Send Father Time Packing

While we’d all love to stay forever young, aging is a natural fact of life. But there are steps you can take now to slow the aging process and keep your body and mind in optimal health. Carlyle Stewart, M.D., MPH, FACP, internal medicine physician on the Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano medical staff, offers the following suggestions to slow aging:

1. Stop smoking now. It is widely known that smoking accelerates the aging process and shortens the lifespan. Plus, cigarette smoking damages collagen and elastin, ultimately causing skin to sag and wrinkle prematurely.

2. Reduce your alcohol consumption. While studies have suggested that moderate amounts of red wine may slow aging, alcohol may actually accelerate the aging process by reducing cognitive function at a younger age and contributing to sagging and wrinkling skin.

3. Eat fewer calories. A study released earlier this year found that memory recall and cognitive abilities improved among healthy, overweight individuals who cut their calorie intake by 30 percent over the course of three months. Other recent studies have shown that a low-calorie diet can lead to lower insulin levels and a slower metabolism, both of which are believed to help increase longevity.

4. Get moving. Regular cardiovascular exercise helps reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and other diseases, which, of course, increases longevity. In fact, some research has shown that people who exercise may look younger at a molecular level, too.

5. Monitor — but don’t eliminate — stress. Worrying about your kids has given you a few grey strands, and the stress-induced accelerated aging of our presidents is notorious. And while chronic stress can hasten aging, a study earlier this year helped demonstrate that a moderate amount of stress can actually help keep Father Time at bay.