Many people say that stress is the reason behind all illnesses. This stress is a combination of chemical, physical, and emotional stressors that you even might not be aware of. The good news is that there are several ways to mitigate the negative effects of stress as well. The common health issues you can associate with the elderly that are induced by stress include heart diseases, headaches, depression, diabetes, asthma, gastrointestinal issues, anxiety, and Alzheimer’s diseases. One thing to note here, some of these issues not only affect the elderly but also the members of other generations. Although the stressors in your life may not be terminated completely, it is possible to control our reactions to mitigate their ill effects on your body.
Tips to Reduce Stress
1. Exercise: Recently a study was conducted at the University of Illinois which indicated that moderate and regular aerobic exercise is responsible for improving overall cognitive health. Many elderly people participated in the study. They took a 40 minutes’ walk 3 days per week for a year. They saw a 2% rise in their hippocampus which the area of your brain reserved for learning and memory. Lack of exercise means a reduction in the size of the hippocampus. New brain cells are generated by exercise in the case of elderly people. Never underestimate the power of easily accessible, low-cost, and side-effects free exercises.
2. Be part of Community: Many things lessen for the elderly in their capabilities such as vision, acuity, memory, and hearing with age. There is more to deal with physically and all this leads to the elderly people isolating themselves as they are trying to avoid being found out. It is exactly the opposite of what you need to be doing. A sense of being a part of a community is crucial for reducing stress and improving physical and mental health. You need to keep in mind a few things while participating in the community activities such as social class and money does not matter, you can bring a change any time in your life, and success and happiness are critically dependent on warm relationships. Community participation paves the way for warm relationships which can last seamlessly over your whole life and it increases your happiness and reduces stress.
3. Avoid Sugar and Consume Nutritionally Dense Food: There is one less commonly known stressor that is food lacking in nutritional density. In modern society, it is simple to consume food that is devoid of any nutrition. At an age when you are likely to put on weight, experience more chronic pain, and develop more conditions related to cognitive impairments, you mustn’t ignore your diet. It is critical to the mental health and stress levels of the elderly especially. The food we consume must be full of vitamins and minerals needed by the body to function optimally. It means a diet low in carbohydrates and low in sugar. You need to consume a lot of fish, poultry, salad, nuts, meat, and vegetables. The number one recommendation to reduce stress is avoiding sugar. Its easy energy leads to the craving but there is a direct correlation with diabetes and even death.
If you adopt just one of these methods it may reduce stress for a while but for lasting health benefits it is recommended that you engage in all these activities to a degree. Effect of stress in our body is often cumulative and so are the efforts for reducing the stress. The longer we take part in activities leading to stress relief the more positive will be the impact. It is significant for elderly people to maintain good hearing as well. For those living in the Clearwater, FL area you can get in touch with Countryside Hearing Aid Services to get appropriate hearing aids.
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