Anti-Aging Report

THE GOOD NEWS 

• One of the great ironies of being human and, as a result, possessing the ability to think, reason, plan and dream is that we eventually become all too aware of our own impending mortality. The haunting prospect of our dying prematurely affects millions of us. For many others among us, our vanity often distracts us from enjoying life because we know we look and feel many years older than we should. These realizations are not necessarily bad things; they probably keep us on our toes and make us more receptive to information about health and anti-aging strategies. But sorting out which anti-aging or health promoting strategies actually work and which don't, or which is pure marketing hype from which is truly beneficial can be a confusing and frustrating process. Just a decade ago, the big "dietary fat scare" sent everyone scrambling to eat more pasta - until someone decided that simple carbs such as pasta were causing an even greater fat problem. So, where's the truth? Even most doctors and other health professionals - the very people who are supposed to know these things - haven't really done the proper analysis to give you all the straight facts and enable you to take full advantage of the exciting new science of anti-aging medicine. They're too busy dealing with the devastating effects of the diseases that result from our innocent and unwitting lifestyle "mistakes." Worse still, the fact that they generally resort to prescribing drugs to address these issues creates its own little irony - because the drugs often cause yet a new set of problems!
  
  As a result of all this confusion, many of us who would love to "do the right thing" and increase our energy levels, lose weight, firm up our sagging skin, get rid of wrinkles, and preserve our bodies well into our tenth or eleventh decade simply give up because we aren't sure what those "right things" really are. Even the news media often muddies the waters with regular headline stories on the latest advance in anti-aging medicine, giving everyone the false hope that finally this one new breakthrough will prove to be the fountain of youth we've all sought.
  
  The good news is that there is a solution - but it will not be found in an anti-aging "magic bullet". Instead, the answer in postponing the effects of age, in maintaining health, youth, energy, vigor, mobility, mental function - and everything else that defines a quality life - can only be found in a well-planned strategy based on a solid understanding of how the body was designed to repair, renew and regenerate itself - if only you give it the chance. Armed with knowledge, you can select different lifestyle or behavioral changes and choose appropriate nutritional supplements to help control the "normal" damage of living and allow the regeneration process to proceed unhindered. Of course, not everyone has the time or inclination to pore over the research for hundreds of hours to sort out the truth. And that's exactly why this report was created - to give you a fundamental understanding of how your body is designed and what simple changes you can make - secrets, if you will - to maximize your health, youth and vitality.
  
  Finally, don't think that the recommendations and information provided here constitutes an "all or nothing" major life shift or a Draconian ultimatum. Just as every journey of 1,000 miles starts with one small step, every small change you make (and there are many possibilities here) can contribute to your longer, fitter, firmer, healthier life. So start with the easy adaptations (like supplementation, for instance) and work your way into those that take a little more discipline. Before you know it, you'll look and feel 20 years younger!

ANTI-AGING - WHAT A CONCEPT! 

• What exactly do we mean when we use this baby-boom buzzword "anti-aging"? For many it simply means surviving to a "ripe old age" of 90 or 100 - and that alone would be sufficient. But for anti-aging scientists, it means much more than just the notion that we could possibly live longer. True anti-aging goals include being healthier, more physically fit or active, more mentally aware, more energetic, and looking far younger than your chronological age would reveal. In other words, if you're 50, it means looking, feeling and behaving as if you are literally 35 or 40. If you're 80, it means looking, feeling and behaving 55 or 60. Impossible, you say? Read on.
  
  If you analyze most of what modern medicine and science has done to increase the average lifespan, 99% of it has been accomplished by controlling damage. Some of this damage control has happened through technological advances like seatbelts, airbags and anti-lock brakes, which reduce your risk for accidental death or serious injury. Another area of controlling damage caused by environmental factors such as infectious disease and airborne pathogens has happened through the introduction of vaccines and antibiotics, antiseptic surgical procedures and early detection of tumors. In this way modern medicine has helped to lengthen average lifespan by decreasing overall deaths due to major diseases. But, unfortunately, traditional medicine usually does its work only after it's too late, after a disease or condition has already been diagnosed or an accident has occurred.
  
  A recent large epidemiological study showed that the average lifespan in the US is now 77. Good news, wouldn't you agree? Well that depends on your point of view. Anti-aging scientists have found that dealing with disease after it has been diagnosed is only a "band-aid" solution to improving average lifespan. Prevention is the real key to living longer and healthier. If you can reduce your risk of having a catastrophic accident or of ever getting a life-threatening disease, your outlook is far rosier. According to this new breed of health researcher, there are lots of easy ways to increase longevity and our useful, active life simply by controlling the damage that occurs to our cells day in and day out. It is this cellular damage - damage that may not even produce the overt symptoms that a doctor would recognize as disease until it's too late - that is most assuredly speeding up the aging process and robbing us of health, youth and energy. Anti-aging specialists now generally agree that most of us have the ability to live to 110 or 120 if we play all our cards right. Of course, living longer is only half the battle. Lying in a bed or sitting in a chair all day at 90, oblivious to what's happening around you really isn't living. Clearly, you also want to be able to fully enjoy all those extra years by maintaining your mental capabilities as well as your physical mobility. And let's face it, you also want to look and feel your best for as long as possible, too. That means low body fat, firm muscle tone and youthful, pliant skin.
  
  Over the past three decades, a great deal of research has gone into to whether our genetic programming - the DNA blueprints of our family history - plays a greater role in determining our lifespan than does diet, lifestyle or other behaviors. In other words, if your father died of a heart attack at an early age, does that mean you are "doomed" to exit in the same way at about the same age? Luckily, the answer is: NO, NOT NECESSARILY. Certainly there are genetic components or "risk factors" that your parents may have handed down to you. But today, rather than being portents of doom, these genetic risk factors now serve as helpful signals about what extra precautions you might take; precautions that others without the same risk factors might easily overlook. Maybe the answer is in your diet, maybe in a supplement, maybe in an exercise regimen, maybe in prayer or meditation - or maybe it's in all four behavioral changes, but with adequate attention to specific precautionary measures, even a dubious family medical history can become a positive life-giving message rather than a portent of doom. If you are someone with genetic risk factors, this report may help you identify exactly what you can do to take advantage of all the recent breakthroughs in prevention and longevity. But even if you're someone who's not genetically "at risk" you would still be well advised to find out how you can further increase your chances of living longer and healthier. What have you got to lose?

RULE #1 

ELIMINATE "SELF-DESTRUCTIVE" BEHAVIORS

• When we discuss "Damage Control" as a means of extending life and youth, this first rule should be the most obvious. There are many behaviors that can be considered "self-destructive" - that is, they carry a huge risk of death, injury or disease and can quickly shorten or end your life. Some are painfully obvious, like diving head-first into the shallow end of the pool, yet every year thousands of people take the risk and the result is hundreds of deaths and paralyses. Some are obvious but still bear further emphasis. Smoking is one of the most common self-destructive behaviors in our society. It is known to cause cancer, emphysema and other lung diseases, as well as increase risk for heart disease, yet some people still smoke. Choose to smoke and it's very likely you will take time off your life's clock and suffer ill health starting long before you die. The taking of recreational drugs is another example of self-destructive behavior. Do it and you increase your risk of death, injury (or going to jail, which can also reduce your life expectancy). Excessive alcohol consumption not only increases your risk for cancer, heart and liver disease, but is the cause of over half the fatal auto accidents in this country. Not wearing a seat belt is another example. While you might consider yourself an excellent driver and the odds are you might make it through life never having a serious accident, the roads are crowded with "not-so-good" (and occasionally drunk) drivers. Wearing a seat belt dramatically increases your chances of walking away from an otherwise fatal or injurious car accident. Practicing safe sex is a recent addition to the list, made all the more important due to the alarming rise in HIV and sexually transmitted diseases. And the list goes on.
  
  Does this mean you have to give up all the fun and excitement in your life? Of course not. What good is living longer if you can't have any fun? The point is this: Use common sense and good judgment when embarking on a lifestyle or behavior change. Even behaviors which on the surface might be considered dangerous, can be made less so by observing a few safety rules. Some recreational activities like bungee-jumping, sky-diving, scuba diving, mountain climbing might be considered high-risk, but with training and if the proper precautions and safety measures are taken, those risks can be significantly reduced. Wear sunscreen when you're planning on spending time outdoors. The bottom line is to think before you act. Know the risks of whatever behavior you choose to undertake and then determine whether the long-term risk is worth the short-term benefit. And always take full responsibility for whatever choice you make.

RULE #2 

EAT PROPERLY

• Easier said than done, right? After all, the diet industry is now a 40 Billion dollar per year business in the USA. But after cutting through all the hype about which diet is right for you, it's not as difficult as you might think. Many of the ills of our society could be eliminated if people just understood how to eat properly. Obesity, osteoporosis, diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer could be reduced dramatically if we all ate as were designed to eat. Unfortunately, food has become a social drug and subject to arbitrarily established societal habits. For instance, eating three square meals a day or skipping breakfast and then eating a big lunch and/or a big dinner are habits that are ingrained in many of us, but actually cause us to get fatter. Here's the key: It's not so much what you eat as it is how much and when you eat. If you eat 4, 5 or even 6 small meals or snacks a day, with a little protein at each meal or snack you'll be well on your way to increased energy, longer life and reduced risk for all diseases. It's that simple.
  
  Fasting and gorging just doesn't work and yet that's what so many of us do. Our bodies were designed to take in small amounts of nutrient-dense foods continuously throughout the day. When we starve ourselves for long periods of time in an effort to produce a caloric deficit (and hopefully to burn off excess body fat) we cause our body to go into its preprogrammed "survival mode." In that case, the body slows down the metabolism, prepares to actually store more fat and even starts to burn some of its precious muscle tissue. This might make sense from a survival point of view since muscle is an efficient burner of fat - get rid of the muscle and you get rid of that pesky fat-burning furnace! But that's exactly what we DON'T want to happen. Here's the irony: your body doesn't know that you're not in danger of starving, so it just starts the survival process automatically. This muscle burning and fat-sparing process happens every day when we skip breakfast and have a small lunch, only to gorge ourselves at dinner. Or it can happen over a period of days or weeks when we restrict calories at all meals by dieting. Unfortunately, when we go back to eating "regular" amounts of food again, we have a slower metabolism and will tend to gain fat at an even greater rate now that we have less muscle to burn those calories. Restricting calories also creates a "micronutrient deficiency" (we take in less of the important vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients). Since our metabolism is driven by certain key micronutrients, this restriction further contributes to an impaired or slowed metabolism. Of course, a slow metabolism in turn contributes to an even greater weight gain and the vicious cycle is repeated.
  
  Eating several small meals or snacks at regular intervals each day can promote fat-burning, spare muscle tissue and improve energy, all while keeping weight under control. And as you'll recall, one of the traits the centenarians in the Stanford study shared was a tendency to maintain weight.
  
  As a rule of thumb, every meal should contain some protein, some carbohydrate and even a little fat. When you eat multiple small meals, no single meal should exceed 600 calories or be less than 150 calories. The single best way to keep tabs on the nutrient breakdown of each meal is to focus on proteins first. Make sure your protein content is between 15 and 30 grams. Of course, achieving those amounts depends entirely on the foods you have chosen. If you derive your protein from meat sources, one good rule of thumb is to keep the portion at any one meal smaller than the palm of your hand (without the fingers included). You can also control how much of each nutrient you take by paying attention to the nutrition fact label. If you find that after eating a 600 calorie meal you're still hungry, it's better to increase the number of meals, or decrease the time between meals or snacks, than to exceed the maximum limit of 600 calories per meal.
  
  There is yet another benefit that comes from grazing. When you provide yourself small nutritious high-energy meals throughout the day, your body begins to adapt to what it senses as a continuous supply of energy. Since your body operates under the principle of energy conservation and "use it or lose it," this continuous supply of food helps your body decide that it doesn't need to store any more fat and therefore reduces its production of the enzymes that are required to store fat. When we have fewer of these fat-storing enzymes, we aren't able to store as much fat, even if we want to. This fact alone should make grazing and portion control worth a little extra effort.
  
  No advice on eating properly would be complete without the mention of water intake. It is vital to maintaining health and controlling damage. Water is the medium through which virtually all biological functions take place. Most of our lean body mass consists of water. We simply can't live without it. 10 eight-ounce servings a day is a minimum recommendation for optimum longevity and health. While that might sound like a lot, keep in mind that juices and some soups contain mostly water. Even vegetable meals and salads contain appreciable amounts of water. However, don't count alcoholic or caffeinated beverages within your water consumption group, since these drinks can act as diuretics and cause water to leave the body through the urine. Add another glass or two of water for each of these diuretic drinks you have during the day.

READ ON! 

• You have been reading a truncated version of Mark Sisson's Anti-Aging Report. The full version further discusses means to control aging, and explains numerous other important rules to living long and strong. The Anti-Aging Report also provides full details on supplementing your diet with anti-aging vitamins and minerals. If you would like to learn more about Primal living or the Primal Blueprint, visit Mark's Daily Apple.
  
  The Anti-Aging Report is just one example of the premium content and services provided by Mark's Daily Apple and Primal Nutrition. Mark's Daily Apple is an amazing new health blog designed to empower people to take full responsibility for their own health and enjoyment of life by investigating, discussing, analyzing and critically rethinking everything they assumed to be true about health and fitness. Cheers!