Feeling ‘young at heart’ will help you age better

“You’re as young as you feel.”

“I’m feeling old today.”

“I feel half my age!”

You’ve heard people say these things… you’ve probably said them yourself. Depending on the day, we can feel a lot younger or a lot older than our chronological age.

When we feel younger, we can take on the world. But when we’re feeling beyond our years, well, it can be discouraging.

This phenomenon of subjective age is nothing new to most people. What you may not know is that it can be controlled, and that this is a good thing, since it seems that it actually plays a part in determining how long, and how well, we live.

Why feeling younger is healthy

Recently, researchers from Florida State University’s College of Medicine undertook a review of several long-term studies that examined subjective age in relation to health outcomes.

The Health and Retirement Study (2008-2014), the Midlife in the United States Survey (1995-2014) and the National Health and Aging Trends Study (2011-2014) had all looked at subjective age as a possible marker for how long a person will live.

All three studies found evidence that subjective age should be used as a “biopsychosocial marker of aging.” They all found an association between an older subjective age and higher risk of mortality.

In other words, the older you feel on most days, the shorter your lifespan may be.

Feeling younger can save your heart

Researchers at University College London looked at answers to the question, “How old do you feel you are?” when posed to 6500 men and women ages 52 and up.

About 70 per cent felt three or more years younger than their actual age, another 25 percent felt close to their true age, and five percent felt at least a year older than they were.

Eight years later, the researchers went back to see who was still alive. Of those who had felt three or more years younger than their age, 86 percent were still living, compared with 75 percent of those who felt older.

Only 4.3 percent of those who’d felt younger than their age had succumbed to heart disease, compared to 5.6 percent of those who felt their age and 10.2 percent of those who felt older.

Dr. Ronald Siegel, assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School, offers one possible explanation.

“When people see themselves as old, they’re more likely to abandon physical challenges which feel difficult, such as, ‘I don’t think I should ski any more, I’m an old man.’ When people feel younger psychologically, even if physical exercise is challenging, they’re more likely to pursue it, believing no pain no gain.”

Exercise is one important factor in preventing heart disease.

Another recent study may hold a different explanation.

Subjective age and a sense of control

Jennifer Bellingtier, a post-doctoral psychology researcher at Friedrich Schiller University in Germany, surveyed 116 adults ages 60 to 90, as well as 106 adults, ages 18 to 36, every day for nine days. She asked them two questions each day:

How old do you feel?

How in control of your life and actions do you feel?

Both groups experienced fluctuations in their subjective age from day to day. That’s normal. But for the older group, people tended to feel younger on the days they felt more in control of their lives.

A sense of control can certainly lead to making healthy choices like exercising and eating well, which in turn lead to better heart health and greater longevity.

So, how do I feel more in control?

Here are some ideas for keeping that sense of control over your life as you age. Put even one or two of these into practice and see how young you feel!

Spend time with people older and younger than you. When we only spend time with our peers, the behaviors, attitudes and beliefs of our generation can become the only ones we know.

Hanging out with people a decade older than you will expose you to new wisdom and new healthy behaviors, while being with children and teens will remind you what it’s like to see the world through fresh eyes.

Embrace change and new activities. When we try something new, or go to a new location, our brains have to re-wire themselves to accommodate it, and new neurons and synapses are fired. This promotes brain health and rejuvenation.

Travel, taking photos, volunteering, dancing… find something you’ve always wanted to try, and try it!

Keep moving. No secret here. Walk, run, dance, swim… just keep your body moving.

Laugh more. The health benefits of laughing are proven. It destroys stress, improves immunity and keeps your heart strong. It also encourages social connection.