How Do Older Couples Keep the Passion In Their Relationships?
We’ve all been inspired to see very long term relationships - couples still going strong in their 3rd, 4th, 5th decades and beyond. There’s a difference between couples who merely cohabitate long term, and those who “keep the spark alive.” So what’s the secret to a long lasting relationship that doesn’t lose its passion?
There are probably as many answers as there are enduring couples, but we can generally group common responses into a small handful of categories. We’ll reduce these to: health and loving communication.
Health and Passion in Enduring Relationships
It’s an old adage that “health is wealth,” and few who have been with and without health and wellness will find fault with this saying. Health can be considered as something we experience in our bodies, but it’s also an aspect of our minds. And just as nature imbues us with a certain degree of physical and mental health, there’s much that we can do to promote both in our own person.
Healthy relationships frequently exist between two people who, individually, care for their own health. When we exercise, control our weight, and practice good hygiene, we work with nature to promote physical wellbeing in our bodies. A healthy body tends to produce a healthy mind, and this combination tends to create a partner who is kind and caring to the other partner.
A steady attention to health also helps with attraction and sexual harmony, even as the decades roll along. In addition to diet, exercise, and hygiene, there are numerous natural herbs and supplements which can further promote sexual health. Blessed Thistle can promote reproductive health in younger women, but also may provide all-important respiratory benefits in older people. Chaste Tree may promote fertility in young women, hormonal balance in middle aged and older women, and prostate health for men.
These two are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to herbs that promote sexual/reproductive health, especially for older adults. Metagenics, Integrative Therapeutics, and DesBio all have sexual health products aimed at people in various life stages, and you may find one that feeds into your long-standing relationship in a very happy way.
Loving Communication in Long-Lasting Relationships
In addition to healthy bodies and minds, multi-decade couples find ways to create passion through loving communication. Communication is more than conversation. It’s a way to promote intimacy and happiness between partners. The benefits of love are self-evident in healthy long term relationships, these people tend to live longer, live with less illness, heal more quickly, and live with less pain.
But these benefits aren’t a given, they are most closely associated with relationships in which both partners feel secure, appreciated, and “tended to.” It’s possible to be in a long term relationship in which stress and discord are the norm. These relationships tend not to last as long as their mutually supportive counterparts, and they tend to be less physically healthy all the while. Studies show that people who feel unwanted in a close relationship have higher levels of inflammation than people in close relationships, for example.
It goes without saying that it’s easier to passionately love someone who loves you back, than someone who neglects and tears you down for decades at a time. As with the physical health of both members of a lengthy partnership, the health of the relationship itself has a great impact on the “passion” that either partner will have access to at any particular time.
If you are in a long term relationship, you already know the benefits and challenges that result from such an arrangement. If you’ve managed to maintain passion all the while, congratulations on a job well done. If you want to revive passion in a relationship that has seen it wane, start with these steps, and you may be able to restore what once was.
Dental health is important for all people, but older adults should pay even greater attention. Poor oral health has been linked to memory problems in senior adults, and gum disease has been linked conclusively to a higher incidence of heart disease. Anyone who has suffered painful dental cleanings or root canals knows the more immediate hazards of poor oral health.
On the positive side, healthy teeth and gums are their own reward. These individuals can eat and drink without pain, and don’t have to endure corrective procedures in the dentist’s chair. Practicing oral hygiene also has its social benefits. Fresh breath and shiny teeth are attractive at any age, and senior adults are certainly no exception.
So how can older adults promote oral health, especially at an age when many people start to see major problems in their teeth and jaws for the first time in life? We’ll look at this issue from two different perspectives: supplementary prevention and hygiene. Practiced together, these methods should keep your teeth and gums healthy, no matter how old you are.
Preventing Problems in the Teeth and Jaw With Natural Products
Teeth, gum, and jaw problems don’t crop up over night. They take weeks, months, and years to set in. Fortunately, most of these issues are preventable. As people grow older, they need extra nutrition and better hygiene practices to keep their mouths truly healthy. Let’s take a look at the former, to see what natural products can help in this effort.
Triphala is an herbal preparation that has been used for more than a thousand years in traditional Ayurvedic medicine. Triphala mouthwash has been shown to cut down on bacteria in the saliva in significant amounts. It’s impossible to completely remove bacteria from the mouth, nor would you want to. After all, bacteria serve an important purpose in oral health and primary digestion, but bacteria populations that grow out of control are problematic. Triphala mouthwash can help keep your oral bacteria in order.
It’s also important to give your body the nutrition it needs to maintain jaw and tooth strength. Carlson Labs and Jarrow Formulas both have products that help strengthen bones. This can help you improve the integrity of your jaw, which could help you keep your teeth much longer. Some older adults experience jaw decay, which may not manifest until the teeth start to get loose, and the surrounding tissue damaged.
Improving Oral Hygiene for Better Tooth, Gum, and Jaw Health
Keeping a clean mouth is obviously the primary way most of us prevent tooth decay and gum disease. However, it’s easy to get into the habit of not caring properly for the mouth, especially as we get older. For example, insurance problems and busy living can see us going to the dentist only several times per decade, instead of the twice annually recommended by physicians. Similarly, it can be tough to floss every day as recommended, leading to low level gum disease that persists for months or years.
Daily brushing, flossing, and rinsing with mouthwash can prevent the worst oral health problems from manifesting, especially when you go to the dentist once every six months. A dentist can fix any damage that is present, show you how to stop more from accumulating, and teach you the techniques you can use on your own to keep your mouth healthy.
All of these tips are good for anyone of any age, but they’re particularly relevant for senior adults. Old age doesn’t guarantee gum, tooth, and jaw problems. Natural products, healthy living, and sound oral hygiene practices can give you a healthy mouth for life.
