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<\/a>Long-term tracking<\/p>\nThe Geriatrics\u00a0<\/a>study points out that improvements were not only seen in a small group but also linked to how people think about aging itself.<\/p>\n \u201cMany people equate aging with an inevitable and continuous loss of physical and cognitive abilities,\u201d says Levy, an international expert on psychosocial determinants of aging health. \u201cWhat we found is that improvement in later life is not rare, it\u2019s common, and it should be included in our understanding of the aging process.\u201d<\/p>\n The team followed 11,000 participants in a federally supported longitudinal survey of older Americans. They analyzed cognition using a global performance assessment. Walking speed was also noted, as geriatricians describe this as a \u201cvital sign,\u201d as it is linked to disability, hospitalization, and mortality.<\/p>\n Results reveal that 32% of participants experienced improved cognition, 28% improved physically, and several showed benefits beyond clinically meaningful measures.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s striking is that these gains disappear when you only look at averages,\u201d says Levy. \u201cIf you average everyone together, you see a decline. But when you look at individual trajectories, you uncover a very different story. A meaningful percentage of the older participants that we studied got better.\u201d<\/p>\n The researchers hypothesize that some people improve and some do not, based on whether participants\u2019 aging beliefs were positive or negative. Results showed that those with more positive age beliefs were more likely to show improvements in cognition and walking speed even after accounting for age, sex, education, chronic disease, depression, and length of follow-up.<\/p>\n They argue that since improvements were seen in those with impairments and participants with normal cognitive or physical function at baseline, it challenges the assumption that benefits later in life only impact people who recover after sickness.\u00a0<\/p>\n Healthy aging nutrition focus\u00a0<\/p>\n Healthy aging has emerged as a significant shift in the nutrition industry\u2019s approach to aging, sparking product innovation and shifting public perception. Patrick Diel, professor at the German Sport University Cologne, previously told Nutrition Insight<\/strong> that physical activity and nutrition are inseparable<\/a> for healthy aging.<\/p>\n An expert at Balchem underscored the emerging role of folate<\/a>, or vitamin B9, for healthy aging, as recent studies suggest optimizing folate intake to support cellular health. \u201cFor adults over 50, about 10% of men and up to 30% of women don\u2019t get enough folate from diet alone.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, dsm-firmenich told us about its approach to healthy longevity<\/a>, which is twofold \u2014 helping people \u2018age better\u2019 by maintaining holistic health and well-being, while also \u2018aging slower\u2019 by targeting fundamental aging processes at the cellular level.<\/p>\n