Goodbye to getting old! Age can be just a number if you follow the brilliantly simple advice of one of Britain's top doctors

By Sir Muir Gray, Former Chief Of Knowledge For The Nhs

Recently, I attended the 100th birthday party of a friend. His choice of present? An iPad.  At the party, the ‘birthday boy’ gave a wonderful speech saying, among other things, that he’d just flown for the first time to Israel and fulfilled a long-held ambition to swim in the Dead Sea.

Of course, it’s exceptional to be this lively at the age of 100. But, these days, provided we’re relatively free from the debilitating effects of disease, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to live independently well into our nineties, as well as still take trains and buses, drive a car and enjoy going for walks.

So how is it that we all know some people who seem ‘old’ beyond their years — yet others seem to have a Dorian Gray-style portrait in the attic and barely age at all? After all, there’s no denying that the ageing process exists. For most of us, it actually starts in our late 20s, after our initial burst of growth and development. Once we peak, we must all face a very gradual physical decline.

Even for top sportsmen, at the summit of physical fitness, the ageing process will soon start to kick in, by reducing by one per cent every year the maximum rate at which the heart can beat. This may sound a lot. But even at the age of 70, if you’re otherwise fit, you’d probably only notice the difference if you tried to exercise flat-out to the absolute limit. (And I wouldn’t advise trying that.)

The truth is that most of the limitations that older people experience are not caused by ageing itself — but by the way people choose to live their lives as they grow old. And the good news is that with a few simple tweaks to your lifestyle, you can help reduce those limitations — allowing you to defy the years by staying healthy and active right into your 70s and beyond.

As Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer for England, puts it: ‘We now know that we can postpone many problems that we have assumed to be due to ageing but which well-designed research now proves to be due to loss of fitness, preventable disease and loss of morale’.

In this series, I’ll be telling you how you can tackle all three of those — using simple, practical tips and techniques that I have come across during my 40 years as a doctor specialising in public health issues, most recently as Chief Knowledge Officer for the NHS.

I use many of them myself and can vouch for the way they have helped me continue to lead a full and active life into my eighth decade. When an acquaintance of mine asked me recently how I felt to be 70, I replied: ‘Sod 70!’ Now it’s your turn to say goodbye to getting old.

Age really is just a number

First, let’s start by addressing how you feel about your true age, whatever it may be. Do you tend to scoff when others tell you: ‘you’re only as old as you feel’? Well, you may have to think again. Because one important element which can make us seem and feel much older than we really are is the social and psychological effect of passing a landmark birthday, such as your 60th or 70th.

Some people seem to crumple and give up. They become slower, more cautious, less interested in the world around them. They talk constantly about the past, lamenting the passing of ‘the good old days’, and are fearful of the future. Often, they are negative and pessimistic in their attitude to life — which may in turn lead to them becoming depressed.

Why should this be? It’s because too many people have let themselves be influenced by the prevailing negative stereotype of old age. For some, the problems start with retirement. Until then, you’ve been defined by your job — as a teacher, electrician or manager, for instance. But when this clear-cut role disappears, it can often seem that the world at large has reclassified you as merely ‘elderly’.

Worse, some people will assume you conform to the stereotype of an ‘old person’, unconsciously labelling you as slow, unadventurous and dependent. This is wrong for two reasons. The first is that older people as a group are not slow, unadventurous and dependent; the second is that older people differ more from one another than they are alike.

It’s a sad fact, however, that other people’s expectations, attitudes and prejudices have a bigger influence on us than we like to believe. That’s why it’s so important to guard against this trap.

Think of it like this. When you were 43, for instance, nobody had a clear expectation of what 43-year-olds should or shouldn’t be able to do.

Before we move onto the ways you can improve your physical health, you should start by thinking more positively about growing older. Instead of thinking of yourself as in your 50s, 60s or 70s — with all of the pre-conceived ideas that you and others have about those decades — try imagining yourself as being 43, or some other random age for which there are no such assumptions.

Here are some statements for you to ponder, and repeat to yourself, that can help you realise age really is just a number:
a.       I differ from other people aged 60/70/80 in many more ways than I resemble them.
b.      I’m not really different from the person I was at the age of 43.
c.       I don’t care what other people think about ageing; much of what they believe is wrong.
d.      Life has taught me a great deal.
e.      I have a lot to offer other people.
f.        I know who I am — both my strengths and weaknesses.

The three golden rules

No matter what age you are, it’s seldom too late to start regaining some of your youthful energy, strength, flexibility and appearance. There are three crucial elements that will increase your chances of having a relatively trouble-free and independent old age.

1.       You have to become fitter — even if you already have one or more long-term conditions.
2.       You must actively reduce your risk of developing disease
3.       You need to adopt a positive attitude to life, its problems and opportunities.

All three of these goals are realistically within your grasp.

And don’t worry: they don’t involve wearing Lycra, going on a starvation diet, or chanting every day before breakfast.

But you will need to do some of the simple exercises I’ll be giving you next week — all of which will increase your strength, stamina, balance and suppleness, as well as helping to lower your risk of contracting a disease. You can start with the simple balancing exercises.

With improved fitness, even your risk of getting Alzheimer’s is likely to decrease.

Among others, Professor Carol Brayne, who leads the research programme on Cognitive Function and Ageing at the University of Cambridge, has concluded that just having a vigorous walk a few times a week can lower the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s.

No wonder it’s one of the main keys to good ageing.

How to walk yourself fit

A wealth of research has proven that walking is one of the easiest and best ways to maintain general fitness, and no matter what your age, you should be aiming for at least 30 minutes of walking a day.

If that seems too daunting, then break it up into segments, for example three walks of ten minutes a day.

A busy life is no excuse — just try parking further away from wherever you’re visiting, for example. Or take the stairs rather than the lift. If you really can’t manage this daily, then the minimum — even in your 70s or 80s — should be 30 minutes’ walking, three times a week. So, if you have a mobile phone or personal radio, instead of sitting at home making phone calls or listening to your favourite radio show, why not make it a rule to make your calls or listen to your show while you’re out walking?

On top of this, it’s very important, even if you’re already in your 70s, to do exercise of moderate intensity for ten minutes or more each day. (There’s no single medical condition that will be made worse by moderate exercise — but, if in doubt, consult your GP.)

I’m not talking about going to the gym, by the way — though you can obviously do that if you enjoy it.

All that’s required is that you feel a change in your breathing — not so much that you can’t talk but certainly enough to know you’re out of your normal comfort zone.

The trick here is to build exercise into everyday life so that it doesn’t feel like a chore. You could try, for instance, taking stairs two steps at a time, taking a lively dog for a walk, cycling to the shops, swimming or even taking dance classes.

Boost your energy levels

Your metabolism is the rate at which the body’s energy — from food and oxygen — is produced and used, and it is true that it slows a bit as we grow older. But only a bit.

If you notice a loss of energy, this is likely to be due to other factors — such as disease, depression, lack of fitness, or the side-effects of medication.  The main metabolic problem that affects people in their 60s and 70s, and which thus impacts on their general quality of life, is something called ‘metabolic syndrome’ — a combination of Type 2 diabetes, raised levels of cholesterol and being overweight.

This is often thought to be caused by the consumption of too many calories — and the scientific evidence is certainly that many people, perhaps more than half the people in the UK aged 70 and over, would improve their health if they lost weight, and their joints would heave a sigh of relief, too.

To know whether or not you need to lose weight, look in a mirror and BE HONEST!

Some people are fortunate and lose weight after retirement as they are no longer tied to desk work, or hours of commuting by car or train, but others may find the pounds start to pile on.

As a general rule, remember your weight at the age of 30 and aim for that as your target.

To help reach that weight, older people require less of some foodstuffs, but also an increase in others. So as the years advance, it’s more important than ever to change your diet by:

Eating MORE...
a.       Vegetables and fruit (at least five helpings a day)
b.      Fibre (both soluble fibre, such as found in oats and beans, and insoluble fibre, such as found in pulses and wholemeal foods)
c.       Fish and chicken instead of red meat
d.      Olive oil instead of butter
e.      Semi-skimmed or skimmed milk (this has the least fat and the most calcium per glass)

... and eating less
a.       Sugar, biscuits, cake, sweeties, chocolate and sugar in any form
b.      Sausages and processed meats like salami and ham
c.       Fried food
d.      Alcoholic and sweet drinks
e.      Low fibre food such as white bread (read the packaging and look for breads that have less than 10 grams of carbohydrate to one gram of fibre).

Remember, too, that how you eat is as important as what you eat.

People in countries in which obesity is common often eat while watching television, with the result that when the plate is empty the person looks down and still feels hungry because their brain has not registered the fact that they have been eating.

Take a tip from Victorian health guru Horace Fletcher’s principle that every mouthful should be chewed 32 times. This practice, called Fletcherism, aids digestion, stops you gobbling too much and helps you feel fuller.

However, there is a growing consensus among health professionals that the change that correlates most closely with the increase in obesity is not diet, but the increase in car ownership. For older people, the growing availability of, and reliance on, the car has reduced the amount of energy we spend on getting to work, shopping and recreation.

Yes, more walking — to the shops, to a friend’s house, to the park — combined with a better diet, really is the most effective way of preventing, treating and curing metabolic syndrome and thus making you feel so much more youthful.

No excuses for not starting now

Let’s imagine you’re in your 50s or 60s and feel perfectly OK.

Perhaps you work in an office and don’t have the time to walk much, let alone do any other exercises. Why should you even read what I have to say?

Because the chances are high you’re really not as fit as you think you are.

What this means is that there’s what I call a ‘fitness gap’ between how fit you should be at your age, and how fit you actually are. Why does this matter? Well, let’s just look ahead a few years . . . Are you happy with the idea of becoming one of those 80-year-olds who can no longer do their own shopping, bend to tie their own shoelaces, walk up the stairs without getting breathless or even reach the loo in time?

Didn’t think so. But that’s what you risk happening if, by your 60s and 70s, you don’t start to pay proper attention to your levels of fitness. The importance of this, I’m afraid to say, has never been properly appreciated by the medical profession.

Even if you develop some long-term condition, fitness remains crucial — indeed, it becomes even more important because disease may reduce your ability to remain as active as you were before.

This means that if you’re diagnosed with, say, cancer or heart disease, you will need to focus even more on keeping fit. Not that most doctors and health professionals will tell you this (though there are honourable exceptions).

Instead, many of them go on prescribing more and more drugs which can have harmful side-effects. Prescription drugs have their place, of course. But it’s essential — particularly in later years — to avoid over-diagnosis, over-treatment and over-medicalisation, all of which can have a seriously detrimental effect on your health and quality of life.

Remember: decline is definitely not inevitable.

So whether you’re 50 or 80, make today the day you decide to effect the small changes that will make a big difference to your future.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2913876/NHS-s-Former-chief-Knowledge-Sir-Muir-Gray-gives-advice-living-healthy-lifestyle.html

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