7 Easy Way For Women To Be Healthy in Their 20s, 30s, and 40s

Prevention is always better than cure, they say, and who would say nay to that. We should be fully prepared to do whatever it takes to prevent early aging to happen, or even worse, chronic diseases like cancer. You don’t have to be old to start being aware and do preventive measures. Early prevention is even better!

 

Degenerative Diseases

According to Samuel Oetoro, MD who’s a specialist in clinical nutrition, the one disease that’s most Indonesians suffer from nowadays is degenerative diseases. Degenerative diseases are diseases in which affected tissue or organ will increasingly deteriorate overtime, for examples diabetes and obesity. Lifestyle is the one most important factor for these kinds of diseases. So what do we have to do to prevent this to happen in our 20s, 30s, and 40s?


In your 20s

#1 Be Aware of Exercising!

You might cringe just reading that. I mean exercising is good for the health, no? That’s what everyone has been going on and on about. Turns out, too much exercise that push ourselves well beyond our limits can speed up early aging and increase the chance of damage to blood vessels. Forcing yourself too much physically can promote productions of free radicals that are bad for your health. So be aware of the way you are exercising. Know your own limit and strength!

 

#2 Control Your Weight

Siti Annisa Nuhoni, MD, a specialist in medical rehabilitation or physiotherapy, said that underweight individuals are significantly more at risk to get osteoporosis due to the lack of proper nutrition to their bones and body in general. So, when you’re in a diet, don’t go too overboard! Make sure you’re still within the healthy weight limit and that you’re getting the proper nutrition that your body needs.

 

In your 30s

#3 Consume Raw Coconut Milk

Processed coconut milk is high in saturated fat that might not be the best for you, but their raw, unprocessed counterpart is much healthier. Raw coconut milk contains a lot of beneficial nutrients that’s easily absorbed and turned into energy. So, if you must consume coconut milk, do pick the raw version.

 

#4 Eat Chocolates!

This might be the one tip that gets you all excited. But hold your horses! Before you go on a chocolate and chocolate candy bar shopping spree and stuff yourself silly with them, the kind of chocolate that’s healthy for you is the dark version with at least 70% cocoa in it with no added sugar. Dark chocolate contains antioxidant, which can ward off free radicals. Consuming dark chocolate regularly can minimize free radicals in our body.

 

#5 Up Your Calcium Intake

Your bone is one of the most important parts of your body, so keeping them healthy is of paramount importance. Upping your calcium intake, which is necessary for our bone health, is then understandably imperative. Our body does not produce calcium, so the only way our body can get calcium is from an external source like consumption of milk and milk products. “Drinking milk regularly and as early as possible is necessary because the growth of our bone density stops when we are 40. Women have a higher need for calcium intake, especially when they are pregnant,” Siti Annisa Nuhoni, MD suggested.

 

In Your 40s

#6 Try Avocado!

A lot of us have a misconception about how high the fat content in avocado is and how we should avoid it entirely if we want to lose weight. But do you know that avocado is high in omega-9 fatty acid that activates insulin? That’s why avocado is good for diabetics. There is no prohibition for diabetics in consuming avocado as long as it’s not mixed together with other ingredients which might counter the benefits of the avocado itself, like brown sugar or sugary chocolate syrup. Not only avocado, olives can also activate insulin in our system.

 

#7 Avoid Sugar

According to Samuel Oetoro, MD, in the community of clinical nutrition specialist, sugar is known as poison. Studies have shown that sugar speeds up the aging process. So for you who don’t want to get wrinkles and premature aging, you should reduce your intake of sugar, or even better, omit them all together from your diet.


Originally published on Fimela.com. Translated and edited by Gold's Gym Indonesia.