A Ripe Old Age
The right foods, moderate exercise, and regular medical checkups can add years to your life
Congratulations, you've saved for retirement or are well on your way. Now you just need to stay healthy in order to enjoy the rewards. The good news: You can do a few things that will significantly reduce your chances of dying prematurely, while making your golden years shine more brightly.
The bad news is that even the simplest steps prove too difficult for many to follow. That includes exercising, eating a balanced, low-to-moderate-fat diet, quitting smoking, and getting regular medical screenings and checkups. That's too bad, as retirement is not just a time for slowing down. It's also the time when many serious health problems--including heart disease, cancer, and strokes, the top three causes of death for people over 65--increasingly show up.
Tim Gormley of Bow, N.H., learned this the hard way. Now 65, Gormley escaped a close brush with death in 1998, which forced him into early retirement. A former school superintendent, Gormley rarely saw a doctor and considered himself healthy, even though he worked long hours, didn't exercise, gorged on red meat, and indulged a weakness for eating whole pies with crusts made of lard.
While shoveling snow one day, Gormley suffered a heart attack. He underwent a quintuple heart bypass and later had a pacemaker installed. "It was a big-time wake-up call," he says. Gormley replaced the red meat with chicken, turkey, and salmon and began eating more fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain breads. He became an avid walker and began meditating. He lost nearly 35 pounds, dropped from a 38-inch to a 35-inch waist, and says, "I have a lot more energy and stamina now than I probably had 10 years before [the heart attack]."
Living longer. Americans' life expectancy has increased dramatically over the past century, from 47 years for someone born in 1900 to 77.3 years for those born in 2002. Reach age 65, and you can expect to live on average an additional 18.2 years. Changing bad lifestyle habits in your 50s and 60s and even beyond can reduce or prevent suffering from the diseases older people face, as well as make you feel better.
"People tend to think of breakthroughs in medicine as a new drug, laser, or high-tech surgical procedure," says Dean Ornish, founder of the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute, clinical professor of medicine at the University of California-San Francisco and bestselling author. "They often have a hard time believing that the simple choices that we make in our lifestyle--what we eat, how we respond to stress, whether or not we smoke cigarettes, how much exercise we get, and the quality of our relationships and support--can be as powerful as drugs and surgery, but they often are."
Leon Atkind, 90, of Clifton, N.J., cites "eating sensibly and keeping exercising" as two key reasons he stays healthy and loves life. While recent hip and knee replacements have kept him off the golf course longer than he prefers, the former owner of a menswear chain and current chairman of Smart Cars USA still swims daily. Throughout his adult life, he has been active, playing tennis, handball, and golf. He also says his mother fixed healthful meals for her family, cooking with whole-wheat flour and brown rice, for example, rather than refined white counterparts.
Adopting such eating habits at almost any age will reap benefits, says Alice Lichtenstein, director of the cardiovascular nutrition laboratory at Tufts University. Think dietary pattern, rather than going on a diet. "It really has to be a lifestyle, a permanent shift," she says. Lichtenstein recommends aging adults eat a moderate-fat diet, in which about one third or fewer calories come from fat, but warns against going on a very low-fat diet, as that can raise triglycerides and lower the good HDL cholesterol. But keep the saturated and so-called trans fats low. "Think energy-producing calories," she says.
Research suggests a preferable diet is one high in fruits and vegetables and whole, not refined, grains, with a moderate intake of lean meats, fish at least twice a week, and some amount of low-fat or nonfat dairy products. Even small changes, such as selecting leaner meats, preparing them differently, or using milk instead of cream in coffee, are beneficial and help reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, and other leading killers.
Studies show that women who don't smoke, are not overweight, exercise moderately, and eat a healthful diet have 82 percent fewer coronary problems. Ornish's own research shows that most people with severe coronary heart disease can stop or reverse the condition by making comprehensive lifestyle changes, without drugs or surgery. His latest research indicates that these lifestyle changes may slow the progression of prostate cancer, too. Other research has found that healthful eating habits and exercise may reduce the risk of breast cancer.
Combining a good diet with exercise is a better hedge against premature death, and people report feeling better and enjoying life more. No wonder such lifestyle changes are also shown to reduce other conditions that make life more painful, including diabetes, obesity, dementia, arthritis, and other chronic conditions of advanced age. "You're given one body, and it's going to deteriorate real fast in your 50s, 60s, and 70s, but it will go the other way if you exercise," says Miriam Nelson, director of Tufts University's John Hancock Center for Physical Activity and Nutrition and bestselling author of exercise books. Nelson's advice: Do something you enjoy, and take advantage of seasonal activities, exercising for at least 20 to 30 minutes a day. For those in their 50s or older, walking is a good base activity, but on two or three days you may want to add or substitute some strength training. Start gradually, and include flexibility exercises to help maintain balance as you age, to prevent debilitating falls.
Three quarters of all cancers are diagnosed in individuals 55 and older. That reality, combined with seeing the deaths of loved ones and caring for her mother, led Manlius, N.Y., business owner Anne Messenger, 58, to make some lifestyle changes, including getting regular cancer screenings. Checkups can detect such cancers as breast, colon, rectal, cervical, prostate, and others at early stages, when treatment has a higher chance of success.
Experts advise getting regular medical care, including checks on blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose levels. While many adults are prescribed medicines for keeping conditions in check, experts caution patients not to shirk making lifestyle changes proven to have lasting positive effects.
"Older adults are definitely on too many medications," says Sharon Brangman, a Syracuse geriatrician and a board director of the American Geriatrics Society. That's dangerous, as older patients can't tolerate certain medications, higher doses, or mixing of certain medicines. And don't rely on unproven supplements to improve your health, suggests John Swartzberg, director of the joint medical program of the University of California-Berkeley and UC-San Francisco. "There's a lot of hype and not a lot of science" behind them.
What it comes down to is the age-old wisdom of your mother: Eat well, exercise, and visit the doctor for checkups. Do that, along with maintaining a network of friends, avoiding cigarettes, and keeping stress to a minimum, and you have more than just a better chance of living to a ripe old age. You may enjoy it that much more. "It's not just lowering risk [to disease];" says Ornish, "it's that you'll feel better."
This story appears in the June 13, 2005 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.