Why Do Some People Age Faster Than Others? 10 Things That Can Decide How We Will Look Ten Years From Now

Genes of course play their part. But they are not the only thing.

How fast we age is influenced by many things we do every single day. Some of them we don't even connect with ageing. And the good news is that with many of them, we can actually do something.

We cannot stop time. Nobody can.

But maybe we can avoid adding unnecessary years to our body.

1. Sleep is not wasted time

When a person sleeps badly for a long time, usually he notices tiredness, bad mood and worse concentration. What is less visible are the processes happening inside the body when we don't sleep enough.

Sleep is important for regeneration, immune system, metabolism and also for our brain. Long-term lack of good sleep is therefore not just something unpleasant which can be fixed by sleeping longer on the weekend.

One bad night will not make you old.

The problem is when it becomes a lifestyle.

A person who sleeps too little for many years can put extra stress on the body without even realizing it.

And maybe this is why the first advice for someone who wants to “look younger” is not an expensive cream.

It is the bed.

2. Muscles are something like our personal insurance

As we get older, we naturally lose some muscle mass. When there is also very little movement, this process can become stronger.

And it is not only about how we look.

We need muscles for walking, balance, strength and for normal everyday things. A person who keeps good physical condition can have completely different possibilities in older age than someone who spent several decades almost without movement.

We don't have to spend hours in a gym.

Regular walking, exercises with our own body, cycling, swimming or simple strength exercises can be much more important than trying to have a perfect body.

The body doesn't know that we promised ourselves we will “start on Monday”.

It only knows if we use it.

3. Sun can be beautiful. And also not very kind to our skin

Tanned skin can look beautiful.

But ultraviolet radiation is one of the important factors of premature skin ageing. Long-term exposure to UV radiation damages structures which keep our skin firm and elastic.

The result is not only wrinkles.

Pigment spots, changes in skin texture and other signs of damage can appear over the years.

This doesn't mean we have to hide from the sun.

It means we should treat it with some respect.

Shade, clothes, a hat and skin protection can have much bigger meaning than searching for a miracle product which will erase all the years spent in strong sun.

4. Smoking leaves marks inside and outside

Smoking is well known as a major health risk, but its connection with ageing is interesting for another reason too.

Tobacco smoke affects blood vessels, oxygen supply to tissues and processes connected with cell damage. On the skin, long-term smoking can show for example as poorer skin quality and more visible wrinkles.

A person can then feel that he is simply ageing “too fast”.

In reality, his body is receiving something for many years which certainly doesn't help it.

5. Alcohol is not only about calories

One glass of wine or a beer with friends is obviously not the same thing as long-term heavy drinking.

The long-term part is important.

Too much alcohol over a longer period puts stress on the body in many ways and can negatively affect sleep, metabolism and the function of some organs.

A person doesn't necessarily have to look like someone who has a drinking problem.

Sometimes the biggest problem is exactly that something unusual slowly becomes an everyday habit.

6. Movement is not only a way to stay slim

There is a strange idea that exercise is mainly about losing weight.

In reality, movement is much more important when we talk about ageing.

Regular physical activity helps us keep muscles, bones, balance, heart and blood vessel fitness and general independence.

And it doesn't have to be a sport performance.

Sometimes the more important question is:

How much time during the day do we actually spend moving?

For someone who sits all day, an ordinary regular walk can be a much bigger change than the idea that they have to start running marathons.

7. Food can help the body, or slowly make things harder

We don't have to eat perfectly.

And we certainly don't have to live on salad.

What matters more is the long-term way we eat. Vegetables, fruit, beans and other legumes, whole grains, good sources of protein and healthy fats are something very different from a diet based mostly on highly processed food.

An occasional sweet or French fries will not make us old.

Just like one healthy lunch will not save us.

What matters is what we repeat hundreds and thousands of times.

And this is actually something that connects with all ageing.

Not one day.

Habits.

8. Stress can be much more damaging than we like to admit

Short-term stress is a normal part of life.

The problem comes when a person lives under pressure for months or years.

A job which is destroying you. No time for anything. Bad relationships. Money problems. Taking care of a sick person. The feeling that you can never really switch off.

The body reacts to long-term stress in many ways, and chronic stress can negatively affect different systems in the body.

And this is where it becomes interesting.

“Anti-ageing” sometimes doesn't mean buying another product at all.

Sometimes it can mean finally saying:

This is destroying me.

9. The brain needs a reason to stay active

We can exercise our muscles, but we often forget about the brain.

The brain needs stimulation too.

Reading, learning new things, puzzles, music, learning a new skill, travelling, creating something, meeting people or simply doing something differently than usual – all these things give the brain new experiences.

We don't have to learn Chinese at the age of seventy.

We just shouldn't become convinced that we already learned everything there is to learn.

A curious person always has something new to discover.

And maybe this is one of the nicest ways not to grow old unnecessarily.

10. The people around us are more important than we think

And finally there is something which is often missing from typical articles about ageing.

People.

We are not machines.

We need conversations, laughter, closeness and the feeling that we belong somewhere. Long-term loneliness and social isolation are connected with poorer health outcomes and can have a significant effect on quality of life.

So sometimes the best advice is not:

“Buy a new cream.”

Maybe it is:

Call a friend.

Go for a coffee.

Visit someone you haven't seen for a long time.

Join something you are interested in.

Or simply sit with someone who makes you feel good.

Because looking younger is not the same as having a younger life.

So what really decides how fast we age?

It is not one vitamin.

It is not one superfood.

It is not an expensive cream.

And there is certainly no way to stop biological ageing.

It is more about all the small things we do for many years.

How much we sleep.
How much we move.
What we eat.
How much we smoke and drink.
How much stress we have.
If we keep our muscles.
If we protect our skin.
If we use our brain.
And if we have people around us.

And maybe the best thing about all of this is one simple fact.

It is never too late to start.

We don't have to change our whole life on one Monday morning.

We can start with one thing.

Take a walk today.

Go to bed a little earlier.

Eat something better for lunch.

Get up from the chair.

Call someone we love.

Because if we really want to look – and especially feel – better ten years from now, we probably don't need a miracle.

We just need a few small decisions which we keep repeating for long enough.

A little note from me

English is not my native language. I am still learning it and trying to improve with every article I write. So I am sorry if you find some mistakes, strange sentences or words that are not completely natural. I hope you will understand what I wanted to say anyway. Thank you for reading and for being patient with my English. ❤️