There is a common belief that “youth” and “not youth” look like this:
Is it true?
I’d like to show you how our bodies change with the course of time and why we must use our youth to the fullest.
To begin with, each of us has at least three different age-specific rates.
- Real (or chronological) age is determined by the number of years we passed. To verify it one should open his passport.
- Psychological age is estimated by a person himself, according to his subjective feelings. In young age it is usually overestimated, whereas late in life – vice versa.
- Finally, biological age. It is based on the functional status of our organism.
Generally speaking, the key difference of these types of age is that we cannot change only the real one, unless you forge documents. And as for biological and psychological ages, they are both very flexible figures which can be shifted either upward or downward.
There are many ways to determine your biological age. Some of them are based on lab analysis, but a lot of simple tests can be carried out at home. Usually, they evaluate backbone flexibility, balance, breath frequency and force, attentiveness, or response speed.
Unfortunately, as some research show, nearly 70% of people have their biological age higher than a real one. Let's try to understand why on earth we have to get old. There are about 200 various theories and hypotheses suggesting the reasons of biological aging. I’ll try to explain the main of them briefly and in lay terms.
1. The theory of apoptosis.
Each cell of our body is genetically programmed to a limited number of divisions (on average, 70 times). Then the cell inevitably dies. This is called apoptosis. So, eventually, the number of cellular deaths in our body starts to prevail over the number of their births. We grow old, and then we die. However, how soon these 70 times happen, in other words, how often the cell needs renewal, depends on our body care. For example, skin gets old much quicker than other organs since it is the most vulnerable to various external factors.
2. The theory of free radicals implies that molecules of so-called active oxygen which are normally produced in an organism damage body cells by taking electrons from their atoms.
Eventually, the organism resists to these free radicals less and less successfully and begins to grow old. All of you, of course, have heard the word "antioxidants", at least from the Lipton Tea commercial. Indeed, some substances (like vitamins) coming into a human body with healthy food help to protect it from free radicals and to extend body youth.
3. The hypothesis of errors considers aging as a result of gradual accumulation of mutations.
Mutations are mistakes which inevitably happen to our DNA in the course of cell divisions. The number of such mistakes, by the way, increases by the influence of stresses, viruses and other negative factors.
4. The theory of toxins.
Human liver and kidneys somewhat "wear out" with aging and no longer clear the organism from slags and toxins in a proper way. Probably, if our ecology were impeccable, there wouldn't be such a theory at all...
5. And, finally, according to the hormonal theory of aging, the main reason for negative age changes is a hypothalamus which controls our hormones production and therefore the body growth and development.
It is considered that over time hypothalamus' sensitivity grows and leads to the hormonal disbalance, which is the main reason for aging. It is interesting, by the way, that due to a longer sex hormones production men keep young appearance longer than women.
No doubt, being young is relative
There are some robust 80-year-olds who look and feel like they are 50. And vice versa. But there are some biological processes that change our body potentials regardless our desire or unwillingness. First of all, they affect functions of nervous and cardiovascular systems. However, there is also a range of other inevitable changes. Let's look at them quickly. Please, be ready: some of the pictures may contradict with my words, which means that some people are able to prevent these troubles. And if they can, then we can as well.
- Immune system weakening: with age a person becomes less resistant to infections
- Reducing water content in body tissues. For instance, a newborn child organism contains over 70% of water, while for an adult this figure is already near 60%.
- Alteration of the posture. Bones weaken because of the calcium loss; joints begin to 'crackle' and 'creak' because of the loss of lubrication fluid; so we literally begin to "grow down" and develop a hump.
- Decrease of the muscle tone. As a result, there is a fall in mobility, dexterity and flexibility, which is normally followed by the body weight growth.
- Some people believe that the main attribute of the youth is well-preserved sexual activity. However, according to experienced sexologists, a woman reaches the peak of the sexual activity and female attractiveness at her 45. As for men, they are even needless to mention… It's not for nothing that there are some "young fathers" over seventy. Nevertheless, with age, reproduction functions are fading: so, for women after 35 the probability of getting pregnant decreases while the risk of abortions or the child’s pathology increases. That's why doctors recommend women to give birth before their 30.
- Over the time such criteria as memory, sleep, attention and concentration get worse, mostly as a result of monotony, routine, lack of mental activity and pessimism. Nevertheless, as recent research show, some cognitive human abilities reach their max up to 40 years only, or even later! Among them there are short-term visual memory (in particular, memory for faces), ability to define an emotional state of other people and also the abundance of vocabulary. It is noticed that at the age of 55 — 60 there is the second peak of intellectual activity and creativeness.
- Finally, over time there is a considerable decrease in visual and hearing acuity, gradual depletion of taste and sense of smell. In other words, later on we won't be able to see this landscape being so beautiful, won't find this odour so seductive, and the eclair so delicious…
So, ACT
I'd like to emphasize that all the processes I was talking about are 100% inevitable. It is considered that our functional capacity reaches the maximum shortly before 30 followed by its gradual but continuous decrease. For the simple reason that the nature invented it. This is rather a positive proof of your being a human, not a terminator.
But whether you will allow these changes to affect your life or not is definitely up to you. In other words, our LIFE is bound to be limited, whereas our youth is not. Thus, our biological youth must be used for 150%. It will allow both to lower the psychological age, and to forget about the real one at all.
Young people tend to justify their passiveness by lack of time or money. In my opinion, it’s just excuses. As for money, there are an awful lot of ways to reach big results with no money in the pocket. Especially for students. There is a famous saying that I personally admire: “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot.” Give it some thought.
There is a curious paradox: we are given the maximum of our physical power and health at the period when we appreciate neither of them. You know, they say ‘if youth but knew, if age but could’. Nevertheless, they also say “I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done”.
Spend time doing what you love. Life isn't about being cool and trying to make yourself seem impressive.
To sum up, it’s absolutely normal to lose your biological youth. However, it’s awful to waste it. I definitely haven’t discovered America for you today. But if now at least some of you is going to reconsider their lifestyle, their aims and goals, then my mission is accomplished.
Полезные ссылки
- FLAME.Academy (английский язык в Telegram)
- FLAME.Academy (английский язык VK)