Turning the big 3-0 is when many women feel they are officially an adult, as they often have a job and family. However, the 30’s also play a very important part in a woman’s life, as it is the time to make sure you are caring for your health. After you turn 40, it is very hard for you to recover any damage that you have done in your youth, and unfortunately, many women are still making mistakes with their health.
- Brushing Immediately Following Meals
Dentists will tell you that you should brush your teeth twice a day, preferably in the morning and evening. However, it is bad for your teeth to brush immediately following eating. The Mayo Clinic has determined that brushing teeth following eating foods, especially acidic foods, will damage the enamel on your teeth, leading to sensitive teeth.
- Not Building Muscle
As you age, your muscles will deteriorate so you need to make sure you build your muscle mass during your 30’s. Muscle mass is built through lifting weights and other strength training exercises. If you are not active, you will want to make sure that you incorporate both activity and strength training into your daily life, as people who are inactive can lose up to 5-percent of muscle mass every ten years after your 30th birthday.
- Not Drinking Water with Medication
Many women begin to experience anemia and the need for multivitamins becomes necessary. It is a very good habit to get into when you are in your 30’s to learn how to take medications. While juice is a great addition to breakfast, it can prohibit medication from working properly or possibly cause side effects.
- Ignore the Slowdown in Metabolism
One of the biggest blessings of being young is your body metabolizes food efficiently. However, at some point as we age, our metabolism naturally slows down. The rate it slows could be based on your diet or genetics, sometimes hormones play a bigger factor, but the fact is it happens. Diets should consist more of fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins, rather than processed food and sweets.
- Thinking No Longer Fertile
In general, women’s fertility begins to decline around the age of 32; however, it does not mean that you cannot get pregnant at age 38. One of the biggest health mistakes women make is to not considering their reproductive health in their 30’s. This can lead to complications in pregnancy if you are to get pregnant after the peak.
- Stop Seeing the Doctor
Even though your reproductive period has peaked and physicals are often only necessary every two years, you should still make time to visit the physician. Women should not only have an annual breast exam, but also have blood screens to take control of your blood pressure and cholesterol.
- Drink like a College Student
As mentioned above, your metabolism slows down as you age. This means your body cannot process alcohol like it did when you were in your 20’s. You want to make sure you limit alcoholic beverages to no more than one drink a night, 3-4 nights a week.
- Forget to Love the Skin
Hormones, diet, and stress (from work and/or family) play a large role in how your body reacts to sun and sweat. You may notice you are more sensitive to chemicals, so make sure you select natural products and talk to a dermatologist when you see spots on your skin. It is also very important to wear sunscreen as you age because your skin is weaker and cannot protect you from the UV rays.
- Continue to Smoke
Smoking may have been the cool thing when you were in your late teens through college years, but it will damage your lungs. The earlier you quit smoking, the more time you give your lungs to recover from the damage of nicotine and tar.
- Ignore the Need for Dairy
Finally, it is vital that you consume either calcium or dairy products in your 30’s. Your bone mass will begin to deteriorate and will no longer produce enough calcium to rebuild.
30’s is still a very young age and you still have plenty of time to get healthy (or maintain your health), especially if you avoid making any of the mistakes listed above.
I will be hitting the 30 mark soon and I make sure that I am prepared by always having a good health insurance plan active.