Aging

  A discussion of aging should emphasize quality of life, rather than the quantity of years lived. Many of our elderly are unable to function on any level and are forced to endure a life without quality. Many of these elderly, however, have the body and mind of a person years, or even decades younger. This is the quality we should seek and teach from early life.

  When the question of aging comes up, it also brings to mind many unanswerable questions. Rather than dwelling upon the unanswerable, we will discuss matters over which we have some control. One important subject that must be considered is that there are two aspects of aging: the chronological aspect and the physiological aspect. Basically you have two ages. (At lease we’ll restrict it to the here.)

1. Chronological  age is easy for most people, even though some don’t want to admit that time passes. This is time (years) by the calendar: If you born in 1960, you are 29.

2. Physiological age, however, is based on how the body’s structural, chemical, and mental aspects function. It compares you with the ideals. For example: If you are 40, do you function more a healthy 40 year-old, like a 28 year-old, or more like a 55 year-old? We should not age physiologically as fast as we do chronologically. What is your physiological age?

Several other factors exist regarding aging:

1. One aspect of aging is THE ELIMINATION OF THE DISEASES THAT KILL. The U.S ranks seventh in longevity (an average of 75 years) behind Switzerland, Japan, Iceland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Norway. The main diseases that keep us from reaching 100 are: heart disease, vascular disease, cancer and respiratory diseases.

2., 3. If we talk of those not afflicted by disease, there seem to be two main factors that relate to aging: the GENETIC FACTOR, and the ENVIRONMENTAL FACTOR. Genetically, we have little control, but negative genetic traits can be amplified by environmental stress. For example, if your ancestors died from natural causes (genetic) at an early age, and you work in a factory with toxic chemicals (environmental stress), chances are good that you will also die young. However, if you take good care of yourself (better than the average person because you’re already in a deficit genetically), you will probably. THE CONTROL WE HAVE OVER AGING IS THE CONTROL WE HAVE OVER ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSES. This means any environmental stress including but not limited to: the air, diet, nutrition, exercise, and mental state.

   4. Then why do we age? One answer is ORGAN RESERVE. All of our organs– the liver, kidneys, adrenals, intestines, thyroid, etc. – have certain reserves. Jeffrey Bland, Ph.D. describes organ reserve as “ the functional capacity of our organ systems above minimum function, which can be mobilized against a stresser such as a disease process to return us to a state of health.” In any organ, we start with 4-7 times more reserve than we need for formal function. We have some extra for mistakes and ice cream, but our normal reserve declines with age.  The more mistakes we make, the more stress we have, and the more we use up some reserve. One key to slowing the aging process is to maintain or rebuild reserve. That means avoiding excess stress (minor stress actually helps build reserves), whether it is stress from work, from certain people, from food, etc. 

  5. It has been suggested by many researchers that THE STRESS OF FREE RADICALS plays a big part in organ reserve and aging. Free radicals are molecules normally produced in small quantities by the body to counter such stresses as bacteria, viruses, toxins, and other unwanted substances. It has also been shown that heavy exercise produces large amounts of free radicals. Too many free radicals will definitely produce ill health.

   6., 7. Two factors over which we have control are very positively related to aging. One is TOTAL FOOD INTAKE and the other is THE INTEGRITY OF THE MITOCHONDRIA.

   The quality of the food we eat certainly has an influence on health, but it is actually the quantity or total food intake that can extend the life span. This means minimizing the total intake of food, without minimizing quality. It also means eating foods that are more dense, like brown instead of  white rice and other whole foods, as well as fresh vegetables and fruits, rather than canned or frozen ones. Generally, foods should be consumed as close to their natural state as possible. The people of Okinawa, who have the lowest caloric intake in the Eastern world, outlive the Japanese (2^nd in longevity) and claim more centenarians than any country in the world. However, modifying calories does not mean low-calorie. If caloric intake is too low (below 1000 for many people), metabolism can be dangerously lowered and many potential health problems may be created.

The other factor over which we have control has to do with the mitochondria, which are the parts of the cell that produce and control energy. It is as if, when you run out of energy, you die – like the car running out of gas that just stops wherever it is, and whatever it is doing at the time. It just so happens that the mitochondria make up the part that is benefited the most by good quality aerobic exercise. The fuel for the mitochondria is fat, which is used for energy production.

 We all know someone who is 70 or 80 years of age who seems to be in great health. Then we find out that they eat junk and just watch TV all day. This is actually not too common because, in reality, these people are usually full of symptoms which they will not admit. However, some people like this do exist. They have such a strong genetic constitution that they are able to withstand the stress of all that junk better than most people. As Dr. Jeffrey Bland says, “Any society will always contain individuals who adopt self-destructive lifestyles, but hopefully as time passes they will become an ever-dwindling minority.”