Nine Strategies for Staying Young for Middle-Aged 

The symptoms of menopause aren’t hard to miss. The symptoms that women experience are related to a lowered production of sex hormones, estrogens and progesterone.  These hormones affect many systems and thus women can experience the symptoms of menopause over their entire body. 

Men also go through a very similar aging process. Some doctors call it ‘andropause’. Their symptoms are caused by the reduction of male sex hormone, testosterone. Unlike the more dramatic reproductive hormone plunge in women, the sex hormones changes in men occur gradually. 

For both men and women, the aging process will mean noticeable changes in the hair and the skin. One may feel that energy level is not as high and that to maintain usual weight becomes more difficult. While genetic disposition can affect the aging process, there are ways that you can put in your hands to delay the aging signs to show up on the skin and on the body.

1. Stop the middle-aged spread

Your metabolic rate slows 5% every 10 years.  You consume 200 less calories a day when you are 45 when compared to when you were 25. If you consume the same amount of calories as before, you can easily gain 8-12 pounds in a year! Obesity is strongly linked to hypertension, heart disease, gout and diabetes. If you are overweight, you need to talk to your doctor to come up with a weight loss plan. Do not depend on diet pills or go on a diet plan without consulting your doctor. Eat a balanced diet, keep up your exercise. You do not need to starve yourself to lose weight.

2.  Stay active

You have to exercise 30 minutes a day. Even though your muscle is sore, don’t make it an excuse to skip your exercise. A good work-out can relieve physical pain, and may help lower future risks of health problems, such as middle-aged spread, heart disease, diabetes and dementia. You do not have to run marathons or join an expensive gym. Swimming, running, playing tennis, dancing and walking are all good exercises that you can do.

3.  Ease your stress

You are facing a lot of stress. Work, family, finances and health can all add to your stress. Anxiety has negative effects on both your skin and your body. To effectively combat stress, you need to activate the body’s natural relaxation response. Take a deep breath: inhale for 4 seconds, and exhale for 6 seconds.  You can also try watching a comedy or practicing laughter yoga. Laughter is more effective to release stress than you think. When you laugh for one minute, your muscles can relax for up to 45 minutes. Laughter can stimulate the brain to release endorphins, the happy hormone. Engaging in sports activities, listening to music can also help release endorphins.

4. Eat smarter 

In traditional Chinese medicine, it is believed that food is the best medicine. In recent years, nutrition experts have strongly recommended fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meat, seafood, dairy products and olive oil-based Mediterranean diet. Scientists point out that these foods can help reduce inflammation and improve brain function. In addition, both Chinese or western cancer organizations have recommended the Rainbow Diet, i.e. to consume a variety of fruits and vegetables that are of different colors on a daily basis, for example: red peppers, black beans, white mushroom, green grapes, blueberries, dark green spinach, carrots and brown rice. Foods of different colors contain different nutrients and have different health benefits on the human body. 

5. Take your supplement

In the western culture, vitamin and mineral supplements are usually added to a diet to ensure all essential nutrients are covered. In the Chinese food culture, the supplement is usually in the form of a double-boiled soup where special ingredients and herbs are cooked for extended time and have all the goodness extracted into an easily-digestible format. According to traditional Chinese medicine, bird's nest has superb benefits on skin beauty and health and Cordyceps has immunity-boosting benefits and can enhance the working of the lungs, kidneys and liver. Recent scientific findings also reinforce the belief of traditional Chinese medicine. When you pass the age of 40, your body is no longer working at its peak. You need to give the body extra nourishment to upkeep the functioning of different organs. If you find making the nourishment soup too time-consuming, you can consider buying bottled bird's nest, essence of chicken drink with Cordyceps. But do look for trustworthy brands to ensure the quality and good value for money.

6. Do not skip your physcial check-up 

After the menopause transition, men and women may experience an increase risk of chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and liver problem. Do not skip you annual physical examinations so as to catch on the diseases early. Tell your doctor your family medical history, and let him advise you on the tests you need. Your doctor will also remind you of vaccination boosts, for example tetanus and hepatitis B.

7. Protect your skin against the sun

No one like having wrinkles on their face. Unless you do a facelift or Botox injection, there is no magical way to reverse the appearance of wrinkles. What you can do now is to protect the skin, and do not let the harmful ultraviolet lights from the sun and the dry / cold weather do further damage to your skin. Not only can UV lights lead to freckles and wrinkles, but it can also increase the risk of skin cancer. So no matter whether it is sunny, cloudy or rainy, you must put on sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher to protect you from both UVA and UVB lights. UVA can penetrate glass, so be sure to protect the face and the back of the hand while driving.

8. Take care of your teeth 

You care about wrinkles on your face and your thinning hair, but tend to ignore the yellowish teeth that add ten years to your look. It is important to see your dentist every 6 months. After all, you do only have 36 teeth. If you lose one, you lose one. Apart from the teeth, it is also important to take care of your oral hygiene. Do you know that tooth decay can lead to sepsis and periodontitis may increase the risk of heart disease and diabetes? So, make sure you schedule to see your dentist regularly. 

9. Protect your eyes 

The risk of having presbyopia, cataracts and glaucoma increases when you are over 40.  You need to have your eyes checked every year. Some problems of the body can also be revealed by eye examination, for example the hardening of retinal artery can be tell-tale sign of a larger problem concerning the systemic arterial health. You should always wear sunglasses when you go out to protect your eyes from the harmful UV lights so as to prevent cataracts and macular degeneration.

You don’t need to look your age. Take action today!

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