Newest statistics show that the last 10 years of an adult life are going to be dismal: frail, sick and dependent.
Nursing home placements are at an all time high, and in many facilities across the country, the demand is greater than the supply.
Whoa!!!
How did it get to be like this?
In medical school, I learned that the ‘normal range’ of hormones is different for a 60 year old than a twenty year old.
In actuality, I only learned about estrogen and progesterone. LH and FSH but those are ‘instructing’ hormones, not the actual hormone that does the work.
We didn’t learn much about testosterone.
We certainly didn’t learn about cortisol other than in Addison’s disease or Cushing’s disease.
Here’s the simple fact of the matter in aging:
We age because our hormone levels decline.
Not vice versa.
In a landmark study, the Okinawa Centenarian study, it was found that Okinawans at age 70 and 100, were biologically younger than Americans of the same age; with higher levels of hormones than their American counterparts.
Here are some of the fundamental lifestyle principles they practice:
(Before you say genetics, note that 80% of your genetic expression can be modified by what your genes are exposed to).
1. Diet
A low glycemic index, low glycemic load foodstyle (foodstyle is my preferred word instead of diet).
High in plant based nutrients, they also consume low calories.
Caloric restriction is a known strategy for longevity, having been extensively studied in the scientific literature.
The Okinawans also do not eat until they are full or too full! They eat until they are 80% full and then stop.
2. Exercise
They are physically active daily.
What we see is a reduction in:
- cancer
- heart disease
- osteoporosis
- dementia
This is a lesson we must learn in the Western world.
We sit too much, and idle too much.
We eat too much.
We drink too much.
We stress too much.
We are a society of excess.
Let’s start changing the future: your future.
Take the first step today.
Make small shifts towards your independent and healthy longevity.
Afterall, what are you working so hard for?
Saving for?
Dreaming about for your future?
What’s the point if you don’t get there???
