Six Ways to Improve Your Body and Mind

In this century, living longer isn't the only goal. Living well for as long as we can is the focus. Most people expect to have twenty or so productive healthy years past retirement. Many retirees even expect to embark on a new career.

So living healthy is at the top of the list for a lot of people looking at the second half of their allotted life span. Almost every week, a new nutrition guru or exercise plan is touted as the new best way to keep us alive, healthy, and in fighting shape into our eighties and beyond.

Researchers have compiled a list of the top six things that keep your body and mind healthier, stronger, and younger for longer.

Drink tea, but keep it black. We have known for years that flavonoids in coffee and tea are good for heart health. But recent research showed through ultrasounds that people who drank their coffee or tea without milk had the most flexibility in their arteries. Apparently the protein in milk, called casein, decreases the flavonoids and therefore the health benefit of tea or coffee.

Live off the beaten path. Car exhaust has been considered bad for lungs for a few decades. A recent study showed that the risk of wheezing, chronic bronchitis and other breathing problems increased by over 30 percent when a person's home was within 65 feet of a heavily traveled road. And since other studies have linked impaired lung function to a 60 percent increase in risk of stroke, that makes living off the beaten path attractive in more ways than the aesthetic.

Take depression seriously. Some new data has linked depression to heart disease in people younger than 65. A recent study, called the Framingham Heart Study, consisted of a 60 year study of more than 5,000 adults, and showed the depressed people under 65 were four times more likely to suffer a stroke than peers who were not depressed.

Consider using olive oil. Researchers believe that the monounsaturated fats in olive oil protect cells. A recent study by Copenhagen University Hospital indicated that ingesting olive oil reduces the cancer causing damage done by free radicals to DNA. In the study, 182 men consumed two tablespoons of olive oil a day for three weeks. Tests done after the study indicated a 13 percent reduction in damage to DNA. That's certainly worth exchanging other oils for olive oil.

Take a B vitamin. Oregon State University researchers have reviewed 98 studies on B vitamins and their roles in metabolism and cell regeneration. The studies have determined that an active person who lacks B vitamins, will have a decreased ability to do high intensity exercise, and a decreased ability to repair and build muscle tissue. To get more vitamin B, eat dark-green leafy vegetables, lean meats, and nuts. Most people would also benefit from taking a B complex vitamin for better athletic performance.

Don't forget folate. Folate is found naturally in green leafy vegetables, legumes such as beans and peas, and in citrus fruits. New studies have good reasons for ingesting folate. Higher folate intake has been linked to a 50 percent reduction in the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Age-related hearing loss has been correlated to low levels of folate, also called folic acid, in a study by Dutch researchers. And low levels of folate was recently linked to a 25 increased risk of colon cancer, according to the medical journal Cancer Research.

These are all small changes that can add up to significant lifestyle improvement in the years after retirement.