It’s time to put yourself first and focus on your health, happiness and longevity, says Sarah Maber
There’s no doubt that today’s midlife looks very different from the traditional middle-age of our mothers and grandmothers. For a start, it begins later (with some researchers dubbing the years 30-45 ‘established adulthood’, a precursor to midlife). We’re living longer and healthier lives than previous generations, which throws up its own challenges. We are often still bringing up our own children while looking after ageing parents, and juggling this with work commitments – research suggests that we reach the peak of our earning potential in midlife and in the 2019 census, women over 40 out-earned women under 40 for the first time.
Yet it’s also in our 40s and 50s that we realise the importance of taking charge of our health. In a recent survey by Noon – the new online platform dedicated to empowering women in midlife – 43% of respondents agreed that this stage of life ‘is finally about me, it is my turn’. Perhaps for the first time in decades, we amp up our self-care, prioritising our health, getting fit and rethinking our nutrition.
And not before time. All the evidence suggests that midlife is a pinch point that determines the trajectory of ageing. A host of studies have identified the years around 50 as a tipping point; three decades of research into the health habits of 120,000 men and women found that 50-year-olds who maintained good habits – exercising, healthy eating, drinking moderately, not smoking and keeping weight in check – cut their chances of dying from cancer by two-thirds, and from heart disease by four-fifths.
These healthy-living habits added, on average, 14 extra years for women and 12 years for men. And in a separate study, men and women who were fit and active at the age of 47 cut their chances of developing dementia in their 80s by half.
‘The evidence that a healthy lifestyle improves our chances of ageing well is overwhelming,’ says health coach Susan Saunders, author of The Age Well Plan (Little, Brown, £14.99). Implementing changes to our lifestyle is vital if we want to avoid the onset of chronic conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes. And according to Susan, it’s hard to overemphasise the value of staying active, managing stress – and eating nutrient-rich food. ‘Thousands of scientific reports have decoded how living well leads to an increased healthspan – the years of good health we have, as opposed to living with illness or a chronic condition,’ she says. ‘What we eat isn’t just fuel for our bodies. It also impacts our immune system and longevity pathways, influencing how we age at the most basic level.’
MENOPAUSE MATTERS
One of the most significant shifts in recent years has been the conversation around menopause and the
