14 Mar How to Live a Long Healthy Life
A recent newsmagazine featured several articles on longevity. Would you be surprised if they promoted pills for that? Two of the articles were about promising new pharmaceuticals that will give you a long life. Maybe.
One article was about the search for a pill to cure Alzheimer’s. The problem is that Alzheimer’s has multiple causes and a single pill will never cure them all. Not even a cocktail of meds. The answer lies in lifestyle, as well as supplements, and some meds too, as needed.
Alzheimer’s is being called “diabetes of the brain” because it seems that consuming sugar is one of the main causes.
Dr. Dale Bredesen is having success curing Alzheimer’s with his protocol. This wasn’t mentioned in the article. There’s little profit for the pharmaceuticals in his methods. Most of the interventions are lifestyle related, such as avoiding sugar.
You can’t medicate yourself out of an unhealthy lifestyle.
And Dr. Bredesen is not the only one having successes. Dr. Michael Fossel is too with a treatment called telomerase therapy. Dr. Perlmutter gives great advice on brain health.
So how do I maximize longevity?
See a good functional medicine doctor. You often don’t know what underlying conditions you are dealing with. A functional medicine doctor will look for the root cause of your symptoms, not just mask them with a pill. I am a functional medicine certified health coach. I take referrals from local functional medicine doctors, and I can refer you to one, too. Address your root causes as the beginning of your healing journey.
Remove toxins from your environment. First look at the food you put in your body everyday. Read the ingredients list for any weird sounding chemicals and don’t eat them. What is in your personal products? That can be worse because your liver will help sort out toxins from the food you eat and there’s no such protection from body lotions, soaps, sunscreens, and so on. I use coconut oil for moisturizing and toothpaste, because if it’s not safe to eat, I won’t put it on my skin because it will be absorbed. Notice how many medicines are delivered by a patch. Also look at your air and water, and the house you live in.
Eat fat, not sugar. Your brain is mostly fat so feed it what it needs. Your motto should be just eat real food. Choose healthy fats from humanely raised cows who are fed a natural diet of grass, not given grain, hormones, or antibiotics. Or, choose healthy oils like olive, not industrially processed seed oils like canola, which can be damaging to your health. Oh yeah, don’t forget lots of vegetables, and some protein too.
Move and exercise. Do not sit all day. Our bodies were meant to walk, bend, reach, carry, run, and so on. So do all that, all day. Exercise sessions at the gym, or even your bedroom floor are good for you too. My personal fave is yoga.
Spend time in nature. Sunshine is good for you and sunscreen is a chemical nightmare. Getting sunburned is bad, so just get enough sun for you. You’ll get vitamin D. Avoid sunglasses if you can as sun in the eyes will help you sleep better. The Japanese call time in nature “forest-bathing” and it’s promoted for health. It also relieves stress. This is why I walk in the park–for exercise and to be under 100 year old live oaks.
Manage your stress. When you relax and de-stress, you balance your parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system. When balanced, your body does important things like digest, and heal.
Sleep. If you have something that disrupts your sleep, address it. Lack of deep restorative sleep can sometimes lead to symptoms similar to Alzheimer’s or depression. For example, f your nose is stuffy, and that leads to sleep apnea, or just restless sleep, try diffusing eucalyptus essential oil, and avoid allergens or foods that lead to stuffiness.
Stay in touch with family and friends. Good relationships are related to good health. Sometimes I feel like I need to get my work and chores finished before I socialize. But work is never done and socializing is a necessity, not a reward for effort.
Contact me. Who can really do all this? If you could have done it on your own, you would have done it already. So let me help you with personalized health coaching. I am nationally board certified, and I can be your cheerleader as you make positive changes. Contact me.
How do you maximize your chances for a long and healthy life? Leave a comment.
Jill Carnahan Can We Cure Alzheimer’s Disease
Dale Bredesen’s book The End of Alzheimers
Dr. Michael Fossel Telomerase Therapy
This article is for information purposes only. See Disclaimer below.
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