healthy ageing

It’s a well-known fact that you have to take care of yourself in order to take care of others, the hard part is actually practicing this and prioritising yourself, especially when you have a new-born soaking up all your time. Self-care may seem like an unachievable goal when you’re a new mama but something you know you need. During these early months you may need to lower your expectations from a 30 minute meditation, bath, home-cooked meal from Yotam Ottolenghi or a mani-pedi to some more realistic options.

Slow down the signs of ageing and give a healthy boost to your well-being. There are several causes that can speed up the aging process: the fast pace of modern living, unhealthy eating habits and stress. Counteract those causes with this list of age-defying treatments and discover the best anti-ageing holiday to try them in. These experiences will not only be relaxing, but also bring your natural glow back making you look and feel younger as you return.

Ageing is the natural process we all go through in this amazing thing we call life. As we transition through the milestones, our body, spirit, and mind transform as well. While we cannot avoid the signs of ageing, we can certainly give our bodies the best chance possible at ageing healthily.

When you look in the mirror, how youthful is the face staring back? Proving that age really is nothing but a number, in recent years there has been a growing focus on what our biological age, rather than our chronological age, can tell us about our overall health and longevity. Determined by lifestyle approaches to stress, diet, exercise and sleep; recent studies reveal that one in five people in the UK were found to have a biological age more than eight years older than their chronological age , effectively losing almost a decade of their life.

Letting you in on the biological longevity secret, Health and Fitness Travel, the leading experts in healthy holidays worldwide, take a look at how health and fitness can help to turn back the clock in the battle of biology vs. chronology. Whether pressing pause on ageing by learning to let go of stress or sweating your way to a more youthful you, reducing your biological age is the new mantra of the ‘ageing gracefully’ gurus.

De-stress to stop the clock

Whether it is linked to work, family or money, we all get stressed and anxious. Unfortunately, in addition to sleepless nights and unwanted worry lines, stress can also increase our biological age dramatically by shortening the telomeres in our bodies. Reduce this effect by escaping on an educational stress management holiday where healthy lifestyle practices such as mediation and mindfulness will smooth away those frown lines.

Top 3 De-Stress Holidays: SHA Anti-Stress (Spain), Ananda Stress Management (India), Kamalaya De-Stress Asian Bliss (Thailand)

Sweat your way to a youthful you

With the power to take years off your biological age, sweat your way to a more youthful you whilst improving your skin tone with the post-exercise face flush. As well as maintaining good cardiovascular health, boosting your metabolism and improving your memory, exercise also slows down our cells basic ageing process. Through the emerging science of DNA fitness testing, pre-arrival DNA analysis can reveal an insight into your genetic makeup, allowing fitness holiday programmes to be tailored with the appropriate training response for your body.

Top 3 Fitness Holidays: The BodyHoliday Body Science (St Lucia), Phuket Cleanse Detox & Fitness (Thailand), The Body Camp (Ibiza)

Sleep to turn back time

As well as being an enjoyable way to stay cosy in winter, spending an extra hour in bed can actually increase your lifespan. Our bodies need sleep to carry out vital cell repair, so we awake the next morning fresh and re-energised. Without the recommended 7-8 hours, our bodies are not able to complete this repair, meaning that over time the cells break down faster. Sleep also lowers the stress hormone cortisol, which is a significant barrier to achieving youthful longevity. If you struggle to fall asleep, learn to banish insomnia on a sleep retreat and wake up with youthful energy.

Top 3 Sleep Retreats: Absolute Sanctuary Sleep Well (Thailand), SHA Sleep Well (Spain), Kamalaya Sleep Enhancement (Thailand)

Reduce ageing with healthy nutrition

Processed foods encourage the formation of free radicals, which will have your biological age soaring above your chronological one. Get a radiant complexion by eliminating these foods and replacing them with nutrient packed fresh fruits and vegetables, which will cleanse and detox your body, lowering the risk of diabetes and heart disease. With nutrition experts and educational cooking classes, learn about healthy nutrition on holiday to make changes to your diet which will reward you with a lasting feeling of youth and vitality.

Top 3 Healthy Ageing Nutrition Holidays: SHA Healthy Ageing Women (Spain), The Farm Healthy Ageing (Philippines), Longevity Anti-Ageing (Portugal)

Learn healthier habits to feel younger

The first step towards biological longevity is swapping bad habits which damage your body for healthy habits that nourish it. It needn’t be all at once, make small and lasting changes and notice how your body begins to defy your chronological age. Discover healthier habits on a healthy learning holiday where wellness experts will introduce you to practical lifestyle changes and how to maintain what you’ve learnt long-term, for a healthier and more youthful you.

Top 3 Healthy Learning Holidays: Kamalaya Embracing Change (Thailand), Shreyas Silent Retreat (India), Grantley Hall Fitness & Wellness (UK)

Laugh away the years

There is a good reason that laughter is often known as nature’s best medicine. Prompting a flood of serotonin into the body, laughter can boost your mood, relieve pain and release tension. Releasing positive energy through a smile or laugh can not only have a healing effect, but can also make you look younger as it lights up your face and brings a glow to your skin. Discover the healing benefits of laughter yoga on a yoga retreat and feel the years disappear as you laugh away your stress and worries.

Top 3 Yoga Retreats: SwaSwara Rejuvenation & Yoga (India), Absolute Sanctuary Yoga (Thailand), Paradis Plage Yoga (Morocco)

Talk to one of our travel specialists today on 0203 397 8891 or contact us here to discuss your tailor made healthy ageing holiday

Dr. Vicente Mera is the head of Internal Medicine and Anti-ageing at theSHA Wellness Clinic as a specialist in the ageing process, Dr. Mera has been a key figure in developing theHealthy Ageing Men andHealthy Ageing Women retreats that focus on healthy and graceful ageing. We had the privilege of speaking to him to learn more about him, his process and the healthy ageing retreats at SHA Wellness Clinic. 

Ever wondered how your face can reveal what you eat? Naturopathic experts take a different approach to explaining how your diet plays a major role in the aging process, through a method called ‘skin mapping’. This is an ancient idea which suggests that parts of the face are linked to particular organs in the body. The redness, puffiness, dark shading, sagging, lines or spots on certain parts of the face can reveal a lot about a person’s diet, and so naturopathic experts use this information on anti-ageing holidays to suggest the necessary supplements and diet changes to promote healthy ageing. Naturopaths have found that sugar, wine, dairy and gluten are often the underlying cause to people’s inner problems which can result in the onset of premature ageing. Naturopaths therefore use the skin mapping technique to reveal which type of ‘face’ or ‘faces’ a person has, with different faces indicating different issues.

by Lucy Miller

A Fitness and Nutrition Expert

I’m not old by any means, but the thought of turning 30 does scare me. 

I’ve already noticed that my muscles are tighter than they used to be and I recently had to give up alcohol because I couldn’t handle it like I could when I was in my 20’s. For me, there is nothing worse than waking up with a foggy head and having to drag my sorry ass to the gym whilst feeling sluggish and bloated after a night out - I’m definitely getting too sensible in my old age.

It’s no secret that stress can take a hold on all of us from time to time, filling our minds with worries and negative thoughts. However, when stress builds up and maintains itself in our heads long-term, it can become unhealthy and lead to adverse long-term health effects such as mental health and depression. In fact, according to a medical review by The American Institute of Stress, 77% of people have experienced stress that affects their physical health, and 73% of people have experienced stress that affects their mental health. We worked with Dr. Vicente Mera of the SHA Wellness Clinic to learn more about stress and ageing, especially during their anti-ageing retreat. Let’s break down different causes and factors of stress and how they can affect our physical and mental health.

Dr. Manuela Figini

Dr. Manuela Figini is a highly accomplished Medical Doctor at Longevity Wellness Resort in Portugal, with an extensive knowledge in Aesthetic, preventive and ageing management. She has an impressive medical background of 40 years' experience and is the Clinical Director of the Longevity Medical Spa practice, where she is responsible for all the medical aspects of each programme and discipline, covering areas such as acupuncture, ozone therapy and aesthetic medicine. She taught pathology at the College of Nursing, was the resident doctor at Vila Real Hospital, and studied Oral and Maxillo Facial Surgery. She also holds qualifications in Acupuncture, Aesthetic Medicine, Anti- Ageing Medicine and Ozone Therapy

Today is World Osteoporosis Day (or at least that is when we published this article), we wanted to raise awareness around osteoporosis prevention and help you to understand how you can maintain and even optimise your bone health to help prevent osteoporosis. 

Now more than ever people of all ages are embracing the benefits that solo traveling has to offer. Everything from a heightened level of personal freedom to the greater opportunity to meet and engage with new people are advantages of singles holidays that cannot be understated. Single holidays present the perfect opportunity for individuals to prioritise their personal medical needs and improve their overall health. There is a very diverse range of luxury health retreats on offer to solo-travellers, many of which are specialised to improve specific areas of your health including weight and diet, sleep, immune system response, and ageing.

Without further ado, discover our top picks for singles health retreats below: