By: Nelson E. Sastoque
Clash Daily Guest Contributor
How long do you want to live? 70, 80, 90 … 150? Barring an unfortunate accident or unforeseen catastrophe there will be many people, perhaps even you, living on a regular basis to 100 years of age and beyond. Today there are several individuals in Japan and China that have lived to age 115 and purportedly 126 years old — amazing!
What is the key to their longevity? In addition to the obvious of not smoking cigarettes, little to no alcohol intake, aerobic exercise in the form of good old fashioned walking and some good fortune; well, the role of antioxidants in increasing longevity is now without question. On an average day our bodies take about 60 trillion hits from harmful free radicals, these dangerous free radicals come from eating a poor diet (fried foods, white rice, pizza, soda, etc.), the sun, pollution, stress, etc. Our body’s health depends on our cells health. To slow down aging, limit illness and prevent disease we must protect and feed our cells properly.
“The amount of antioxidants that you maintain in your body is directly proportional to how long you will live” according to Richard Cutler, MD, Director Anti-Aging Research, National Institute of Health (NIH).
Well, where do we get our daily intake of antioxidants? The good news is they are all easily obtained by eating dark colored fruits and vegetables. Antioxidants are chemicals produced by fruits and vegetables that give them their rich orange, purple, red, green and yellow colors. These antioxidants protect them from free radicals and “neutralize” the free radicals. When we eat these fruits and vegetables, and try to eat a minimum of 3-5 servings per day, they protect our bodies down to our DNA.
Uncontrolled free radical damage is a significant part of the inflammatory disease processes that lead to cataracts, hardening of the arteries, cancer, emphysema and arthritis. Some medical experts now believe that inflammation is the single most important cause of most chronic diseases today. Of course, antioxidants are integral and help to reduce harmful inflammation.
Here is an example of how antioxidants work, try this at home and you will see the “magic” of antioxidants:
Cut an apple in half. You will notice after just a few minutes it will begin to turn dark and brown; this is called oxidation; within the human body it is known as oxidative stress. On one half of the apple get lemon juice and spread it on the apple to cover the white part. What you will notice is that the half of the apple with lemon juice does not turn dark or brown; the lemon juice illustrates how “antioxidants” work within our bodies in preventing/reducing both inflammation and oxidative stress.
Dr. Joseph Chang wrote in his wonderful and easy to read book called The Aging Myth that “the point for us all is to live better, longer. What we want to focus on is not lifespan, but what I call youthspan”.
Richard Weindruch, MD and Tomas Prolla, MD from LifeGen Technologies have done amazing research looking in to Caloric Restriction (CR). From The Aging Myth: “To date, CR is the only intervention consistently demonstrated in laboratory animals to increase both average and maximal lifespan”,” Caloric Restriction is the reduction of calories by 30% to 40% over the life span”.
“The China Study” by Dr. Campbell and Dr. Campbell II, the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted, is a must read and contains hard scientific findings that will leave many of you scratching your head saying, why was I not aware of this information before. Dr. Campbell says “a good diet is the most powerful weapon we have against disease and sickness” and most, if not all health” issues come down to three things: breakfast, lunch and dinner”.
A topic for another day will be one of the most pressing problems we face today not only in the United States; worldwide … this is the Global Pandemic of Obesity. This is a catastrophic problem caused most often by eating too many calories on a daily basis.
I have created a simple, one page guide to a Healthy Lifestyle that I believe can be helpful to all of you that are willing to make changes starting in 2013.
What is the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results! If you are interested in this complimentary Healthy Lifestyle Guide please send a request to lovinglife.sastoque@gmail.com
May God bless you in 2013 and may you prosper and Live Healthy … start today.
Loving Life!
