'An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.'
~ Benjamin Franklin
We are not victims of our genes. Our living conditions and the lifestyle choices we make can favourably alter the way our genes are expressed. Twenty first century research confirms this.
Using the letters in the words AGE WELL as a memory aid, here are 7 key habits that promote healthy ageing.
1) Address underlying cause of disease. Don’t just medicate symptoms.
If I stepped on a thumbtack, and failed to remove it, taking a pain killer might numb the pain, a symptom, but it would not address its underlying cause. Hence, if I were diagnosed with low bone mineral density, before succumbing to drug therapy, I’d want to make sure:
I was getting enough of the right exercise and moving throughout the day, I was not vitamin D deficient, I was eating mineral and protein rich foods, I did not have a disease like Celiac that might be interfering with my absorption of bone building nutrients.
Symptoms are our body’s cry for help. We need to pay attention, not just silence them.
2) Garnish colourful plant based meals (mostly low sugar vegetables and fruits unless very active) with high quality fats (eg. extra virgin olive oil, avocado, nuts/seeds, ghee and/or organic butter) and protein (eg. pasture-raised eggs, wild fish, free roaming poultry, grass fed beef, or whole plant proteins like hemp seed, buckwheat, chia and spirulina).
We eat a ton of food annually, literally the equivalent of a small car. So food matters. It provides the building blocks to replace our tissues, which are constantly being regenerated. If we are what we eat and we eat crappy food, we create crappy bodies.
In 1926 a paediatrician named Clara Davis took 15 infants into her care, starting at ages 6 to 11 months. These infants were offered a choice of 34 single ingredient foods at each meal. Tastes changed over time. Different foods were craved and chosen based on nutrient needs for current state of growth. One infant had rickets and chose to consume cod liver oil, rich in vitamin D and other bone building nutrients, until his rickets was healed. When assessed by another high profile paediatrician 6 years later, these children were deemed the finest specimens in terms of behaviour and health. Highly palatable, artificially flavoured, preserved, processed foods interfere with such natural selection.
Today we are overfed but malnourished. As Michael Pollan recommends in his book In Defense of Food, "Eat [real] food. Not too much. Mostly plants."
3) Exercise. Move throughout the day.
An hour at the gym will not compensate for prolonged sitting. In fact public health organizations are claiming that sitting is the new smoking. Brazil research on 2000 people, between ages 50-80, over a 6 ½ year period found a direct correlation between the score assigned to one’s ability to sit on the floor and rise unassisted, with longevity and quality of life. Subjects scored 10 if able to do it unassisted. Points were subtracted for use of hands, knees etc. Try it. To successfully pull this off, strong muscles and healthy joints are critical.
Move. Lift. Push. Pull. Squat. Stretch. Avoid prolonged sitting. Stand from a sitting position every half hour throughout the day.
4) Willpower is like a muscle. It fatigues when heavily relied upon.
Skill power reduces the need to rely on willpower. Remember how tough it was when you first learned to drive? But now you can do it on autopilot. Instead of dieting change one habit at a time. Practice it until you can do it without even thinking. Start by drinking more water, which will displace sweetened beverages. When you master that, add a vegetable to every meal and snack. It’s about adding, not subtracting. Progress not perfection.
Change habits gradually. Learn. With skill power, minimal willpower is required.
5) Embrace change.
Up to 90% of doctor visits are attributed to stress, which can be defined as failure to adapt to change. But is stress really toxic? In 1998 30,000 adults in the US were asked how much stress they’d experienced over the previous year. They were also asked if they believed stress was harmful. Eight years later people exposed to high stress, who also believed that stress was harmful, experienced 43% increased risk of dying. Surprisingly though those who experienced high stress, but did not believe stress was harmful, had no increased risk. In fact they fared better than those who did not experience stress. The power of thought!
Reframe stress as a challenge or opportunity presented for growth and transformation. Embrace it.
6) Lights out.
Exposure to blue light from electronics and other artificial light after sunset interferes with natural production of the sleep hormone melatonin. And, adequate sleep is essential to health. There is some truth to the old adage, every hour before midnight is worth two after midnight. Early on in the night we experience more deep sleep, producing more anti-ageing growth hormone, which helps to repair tissue, regulate blood sugar and prevent cravings.
Lights out. Early to bed. Sleep well. Age well.
7) Live life with purpose.
Have a reason to get up in the morning. Five years ago, I wrote down my core values, my mission and vision for the future. I vowed to turn down any opportunity that was incongruent with my core values, to stand up for what I believe is right - to leave a legacy of hope for future generations. While I experience cycles of tremendous contribution and cycles of setbacks, I am at peace. Seldom do I have a need to numb emotional pain with food or other substances. I am eager to get up in the morning and I have hope for the future.
Start now. Address underlying cause of disease. Garnish plant-based foods with quality fat and protein. Exercise - move throughout the day. Reduce reliance on willpower by developing skill power. Embrace change. Turn lights down after sunset. Live life with purpose.
I will elaborate on these healthy ageing habits in future blogs.
Originally published in my old blog site Live well. Age Gracefully in 2017
Comments