy diet, maintain a healthy weight, and exercise,” Whitman told Fortune at the MPW Summit. According to her, such behaviors alone can improve your general health and extend your life by ten years.
2. Having solid relationships is essential.
Whitman cited one of the biggest Harvard studies on healthy aging, which revealed that those who maintained the best health throughout their lifetimes “had really strong relationships and friendships.”
Whitman said to Fortune, “Your relationships are actually huge predictors of health and happiness.”
3. Possess a feeling of direction.
According to Whitman, setting goals “can reduce our chance of dying by half.” According to the Mayo Clinic, research indicates that having a sense of purpose helps enhance stress levels, sleep quality, and immunological function. Each of these three elements is essential to longevity and overall health. Additionally, it can help us feel more fulfilled and purposeful in our daily lives overall.
4. Consider aging in a favorable light.
According to Whitman, altering one’s perspective about aging is among the most crucial things one should do. She claimed that if you view aging in a good light, your brain volume increases, your heart attack risk decreases, and your dementia risk decreases.
Whitman’s findings were confirmed by a Harvard study involving over 14,000 adults: Over a four-year period, participants who were most content with aging had a 43% lower probability of dying from any cause than those who were least satisfied.
“Changing your mind about your future is the biggest health thing you can do,” Whitman stated.
To learn more about aging properly,
- If middle-aged women focus on these three factors, they can succeed in the second half of their lives.
- These four important criteria determine the top retirement destinations in America.
- Why “Shark Tank” star Barbara Corcoran “should’ve seen a psychologist” while taking care of her mother, who had Alzheimer’s
