Youthful Aging

New Year, New You

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Feed Your Brain to Avoid Dementia

As an unprecedented number of Americans approach middle and old age, there is growing public concern about the loss of mental acuity that often is attributed to aging. Medical advances have dramatically increased the likelihood of surviving into the period of life that has been associated both with wisdom and mental decline. It is becoming more and more common to enter into the eighth and ninth decades of life in generally good physical health, increasing the probability that the body will outlive the mind.  Maintaining cognitive competency is crucial for personal independence and quality of life.  Factor in the growing evidence that how one lives in earlier stages of life, including our food choices, affects cognitive aging; we all should be paying a little more attention to what we feed our brains. Read the rest of this entry »

Recapture Your Youth

Healthy aging is a topic that gets more and more vital each year.  More than 40 million Americans are 65 years old or greater and the proportion the U.S. population over 65 is anticipated to keep increasing.  Human lifespans are now at the longest they have ever been but more and more are questioning the best ways to ensure the quality of those extra years.

Aging is a complex process with many contributing environmental and genetic factors.  While a person’s lifespan is not absolutely programmed into their genes, longevity is dependent on genetic mechanisms.  This means that a doctor can’t run a genetic test to see what age you will live to, but they can see how well or poorly you are aging on a genetic level.  The damage that we accumulate through our lives is reflected in certain areas of our genes, and these areas in turn shape the ability of our cells to continue to function.

These genetic keys to aging are called telomeres.  Read the rest of this entry »

How Strong Is Your Heart?

Progress in our society has been measured in large part by events like the Industrial Revolution and the Information Age.  As a result, more of us are working with our brains instead of our bodies.  But that may not be such a good thing after all.  In our current global economy, we are dealing with more competition, unprecedented levels of stress and diminished physical activity.  America has become a nation of spectators.   Far too few are getting the exercise that lowers blood pressure, burns away body fat, strengthens muscle and bones, lowers cholesterol, improves mood and sleep, and protects against diabetes, dementia, several cancers, heart attacks and strokes.  But what exactly is the right kind of exercise? Read the rest of this entry »

Sugar: Villain in Disguise?

Mary Poppins may have recommended adding a spoonful of sugar to make some things a little more palatable, but Americans have taken that benign suggestion and run amok with it.  American consumption of added sugars has increased drastically over the last several decades.  While excessive sugar consumption is arguably the main reason for our epidemic of obesity and type-2 diabetes, the extra empty calories may just be the tip of the iceberg.  As researchers delve deeper into the fundamental causes of the diseases of Western lifestyles, they are starting to see links to sugar consumption; and the evidence implicating added sugars as a contributing factor in the development of heart disease, hypertension, and several common cancers is starting to look pretty good. Read the rest of this entry »

For Better Longevity, You Are What You Eat…And Do

So what does that say about most Americans?  An increasingly large segment of the US population is overweight or obese, and nearly as many admit to being couch potatoes. Convincing evidence shows that weight gain and obesity increases the risk of several different cancers, including colon, prostate and breast cancer. Studies continue to reveal a link between food consumption, exercise, lifestyle choices and health impact. And the latest research suggests eating fruits and vegetables, limiting alcohol intake and regular exercise just may lower your risk for cancer.  Read the rest of this entry »

Get Your Mojo Back

Remember how good you felt in your twenties?  You were full of energy, vigor and lust.  Your responsibilities were few and just having fun was fairly routine.  The world was your oyster.  You really had the mojo-thing going on.  But life can get in the way.  Career, family and the demands of our modern life can make you feel tired, overwhelmed, stressed-out, grumpy, and lethargic.  Once you’ve lost some of your mojo, it can be hard to muster the enthusiasm to get it back.  But that is precisely when you must fight the hardest.  One of the best ways to get back into a groove is to become more physically active. Read the rest of this entry »

How Long Do You Want To Live?

Many of us are fascinated by stories of unusual longevity.  It seems every television network has some variation of a segment celebrating birthdays at or around 100 years old.  Perhaps it is because those over the century mark are one of the fastest growing segments of the United States population.  So often, getting to triple digits, living longer, and being the oldest kid on the block seems to be our obsession.  We like thinking about how long we want to live, rather than how well we want to live.  Is there a way to do both – live well, and live long? Read the rest of this entry »

Breast Cancer Prevention – Myth or Reality

The statistics have become familiar enough to most of us: Breast cancer accounts for almost 200,000 new cases and 40,000 deaths every year. The National Cancer Institute estimates that 12.7 percent of women alive today will be diagnosed with some form of breast cancer during their lifetime. This makes breast cancer by far the leading cancer in women, accounting for almost 40% of all cancers diagnosed in women. Read the rest of this entry »

Are You Losing Muscle Mass?

“Normal” aging is typically accompanied by easier weight gain and, along with declining hormones and decreased physical activity can reduce muscle mass, lead to frailty and a higher prevalence of metabolic disorders.  This insidious, age-related loss of muscle mass is called sarcopenia.

In many respects, sarcopenia is to muscle what osteoporosis is to bone.  The typical American gains one pound of fat and loses a half pound of muscle yearly between age 30 and 60.  Deterioration of muscle and loss of muscular strength is a major reason elderly lose mobility and cannot remain living independently.   Read the rest of this entry »