While randomly scrolling through Instagram traffic recently, I suddenly stopped when I saw a video clip of Demi Moore looking horribly skeletal from an event a few weeks ago. I sat there looking at the image for a while, dumbfounded, until I noticed the lead comment honking, “Demi Moore is aging like fine wine…”
Firstly, women are not wine. As is often said in all kinds of marketing, especially beauty marketing, it’s not wine, donuts, strawberries, or vaginas (or at least not just vaginas). And while I understand the metaphor of improving with age, it turns sour pretty quickly when you consider that even fine wine turns into vinegar at some point (generally the point at which women are no longer perceived as fertile). Moore, 63, appears as a much younger woman. I think this is what gave rise to the comments that suggested she was aging well. But aging well isn’t about looking younger. It’s about being healthy and looking healthy as a result. And there seems to be some confusion about that.
The effects of an unhealthily low BMI (less than 18.5 as a rule) are severe and unpleasant, especially if you don’t want to die prematurely. This is associated with an increased risk of death, which is significantly higher than in women with a BMI that is considered normal. It is also associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. That’s really bad news.
The common bad news is that women who are underweight often suffer from loss of muscle mass (sarcopenia), and older people are generally more prone to this and have lower bone density. This is another perimenopausal/menopausal pitfall best avoided as it increases the risk of fractures. Are you concerned about your skin aging? Women who are excessively thin are more prone to chronic skin fragility and skin tears (dermatoporosis). In addition to this, the increased fragility of the skin that comes with normal aging often results in bruising.
Speaking of skin, you may have noticed that when a young woman’s face is extremely thin, age-related features such as sunken eyes and cheeks are accentuated.
The point is, if women in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond want to age well, they need to aim to be the opposite of the image presented by Moore and many of her Hollywood colleagues. We need to think about ways to increase our physical fitness, focusing on healthy nutrition, building bone density and muscle mass, and maintaining both physical and mental agility. In your late 70s and 80s, you may experience unintentional weight loss and resulting frailty that may limit your movement. That’s why you have to keep your body as strong as possible.
Source: Allure – www.allure.com
