10 Things You Need More of After Age 50

From strength training and vitamins to laughter and friendships, strive for more of these to enrich your life

Cari Shane,

AARP

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Published December 18, 2024

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Alyssa Katz started doing stand-up comedy three years ago at the age 60. “It’s never too late,” says the retired lawyer who passed the California bar in 1987, the Quebec bar in ‘95, and the New York bar this April. “I liked studying for the bar, I like law, but I like this a lot,” she says of her comedy work. “Most of my comedy comes from processing the world at my age,” she says. “I think everyone should incorporate joy and laughter in their life.”

After age 50, it may sometimes feel we are tasked with shedding the unnecessary. We declutter and clear up space, both in our homes and our relationships. But being 50+ doesn't mean our lives shouldn't be richer and full of more good things, from healthier living to better sex. Acknowledging and understanding what we need more of can help as we become grayer and shorter; and perhaps, like Katz, it can even help us laugh about it. Here are ten things that will help you plan better —both in body and mind — for your future.

1. More humor

Along with friendship and a life mission, laughter is one of the things we need more of, especially those over 50, says Jane Prellinger, director of the Center for Existential Studies and Psychotherapy in Washington, D.C. Research shows that laughter boosts the level of oxygen in the blood and releases cortisol and endorphins, naturally decreasing anxiety and depression. The dopamine hit from laughing makes it harder to feel stress. And, if that weren’t enough, laughter exercises the diaphragm which is helpful especially for those who have chronic lung issues. “Humor helps everything,” Prellinger says.

How to laugh more:

Consider a “laugh class” or “laugh yoga.” Or, since we laugh more when other people are around – 30 times more, according to research– spend more time with friends; watch a funny movie together or go to a comedy club.

2. More platonic love

Friends are an elixir for our overall health while “social isolation is absolutely a killer,” says Cari Levy, professor of Medicine-Geriatrics at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. For many, however, making and keeping friends after 50 can be tough. It needs to be “an act of will,” Prellinger says.

Older adults who spend time with friends have a reduced risk of early death, are more physically active, have more “positive emotions, life satisfaction, optimism, purpose in life, and sense of mastery and reduced risk of things like depression,” says Eric S. Kim, assistant professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia. For those socially active in their 50s and 60s, research also predicts a lower risk of dementia later in life. And, according to the Harvard Happiness Study, for men, ‘social fitness’ is the number one key to a happy life.

But finding and building new friendships isn't always easy for introverts or those who don't want to leave their comfort zone. Michael Uyvari, 75, says his tendency is to go it alone — he says he's picky about the people with whom he socializes. While he’s incredibly active – on skis all winter and, hiking the mountains near his home in Summit County, Colorado in the summer — he’s come up with some workarounds. Rather than carpooling to a group activity, he drives himself so he can leave when he wants.

How to find more platonic love:

Look for like-minded people. When Chip Babbitt, 75, moved to Summit County from Vermont, he joined hiking and biking groups and “very quickly developed many more social contacts and engaged in many more social activities than I ever had in my life prior,” he says. It’s how he met Uyvari, now one of his closest friends — they both just kept showing up to the same activities, Babbitt says. Other ways to develop friendships include volunteering, reaching out to old friends or trying a friendship app such as Bumble BFF, Meetup and Friended.

3. More focus on a life mission or life purpose

Midlife is a time when many people are struck with depressive feelings and they may lack meaning and purpose in life, Prellinger says. For some, the tipping point is kids leaving the house; for others its hormonal changes that come with age.

Finding a mission can be a game-changer. While there is no one definition, a life mission is what each individual person thinks is most valuable to them.

“Those who have a 'why' to live can bear almost any 'how',” says Kim, quoting the psychiatrist Viktor Frankl.Those with a life purpose are “much more willing and able to overcome all kinds of hurdles that arise — including time,” fear and pain, says Kim. Will, he says, incentivizes people to take preventive health measures.

Kim found that people who report higher levels of purpose have better physical agility four years later and a reduced risk of mortality. Another study suggests that seniors who feel their life has purpose are less likely to die from heart, circulatory and digestive diseases. Other studies have found improved memory for seniors with a sense of purpose. At 75, Uyvari’s life mission is to play.

How to find a life purpose:

To find a life purpose, the Greater Good Science Center recommends identifying things you care about, reflecting on what matters and focusing on your skills and strengths. For more ideas, watch the Hidden Power of Purpose.

4. More time spent with elderly parents and adult children

Those over 50 are not a homogenous: While some are still caring for aging parents and children at home, others have fewer obligations with no children or grown children and parents who have passed. A survey of 2,000 parents in Britain found that most in this latter group felt “fitter and richer,” had “better social lives” and felt "10 years younger.”

Being in the sandwich generation can be tough. Denise Schipani, 58, is balancing young twenty-somethings not yet out of the house and parents in their 80s. “I want to help my kids, because they're in the thick of coming out of school … and then my parents need me, but kind of don't need me,” she says. The hardest part is, “never know[ing] when that's going to be.” On the advice of friends who’ve gone through it, she understands that caregiving for her parents is something that she will never regret, even as it pulls her away from what she describes as the “peak” of her career.

How to get more out of time:

Rather than simply slogging through it, Prellinger suggests asking yourself, “‘How am I going to do it in a way that mitigates regret?’” Finding the path of least regret, like Schipani is doing, is a great approach, says Prellinger.

5. More information about menopause and andropause

Hormonal shifts like menopause and andropause — a decline in testosterone levels — don’t get enough attention, says Levy. Senator Patty Murray of Washington State along with four other female senators want to help change that. In May, they proposed a bipartisan bill to educate the public, make ‘menopause’ less taboo and fund more research. “It is well past time to stop treating menopause like some kind of secret,” Murray said in an email. “This is something every woman goes through. [But] too many women seeking answers just cannot find them.”

How to prepare for changing health issues:

Whether it’s your experience or your partner’s, shift your perspective. Consider it liberation from contraception not a loss, says Prellinger. Embrace the menopause renaissance to end the trope that menopause means end of life.

6. More passion and healthy sexual contact

With procreation off the table, sex can become more about pleasure; and, diving into passion is part of making sure there are no regrets, says Prellinger. However, Levy warns that since the 50-plus crowd has one of the fastest growing increases in sexually transmitted infections, protection and testing are paramount.

How to bring more healthy passion into your life:

“In order to have healthy sexual energy, you need to have healthy, basically, physical energy,” says Levy. “So to be caring for yourself physically is to be caring for yourself and your sexual self.” For more ideas, see 7 Tips to Strengthen Your Sex Life. AARP Members, check our our In the Mood columns by Ellen Uzelac.

7. More days with less alcohol

The older we get the less alcohol tolerant we become. That means those over 50 are at higher risk for everything from car crashes to falling. A leader in the no- and low-alcohol movement, author Derek Brown is most worried about older men because studies show an increase in binge drinking. “What they might think is like something that's holding on to their youth, or holding onto this big ritual that they love, maybe it’s something that's keeping them from being more social, even finding new hobbies,” says Brown who penned Mindful Mixology: A Comprehensive Guide to No- and Low-Alcohol Cocktails with 60 Recipes.

Research suggests that men should have no more than two drinks a day and women, one.

How to create more alcohol-free days:

Check out the growing marketplace of non-alcoholic beers, wines and low or no-alcohol cocktails and NA festivals, including Brown’s third annual Mindful Drinking Fest in Washington, D.C. this January.

8. More protein

After 50, we need 70 to 100 grams of protein a day, more for those who are really active. AARP's Whole Body Reset recommends aiming for 25 grams of protein for women and 30 grams for men at every meal and make sure to get enough protein at breakfast. Because it's key for maintaining our skeletal and muscle health, Levy says more protein is one of the most important additions to the 50-plus diet.

How to get more protein:

Focus on “high quality proteins,” says Levy, found in fish, Greek yogurt, legumes, nuts, eggs, soy and quinoa. Complete proteins contain the essential amino acids the body needs.

9. More vitamin D and B12

While store shelves brag an alphabet of vitamins, focus on D and B12, says Levy. D, for bone health; B12, for brain and blood health. “D is the one that we struggle with because we're all wearing sunscreen, and we're not converting it as well as we used to,” Levy says. “[It] just kind of silently creeps up on people." While women tend to have more issues with less D, men need it too. As for B12, research suggests that supplemental B12 offsets changes in our guts that makes it more difficult to absorb B12 from the food we eat. Medications, too, can get in the way of B12 absorption.

How to get more vitamin D and B12:

Over the counter or prescription vitamin D can boost your D levels. Consider, too, adding a little more sun into your day and step up the intake of fish (especially, salmon, tuna and mackerel) as well as egg yolks and mushrooms. You’ll find B12 in fish, meat, poultry, eggs and dairy.

10. More balance and strength training

If you want to keep feeling young after 50, “activity level is the big differentiator,” says Tarik Chase, a Washington, DC-based physical therapist. “Muscle mass is decreasing, our sensory organs, our eyes and our ears, which are important parts of balance, are starting to give us less accurate information. Degenerative changes in our joints are happening as well. So all of these things together are kind of setting up that perfect storm,” says Chase. Levy agrees, tossing out easy-to-remember phrases like, “sitting is the new smoking” and “motion is lotion.”

You also need strength training. “[It’s] been shown time and time again to help mitigate everything … from orthopedic issues like balance to more chronic conditions or health diseases like cancer and diabetes,” says Chase, who owns Back to Life Physical Therapy.

Ken Petersen, 57, says adding balance and strength training into his life in his late 40s set him up for his 50s. He started doing yoga and riding his bike to his office in Washington, D.C.. Now he's 50 pounds lighter and a decade later, and “all the effects of aging just seemed like they kind of went away,” says Peterson.

Levy recommends at least two days of strength, flexibility and balance training a week. “Get stronger and everything is better,” she says, including moving more fluidly and decreasing the risk of bone breaks.

How to increase your balance and strength:

Levy says the data shows that Tai Chi is “really effective” for balance. But, you don’t have to sign up for classes, just “incorporate activities that involve single leg stance,” says Chase, like standing on one foot while brushing your teeth. “The win is in practicing, not in how long you can do it,” he says. To get started, here is an intro to Tai Chi video with Kathy Smith. Also, check out dozens videos of strength training and balance moves on AARP's Staying Fit page.

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Cari Shane is a Washington, D.C.–based freelance journalist who specializes in science, medicine and health. Her work can be found in a variety of publications, including Fast Company, Scientific American and Smithsonian.