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After years of studying older folks, a scientist tells us what it takes to age well.


By Jihan Thompson


We asked Luigi Ferrucci, MD, PhD, scientific director of the National Institute on Aging, for three critical factors to a long, healthy life.


Find The Right Stress Level

A little pressure is actually good for you.


"If you never have to react to anything demanding, the mechanisms in your brain that help you deal with taxing situations will atrophy," Ferrucci says. The key is to find your personal tipping point between pressures that energize and pressures that paralyze you.


Don't Think Getting Older Is The End Of The World

Researchers found that people in their 30s and 40s who looked on the bright side of aging (it brings wisdom, retirement, and more time with family) were less likely to develop cardiovascular disease later in life -- and had lower mortality rates -- than those who were more pessimistic.


"In addition to physiological benefits, thinking about aging in a positive way lets you take full advantage of the opportunities it presents," says Ferrucci.


Build Your Reserves

You've socked away money for your golden years, but what are you doing to prepare your body?


"A large part of the physical energy you expend is simply to survive -- to keep your bodily functions going," says Ferrucci. "But if you get sick, you need extra energy. If you have exhausted your reserves, your immunity can be compromised and you're more prone to injury."


To boost your stores, the answer is simple: exercise. A 2012 study in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that when middle-aged people made a modest improvement in fitness (equal to 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week for six months) by age 50, their chances of developing chronic conditions such as congestive heart failure, colon cancer, and Alzheimer's decreased by 20 percent.


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  • 10 Minutes: Chew A Stick Of Gum


    Researchers from Australia and England found that in moments of stress, gum chewers felt less anxious and had 18 percent less <a href="http://clinicaltrials.mayo.edu/trial-details.cfm?trial_id=101672&location=none&theme_id=8&letter=a">cortisol (the stress hormone</a>) in their saliva. "Chewing increases blood flow to the brain, which may make us feel more alert -- and it may also distract us from <a href="http://www.swinburne.edu.au/lss/chp/">stressors</a>," says study coauthor Andrew Scholey, PhD, director of the Centre for Human Psychopharmacology at Swinburne University.




  • 12 Minutes: Brew Some Black Tea


    People who drank four servings of black tea a day for six weeks were able to de-stress faster and had lower levels of cortisol after <a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/">a stressful event</a>, according to a study from University College London. Chemical compounds in the <a href="http://www.webmd.com/diet/rm-quiz-green-tea">antioxidant-packed beverage</a> may relax us through their effect on <a href="http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/i/i_01/i_01_m/i_01_m_ana/i_01_m_ana.html">neurotransmitters in the brain</a>.




  • 15 Minutes: Try A DIY Massage


    The International Journal of Neuroscience reported that a 15-minute chair massage twice weekly <a href="http://informahealthcare.com/journal/nes">can lower stress</a>, likely by calming the sympathetic nervous system. The at-home approach is an effective alternative. "Simply rolling a tennis ball over muscles with the palm of your hand can <a href="http://www6.miami.edu/touch-research/">trigger a similar response</a>," says Tiffany Field, PhD, director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine.




  • 20 Minutes: Put Pen To Paper


    A 2010 study in <a href="http://www.star-society.org/">Anxiety, Stress</a> & Coping found that writing about a stressful event for just 20 minutes on two different days lowered levels of perceived stress. Putting feelings on paper appears to organize thoughts, helping us process unpleasant experiences and release negative emotions.




  • 30 Minutes: Put On Music You Love


    Music can elicit positive emotions and <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2648">reduce your levels of stress</a> hormones. A study in the Journal of Advanced Nursing found that patients who listened to songs of their choice were less anxious before surgery. Boost your mood even more by dancing along to trigger the release of <a href="http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/exercise-depression">feel-good endorphins.</a>




  • 45 Minutes: Take A Tech Break


    In a study by University of California, Irvine, and U.S. Army researchers, <a href="http://www.uci.edu/">heart rate</a> monitors showed that checking email put subjects on constant high alert with heart rates that indicated stress. "We found that shutting off email eases anxiety," says study coauthor Gloria Mark, PhD. Commit to no email for 45 minutes a day to begin weaning yourself off.




  • 60 Minutes: Clean House


    Housework's repetitive nature can help <a href="http://www.massgeneral.org/bhi/">release tension</a>. "We get lost in the rhythm of folding clothes or vacuuming, which can disrupt stressful thought patterns and trigger the body's relaxation response," says Herbert Benson, MD, director emeritus of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.