How to Become a Pro-Ager

  Explore this article:

• 6 Strategies to Embrace ProAging
• 4 Pro Tips for Healthy Aging

At age 70, Joan MacDonald was struggling. She stood 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighed 198 pounds. She suffered from high blood pressure, acid reflux, edema in her ankles, and acute arthritis. Stairs were hard to climb, and she felt tired much of the time.

She knew her lifestyle was contributing to her health issues, but her own efforts to create change never seemed to last.

Joan’s daughter Michelle — a strength and conditioning specialist, health coach, yoga practitioner, and chef — had other ideas for her mom. She had seen her clients thrive when they became active, attentive to their diets, and optimistic about their bodies and their lives. So she got her mom started on an exercise regimen, a whole-foods diet, and a regular meditation practice.

Within two years, Joan went from avoiding stairs to doing weighted pull-ups.

Today she’s a fitness influencer with nearly 2 million followers whose Train With Joan program offers workouts, recipes, and community building through a range of digital channels. “Exercise and nutrition saved my life,” she says. “You can’t turn back the clock — but you can wind it up again.”

Exercise and nutrition were cen­tral to the improvements in Joan’s health — but also fundamental to her transformation was a shift in her attitude about aging. To feel better, she first had to discard her assumptions that youth is required for vitality and age equals obsolescence. She became pro-aging.

A pro-aging attitude doesn’t ­require Pollyanna-ish ­positivity. ­Despite our fears, research has shown most older adults will maintain relatively good health and cognitive functioning. Yet we’re surrounded by antiaging messages, from “antiaging” skincare services to well-meaning compliments like “you look so young for your age!”

In some circles, antiaging’s high-tech face is the pursuit of infinite longevity. This includes “biological reprogramming” techniques that promise to reprogram the body at a cellular level and extend lifespan.

Yet pro-agers don’t deny their mortal state; they simply make the most of life and enhance their health in all the ways they still can. They have shown time and again that it’s possible to embrace aging for all it offers, even as we miss what it inevitably takes away.

Attitude Matters

American culture is obsessed with youth — and it doesn’t seem to help us age more gracefully. By contrast, the Japanese, who honor age and celebrate Keiro No Hi (“Respect for the Aged Day”) in the third week of September, have one of the longest life expectancies of any nationality. Japan is also the home of more centenarians and supercentenarians (people who live to be 110 and beyond) than any other country.

Becca Levy, PhD, is a professor of social and behavioral sciences at Yale School of Public Health. When she traveled to Japan in graduate school and saw how differently aging is perceived and experienced in that country, she was inspired to focus her entire career on researching, writing about, and advocating for aging. She’s now a leading expert on how mindset influences how we age, and she shares many of her findings in Breaking the Age Code: How Your Beliefs About Aging Determine How Long and Well You Live.

The book features one decades-long study that surveyed a group of older adults in Oxford, Ohio, about their attitudes toward aging. Levy correlated their responses with data from the National Death Index, a federal effort to assess Americans’ longevity.

She was startled to find that the people with the most positive views on aging lived an average of seven and a half years longer than those with the most negative attitudes. “Age beliefs were determining their lifespans, above and beyond the influence of gender, race, socioeconomic status, age, loneliness, and health,” she writes.

A positive outlook about aging may even influence motor skills. In one of Levy’s studies, a group of older adults exposed to subliminal age-­positive messages demonstrated faster walking speed and better balance compared with a group that heard neutral messages.

Even gene expression may be affected by mindset, her research found. One group of study subjects who carried the APOE4 gene (a risk factor for Alzheimer’s) were almost 50 percent less likely to develop the disease if their attitude toward aging was positive.

6 Strategies to Embrace Pro-Aging

There’s no denying that aging changes our bodies. Frank Lipman, MD, a New York–based integrative-medicine practitioner, acknowledges that there is “a generalized decrease in functioning of the organism” as we age.

In other words, our cells exhibit less gusto than they once did: They’re less efficient at cleaning up cellular waste. Sex-hormone production diminishes. Bones become more fragile and we lose some synaptic connections in our brains.

Still, this is no reason to give up on our health — or our lives. ­Lipman suggests these physical changes are simply good reasons to become more conscious and proactive about maintaining good health as we age. (See “Pro Tips for Healthy Aging” at the end of this article.)

Not least because even these age-related health effects aren’t universal. Nor are they inevitable.

The aging process is influenced by more than just time — including a host of factors within our control. In his book The New Rules of Aging Well, Lipman explains a range of ways we can improve our physical health as we age. (Learn more about them at “10 Essentials of Aging Well.”)

Still, as Levy shows, attitude makes a difference — even without dramatic behavioral changes.

“If we only look at average aging, which is what some research does,” she notes, “we won’t recognize the heterogeneity, the diversity of the aging experience. It’s not inevitable that everyone’s going to show decline across the board. There are people who maintain high levels and even show improvements in later life.”

These strategies can help you become a pro-ager, from the ground up.

Treat your brain like your heart. No aspect of aging stokes as much anxiety as cognitive decline, from the loss of sharpness to full-blown dementia. While the exact causes of Alzheimer’s remain a matter of debate, there’s a lot we can do to maintain brain health — especially if we remember that the brain is a physical organ, intimately connected to the rest of the body.

“Sometimes people underestimate how much physical health directly impacts brain health,” says neuropsychologist Vonetta Dotson, PhD, a professor of gerontology and psychology at Georgia State University and author of Keep Your Wits About You: The Science of Brain Maintenance as You Age.

“As we get older, our risk for things like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart attack gets higher. Well, all that has to do with blood flow not being adequate. If your heart’s having problems, that means your brain is having problems too; your brain is not getting adequate blood flow.”

“The example I always give is vascular health,” she says. “As we get older, our risk for things like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart attack gets higher. Well, all that has to do with blood flow not being adequate. If your heart’s having problems, that means your brain is having problems too; your brain is not getting adequate blood flow.”

This is why one of Dotson’s mantras is “heart health equals brain health.” She believes that heart-healthy measures, such as regular exercise, a plant-rich diet, smoking cessation, moderate alcohol consumption, and good stress management, all contribute to a healthy brain.

Keep learning. Integrative psychiatrist Henry Emmons, MD, coauthor of Staying Sharp, differentiates between the mind and the brain. He believes that as we age, the mind can help protect the organ.

“The brain is very much a physical, anatomical, chemical structure,” he explains. “The mind utilizes the brain, but it’s more than that. It includes elements of consciousness, awareness, our sense of self, our ability to connect with others. It’s not only the physical structure we want to strengthen, but also this capacity for conscious awareness.”

Emmons acknowledges that brain function changes as we age, but this doesn’t have to amount to a loss of sharpness.

“The 20-year-old brain is like a young forest,” he says. “There are lots and lots of trees, but they’re not mature. And as we age, the forest may be smaller, but the trees are bigger. They’re branching farther. The neurons that are there, if they’re well cared for, can function very well.”

The point, Emmons adds, is to nurture the growth of those trees. “It’s to our advantage to continually work at forcing more branching and connecting of these neurons.”

How do we do it? Just as we ­always have: by learning new things — ­ideally, he argues, in the spirit of fun and community. “Those are the things that seem to promote this ongoing process of brain connectivity,” Emmons says. “They can even aid in creating new brain cells.”

Research has shown that strengthening the mind through mindfulness practices also helps maintain mental acuity. In a study published in 2021, a group of sub­jects aged 65 to 80 who received mindfulness training did better on a test that evaluated memory, executive functioning, and overall cognition than a control group.

Functional MRI scans of the mindfulness group also showed increased neural activity in the default network of their brains, particularly between the hippocampus — a part of the brain integral to memory — and the posteromedial cortex, which is involved in self-­processing and self-awareness.

Stay curious. Emmons believes staying interested in life is a key to healthy aging — and this means being open to new things.

“It’s important not to be too fixed in our beliefs or our routines,” he says. “It’s good to have a little bit of routine, but we don’t want it to become rigid. In fact, we don’t want anything about our mind or brain to become rigid. We want to keep challenging them, keep exposing ourselves to new things, keep trying to do things in slightly different ways than before.”

Curiosity helps promote new brain-cell growth and new neural connections, he adds. And we can intentionally cultivate it. It may take some effort, but that’s helpful too.

We don’t want anything about our mind or brain to become rigid. We want to keep challenging them, keep exposing ourselves to new things, keep trying to do things in slightly different ways than before.

“Genuine curiosity might actually make us a little uncomfortable,” Emmons adds. “It’s a healthy form of mild stress; something that we’re curious about puts us out of our comfort zone a bit. That’s very, very good for the brain.”

Research supports this. A 2018 Dutch neuroimaging study showed that curiosity and discovery — especially in situations where the outcome is uncertain — elicit activity in the frontal and parietal brain areas. These zones support attention and self-control.

Adjust your beliefs. The physical effects of aging in our bodies are the “downstream factors,” Levy argues. Our individual and collective beliefs about aging, meanwhile, are the “upstream” determinants. Her research has shown repeatedly how a shift in attitude has real implications for health.

“If we can change the upstream beliefs and social determinants,” she notes, “and create a culture that has more positive age beliefs, then those ways of thinking are going to trickle down and potentially lead to benefits for individuals of all ages.”

It makes sense: If you believe you’re too old to do something — exercise, learn something new, stay socially engaged — you won’t do it. But if you believe life is still an open book, you’re far more likely to try new things, stay active, and maintain the optimism that sustains you for the effort it takes to stay sharp and strong.

Update your aging vocabulary. How we talk about aging — to others and ourselves — is an easy thing to change. Faced with a challenge, instead of defaulting to negative self-talk like I’m too old for that, we can ask ourselves, What kind of help and support do I need to make this happen?

Rather than reflexively saying, I’m way too old to wear this, we can ask ourselves, Do I like this? Does it make me feel amazing? Then I’m wearing it!

The Pacific Neuroscience Institute has a list of suggestions for adjusting our antiaging talk, including remarks that may be well intentioned:

• Instead of “You look so young,” try “That outfit is fantastic.”
• Instead of “You’re so young at heart,” try “I love your appetite for life.”
• Instead of “Wow, that’s so great you live on your own,” try “How do you like living alone? Do you have all the support you need?”
• Instead of “Should you really be surfing/rock climbing/riding a motor­cycle at 65?” just ask “Do you have your wetsuit/harness/helmet?”

(To learn more about softening self-criticism and changing your internal dialogue for the better, try these six tips.)

Embrace wisdom. The original pro-aging idea holds true: Age can bring wisdom. Multiple experiences of joy and sorrow, frustration and fulfillment, can lead us toward a more thoughtful, nuanced, and serene approach to life.

Of course, that’s not a given. Life can be difficult, and it’s just as easy to rehash old resentments and see the passing years as bringing nothing but weakness, decline, trouble, and loss. But we have a choice about which route to take.

We can embrace our wisdom rather than our resentment — and if we choose, we can pass it on to our loved ones who are (for now) still enjoying their youth.

In her book The Swedish Art of Aging Exuberantly: Life Wisdom From Someone Who Will (Probably) Die Before You, Margareta Magnusson shares stories of a life on multiple continents, including memories of a world at war. She embodies the flexibility, positivity, joy, and wisdom of a pro-aging attitude.

“When you are over 80, it is easy to be angry,” she writes. “There is new stuff all the time — new politicians, new countries, new wars, new technologies.”

“If you are over 80,” she continues, “you have two choices: Be angry, or go with the flow. Please try the latter. To accept, even enjoy, the changes can be really fun.”

Her most cherished memories involve the times she embraced whatever life brought her. “The older I get, the more I find that I remember clearly all the things I said yes to, just when I was about to say no. I must admit I have not been open-minded all the time. I just wish I had been.”

A pro-aging attitude, pro-aging beliefs, and proactive self-care make it easier to say yes to all that our lives still have to offer. We can embrace our wisdom rather than our resentment — and if we choose, we can pass it on to our loved ones who are (for now) still enjoying their youth.

4 Pro Tips for Healthy Aging

The body does change over time. These suggestions from integrative physician Frank Lipman, MD, can help you adjust your behaviors with the goal of maintaining your best possible health.

1) Keep Moving

Regular movement may be the most important thing you can do physically as you age. You don’t have to become a marathon runner, says Lipman: “Just get up and move around. Getting out of your chair, walking up the stairs, just doing basic day-to-day things — it’s all extremely important.”

On top of that base­line, Lipman also recommends strength training. “As we get older, we lose muscle mass; we get weaker,” he notes. “We need to work harder.”

Studies from the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University have suggested that the best way to improve physical function and avoid disability as we age is a combination of walking and resistance training.

2) A Little Less

A diet rich in whole foods, with plenty of vegetables, fruits, and healthy fats, is important at any age. It’s also vital to get ample protein as we grow older: It helps counteract the loss of muscle mass.

Lipman also recommends eating less overall as our caloric needs and digestive power decline in later life. “Eating less is one of the factors that have been studied the most in the promotion of longevity,” he says. “The more food, the more work you need to do to break it down properly, and our digestive mechanisms are less efficient as we age. Less food is less strain on the system.”

He suggests frequent 16-hour overnight fasts to let the digestive system rest. This can be as simple as eating an early dinner and waiting to eat again until lunch the next day.

He also recommends cutting back on refined sugar to reduce inflammation as well as the risk of insulin resistance, which can lead to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular problems. This may also reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, which some research has linked to insulin resistance.

(See “Can Reducing Calories Really Help You Live Longer?” for more.)

3) Improve Your Sleep

The National Institute on ­Aging states that older adults need just as much sleep as anyone else — seven to nine hours a night — but it’s often harder to get.

As it ages, the body’s production of many hor­mones decreases, and one of those is the sleep-­supportive hormone melatonin. “If you’re sitting in front of a screen or in bright lights, your body is not going to secrete any melatonin at all, and it’s hard for your body to adjust to a quick transition between bright light and darkness,” Lipman explains. “So, a gradual transition from light to dark can be helpful — it will help your body start secreting the melatonin it needs.”

This can be as simple as avoiding screens and lowering the lights in the last hour before bed, which gives your body a chance to wind down.

Other ways to support good sleep include maintaining a routine bedtime, avoiding long naps, keeping your bedroom cool, and avoiding caffeine and large meals late in the day. (For more sleep-supportive strategies, visit “How to Stop Insomnia.”)

4) Stay Hydrated

Hydration becomes more of an issue as we grow older. “It’s not necessarily because we need more water,” says Lipman, “but because our capacity to sense that we are dehydrated decreases. We don’t get as thirsty.”

Hydration is critical for the human body. It keeps tissues flexible and healthy and reduces inflammation by flushing toxins.

Hydration is also key for protecting the joints,  because water accounts for about 80 percent of their cartilage. (Find more ways to support joint health at “What to Eat for Healthy Joints.”)

Try these useful tricks for maintaining hydration:

• Drink a glass of water first thing in the morning.
• Invest in an attractive water bottle that you enjoy using.
• Keep a hydration log.
• Set “drink water” reminders on your digital devices.
• Drink a glass of water before any meal.
• Check the color of your urine. Clear or light colored signals good hydration.

This article originally appeared as “Become a Pro-Ager” in the September/October 2024 of Experience Life.