Take a Long Time to Age

By Eve Prang Plews
Licensed Nutriton Counselor
(Originally published in Sarasota's Natural Awakenings magazine February, 2010)
 

                Slowing the aging process is likely the single best use of your effort to live well.  Repeatedly, people invest much time and thought power contemplating their future with provocative questions like “Where will I retire?”, “How long will I work?”, “How can I save and invest wisely to insure my ‘Golden Years’?”.  Yet rarely is the same time and attention given to what kind of body and mind you will have as you age.  Will you be able to participate and enjoy all the activities you dream about?  There are well known strategies that can slow the aging process markedly and help insure that all your years are ‘Golden’.

                Start with the easiest habits to establish and avoid the worst of the activities that greatly speed aging:  inadequate sleep, toxic exposure, nasty rancid fats, smoking, lack of exercise, nutrient poor diet and low socialization. There are supplements with more potency to reduce aging than you can often get in your food.  Top of the list is fish oil.  Ideally, it should come from the European Union where restrictions and testing on heavy metals (like mercury), PCB’s, dioxin and other toxic ingredients are more heavily regulated in fish oil than in the U.S.  Add together the EPA and DHA amounts on the label to find the total amount of active agents.  That number should be at least 1500 mg of EPA/DHA daily.  Vegetarians can choose DHA alone from algae, the same source fish get it from. This is the great anti-inflammatory for all body parts: the cardiovascular system, brain, joints, skin and everything else.  Other terrific natural anti-inflammatories include ginger, turmeric, melatonin, green tea, quercitin and cayenne.  Supplements of resveratrol, Boswellia and Vitamin E also exhibit remarkable anti-inflammatory effects and thus slow aging.

                Sleep requirements DO NOT reduce with age.  Every skill from memory to math, both fine and gross motor skills and the ability to focus, memorize and concentrate are all reduced with insufficient or un-refreshing sleep.  Turning off the computer or TV a half hour earlier can pay off in huge benefits to mood management when you get to bed a little earlier.  After all, did that last half-hour of media stimulation add to your long term health?  Sleep will.  And when the sun comes up-- delay getting involved with your computer until after your exercise, grooming and healthy breakfast.  Don’t give your health away to electronics.

                Toxic exposure is the nemesis of our times.  The cavalier way the Earth was treated in the last century by both the ignorant and the greedy have given us a dirty world.  You are the person in control of your choices.  Each occasion that you chose organic food, non-toxic pest control, no VOC paints and pure filtered water, you are reducing your total toxic load.  Toxins interfere with the delicate metabolism of the cell and cell signaling apparatus.  Your own energy factories, the mitochondria, can’t complete the processes that make energy for you to do all you desire when toxins have mucked up the mechanism in the cell.  Awareness is the first step to creating desire.  Awareness that toxins in all their many forms harm you can create the desire to learn more about what you can do to make better choices.  Desire for a healthy body and a functional future can motivate you to make important changes.  The Environmental Working Group, www.EWG.org is a great place to start.

                Your brain is made of fat.  As the most metabolically active organ in the body, the brain constantly replenishes and repairs itself.  Much of the food we eat not only ends up being used by the brain for energy but ends up in the brain itself.  The creation of modern chemical processing creates nasty trans-fats that make rigid, tough and slow brain cells.  Fried anything and processed foods, especially baked goods, often contain this synthetic fat found nowhere in nature.  Even when the nutrition label lists no trans- fats, there can be half a gram per serving and it’s not required to be put on the label.  These gnarly fats are incorporated into your cell membrane which destroys the cells ability to make energy or communicate properly with other cells.  A brain filled with trans-fatty acids will age faster and become progressively less functional.  Plus it can increase risk of diabetes, heart disease and depression. Nuff said? NO French fry is worth dementia. 

                If there is anyone left on the planet who doesn’t know that exercise may be the #1 way to slow aging—this author would be surprised.  Our bodies were designed to move and bend and lift and stretch.  If the gym isn’t your thing, then go dance or garden or just take a walk.  Any exercise is better than no exercise and more is better than a little bit.  The big benefits begin at 150 minutes/week.  If you won’t find those few hours each week to ‘just do it’, you’ll have the chance to think again next time you witness someone too weak to lift themselves out of a chair.  Yes, that may be negative motivation, but wake up!  The mobility you save will be your own.

                If you read this column monthly or listen to my radio show weekly on Mondays at 9AM on WSLR 96.5FM, you’ll get lots of lessons on creating a nutrient rich diet.  Remember, chickens occur in nature, chicken nuggets don’t.  Potatoes occur in nature, Pringles don’t.  Just eat what occurs in nature and eat a rainbow of colors every day- and I don’t mean Skittles. 

                It’s unrealistic and even cruel to be just another voice to say “stop smoking.”  It is a difficult task for many.  Use of acupuncture, hypnosis and supportive nutrients like

L-tyrosine and 5-HTP have proven successful for many whose determination was not enough.  The greater risk of stroke, dementia, diabetes and heart disease are all greater risks than some forms of cancer.  All inflammatory damage done to the lungs can spread to the brain destroying blood vessels and robbing your brain of essential nutrients.

                Having a network; be it family or friends, church or bridge club, fellow hobbyists or political party membership, all forms of group socialization lead to longer, richer lives.  Hang out with those who make you laugh and think and participate.  Many studies demonstrate the nutrient value of friendship.  It’s something you can’t put in a pill.  Get out, get involved.  Nothing brings happiness faster than helping another.  Commitment to service has its own rewards for you and those you serve.

                The benefits of taking care of you are huge.  To cherish and protect your mobility, good brain and ability to participate in the world is the single best investment you can make in yourself and your future.  Today, do something to slow the aging process and then do it again tomorrow.

Eve Prang Plews, a licensed Nutrition Counselor, has been in practice at her Sarasota clinic, Full Spectrum Health, for 22 years. You may contact her at 941 952-1200 or fullspectrumhealth.com.  Her previous articles are available at eveplews.com.  Eve’s radio show, No Nonsense Nutrition, airs Mondays at 9 AM on WSLR 96.5 FM, or stream it live at wslr.org.