Notes on aging
Don’t tell the kids these days, but we’re all getting older, every moment of every day. But there are choices we make, every day, that lean us towards aging successfully or aging unsuccessfully.
I would describe aging unsuccessfully as proceeding through life in a way that increases the burden of disease and infirmity, while costing a person and their family dearly in terms of money, experience, joy, and premature death.
Aging successfully, is the opposite of this: spending one’s time purposefully to minimize disease and infirmity, avoiding expensive medical services, maximizing your experiences and joys in life, living to a ripe old age of…well…whenever it is your time to say goodbye.
So how do we age successfully? Let’s do bullet points to keep things succinct.
DIET
Minimize processed sugars and processed foods. There is a growing body of scientific literature linking industrialized and high-sugar foods to metabolic disorders, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Minimize their presence in your diet.
TIP: The more ingredients you cant pronounce, the more likely it’s bad for you.
Prioritize clean, high quality protein. Researchers are finding that 0.8 to 1 gram of protein per pound of body mass is crucial for maintaining lean body mass, which is muscle, which is the true organ of vitality. As our muscles go, so too does our health.
Between the ages of 40 and 80 we lose approximately 50% of our muscle mass. This is called sarcopenia. Increasing protein intake will help to limit this loss.
Protein supplementation is a great way to get more protein in your diet. I personally recommend whey isolate protein, as it is easily digested and more bioavailable.
Jocko Molk is excellent.
Vintage Brawn is also good.
Stay hydrated. Not only is water good for you, but if you’re drinking water, you’re NOT drinking soda, juice, or other calorically dense liquid treats. You’re also getting up and walking to the bathroom more frequently, staying more active, and preventing urinary tract infections.
EXERCISE
Mayo Clinic says you’re supposed to get 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day, and many people think going for a walk is enough. Sure, 30 minutes gets the ball on the field, but thats not the home run we’re looking for.
If you want to age successfully, you’re going to have to start a progressive resistance training program. Which is simply this: a resistance training program (weight lifting) focused on the major muscle groups (legs, chest, arms, core) where you gradually increase your resistance as you get stronger.
2 to 3 exercises per muscle group, 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 15 repetitions at a resistance level that is difficult for the last 2 to 3 reps.
Essentially what you want to do is take a bodybuilding approach to these exercises. Don’t worry ladies, you wont end up looking like The Rock. But you will end up stronger and more toned, with a boosted metabolism, improved balance, improved bone density…all good things.
A BASIC WORKOUT
This is a full body exercise program that I routinely give to my clients. It’s very basic and a very effective place to start.
Thoughts on ARTHRITIS
There are two primary types of arthritis: rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. As we age, we all develop osteoarthritis to a certain extent because osteoarthritis is NORMAL. Arthritis starts manifesting in the lumbar spine in our 20’s, and by the time we’re 65 we’ve all got it.
We wrinkle on the outside, and osteoarthritis is like internal wrinkling. It’s fine.
The difference between a painful arthritic joint and a pain-free arthritic joint is more a question of sensitivity.
Arthritis is to pain what a wadded up newspaper is to a fire: you can have one without the other, but having one sometimes makes it EASIER to have the other.
What makes osteoarthritis sensitive? What makes it painful?
A sedentary lifestyle. An inflammatory diet (processed sugars, processed foods, smoking, excess alcohol). Excess bodyweight. Negative beliefs.
So the fix is relatively simple (though not necessarily easy): get more active, begin a strength training program, fix your diet, work on weight loss (1-2lbs a week), and remember: arthritis is NORMAL.
Its fine.
SLEEP
Sleep is a tricky one. Some people are night owls. Some people are early birds. Some people need 11 hours of sleep. Some people only need 6.
The current recommendations are this: get around 8 hours of sleep a night. Sleep really is one of the best medicines we have.
Dr. Andrew Huberman of Stanford has created a free resource called the “Toolkit for Sleep”. It covers everything from how to sleep more deeply and how to build a healthy sleep routine/habit.
CLICK HERE: Dr. Huberman’s “Toolkit for Sleep”.
OTHER SUPPLEMENTS
TURMERIC/CURCUMIN: Curcumin is the active compound in turmeric root, and has reported anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, antidiabetic, antibacterial, antiprotozoal, antiviral, antifibrotic, immunomodulatory, and antifungal properties.
THIS REVIEW states that curcumin should be taken with piperine to boost your body’s ability to utilize the compound by 2000%. Look for piperine in the supplement’s ingredient list. If its not there, don’t buy the supplement.
THIS REVIEW suggests that 1000mg of this supplement daily can be helpful in decreasing joint pain due to arthritis. Love it.
RESVERITROL is a plant-derived anti-oxidant, with claims made that it has antimicrobial, antiviral, anticancer, neuroprotective, and antiaging properties.
According to THIS STUDY, it is quite promising, and does seem to demonstrate the above-stated benefits, though it is stated that more research needs to be performed to be able to make these claims with full confidence.
According to THIS STUDY, there is no real value in supplementation with resveritrol outside of normal dietary sources (peanuts, grapes, red wine, cranberries).
According to THIS REVIEW, resveritrol has low bioavailability and its side-effects and interactions with multiple organ systems and other pharmaceuticals are poorly studied and understood.
VERDICT: Seems to be a potentially valuable supplement for any human, though one should exercise caution when taking it if they are also taking multiple medications. As always, discuss this with your physician and/or pharmacist.
PROBIOTICS: The research is pretty mixed on the effectiveness of probiotics. As with many modern health interventions, its hard to know if they will help you with your particular concern, whether thats constipation, diarrhea, or GI distress, until you try them. What I like about probiotics is they tend to be a pretty low-risk experiment.
Closing
Dr. Nortin Hadler’s books (he has many, and they are ALL worth reading) do God’s work in reframing modern medicine, shifting it away from the broken medicalization model and back to the patient.
Medicalization, defined as “the process in which normal conditions and behaviors are labeled as medical issues” is one of the major problems with modern medicine. Getting old, which is what all humans have all done for all of time, is not a medical diagnosis that needs to be bombarded with pills and surgeries and endless therapy, diverting time and resources away from what we should be doing as we age: continuing to live good and healthy lives, spending time on worthy pursuits with the people we love.
I recommend this book to everyone. Before I had finished reading it I bought a copy for my parents. It’s that important. It’s that good. Part of aging successfully is understanding what the path forward will likely hold, and Dr. Hadler is an expert cartographer and guide in this endeavor.
Read the book.
Feel free to leave comments below, and if we haven’t spoken already, I’d love it if you’d schedule a free call to see if there is more that I can offer.
