--- title: Aging: 7 Physical Habits of People Who Age Well description: Maintaining a positive attitude is arguably just as as important as sleep and exercise in order to age well. canonical: https://time.com/4318040/habits-people-age-well/ author: Real Simple article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-05T12:30:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:02:24.209Z og:title: 6 Habits of People Who Age Well og:description: These habits are both psychological and physical og:url: https://time.com/4318040/habits-people-age-well/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3406cbb0e715a125/698878bb8e0601f07646416d/salad-2-health-food-diet-fitness-betterment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2500 og:image:height: 1406 og:image:alt: salad-2-health-food-diet-fitness-betterment-motto-stock og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 6 Habits of People Who Age Well twitter:description: These habits are both psychological and physical twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3406cbb0e715a125/698878bb8e0601f07646416d/salad-2-health-food-diet-fitness-betterment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 6 Habits of People Who Age Well > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays to 40,000 subscribers as of August 2026. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Abigail Wise / Real Simple](https://time.com/author/real-simple/) ## Abigail Wise / Real Simple May 5, 2016 12:30 PM UTC  Molly Cranna for TIME by [Abigail Wise / Real Simple](https://time.com/author/real-simple/) ## Abigail Wise / Real Simple May 5, 2016 12:30 PM UTC Exercise, diet—even attitude—can be as important as genetics when it comes to growing old gracefully. “Old age,” as Bette Davis once said, “is no place for sissies.” But that doesn’t mean you need to chicken out. Sure, growing older affects nearly every part of your body—including your hair, skin, heart, muscles, and more—but aging well may be as simple as adopting these (mostly) easy everyday habits. **1\. Watch what you eat…**Nutrition plays a major role in how your body ages. “The latest research shows that a low-glycemic diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein is healthiest,” says Dr. Jeffrey Benabio, Physician Director of Healthcare Transformation at Kaiser Permanente Primary Care. One great example is the [Mediterranean diet](http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/mediterranean-diet/art-20047801), rich in plant-based foods, whole grains, nuts, and red wine (in moderation!). It also involves eating fish twice each week and cutting back on salt. Research shows that this type of diet may help you age better by warding off heart attacks, strokes, and premature death, according to [Harvard Medical School](http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/adopt-a-mediterranean-diet-now-for-better-health-later-201311066846). An added bonus: Benabio says that foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as walnuts, salmon, and flaxseed, help your skin manufacture the essential oils it needs to protect itself and can help skin look younger. In contrast, sugary, carbohydrate-heavy, and fatty foods—think, chips, soda, and white bread—can speed up the aging process, says Benabio. “So, when shopping or dining out, opt for whole grains and natural sweeteners,” he says. **_Read more:_** [ _A Simple Way to De-stress (In Under 2 Minutes)_](http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/inspiration-motivation/breathing-exercises-for-anxiety) **2\. …And how much you eat.**Overeating may lead to a shorter life span, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes, [according to the NIH](http://www.nia.nih.gov/health/publication/metabolism-does-stress-really-shorten-your-life/does-how-much-you-eat-affect-how). To age well and live longer, it’s best to stick to a balanced diet that consists of about 2.5 cups of vegetables, 1.5 to two cups of fruit, six ounces of grains, three cups of dairy, and five ounces of protein [each day](http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/foodgroups.html). **_Read more:_** [_11 Habits That Keep Your Eyes Healthy_](http://www.realsimple.com/health/preventative-health/healthy-eyes) **3\. Exercise regularly.**Staying active is a vital part of aging well. The average woman can lose 23 percent of her muscle mass between ages of 30 and 70, says Fabio Comana, a faculty instructor at the National Academy of Sports Medicine. You lose muscle more rapidly as you age, but exercise—resistance workouts in particular—can increase mass and strength, even well into your 90s, says Comana. Staying fit may also reduce age-related memory loss, according to a [study](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3910002/) published in the journal _Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience_. Plus, Alzheimer’s disease accounts for approximately 60 to 70 percent of all dementia cases, says Comana, adding that increasing physical activity can decrease this statistic by 25 percent. That’s because exercise strengthens the hippocampus, the region of the brain associated with learning. **4\. Stay social.**Friends and relatives can help you live longer. Those of us with strong social ties were shown to have a 50 percent higher chance of living longer than those with poor or insufficient relationships, according to a [study](http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316) published in the journal _PLoS Medicine_. **5\. Protect your skin from the sun.**Too much time in the sun can cause wrinkles, not to mention [cancer](http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/sunanduvexposure/skin-cancer-facts). [But wearing sunscreen](http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1691733) can help prevent your skin’s aging. And while the sun’s UV rays do trigger vitamin D production, which is essential for bone health, that’s hardly a good reason to expose yourself. “Here are the facts,” Benabio says. “After a few minutes of sun, your skin stops making vitamin D…and starts making skin cancer.” Most people get plenty of Vitamin D, but if you think you’re not, try eating more [salmon or even eggs](http://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/features/the-truth-about-vitamin-d-vitamin-d-food-sources) (don’t skip the yolk). **_Read more:_** [_Here’s How Your Bedtime Affects Your Health_](http://www.realsimple.com/health/preventative-health/sleep/early-bedtime-cardiovascular-health) **6\. Get plenty of sleep.**You probably know that you should snooze for seven to nine hours each night, according to the [National Sleep Foundation](http://www.realsimple.com/sleep-recommendations). But did you know that _not_ sleeping enough may mean a [higher risk](http://www.realsimple.com/health/preventative-health/sleep/seven-hours-sleep) of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Plus, naps can [improve memory](http://www.realsimple.com/power-naps-improve-memory) and even help [make up for](http://www.realsimple.com/health/preventative-health/sleep/naps-and-health) missing nightly Zzs. And it turns out that “beauty sleep” isn’t a myth. During sleep, your body releases a growth hormone that helps restore collagen and elastin, the essential building blocks of young, healthy skin, says Benabio. Recent studies have also shown a connection between insomnia and accelerated aging of the brain, Benabio says. In other words, chronic lack of sleep adversely affects your brain’s function and speeds up the aging process. “Too many of us treat sleep as a luxury instead of a need,” says Benabio. “If I could encourage people do make one healthy change this year, it would be to sleep more.” _This_ [_article_](http://www.realsimple.com/health/preventative-health/habits-of-people-who-age-well) _originally appeared on_ [_Real Simple_](http://www.realsimple.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4318040/habits-people-age-well/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4318040/habits-people-age-well/"},"headline":"6 Habits of People Who Age Well","datePublished":"2016-05-05T12:30:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:02:24.209Z","description":"These habits are both psychological and physical","url":"https://time.com/4318040/habits-people-age-well/","keywords":["motto","Psychology","Aging","health","Mental Health/Psychology"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3406cbb0e715a125/698878bb8e0601f07646416d/salad-2-health-food-diet-fitness-betterment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Abigail Wise / Real Simple"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3406cbb0e715a125/698878bb8e0601f07646416d/salad-2-health-food-diet-fitness-betterment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"salad-2-health-food-diet-fitness-betterment-motto-stock","caption":"salad-2-health-food-diet-fitness-betterment-motto-stock","creditText":"Molly Cranna for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4318040/habits-people-age-well/","name":"6 Habits of People Who Age Well"}}]}] ```