We all love (and love to hate) that stage young children go
through, when every sentence begins with the word “why?” It’s a time when we
are trying to understand the world in which we live and our natural curiosity strives
to find the meaning in everything around us.
As a child I remember thinking my father was the font of all
knowledge (he seemed to have the best answers to my Why questions). Imagine my
surprise when, one day, he responded with “I don’t know”! Fortunately this
didn’t stem my curiosity and by the time I was 18 I had a mission: to help feed
the world by researching into crop development in arid regions. And so I
entered the realm of science. However, the reality of the late 70s hit such
that, after graduating in Biological Sciences, I considered myself fortunate to
land a job on the scientific journal Nature. I have also worked on a range of
scientific titles, a medical book and health magazines.
Fifteen years ago I qualified as a Shiatsu practitioner.
Since then my expertise has grown and I now offer exercise and cooking classes
in addition to my Shiatsu practice.
For me, in a
way, the Ageing question is part of the ultimate question: the “why are we
here”, or the “meaning of life” question. Ageing is an inevitable part of our
time on this earth.
So, how can
we Age well?
Here are my
Seven Secrets to Ageing Gracefully
1.
Positive outlook
2.
Laughter
3.
Sleep
4.
Nourishment
5.
Sociability
6.
Movement
7.
A Healthy Heart
1. Positive Outlook
People have
been trying to work out the secrets of centenarians’ longevity (those over the
age of 100). This is what they found:
The most
spritely are:
- Rebels; they don’t go along with the beliefs of their culture;
- They have a ritualistic token “bad” habit, for example, one cigar a day, or a whiskey a day;
- They live in the present and look forward positively to the future;
- They do not identify with their age. Rather, they live in sub-cultures that support their beliefs.
These centenarians
are influencing their genes in a very positive way, through positive mental
attitude and action. Epigeneticists are particularly interested in these
people. Epigenetics is the study of gene expression; these scientists explore
why genes are or are not expressed in an individual.
If you want
to influence your genes for the best:
- Don’t indulge in negative chat about aches and pains, other than to your GP or specialist;
- Don’t use your age as an excuse to not do something
- Defy what you’ve been taught about ageing
- Begin acting healthily NOW
- Create goals and dreams for a fun future
- Adopt an ageless attitude and seek the company of others who share your beliefs. http://www.drnorthrup.com/thriving-with-each-passing-year/
2. Laughter
As good old
Readers’ Digest assured us: Laughter is the Best Medicine.
Laughter has
been called internal jogging, because the act of laughing stimulates hormones
called catecholamines, which in turn release the happy hormones -- endorphins.
Endorphins are the feel-good hormones, make us more relaxed and happy and ease
sensations of pain.
Laughter has
been scientifically proven to relieve stress, reduce anxiety and increase our
stores of personal energy. It also boosts the immune system and can aid
relaxation and sleep.
Share plenty
of laughter with your friends.
3. Sleep
Ensuring
that we get adequate sleep is important. Between six and eight hours a night is
ideal (both more and less are detrimental).
During sleep
our bodies heal and our immune systems become stronger.
But, sleep
can prove elusive, particularly as we get older.
Mindfulness
Meditation has been showing its benefits in a range of research studies over
the past few years. Only last week a study was published showing that
meditating for up to 20 minutes a day significantly improved the quality of
sleep in a group of older people. Other problems, including symptoms of
fatigue, depression and anxiety also lessened.
Black, D. et al.; JAMA
International Medicine, 16 Feb. 2015
4. Nourishment
As the
saying goes: we are what we eat. In order to stay well, we need the best
nourishment. There are very few people that can get away with a lifetime of
excess drinking, smoking and/or bad food choices.
A healthy
diet is one focused on whole, ideally organic, foods including plenty of
vegetables and leafy greens. Think 9 a day rather than 5 a day.
Throw out
the processed, ready-made food, including packet breakfast cereals, anything
with e numbers and look out for too much salt, particularly processed table
salt.
Sugar in all
its forms and refined grains (this includes bread, cakes, biscuits and related
foods, including all flour products) do our bodies no favours at all. Sugar
feeds cancer and has a negative impact on the immune system via the problems it
creates in our gut. Every organ in our body will be stressed by any form of
sugar that we consume.
Emond JA, et al. Risk of Breast
Cancer Recurrence Associated with Carbohydrate Intake and Tissue Expression of
IGF-1 Receptor. Cancer Epidemiol
Biomarkers Prev. 2014 Jul;23(7):1273-9.
The idea that sugar feeds cancer
is often attributed to Otto Warburg, a German researcher who received the Nobel
Prize in 1931 for his discovery that cancer cells have a different energy
metabolism than healthy cells.
Warburg believed that cancer cells
originate from an “injuring of respiration,” or lack of oxygen, that is
replaced by fermentation. In other words, cancer cells learn to thrive by
gleaning energy from the fermentation of glucose, or sugar.
Yet, the statement that sugar
feeds cancer is often debated, since all cells, including healthy cells, use
glucose to grow. It appears, however, that cancer cells do use sugar more
efficiently, and in greater quantities, than healthy cells.
Cook from
scratch. It’s fun to share our cooking skills with children/grandchildren, or
borrow someone else’s with whom to share our kitchen exploits. Even at their
tender age of 3 years, my grandchildren enjoy nothing more than helping to
create something edible (usually) in the kitchen.
While we’re
in the kitchen, be sure to avoid microwaves where possible.
Keep
hydrated by drinking plenty of water and curbing caffeinated drinks.
Studies
indicate that omega 3 oils derived from fish may help keep brains healthier in
older people, particularly in the hippocampus, which is an area of the brain involved
in memory function.
James V. Pottala et al, Neurology,
22 January 2014.
These omega-3
fatty acids can also reduce inflammation, which is a driving factor for a
variety of diseases.
Rangel-Huerta, O.D., et al.,
Br.J.Nutr., 2012. 107 Suppl 2:S159-70: p. S159-S170
Another
excellent anti-ageing food is coconut oil, known to reduce our risk of heart
disease and lower our cholesterol. When frying, favour coconut oil rather than
unsaturated vegetable oils, which de-nature on heating.
We’ve all
heard that anti-oxidants are good, but it’s best to source them through our
food, rather than as a supplement. Good sources include berries (blackberries,
cranberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries), cherries, beans and
artichokes.
•Fermented
foods were widely used by our ancestors but much has been lost in our fast-food
society. Bread is no longer proved twice, and nothing is left to soak or
ferment. The process of fermentation renders many foods more easily digestible
for our bodies. The good bugs in fermented vegetables such as sauerkraut also
enhance our immune system, which is acknowledged to lie largely in the gut.
Nature Reviews Immunology 9,
313-323 (May 2009) | doi:10.1038/nri2515
Nature 455, 1109-1113 (23 October
2008) Published online 21 September 2008
Sauerkraut -
fermented cabbage - contains more vitamin C than the original cabbage it is
made from. The good bugs in the sauerkraut synthesise vitamin C during the
fermentation process.
Scientists
are now re-evaluating many concepts of health and disease, including those
affecting the nervous system. Research is now demonstrating a link between the
brain and the good bacteria in the gut. It appears that psychological and
physical stress factors affect the diversity and activity of the gut bacteria.
But it is now being demonstrated that there is a link in the other direction
too: changes in our gut bacteria affect our emotional behaviour and other brain
systems. Conditions such as autism and depression have been linked to
inadequate good bacteria in the gut.
Mayer EA, et al. J Neurosci. 2014
Nov 12;34(46):15490-6 Gut microbes and the brain: paradigm shift in
neuroscience.
One of my
most popular cooking classes in fact doesn’t involve cooking at all: it is
about how to ferment foods to make them more digestible and nutritious.
This brings
me to inflammation. What I am referring to is not the acute inflammation that
we may see as a result of an injury to a muscle or joint, for example, but
rather inflammation that occurs in the body that is long-term and not so easy
to distinguish.
Inflammation
may also be the result of an auto-immune disorder which triggers an
inflammatory response in parts of the body, such as in certain kinds of
arthritis, fibromyalgia, lupus, crohn’s disease and other conditions.
But do you
know that inflammation is also present in many other diseases, including high
blood pressure and cardiovascular disease?
We can keep
our levels of inflammation low with good eating and lifestyle practices. For
example, high levels of insulin promote inflammation in your body and speed up
ageing. Keep insulin levels low by avoiding sugars and processed grains and by
exercising.
Stress also
has a direct impact on inflammation within our bodies. As inflammation
underlies many chronic diseases, if we can develop effective mechanisms to cope
with stress, we may find we live longer and with better health.
5. The importance of being social
As you know,
the more socially engaged we are, the better our memory performs. Studies have
shown that this is true across all age groups.
Find
stimulating ways to socialise:
Singing
involves many positive health benefits: standing rather than sitting helps
posture and balance, breathing control used during singing helps stimulate your
immune system, cleanses the lungs and helps prevent depression. And music can
have a particularly positive effect on the body too; keep singing and dancing
as long as you can.
6 . Movement
Exercise can help prevent or delay high
blood pressure, obesity, heart disease and osteoporosis. Exercise also reduces
the likelihood of falls that may lead to hip and other fractures. Although a
lifetime of regular exercise is ideal, it's never too late to start. People of
all ages, including those in their 70s, can substantially increase strength,
endurance and sense of balance with exercise.
• Yoga improves mental as well as
physical health.
Practicing hatha yoga three times
a week for eight weeks improved sedentary older adults' performance on
cognitive tasks that are relevant to everyday life, researchers report.
The findings involved 108 adults
between the ages of 55 and 79 years of age, 61 of whom attended hatha yoga
classes. The others met for the same number and length of sessions and engaged
in stretching and toning exercises instead of yoga.
"Hatha yoga requires focused
effort in moving through the poses, controlling the body and breathing at a
steady rate," Gothe said. "It is possible that this focus on one's
body, mind and breath during yoga practice may have generalized to situations
outside of the yoga classes, resulting in an improved ability to sustain
attention."
• Get out in the sun
A recent
review of clinical studies shows an association between low vitamin D levels
and a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Being out in the sun boosts
our levels of vitamin D naturally.
Remember to
stay out of the midday sun and avoid sunscreens.
In the
winter months, keep your vitamin D levels topped up with a good quality
supplement.
7. Keep a Healthy Heart
Cholesterol
is an important molecule in our body: it is indispensable for the building of
cells and for producing stress and sex hormones, and vitamin D.
It is also
important for brain health and aids in the formation of memories.
There is no
doubt that a constant state of emotional stress is directly linked with high
cholesterol levels.
The function
of the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline is to provide fuel for a
potential fight-or-flight situation. But if this energy (seen in the body as
raised blood sugar levels) is not used, it gradually accumulates as fat tissue.
We need to
find ways to help our bodies develop a healthy cholesterol level naturally,
rather than taking a pill to lower cholesterol levels.
There are a
range of strategies that we can use to help balance our stress levels.
While there
is good evidence demonstrating that daily meditation can help relieve stress
and also that moderate-to-vigorous exercise helps lower anxiety and stress levels, there
may be other activities that could work well for you.
For some,
gardening may be the panacea: it combines gentle movement and exercise with
being out in natural daylight, it is totally absorbing for the mind
(mindfulness) and being close to nature has many rewards.
We’re all individuals, so there will be no single panacea
for ill health or for longevity and we have to discover what works for us.
But there is
one secret that is probably the most important of all.
And that is
LOVE
Thank you
for your attention.
