The Best Ways to Live Longer

 

It seems that more and more people every day become interested in ways to improve their health. As a matter of fact, statistics say that 70% of restaurant guests are interested in finding healthy menu options. And that’s no surprise, considering that even those who aren’t particularly health-conscious would like to increase their lifespans and quality of life.

With rare exceptions, just about everyone would like to learn the best ways to live longer. The subject of longevity already has a large collection of books written about it, besides hundreds of blog posts and YouTube videos. The fact is, if you’re already doing your best to care for your health, there’s only so much you can do to try and increase your lifespan. Most of the best ways to live longer are simply common sense rules, such as avoiding unnecessary risks and unhealthy habits like smoking.

Of course, living longer isn’t just about adding years to the end of your life. While that’s what it is on the surface, what’s the real goal of people who want to live longer? In some way or another, it’s to enjoy life more. You might have seen this quote floating around your Pinterest or Facebook feed: “Add life to your days, not days to your life.” There’s only so much you can do to increase the time you have, but you have enormous control over the quality of the time you’ve got.

With that in mind, in this article we’ll be discussing some of the best ways to live longer, as well as some ways to make life more enjoyable and meaningful. After all, if you’re not enjoying your life as it is, would a longer lifespan really be worth that much, anyway?

Keep Up With New Longevity Research

One of the best ways to live longer is to keep up with scientific research on longevity as it comes out. While practicing healthy, clean living is the surest way to maximize your lifespan, scientists and biohackers regularly produce new information that may also have an impact.

New substances and technologies occasionally surface that might help to extend lifespan. For example, nano-robots that infiltrate the bloodstream and make repairs at the cellular level may be ready to deploy in the near future. Supplements and substances like apple cider vinegar and even cannabis products are promoted by some as having life-extending properties. You might want to have a cannabis delivery service bring some of these cutting-edge products straight to your door.

Experimenting with new supplements and sciences can come with a risk, but if you’re deeply curious about the potential of life-extending technologies, it can be one of the best ways to live longer.

Visit Your Doctor Regularly

If you had a beloved pet whom you wanted to live a long time, chances are you’d never miss an appointment with their veterinarian. For more or less the same reason, you need to make sure you have a good doctor, and visit them regularly.

Visiting your doctor for checkups and scheduled healthcare is important. Not only can a great doctor tell you some of the best ways to live longer, but they are also essential for detecting diseases before they become critical. If you contract a serious disease, sometimes waiting until you notice symptoms means you’ve waited too long, and treatment will be limited or more expensive. That’s why it’s so important to never miss a checkup.

When it comes to longevity, dental care is another critical factor. In fact, research shows that using dental floss every day can increase your lifespan all on its own. This is because flossing helps prevent your gums from becoming inflamed, which is an indication of an oral bacterial infection. Having a bacterial infection in your mouth damages your arteries, by causing plaque to develop on them and by making them inflamed through an immune response to the infection. This damage makes it difficult for your heart to do its job of pumping blood throughout your body, sometimes leading to heart disease.

Besides taking good care of your teeth at home, it’s also important to have a good dentist to visit every few months. Not only is it good for your health to have your teeth cleaned, but many health conditions become apparent in your mouth before they show up anywhere else. Believe it or not, a dentist can sometimes detect the onset of cancer in a patient before their doctor does, especially if they regularly get their teeth cleaned.

One of the most important things to remember when it comes to healthcare is that not all doctors and dentists are created equal. Before choosing a new family doctor, look into their history and ensure they have a positive record. You can always hire a medical malpractice lawyer if you need one, but you would probably agree that having a good healthcare practitioner in the first place is better.

Take Care of Your Appearance

So far we’ve talked about the best ways to live longer that are more obvious: practical things to do that improve your health for the long term. But we also said we would be discussing ways to “add life to your days” by making your life more enjoyable. That’s the direction we’ll be taking this article from here.

Our next bit of advice for living longer is very practical, but can also help you enjoy your life more: being mindful of your cleanliness and appearance. This is partly a practical way to live longer because of course keeping yourself and your home clean is a good way to avoid diseases and infections. But when you’re mindful of the way you look, you feel better about yourself, and feeling better not only leads to greater health but also makes life, in general, more enjoyable.

Perhaps you would feel more confident in your smile after undergoing cosmetic dentistry services. Or maybe you would feel happier with yourself if your clothes looked nicer or less worn out. Staying clean and keeping up your appearance might not directly impact your longevity, but they can go a long way towards improving your quality of life.

Do Things That Make You Happy

For many people, life is all about the goals they have to reach. They’re constantly thinking about the next thing, whether it’s a new business or creative project, or just the next shift at work. Even those who don’t consider themselves goal-oriented often live this way, ignoring the here-and-now in favor of focusing on something in the future.

In a way, searching for the best ways to live longer can be just another goal — instead of appreciating life as it is, at the moment, you’re thinking about extending your life as long as possible.

Now there’s nothing wrong with pursuing goals. In fact, a little inspired goal-setting can really help when you’ve found yourself in a rut. But if you’re hoping to find meaning in the realization of a goal, whether it’s to publish a book or live to 100, you’re likely to be disappointed. That’s because fulfillment doesn’t always come from a big accomplishment, and it certainly doesn’t come from focusing endlessly on the future. True fulfillment can only be found in the present moment.

Since this article is about enjoying your life while you have it, as well as living a long time, it’s important for us to point out that the key to a happy life is being grateful and enjoying the moment.

That being the case, you should make it a priority to do things that make you happy. If you’re like many people, it may have been a very long time since you’ve specifically done something because you enjoy it. Maybe you used to enjoy arts and crafts, like jewelry design, but let that go as your life got busy. Perhaps you used to have a fascination with horses or dogs, and simply forgot about it as your life got busier and more complex.

Maybe you aren’t even sure what you like, or what makes you happy. That’s not as unusual as it sounds, and if it’s the case for you, then you should make it a priority to find out what you like. Think back to your childhood and try to remember what made your world go ‘round when you were young. What excited you? What did you find so fascinating that you could sit for hours thinking or learning about it?

From your earliest memories, trace the history of your life onwards from there, and ask yourself what made you happy in high school, college, or your young adult life. If this exercise doesn’t give you any meaningful results, try asking yourself what’s one thing you couldn’t imagine living without — ideally something fun. Is there any way you could involve more of that in your day to day life?

Maybe you’ll decide to visit a bicycle rentals shop and go bike riding in a nearby park. Or perhaps you’ll rekindle your interest in an old hobby. However you do it, try to find some ways to work more fun into your life. It just might help to increase your lifespan, since stress is a primary factor in aging, and nothing destroys stress quite like having fun.

Reflect On Your Life

Some people seem to spend all their time focusing on future goals they want to reach, but others go to the opposite extreme of not thinking about their future at all. And although we said earlier that fulfillment is found in the present moment, the reality is that there must be a balance between forethought and action. Your attention should normally be on the present because that’s where your life is actually happening, but it’s important to have a sense of where you’re going too.

Planning your future shouldn’t just be about bucket list experiences and things you want to buy. To get the most out of your life, you should think about the bigger picture around the choices you make, and what sort of legacy you want to leave behind.

You might be one of those people who’s so busy moving from one thing to the next that they never really realize where their life is headed. They might be in a dysfunctional relationship and should have called a divorce attorney ages ago. Or they might be waist-keep in complications at a job they dislike, and never even consider leaving it because it’s become normal for them.

Reflecting on your life means taking a step back from your daily activity, and looking at your choices and where they’ve got you with a critical eye. It can mean reconnecting with the dreams and desires you once had for your life and asking yourself honestly if you’ve honored your desires and kept your integrity.

Life reflection also means thinking about what legacy you want to leave behind once you’re gone. Yes, this article is about the best ways to live longer, but no matter how old you live to be, you aren’t going to live forever. And the more time you have to live, the more of an impact you can have on the world before then. What do you want people to say about you at your funeral? That’s a good question to ask yourself when you’re reflecting on your legacy.

Volunteer Your Time to Good Causes

Last on our list of the best ways to live longer and happier is to prioritize serving others. In our hectic world, it’s all too easy to assume that we simply don’t have time to volunteer at local charities and movements. But volunteer work isn’t just a nice thing to do if you have time. It actually has many wellness benefits, perhaps more than anything else you could be doing.

When you spend time actively engaged in a cause bigger than yourself, you inevitably feel better. It doesn’t just distract you from the problems in life, it makes the problems seem less overwhelming. It helps you experience gratitude for the good that you have, and nothing is more rewarding than making life a little better for someone else.

Whether you’re volunteering at your local animal shelter or campaigning for Down syndrome awareness, volunteer work is perhaps the best way to improve your life.

And there you have it: the best ways to live longer and enjoy your life more. Hopefully, you now feel inspired to go live your best life, no matter how old you live to be.