Look Younger, Increase Vitality, Optimize Brain Function & Live Longer: S-L-O-W Down the Aging Process

Aging is an inevitable process that is influenced by genetic, lifestyle and environmental factors. Fatigue, low energy, bloating, weight gain, aches and pains, low testosterone, brittle bones and memory loss are not inevitable consequences of aging and getting older. Conventional thinking is that the older you get, the sicker you get. In actuality, the older you get, the healthier you have been.

You can choose to either embrace the aging process with a positive mindset and make choices that support a healthy lifestyle so you age gracefully or you can accelerate aging with a fear-based mindset and unhealthy lifestyle choices. Remember, cancer, autoimmune disorders, diabetes, sickness and lifestyle diseases do not manifest overnight. No one gets Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer or any degenerative disease out of the blue at age 50, 60 or 70. The process starts decades earlier. Your lifestyle and the choices you make in your 20s and 30s show up in your 40s, 50s and beyond. It’s never too late to change, make smarter and healthier choices, and a place where health thrives.

There are basic categories of aging that impact health, vitality and longevity: intrinsic (what happens on a cellular and metabolic level), photo (sun exposure), environmental (what you’re knowingly and unknowingly exposed to daily including dietary and lifestyle choices, chemical and toxic exposure), and epigenetics (turning on or turning off certain genetic factors).

Aging contributors include elevated and chronic low-grade inflammation, oxidation, glycation, immune response, telomere shortening, accumulated DNA mutations, and various forms of stress and epigenetics.

Telomeres are the end caps of chromosomes. Shorter telomeres are linked with accelerated aging and contribute to every known disease of aging. Although we cannot change our DNA, we can alter which genes we turn on or which genes we turn off (epigenetics) through choices, environmental exposures and behaviors that can change the expression of our genes by influencing a network of chemical switches within our cells collectively known as the epigenome.

These behavioral and environmental factors include diet, lifestyle, stress, thoughts, toxic exposure and other factors that activate chemical switches that regulate gene expression. Food in particular is known to alter the epigenetics of animals on different diets. You are not only what you eat, but potentially what your mother ate, and possibly even what your grandparents ate.

Oxidation accelerates the aging process. Oxidation is damage to DNA, proteins and lipids (fatty substances) caused by pro-oxidants, which are produced from the air we breathe, smoking, over-exercising, chronic stressors (including emotional, electromagnetic and mental stress), inflammatory foods and poor diet, excessive sun exposure, infections and inflammation. Under these circumstances, antioxidants are depleted and must be replaced continuously in order to delay the otherwise inevitable deterioration that leads to any one of the top three killers: inflammation, oxidative stress and immune dysfunction.

Stress and inflammation are two controllable factors that independently shorten telomere length and increase cellular aging. Even though it’s invisible, excess inflammation is a silent killer that accelerates the aging process, is responsible for nearly all diseases, and occurs from a number of things including:

- Chronic stress	- Excessive exercise or too little exercise & sedentary lifestyles
- Toxic heavy metals	- Eating foods you’re sensitive to
- Diabesity	- Existing heart condition
- Gum disease	- Essential fatty acid deficiency
- Autoimmunity	- Underlying viruses, Candida, bacterial and long-term infections
- High body fat composition	- Congested or compromised liver
- Gut dysfunction	- Consuming the SAD diet: grains, HFCS, soda, wheat, sugar, corn, trans fats, gluten, GMOs, vegetable oils & fake foods

Over time inflammation causes premature aging, weight loss resistance, hormonal imbalances, cognitive dysfunction, and a laundry list of health problems and eventually leading to disease.

Another factor in accelerated aging is glycation. This occurs when glucose (sugar) from what the foods you choose to eat binds to some of your DNA, proteins and lipids leaving them unable to do their job thereby increasing oxidation and free radicals. The problem becomes worse as we get older, causing body tissues to malfunction, resulting in disease and death.

Successful, healthy aging is the absence of disease and disability, high cognitive and physical functioning, and active engagement with life. (Rowe and Kahn).

Several studies suggest that only about 25 percent of the variance in adult longevity is attributable to genetic differences. The other 75 percent seems to be related to early life events and a person's current environment and lifestyle choices. No one get’s Alzheimer’s or any degenerative disease at age 60 or 70; the process starts decades earlier. According to Jeffrey Bland, PhD, “seventy-five percent of an individual's health after age 40 is dependent upon what they have done to their genes, not the genes themselves. Aging is the breakdown of cellular communication.”

Biomarkers: 10 Determinants of Aging You Can Control (Tufts University: William Evan and Irwin Rosenberg)

Muscle Mass
Strength
BMR (basal metabolic rate) determined by thyroid function and muscle mass
Percent body fat
Aerobic capacity
Blood Sugar
Cholesterol
Blood Pressure
Bone Mineral Density (BMD)
Temperature Regulation

According to Diana Schwarzbein, M.D., degenerative diseases of aging are not genetic and do not happen overnight. These diseases are acquired. Degenerative diseases including osteoporosis, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and other diseases that occur as we age are byproducts of a metabolic imbalance, unhealthy lifestyles, imbalances within the body and a deeper underlying problem.

If you want to accelerate the aging process and shorten your telomeres, do what most Americans do – sit for long periods, spend hours watching television, consume lots of processed foods, sugar, carbs, trans fats and vegetable oils, soda, GMOs, booze and chemicals, smoke, skimp on sleep, get a divorce, never exercise or exercise to extremes, experience anxiety, excessive amounts of stress, isolation and loneliness, take antidepressants, statins and other pharmaceutical drugs, fail to heal any gut dysfunction, toxic overload and underlying infections, chronic sun exposure, overeat, and gain lots of weight especially belly fat, stop learning and challenging your brain, and never detox. Lab values that indicate accelerated aging include elevated insulin, Hemoglobin A1c, glucose, triglycerides, CRP, homocysteine, high iron, excessive inflammation, folate, B12, hydrochloric acid and fatty acids deficiencies, and adrenal, immune and thyroid dysfunction.

Warning signs of accelerated aging include but are not limited to chronic heartburn and digestive dysfunction, insomnia, hypertension, bone loss, excess belly fat, muscle loss (sarcopenia), depression, anxiety, allergies, and many other ailments. Symptoms may include problems with memory, digestion, aches and pain, low energy, foggy brain, PMS symptoms and many others. These are red flags and must be addressed, identified and dealt with to prevent chronic degenerative disease. We are not an NSAIDs, statin or any other drug-deficient society. Drugs are never the answer; they’re just a band-aid.

The solution is to address and identify the originating root cause and determine the underlying reason why there is an imbalance in the first place that is causing you to age faster than you’d like.

Start with the foods you choose to eat. Food is powerful information that is either a form of poison or healing medicine – you get to choose every time you load up your fork. Insulin and oxidative stress are controlled and managed by stabilizing blood sugar and eating a nutrient-dense diet enriched with vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants, amino acids and phytonutrients. The foods you choose to eat can support a more youthful appearance, a healthy brain, encourage fat loss and optimal health, or promote disease, oxidation, glycation and accelerate the aging process. It’s a choice. Diet is an essential component of aging.

Tips to S-L-O-W Down the Aging Process, Look Younger, Feel Better, Live Longer and Optimize Brain Function

Those whose diets include an abundance of organic leafy greens and vegetables tend to have the healthiest looking skin and hair, feel better, experience less disease and live longer. Follow the lifestyle principles in The Power of 4 and Fat Loss Revolution!

Eat organic as often as possible to limit intake of chemicals, pesticides, GMOs, xenohormones and antibiotics. Include more of the following:

* Make the cornerstone of your meals an abundance of folate-rich dark, leafy greens and non-starchy vegetables. Have a green smoothie every day.

* Organic berries: blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries

* Healthy fats fuel your brain, regulate hormones, beautify skin and reduce inflammation: extra-virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons coconut oil every day (rich in medium chain fatty acids – MCFAs), omega-3 fatty acids, pastured butter, wild-caught salmon, avocado, egg yolks, organic nuts and seeds

* Fatty fish such as sardines and wild salmon are high in omega-3 fats and vitamin D. There is an association between aging skin, wrinkles, disease and vitamin D deficiency.

* Clean protein: wild fish, free-range poultry and pastured eggs, grass-fed bison, beef and grass-fed whey protein. Grass-fed whey has been shown to increase the body’s stores of the antioxidant, glutathione, which increases the integrity of telomeres, which are bundles of DNA found in every cell that shorten with age.

* Spices and herbs: ginger, cinnamon, turmeric (curcumin), aged garlic

* Cacao, unsweetened, organic green tea and plenty of clean, filtered water. The EGCG in found in green tea has the capability to reverse oxidation and inflammation. A study in the journal Nutrition reported that dietary chocolate intake (4 kg chocolate/50 kg body weight) extended average life expectancy by as much as 4 years in humans! Other studies demonstrated that dietary intake of cocoa or chocolate can improve blood vessel function, insulin sensitivity, blood pressure, and inflammation.

Nutrition is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Each person has different needs depending on their health status, metabolism, physical activity level, previous health history including early dietary habits, biochemical individuality, long-term exposure to environmental pollutants and toxins, emotional and physical stress, age and so much more.

However, I think we can all agree that every single person benefits greatly when they avoid inflammatory, nutritionally-void foods known to accelerate aging and degenerative disease. These include:

Sugar, HFCS and artificial sweeteners
Soda, including diet and excessive alcohol consumption
Processed soy, corn, gluten, wheat, grains and pasteurized dairy
Genetically engineered foods
Vegetable oils (i.e. soybean, canola), frankenfats and all trans-fats
All processed, packaged, fast and fake food.
White bread, pasta, corn, wheat and other foods with zero nutrient value. These items are just another form of sugar. When eaten, the sugar bonds with protein and creates advanced glycation end products (AGEs) which cause inflammation. In addition, these foods cause blood sugar imbalances and elevate insulin. The more insulin you make (and do not use), the faster you age!

Paula’s Recipe for Vitality, Longevity and Happy, Healthy Aging

* Eat wholesome, nutrient-dense, real food	* Hydrate with clean, filtered water
* Make 2/3 of your plate organic veggies	* Less doing – more being
* Minimize toxin exposure. Avoid fluoride	* Use chemical-free skin & cleaning products
* Manage inevitable stressors	* Avoid smoking, excess alcohol & sugar
* Periodic detoxification	* Loving and supportive relationships
* Avoid over- or under-exercising	* Maintain a healthy weight (body fat)
* Quality sleep, daily restoration & relaxation	* A connection with God, Higher Power, or Source
* Rule out toxic metal body burdens	* Balance Body Chemistry - Annual lab testing
* Eat 20 percent less	* Follow your passion. Love what you do.
* Prevent sarcopenia: lift weights, yoga, walk	* Gratitude. Positive mental attitude. Meditate.
* Avoid all Rx drugs, especially statins	* Avoid GMOs, sugar, vegetable oils, HFCS

Move your body every single day. Find an activity you enjoy. Walk daily, ideally outdoors and in nature. Walking lessens genetic influence toward obesity by 50 percent, boosts serotonin, releases feel-good endorphins, lowers cortisol, improves insulin sensitivity, and nourishes the soul.

Weight train to build lean muscle tissue, increase strength, optimize hormones and prevent sarcopenia (loss of muscle that occurs with age). Research shows that strength training with heavy weights resulted in increases in muscle strength up to 227 percent and increases in muscle mass up to 11.4 percent in men aged 60 to 72. Similar training in frail elderly (87 to 93 years of age) resulted in a 189 percent increase in muscle strength and 11 percent increase in muscle size in eight weeks.

Yoga, prayer and other forms of meditation counteract the harmful effects of stress and have an observable, biological effect. Genes associated with energy metabolism, mitochondrial function, insulin secretion and telomere maintenance were turned on, while those involved in inflammation were turned off with effects more pronounced and consistent for long-term practitioners.

According to Dr. John Denninger a psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School and Director of Research at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, mind-body practices such as yoga turn on and off certain genes that trigger beneficial responses in the body and the brain. A consistent yoga practice engages areas of the brain that encourage a healthier response and perception to stress, improved immunity, increased spine density and flexibility, and even properties associated with slowing down the aging process.

A study published the medical journal PloS One reported that just one session of relaxation-response practice was enough to enhance the expression of genes involved in energy metabolism and insulin secretion, and reduce expression of genes linked to the inflammatory response and stress. There was an effect even among novices who had never practiced before.

Meditation. Slow down age-related brain atrophy and induce brain growth with meditation; not only does it prolong life meditation enhances the quality of life. In a study published last year, scientists at the University of California at Los Angeles and Nobel Prize winner Elizabeth Blackburn found that 12 minutes of daily yoga meditation for eight weeks increased telomerase activity by 43 percent, suggesting an improvement in stress-induced aging.

Stay mentally active: pursue education; creativity; brain stimulation (puzzles, word games, playing a musical instrument). Never stop learning.

Relax, rejuvenate, recover and restore. Chronic stress accelerates aging, inflammation, oxidative damage, adrenal dysfunction, degeneration and disease. Rest is your secret weapon against stress. Women are more sensitive to the stress hormone cortisol compared to men and are less able to adapt when levels are out of balance. Women with high levels of “perceived” stress have shorter telomeres, indicating that they have a cell age 10 years ahead of their biological age. The good news is that telomeres can recover from chronic stress when relaxation techniques are consistently practiced.

Enjoy nature. Walk every day. Practice de-stressing, parasympathetic activities every day. Practicing daily breath-management techniques and having a better understanding of stress can help build resilience. Rest and relaxation shift the body into the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system, known as the “rest and recovery” system. Practice more Stress-Less Solutions.

Sleep! It’s the fountain of youth and has a tremendous impact on longevity, telomere length, the appearance of your skin, brain function and overall health physically, mentally and emotionally. Tips to Get a Good Night’s Sleep

Balance hormones, specifically insulin, cortisol and thyroid. Schedule an appointment to test and assess your hormone profile. Optimize anabolic, youthful hormones testosterone, DHEA and growth hormone through diet, lifestyle, strength training and nutritional support first before opting for the route of bio-identical hormones. Increase growth hormone naturally with heavy strength training, deep and restful sleep, eating clean grass-fed and pastured protein, and nutrient support from gammonol forte and amino acids such as arginine, orthonine, glutamine and glycine.

Annual blood work to balance body chemistry and detect any nutrient deficiencies such as folate, vitamin B12, fatty acids or nutrient excesses such as elevated iron and high homocysteine. Rule out underlying infections, thyroid function, metabolic dysfunction and inflammation. Nutrient status is a key player when it comes to optimal health, vitality, longevity and happy, healthy aging. Order your lab tests here.

Reduce inflammation. An inflamed body is an inflamed brain.

Practice gratitude, compassion and self-love. Adopt a positive attitude and coping skills (make lemonade out of lemons).

Detox periodically. Be aware of toxins in your home, food, water, and the environment, and the detrimental effects they have on your health. These include pesticides, GMOs, toxic chemicals, artificial sweeteners, personal care and cleaning products, xenoestrogens and obesogens, BPA, phthalates and many others. Practice and implement these Smart ‘n Simple Detox Tips Safe Enough to do Every Day

Surround yourself with like-minded people who love, value and support you; people and things that nourish your mind and soul; and an environment that soothes your soul. Realize that sometimes winning means walking away whether it be leaving a toxic relationship, city, job or anything else. Determine your purpose. Follow your passion.

You can be eating the healthiest, organic foods, moving your body and meditating every day, and taking the highest-quality supplements, but if you’re in a miserable, unfulfilling or toxic relationship, have a negative, doom-n-gloom, victim mindset, or there’s deep underlying emotional pain and turmoil that has not been dealt with true healing, health and happiness will evade you.

Build good digestion. Ensure a healthy functioning gut, optimize digestion, identify underlying infections, a healthy microbiome and eliminate intolerant foods. As Hippocrates stated many decades ago, “All disease starts in the gut.”

Avoid medications that induce unfavorable changes in lipids, blood pressure, insulin sensitivity, glucose, brain neurochemistry, weight, affect strength and other damaging side effects including dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Recognize, treat and reduce all known CHD risk factors.

If you choose to drink alcohol, enjoy an occasional glass red wine, preferably Pinot Noir since it contains the highest content of resveratrol.

Take high-quality supplements and nutraceuticals, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals to correct any underlying nutrient deficiencies and support your biochemistry to encourage health, vitality and longevity.

Consider the following Healthy Aging Nutrients:

* Zinc & Magnesium	* Probiotics	* Alpha lipoic acid
* Quercetin	* Digestive enzymes with HCL	* Curcumin (Meriva-SR)
* CoQzyme	* B vitamins, specifically folate & B12	* Green tea extract
* Vitamin E	* Resveratrol	* Essential fatty acids
* Vitamin D	* Vitamin C	* Acetyl L-carnitine

Here’s to optimizing brain function and embracing the aging process with a healthy lifestyle. Send a kiss

As a holistic nutritionist and functional health practitioner, my philosophy is to identify the root cause of any underlying health issues, slowly "peel away the layers of the onion," and design a healing protocol and comprehensive LIFESTYLE plan specific to your unique biochemistry so you can heal, experience vibrant health, balanced hormones, age well, and look, think and feel better than ever for a lifetime. I consult with men and women around the world, all over the U.S. and with clients locally in the Phoenix area. Schedule a free 15-minute consultation!

Read The Power of 4 and Fat Loss Revolution for everything you need to look younger, feel better, increase longevity, and become the healthiest version of yourself! It’s a lifestyle. Red heart

The material in this article and on this blog is copyright material and may NOT be reproduced or copied without written permission. Reproduction of the articles on this blog may be shared and are permissible ONLY when instructions found at the bottom of this blog are followed. Thank you.

Related Articles

Sources available upon request.

Technorati Tags: longevity,anti-aging,paulaowens.com,power of 4,fat loss revolution