10 ways to stay young

Stay away from junk food
To be healthy, you need to eat healthy food. Eating lots of processed foods that are high in saturated or trans fats, sugar, salt, preservatives and additives can lead to the release in your body of free radicals – harmful chemicals which play a part in ageing and illness by damaging cells. Too much junk food can increase your risk of developing problems like heart disease, stroke and diabetes earlier in life.
Fill up on fruit and veges
Your grandma was right – there’s a good reason why your diet should include lots of greens, reds, yellows and orange. Not only do they provide your body with vital nutrients, but the antioxidants they contain can “mop up” free radicals – the atoms that cause cell damage.
Antioxidants that do this vital job include vitamins C and E and beta-carotene. They can be found in fruit and veges like carrots, tomatoes, capsicum, cabbage, broccoli, apricots, berries and citrus fruits.
Ban fizzy drinks
A study carried out last year found that carbonated drinks can speed up ageing, because they contain high levels of phosphate. The researchers say having lots of phosphate in the body accelerates signs of ageing, increases the risk of age-related complications like chronic kidney disease and hardening of arteries and can also cause muscles and skin to deteriorate. The joint Japanese/American research, carried out on mice, also found that the rodents who had a phosphate-rich diet died before other mice. Processed foods can also contain high levels of phosphates.
Get off that couch
Not exercising regularly can take seven years off your life, according to a study carried out by a Boston hospital. Meanwhile British researchers have found being physically active halves the risk of major age-related diseases such as heart disease and stroke. To have the greatest effect, you need to do aerobic exercise for around 30 minutes, five times a week.
Cycling, swimming and running were found to be best for extending your life. While weight-training and strengthening exercises may not make you live longer, they will improve your general health. Walking protects bones against osteoporosis – an age-related disease.
Stub out cigarettes for good
Smoking has no redeeming features. Not only can it cut your life short, but it can make your last years miserable by causing a range of nasty and debilitating conditions like emphysema.
It can also make you look 10 to 15 years older than you are. A British study found girls who started smoking when they were teenagers had skin typical of middle-aged women by the time they were in their early thirties.
Stress less
Chronic stress speeds up cell ageing by affecting key pieces of DNA called telomeres, according to a US study. The researchers found caring for a sick child, for example, added 10 years or more to the biological age of mothers’ cells. The stressed women also had suffered more damage from free radicals attacking healthy cells than those who weren’t so stressed.
Limit your sun exposure
While too little time being exposed to the sun’s rays can affect your health – because our body needs vitamin D from the sun  – too much can lead to UV damage, which is responsible for up to 80% of the signs of skin ageing, as well as skin cancers. The early warning signs of UV-related collagen damage, which appear before wrinkles develop, are open pores and a slightly rough, bumpy feel to your skin.
Have lots of sex
Having sex on a regular basis may produce similar benefits to other sorts of exercise, such as improving cholesterol levels and increasing circulation. It increases blood flow to the brain and other organs.
Sex also reduces stress, can improve sleep and provide pain relief. During sex, the hormone oxytocin is secreted, which causes the release of the endorphins. These hormones raise your pain threshold and help relieve the aches that come with conditions like arthritis and headaches.
Get enough sleep
You’re more likely to age prematurely if your body can’t repair itself effectively, and that repair work – on everything from your brain to tissue and skin – is carried out while you’re asleep.  A shortage of sleep means you are missing out on this important maintenance work, and studies have shown that suffering from insomnia over an extended period of time may take as much as five years off your life. Meanwhile, research shows that people who sleep six hours or less a night have a greater risk of heart disease and stroke.
Look on the bright side
According to one study, being positive can extend your life by up to seven years, while being negative is likely to shorten your life. Your attitude to getting old can play an important part in how ageing affects you, and if you think getting older is going to be a good experience, then chances are it will be.