Old person here (+7 decades). Not much you can do about physical deterioration. The only thing I've found you can easily carry into old age is (assuming no senility or debilitating disease) coordination. One can be weak and frail yet still somewhat graceful. As for the mind, it depends on when it freezes in time. If you find yourself comparing everything current to the "good old days", then you are probably lost. But as long as you have an appetite for the new and unfamiliar (maybe something like ycombinator) then there is possibly still hope...
There's no need to be weak and frail. You can actually do a lot about physical deterioration ... up to a point. In one of the triathlons I raced last year the retired Marine who won the 70 - 79 age group was only a few minutes slower than me.
The key to staving off muscle atrophy and loss of bone mineral density is doing high-impact training and weightlifting at least a couple times per week, while maintaining proper form to avoid injury. The digestive system also becomes less efficient at absorbing some nutrients so you have to increase protein intake in order to have the necessary building blocks for repairing damaged muscle tissue.
Not sure why you've been downvoted. Weightlifting (specifically heavy+low reps) has major effect to promote bone density, that's why astronauts do it now in space. It also prevents muscle atrophy, that much should be obvious. Finally, more muscle mass will keep your metabolism up and prevent fat gain.
I know you meant resistance training in general wrt astronauts in space but I just got the funniest image in my head of Chris Hadfield doing a zero G overhead press with a loaded bar and floating all over the place hahaha
So far I've seen no rules stating that world records should be taking place on earth gravity. Maybe this is my chance to take some weightlifting records.
Likewise, I came in 3rd in a (relatively low key) half marathon 6 or 7 years ago and the guy right behind me the whole way was 72. I was maxed out (I think my finish time was 1:36), and when I finished I was absolutely bushed. This old guy congratulated me, ate a cookie, hung out a bit, then ran home like the whole thing was a warm up.
In my mind, I cannot reconcile to scientific facts: (1) to keep muscle mass and to not become frail you need to take more protein; (2) protein restricted diet slows down aging.
There is no proof that protein restriction actually extends lifespan in humans (or any primate). That's not a scientific fact. And hypothetically even if it did work to slightly extend lifespan, I see little point in just being alive if I'm too weak and frail to do the activities I enjoy.
Protein/calorie restricted diet is observed to slow down aging in rats in laboratory conditions, i.e. which make no other changes to their presumably sedentary lifestyles.
Protein restriction in humans is only recommended if you have some chronic kidney disease. If I remember right, most people don't consume enough protein to need to restrict in this case either.
Do you have advice on how to keep your intellect intact? Many of my older relatives can barely think through things at 0.1x the speed they had even a decade back, if they even bother to think through anything. However, very old people in academia seemed to remain very sharp well into their seventies (some study suggested that they can be as sharp as a regular 25 yo). I guess it's good to keep reading and constantly use your brain, but any more solid actionable habits might be useful!
Anything I can offer will be anecdotal. I have been placed somewhere on the autistic spectrum so perhaps that is a factor. People who constantly think and wrestle with things are driven to do so. Those who don't, aren't. I know of no way to manipulate or adjust this difference. I would say the thing to avoid at every turn is calcification, if you can...
Keep your cardiovascular system healthy. In many older people the loss of intellect is simply caused by insufficient glucose and oxygen reaching the brain. Everything is connected; intellect isn't some separate quality that can be maintained on its own.
Of course some people start from a higher baseline and so a slight loss of intellect is less noticeable.
There might be a bit of circular reasoning about the old academics. People who lose their cognition don’t stay academics. It’d be interesting to see a cohort analysis starting at 40.
I only have anecdotes but most of my older relatives have reached 90+ years old and none lost their cognition. They all stayed pretty active (Ukrainian farmers and housewives) and independent. All were also quite social, inquisitive despite not being educated, ate pretty traditional diets, etc... There's definite links between cognition and physical exercise so I'm thinking that probably plays a pretty big role.
There have been studies done on healthy and long lived Okinawans from Japan and people from certain mountainous villages in Italy (see youtube for videos). The current consensus seems to be;
* A healthy and controlled diet.
* Regular activity of various kinds.
* A inclusive and healthy social life.
* A positive frame of mind with less worries.
The above may seem simplistic, but if you think about it that is all it takes.
you should try to separate mental speed from intellectual capacity. Many older folk are perfectly capable of understanding things, but their minds don't necessarily operate at the same clock speed they did when they were in their 20s.
Well I'm not in that age group, but my dad reads every day and does some Python on the side. I don't think he's ever coded before, but he's interested in new things every day.
> The only thing I've found you can easily carry into old age is (assuming no senility or debilitating disease) coordination. One can be weak and frail yet still somewhat graceful.
Personally, I walk and pace. I spent many years as a bartender so that activity feels natural to me and actually is relaxing. As for strength, if I can open a jar, I feel pumped enough...
This already opened jar of gherkins became impossible to open. My daughter came up with the idea of putting boiling water on the lid and then it was easy to open. I was very impressed.
Concentration and practice. If you are moving, concentrate on the moving. When you were younger, movement was natural and in the background. Older, you need to focus...
Sort of. It is not uncommon with age to lose the ability to efficiently breakdown and/or absorb B12. A B12 deficiency can mimic the physical and mental symptoms of the more serious neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's. Definitely not fun. I take a supplement that provides roughly 100k of the RDA every day...
Given your grander temporal experience, do you have any predictions/foresight into how the world is changing? It feels like we are being wound up to be shot out of a cannon if I'm being honest.
