Are you making yourself older with some of the things you do on the daily? Many people have habits that are speeding up their ageing clock, and they don’t even realise it. Let’s look at the 6 most common ways that you could be speeding up the ageing process in your body.
6 AGEING ACCELERATORS TO DITCH
1. EATING JUNK FOOD
Find yourself relying heavily on junk food, refined carbohydrates and pre-packaged meals? If so, you might be eating your way to a faster ageing clock.
One of the biggest accelerator of ageing is AGEs (advanced glycation end products). These not only make you look older, but contribute to inflammation, oxidative stress and even chronic disease like heart disease and diabetes.
The major source of AGEs? Highly processed foods, refined carbohydrates and fried foods all contribute to the production. So if you’re eating lots of treats, sweets, takeaway and other indulgences, you’re putting your foot on the ageing accelerator.
2. MISSING OUT ON ANTI-AGEING SUPERFOODS
It’s not just about what you eat – it’s also about what you don’t eat. If you’re missing out on nutrient-packed foods that have anti-ageing properties, your body can’t counteract the less healthy choices you make.
To slow down ageing, you want to choose foods that contain:
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Fibre
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Antioxidants
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Vitamins (particularly fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin E)
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Omega-3 fatty acids
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Water (hydration is a must!)
3. DRINKING TOO MUCH ALCOHOL
Another big ageing factor is alcohol consumption. The occasional glass of red wine isn’t a big deal – in fact, some research shows that light alcohol consumption is linked to a slower biological clock!
But when you’re drinking multiple days per week or consuming 7+ standard drinks in a week, this can speed the ageing process right up. It also contributes to a heavy liver burden, inflammation and oxidative stress, along with increasing the risk of most chronic diseases. So it’s best to have a few alcohol-free nights per week and to make sure you're taking in nutrients that support the liver's natural detoxification processes, such as those in Energy Glow NR.
4. SKIMPING ON SLEEP
Think you can sleep when you’re dead? Well unfortunately, neglecting your slumber can speed you up on the journey of life, so that might be sooner than you think!
When you sleep, your mind is resting, but the rest of your body is hard at work. It works on detoxifying and removing waste from the different systems and even the brain. Your immune system is focused on repairing areas of damage and inflammation that occurred throughout the day.
So when you skip out on sleep to catch up on other things, your body doesn’t get a decent chance to reboot and repair.
Insufficient sleep can also lead to:
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Blood sugar regulation issues (hello, sugar cravings!)
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Reduced thyroid function
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Higher stress levels
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More inflammation throughout the body
All of these add up to premature ageing throughout the body.
5. OVERLOADING ON STRESS
Are you always busy, overwhelmed or feel like you’re doing too much? A little stress from time to time is normal, but chronic stress can have serious detrimental effects on your wellbeing.
Chronic stress leads to increased cortisol – a key stress hormone. Cortisol ramps up your inflammatory pathways, interferes with your blood sugar levels and can sabotage your thyroid function. All of these effects age you, plus they also contribute to more stress, so it becomes a vicious cycle.
Need to get your stress under control? Adaptogens like Astragalus, Ashwaghanda KSM66®️ and Siberian ginseng support the stress response while you're working on other strategies such as breathwork, mindfulness and spending time in nature.
6. TREATING AGEING FROM THE OUTSIDE ONLY
This one is all too common because we are constantly bombarded with anti-ageing as a cosmetic concern. But everything that you put on your skin is only ever a temporary fix for ageing! Anti-Ageing is an inside job! This can be through nutrition, building stress resilience, moving your body and taking a supplement such as Energy Glow NR which supports healthy ageing.
