Living a long, healthy life isn’t as complicated as it may seem. Turn back the clock with these 5 anti-aging tips & techniques that show you how to look younger, and feel younger too! Regardless of your biological age, you can still turn back the clock and enjoy the abundant life.
Table of Contents
5 Secrets for How to Look Younger
If you’re ready to experience youthfulness today, start taking care of the mind and body by focusing on these 5 key areas of successful aging. They are:
- Skin Health – Age spots, loose skin, and wrinkles can all contribute to the appearance of mature skin. Find out how to protect your skin’s health.
- Antioxidant-Rich Diet – Foods rich in bioactive compounds help combat the signs of aging and are one way to look younger longer.
- Regular Exercise – Help keep your energy levels up, and maintain muscle tone and strength with consistent, healthy exercise.
- Rest & Sleep – Many of us simply do not get enough hours of sleep each day, or the sleep we do get is broken and fitful.
- Reduce Stress – Decreasing stress levels can help you stay in optimal health.
How do you tap into these 5 anti-aging tips to transform your life? Let’s explore each more in-depth.
1. Skin Health for a Youthful Appearance
Countless gimmicks from weight loss products to special creams have been sold promising to erase the mark of time on our bodies, from dark spots to the appearance of wrinkles. But true beauty is not cosmetic and doesn’t always look like “a youthful glow”.
Successful aging is all about skin health, which starts in the gut and ends with what we put on our bodies. Essentially, you need to take an internal and external approach to creating the healthiest skin cells possible to embrace healthy aging, which will automatically create younger-looking skin.
On the outside, we want to protect from excessive sun damage via exposure, as well as chemical damage from harsh soaps. Avoiding toxic ingredients in your lotions and night cream potions is paramount because the chemicals in many skin care products annihilate the healthy skin membrane or microbiome. They create dry skin, even cracked and damaged skin – thereby dampening the immune system, making us more susceptible to sickness and disease.
When it comes to the sun, some scientists recommend using broad-spectrum sunscreen at all times to protect from UV rays, but proper sun exposure is necessary to vibrant health and glowing skin so I question these recommendations. (1) I recommend enjoying 20-30 minutes of direct, bare-skin sun exposure every day and being careful not to burn. This is where people get in trouble and unnecessarily damage their bodies, creating visible signs of aging.
On the inside, be sure to eat a diet rich in fresh fruits and veggies with a focus on healthy fats such as avocados that contribute to youthful skin. Antioxidant-rich bioactive foods, in particular, are also known to have anti-aging benefits for your skin. (2) Good hydration is also key, so drink plenty of water each day as it keeps the skin moist and helps prevent attention to wrinkles caused by dehydration. If plain water doesn’t cut it for you, check out our essential oil-powered water concentrate for nutritious, flavor-filled hydration.
2. Antioxidant-Rich Healthy Diet
Oxidative stress is the primary cause of the unpleasantries of aging. (3) What’s referred to as an imbalance between the free radical damage and the body’s ability to counteract (i.e. detoxify) these harmful effects through antioxidants like vitamin C and Glutathione.
Essentially, when antioxidants are consumed as part of a diet rich in bioactive foods (the more vibrant the color, the more antioxidant-rich the food tends to be) or whole food-based supplements, the damage from oxidative stress can be reversed with enhanced cell turnover. This cellular restoration can then help prevent age-related conditions such as cognitive decline, diabetes, and heart disease. (4)
The fruits, vegetables, and herbs that our grandmothers and mothers made us eat are rich in antioxidants that are known to:
- Cleanse toxins and damage at the cellular level. (5)
- Detox our cells
- Prevent sickness and chronic disease
- Reduce inflammation
This is often the “miracle” formula necessary to regenerate aged skin and make those achy joints feel youthful once again. Antioxidants are one step to how to look younger.
3. Regular Exercise Benefits
Did you know that regular exercise literally helps to slow the aging process? (6) If you are having trouble knowing where to start with exercise, check out Mama Z’s exercise program for at-home workouts anyone can start today as part of our Bible Health Academy. Maintaining healthy muscle mass and bone density literally delays some of the biggest signs of aging.
Our bodies were meant to be in relatively constant motion. We were not created to sit down all day and be sedentary. Our modern desk job approach to work has arguably contributed more to expedited aging and premature death than any other factor. Not only is it important to keep our bodies moving and get that blood flowing, we also need to exercise regularly to reverse the damage done to it because of years of inactivity.
Unlike remaining sedentary, which can trigger a cascade of illness, aerobic exercise (activities that get the heart racing like jogging, hiking, and high-intensity interval training) helps combat the risks of developing cardiovascular disease and other illnesses due to aging. (7)
Note the keyword here is regular.” Exercise isn’t meant to be something you do once in a while. God designed us to enjoy being physically active every day, throughout the day! Prayerfully consider developing normal lifestyle habits that include exercise and fitness, because they will certainly give you more energy to tackle the day and will help you feel young again! (8)
Also, don’t forget your antioxidant-rich bioactive foods, because they have been shown to help the body adapt to exercise routines! (9)
4. Rest & Beauty Sleep
This is a well-known fact: better sleep helps you feel better, and look better, and actually has anti-aging benefits. (10) When it comes to knowing how to look younger and feel better, “beauty sleep” is the right term!
There’s a reason why God commanded us to take a day off. We tend to work around the clock – or at least be busy doing stuff that keeps us away from truly resting and taking a load off. Honoring the Sabbath, Commandment #4 is our guide here…
When we rest and get a full night of undisturbed sleep, the brain and body are known to essentially hit a “reset button.” This is the God-ordained time of our day when our bodies reach hormonal balance and recover from much of the damage we’ve put them through during the day. As we sleep, our bodies regularly eliminate toxins, restore cells, and participate in other successful anti-aging activities as well. (11)
Unfortunately, as many people age, they find themselves struggling to sleep. Paradoxically, the very thing they need to recover from the damage done to their bodies by Father Time, is the one thing they can’t seem to control! If this describes you, try using essential oils to find that place of peace and relaxation and establish a routine to help you unwind at night. Supplements may be helpful, as well, and don’t forget to exercise!
The Research Center on Aging discovered that exercise helps regulate serotonin. This is wonderful news because regular exercise has anti-aging benefits of its own, but also helps us to sleep better because this hormone helps us to relax and establish healthy sleep patterns. (12)
5. Reduce Stress Levels
Research has shown us that emotional and mental stressors contribute to premature aging, age-related illnesses, and cognitive problems. (13) Bottom line: chronic stress kills.
And, in my opinion, the #1 cause of disease all across the board is stress. Not only is it a killer on its own, but all of the how to look younger tips I have put together in this report are specifically designed to help mitigate the most common stressors: lack of sleep, sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, and poor skin health/microbiome damage.
To make matters worse, we have found that elevated levels of stress are actually related to elevated levels of pain in senior citizens, thereby complicating the aging process considerably. (14) On the flip side, we should rest assured that our futures don’t have to be marred with pain and sickness.
As Indo-Tibetan studies suggest, eating an antioxidant-rich diet and enjoying an anti-stress lifestyle can contribute to good health well into the golden years. Science is now supporting the traditional Indo-Tibetan claim that “proficiency in the suggested longevity practices of meditation, diet, and physical exercise (yoga), will result in profound anti-aging, stress-mediating, and health-enhancing effects.” (15)
Bonus: Living for a Purpose!
To help you get started on the road to Abundant Life aging, don’t get overwhelmed by all the changes you think you need to make today. Focus on one or two easily actionable how-to-stop-aging tips like diffusing lavender beside your bedside to promote sound sleep, or replacing your McDonald’s habit with a fresh homemade salad to get some momentum going.
Once you pick the lowest-hanging fruit and make the lifestyle changes that are easiest for you, start to challenge yourself to tackle the anti-aging tips that are a little harder. If you can, ask a friend or loved one to join you along your journey to successful aging as it’s always more fun to do life with other people.
Remember to receive each day as a gift from above. Living for a purpose is your birthright in Christ and God has unbelievable things in store for you, regardless of your age.
See what God says about aging and our golden years in the Bible. He wants to use you to make a BIG difference in the lives of others!
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18410803
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25028117
- https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jcbn/56/1/56_14-42/_article
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16375724
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25743896
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25431878
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24855137
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21955845
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25834706
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25770704
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10859634
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25104243
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25558675
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25516031
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19735248