Everyone will eventually age. And the majority of the effects of aging are related to how our bodies function. But in addition to the more noticeable signs of aging, such as white hair on your head and less elastic skin, there are other, less common symptoms that appear as we age.
And to be completely honest, some of them sound much more intriguing than how our bodies functioned when we were younger. (To be honest, I’m kind of looking forward to how my taste buds will develop as I get older. ) Although not often discussed, these physical changes that occur as you age are still pretty cool.
There is no doubt that the pressure placed on women by a misogynist society plays a large part in how we perceive how our bodies change as we age, but that needn’t be the case. While beautiful, wrinkles, gray hair, and other “hallmark” signs of aging have little to no impact on how your body functions normally. As you age, your body may change how it responds to allergies and your sleep patterns for as-yet-unidentified reasons. Here are seven unanticipated ways that as you age, your body may change.
Changes occur to the body hair.
Of course, it’s completely normal to start noticing a few gray hairs in your twenties and thirties. The pigment in your body’s hair will begin to fade as you age, but few people are aware of this. Hair gradually stops receiving melanin from the follicle, which results in the gradual loss of its natural tint and the eventual appearance of only the clear hair fiber itself.
The Brittleness of Your Nails increases.
Older people frequently have nails that are either much thicker or much thinner than they did in their youth. Your parents or grandparents may have experienced this, and it’s especially typical in menopausal women because fluctuating hormone levels can have an impact on nail health. Nail thinning typically occurs during and after pregnancy for the same hormonal reasons, though it can also manifest much earlier.
Sleeping Patterns Alter.
If you’ve recently established a sleeping schedule that enables you to exercise, engage in sexual activity, watch three episodes of Game of Thrones, and still awaken feeling rested, be ready: it’s about to change. The idea that as people get older, they need less sleep is untrue. According to the National Sleep Foundation, as we get older, falling asleep takes longer, we don’t get as much REM (rapid eye movement) deep sleep, and we wake up more frequently at night. We also start to experience changes in our sleep patterns as we age. Instead of becoming morning people, we become more prone to being sleepy in the early evening and waking up early in the morning.
Your Allergies Alter.
Our immune systems and allergies change as we get older, just as they do when we’re young. Recent studies have found that there are increasing signs of new allergies and intolerances in aging populations. There are many reasons for this, including the fact that as we get older, our immune systems change and we become less able to tell the difference between real threats and harmless pollen. And as a result of a breakdown in our physical barriers, allergies that we had been “hiding” all our lives may now manifest. Furthermore, allergies seem to be affecting people of all ages, not just older ones, as a result of increased pollution in our time, particularly in the air and environment. Additionally, as this generation ages, it’s possible that allergies typically associated with older age may start to manifest themselves earlier and earlier.
It shifts how you stand.
You’ll probably notice a change in your posture once menopause is over. As you age, the cartilage between your spine’s bones and the bones themselves move, changing how your spine curves and how tall you are. Your spine gradually shortens and tilts forward as a result of the cartilage between its vertebrae becoming harder and thicker. This is why you should always be careful to sit up straight, even when working at your desk in your 30s.
Your feet start to get smaller.
From childhood on, feet carry a lot of fat and cushioning, which gradually dries out with age. Adipose tissue serves as the cushioning, which prevents us from feeling the impact of our bones striking hard surfaces when we walk. (This is also why padding is so beneficial when wearing stilettos all day. It helps us survive wearing high heels. ) As we age, however, the tissue becomes less protective, so we’re more likely to experience sore feet after being on our feet all day.
Your tastes are distinctive.
There is a cause for the taste differences you notice between now and when you were a child. As the rest of the body ages, the taste buds, which are tiny nerve centers on the tongue, do too. As a result, your taste preferences and perception of taste signals change. Age causes the regeneration of taste buds to occur much more slowly, which results in some tastes becoming “dull,” especially if your sense of smell also begins to wane slightly, which is common after the age of 70. Age-related factors, such as decreased saliva flow, have an impact on how you taste things and what you like. Many elderly people report a preference for sweet foods because they deliver a quick, intense flavor hit, while others prefer strong spices or intense savory flavors.
It turns out that aging, the one biological process that is unavoidable for humans, has more effects than you may have thought. Age would be seen for what it is: a strange adventure, if society focused less on eye bags.
