Longevity has become a bigger buzzword in wellness circles than weight loss in recent years. As the focus shifts from merely physical appearance to lifespan and quality of life, it is essential to examine the concept of longevity from various perspectives.
While women live longer than men, their quality of life seems to be poorer.
Harvard Health reports that 57 percent of people aged 65 and above are women, and this percentage increases to 67 percent by the age of 85. Despite this advantage in mortality, women in the European Union spend a greater share of their lives in ill health as per World Health Organisation (WHO).
Longevity specialist Dr Vonda Wright, an orthopedic surgeon, in her latest book – Unbreakable: A Woman’s Guide to Aging With Power aims to educate women on how they may age differently than men and suggests lifestyle interventions that can help them age better.
Dr Wright in her new book encourages women to build the right mindset to be healthy and strong as they age. She also reveals the critical decade – 35-45 years old – can be utilised to strengthen oneself and not surrender to the discomforts that come with age.
“I believe and have shown that with a daily investment in our mobility, in smart nutrition, in mobilizing our mindset,” Wright said, “we can live healthy, vital, active, joyful, unbreakable lives long into the foreseeable future.”
The challenge posed by perimenopause period
The longevity expert highlights a crucial aspect of a woman’s health that gets affected during the perimenopause period – estrogen levels.
Dr Wright told CNN Health that women can lose 15% to 20% of the bone density during perimenopause which is a more rapid bone density loss compared to men as they age. Lack of estrogen can starve the brain and increase inflammation and risk for cardiovascular disease, she says. “Making your hormone optimization decision based on facts, not fear, is one of the first decisions I want women to make,” adds Dr Wright.
What women should eat to improve their longevity
The orthopedic surgeon says the focus should be to be lean and not too skinny. She also emphasized on the importance of eating healthy for women. “I’m a big proponent of 1 gram of protein per ideal pound a day, so that we support the muscle we’re trying to build,” she told the publication.
However, she warns against eating too much sugar “because it’s cooking us from the inside out.”
“It contributes to multiple diseases caused by chronic, age-related inflammation. I’m not against carbs; I’m against simple carbs and sugar because of what they do to our glycemic index, which measures how quickly a food makes your blood sugar rise,” Dr Wright tells CNN, adding that whole foods must form an important part of the diet.
Exercises
Yoga and pilates
Among the exercise recommendations from Dr Wright are Yoga, Pilates, tai chi, and dynamic stretching. She says tendons, ligaments and muscles shorten with time which may lead to stiff joints.
Aerobic exercises
Suggesting some heart-friendly workout for women, Dr Wright’s book focuses on cardiovascular health exercises, and not just high-intensity interval training.
“I prescribe 80-20 aerobic activity, which means 80% of the time we are in lower heart rate exercise, whether it’s walking or something else, and 20% of the time we are sprinting. This is modeled after what we do with pro athletes,” she was quoted by CNN Health as saying.
Strength training: “Our goal is strength and power, so lifting heavy is very well detailed for hundreds of pages in this book. Basically, it means fewer reps, higher weights,” she adds.
Preventing falls: The expert’s focus is also on equilibrium, or balance, and foot speed.
“You may be strong and flexible, but if you trip and fall, you often have what’s called a fatal fall and break something that 50% of the time puts you in a nursing home,” she told the outlet.