Welcome back to part 2 of our healthy living tips. It has become more common for people to live past 100. Not only do we want a long life, but we want our lives to reach their full potential. Taking even small strides to bettering ourselves now can impact your later years immensely! Take a look at these 10 simple tips you can do now to live a long, youthful healthy life.

10 More Tips to Living a Longer, Healthier Life

(Missed out on the first 15? Check out part 1 of the article here).    

16. Nurture your Skin Use a lotion that contains vitamin A, C and E and SPF 15. From the inside, nourish your skin by eating fruit, berries, vegetables, salmon and tuna and drink green tea and red wine.  

17. Eat in Researchers have found that most Centarians seemed to cook more throughout their lives than eat out. Food in restaurants will generally be higher in fat, salt, and sugar, and often served in larger portions then what you would make at home. We also tend to throw caution to the wind when eating out and order junk we’d never eat at home.  

18. An Apple a Day… Apple peel contains ursolic acid, which may block muscle atrophy (muscle detiriation after inactivity). In a study on mice, ursolic acid increased the size and strength of their muscles. Because their muscles increased, it reduced muscle atrophy. Other positive effects ursolic acid had on mice have been: reduced body fat, and lower blood glucose and cholesterol.  

19. No Smoking There is nothing worse for a long, healthy life than smoking. The Center for Disease Control estimates that smoking will result in death or disability for half of all people who continue to smoke. Smoking cigarettes ages skin faster than anything else apart from sun damage and is also linked to early onset of the menopause in women.  

20. Nothing to be Ashamed Of! Enjoy your Sex Life. British researchers have proved that regular sex releases endorphins in your brain, which slows down aging and reduces stress.  

21. Enjoy the sun. We all know not to over do it and to wear our sunscreen, but getting some rays shouldn’t be eliminated completely. We get about 90 to 95 percent of our vitamin D from the sun. Vitamin D is essential for absorbing calcium, keeping our bones healthy, and for protecting against serious chronic diseases later in life such as osteoporosis, Type II diabetes, multiple sclerosis and many cancers.  

22. Drink water. By consuming water, we are purifying our body, inside and out. One of water’s best functions is flushing out toxins from the body. H2O will also promote the growth of collagen, boost elastin production and increase the flow of oxygen to the skin, helping your skin cells to rejuvenate faster and, therefore, keeping your skin looking young and healthy.  

23. Back Away from the Sweet Stuff Sugar effects the collagen in your skin, and so, will create wrinkles. It has also been linked to a suppressed immune system, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.

 24. Have your Beauty Sleep Sleeping fewer than eight hours a night doesn’t just leave you feeling tired. The right quality and quantity of sleep trigger the production of human growth hormone, which builds muscle mass, thickens skin and strengthens bones. Lack of sleep suppresses the hormone leptin, which makes you feel full. So the more you’re awake the more you’ll eat. Studies have found that people who routinely cut back on sleep are more likely to be overweight. In addition, constant fatigue causes stress and irritability, both of which can contribute to accelerated aging.  

25. Don’t Retire! Rewire! If you are among the many who have a hard time retiring because you associate retirement with no longer being productive, change the way you view it! If you see retirement as a means to an end decline sets in rapidly. Everything slows – movement, reaction time, thinking, walking, talking. The mind and body go into a shutdown mode in preparation for the final event — death. Smart people rewire instead of retire. You’ve worked hard all your life, now spend more time with the person you love, travel the world, play with the grand-kids, take up that hobby you’ve always been meaning to do.