Live Well - Age Well - Repeat!

Facing the Facts: Change your 'beliefs' about ageing.

I've just read about the ground-breaking work of Professor Becca Levy, a leading expert on aging at the Yale School of Public Health. Her research has shown that our beliefs about ageing have a powerful influence on how well or how poorly we age.

Do you think of old age as a time to enjoy or something to dread?

Levy visited Japan, which has some of the world's highest life expectancies. Previous research had attributed this to good genes and a healthy diet. However, what Levy found was that adults in their 30s and 40s who had "positive notions" about old age were more likely to be in good health decades later.

I found this part of her research particularly astounding: she found that people who carried the ApoE4 gene, which increases the risk of Alzheimer's, were 47% less likely to develop dementia if they had an “upbeat view of ageing”. This is compared to ApoE4 carriers who had “grim notions about ageing”.

The ripple effect is that if you BELIEVE you will age well, you'll be more likely to engage in self-care habits like healthy eating, regular exercise, and good sleep.

Take action...
Write on a post-it : “My choices TODAY will inform my brain and body TOMORROW … or sometime in the next few years.”
Stick this on your bathroom mirror, and face the facts EVERY morning!

Change our words to change our world.
Levy's research also shows that ageism, or discrimination against older adults, is a major contributor to negative age beliefs. Structural ageism is often found in the media, where older adults are portrayed in demeaning ways.

Take action...
Be aware of what you 'say' about the oldies, and where possible ‘influence’ what other people say!

The last Take Action : Try Journaling
Levy suggests strategies like "age belief journaling". By shifting our mindset about ageing, we can unlock the power of positive age beliefs to support our health and longevity. It's time to embrace growing older as a time of wisdom, resilience, and continued growth.

#EnjoyBeingOlderAndWiser #BeResilent #BounceForward

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