Healthy Aging: The surprising power of your social life

Unfortunately, many of us spend our later years in poor health. But is this avoidable? And can we actually increase our healthy years?While aging is inevitable, there are steps we can take to minimize its effects on our health. And surprisingly, some of these steps have nothing to do with exercise or diet. Simply spending time with others can provide countless benefits to us as we age.But how can we maintain these connections? Does retirement affect our social interactions? And can attitude alone keep you healthier in your later years?In today’s episode, one of the world’s top experts on aging, Prof. Rose Anne Kenny, joins us to explore these ideas. Rose Anne is a world-leading geriatrician at Trinity College Dublin, where she leads a huge, long-term study on aging. She’s also the author of the number one international bestseller Age Proof: The New Science of Living a Longer and Healthier Life.Get science-based nutrition advice straight to your inbox: https://bit.ly/44xRywMIf you want to uncover the right foods for your body, head to joinzoe.com/podcast and get 10% off your personalised nutrition program.
Timecodes:00:00 - Intro00:13 - Quickfire round01:14 - What’s the biggest myth about aging?04:18 - What is aging?07:43 - Aging process predictors13:50 - Our growing elderly population15:14 - Retirement19:21 - Study on aging and social interaction24:57 - Importance of social participation27:38 - Studying the effects of loneliness29:56 - Combating loneliness31:13 - How attitude affects aging33:20 - Social interaction online36:08 - Creating social relationships48:42 - Summary and OutroMentioned in today’s episode: The Dunedin Study, a long-term study designed to investigate broader questions of child health and development from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research UnitThe Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) from Trinity College DublinYou can buy Rose Anne’s book here.Follow ZOE on Instagram.Episode transcripts are available here.Is there a nutrition topic you’d like us to explore? Email us at podcast@joinzoe.com and we’ll do our best to cover it.