10 everyday habits that speed up ageing

What we eat, how much we move, our mood, our personality, everything can have an impact on how fast we age. Are you also making these mistakes?

Every decision you make on a daily basis can either slow down your biological age or increase it. What we eat, how much we move, our mood, our personality, everything can have an impact on how fast we age. Yet most of us don't pay attention to these nitty-gritties of our daily lifestyle.

Observing and correcting our daily habits can slow down ageing to an extent and add quality years to our life. (Pixabay)

Memory problems, wrinkles, muscle loss, dull skin and fatigue are some of the signs of ageing. It is natural to panic when one spots these worrisome signs, and take refuge in anti-ageing products trying to reverse ageing.

Observing and correcting our daily habits can slow down ageing to an extent and add quality years to our life.

"Remove the things that speed up ageing before focussing on the things that slow it down. Seems obvious right? We get told to use Hyperbaric Oxygen to improve life length, and take this or that to reverse the years - but what about removing unhealthy food, sitting all day or the other things in the image first? To me, it seems crazy that longevity “experts” talk about how to reverse ageing - but don’t discuss removing the things that speed it up enough," says Tim Gray, health optimising biohacker, psychology specialist, entrepreneur and global speaker in a recent post on Instagram.

Sitting all day: While one may not realise the perils of a sedentary lifestyle immediately, over the time, sitting all day is actually killing us. From increasing our risk of chronic diseases, raising our chances of dying of Covid, putting us at risk of certain cancers, high blood pressure, obesity, depression and anxiety, this toxic habit no doubt is making us age faster.

Eating unhealthy food: Is stocking up on calorie-laden food your secret formula to handle stress? Guess what, you are doing it wrong. Foods high in saturated fats, bad cholesterol, sugar and sodium can increase inflammation in the body. Ageing is regarded as the chronic inflammatory state and eating unhealthily can speed it up. Find a better way to handle stress and stay young for longer.

Not laughing: If you are not laughing enough and it has been long, watch the latest episode of The Kapil Sharma Show or download a comedy movie. Not laughing enough can lead to accumulation of stress which could decrease infection-fighting capacity of your body cells. Laughter triggers release of feel-good hormones and promotes overall sense of well-being.

Staying indoors: While pandemic has turned many of us into an 'indoor-person', it's time to put on those running shoes and do some physical activities. Besides, staying at home all the time can also impact your mental health which could speed up ageing process.

Sleeping less: Do not binge-watch or unwind at the cost of making yourself older before the time comes. According to a study, just a single night of insufficient sleep can make an older adults' cells age quicker. Rest well to stay young.

Not having goals: Not having a direction or a motivation in life can make one feel depressed.

Too much fake light: Fake light emitted from your smartphones and screens is known to promote ageing and decrease longevity as per studies.

Smoking and alcohol: While you may find temporary happiness and excitement while smoking or drinking alcohol, they are actually stealing years from your life.

Too much EMF: Electromagnetic field radiation from 5G is said to have an impact on immune system as per some reports.

Not reducing environmental pollution: Exposure to particular matter is associated with premature skin ageing.