How To Live a Longer Life

How To Boost T Cells

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:56:00 +0000

Over the past year a few posts I’ve written on how to boost T cells have become rather popular. Despite the fact that this blog is about longevity and anti aging topics I can’t help but want to feature these posts as a group so that they can be referenced on occasion as a collection.

In the future I will likely write a little more on the topic of boosting T cells and improving your immune system and when those posts go live I’ll update this page to reflect the added topical information.

Of course T cells, white blood cells, and the immune system is a very complex subject and probably more scientific in nature than I could ever fully represent as a simple blogger. For that matter I would hope that every post on the subject not be taken as scientific fact but rather be analyzed by you the reader and placed in better context as applicable to you and your knowledge.

My posts in order of publication are:

Obviously if you are having trouble with your T cell levels your doctor should be guiding your treatment process. These articles are merely informational and should not replace any information or opinions expressed by your doctor. The task of boosting T cell count is ultimately in his court and rightfully so.

The Best Anti Aging Products On The Market Today

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:44:00 +0000

Being the author of a longevity blog I was curious what the best anti aging products on the market were. Personally I don’t use product on my skin or eyes, or any other area of my body but my wife has started too and she has been encouraging me to start. After all, I just turned 30 and we don’t want to age too quickly to fast.

As a man, this is kind of a weird subject because not many men care enough to use anti aging products, creams, masks, and serums. Many of us do work our hardest to stay healthy and in shape. And like myself many of us want to live a longer life full of health and happiness so I guess it makes sense that if I plan on living on this earth for many more decades I might as well try to look good while I’m doing it.

Last year, I took the time to investigate the differences between various types of anti aging creams. If you missed that post, let me encourage you to go back and review it. I learned a lot doing that research. To expand a bit on it however I did some more research and selected what I consider to be a decent list of the best anti aging products on the market. Of course my opinion is biased towards simplicity and cost-effectiveness. I shy away from high priced formulas and potential scams; but I suppose that many of these products are just fine assuming you don’t rely on them entirely.

My methodology in these selections is not an exact science. I’m merely looking at the top selling anti aging products by product type which I identified in the previous post and hand selecting what I consider to be a good choice for someone just starting to dive into the products.

Best Idebenone Anti Aging Product

Idebenone, as I previously stated, is designed to prevent damage to the skin from occurring. As opposed to other anti-aging products which try to repair damage and make you look younger this type of product actually try’s to slow aging by preventing damage. This places this type of product high in my opinion as I really value prevention.

Click here to see the best selling Idebenone products on Amazon or you can just look into my favorite of the product group: Idebenone Anti-aging Anti Wrinkle Face and Skin Care Serum from Bathouse Naturals. This is my favorite because I believe that the active ingredient is all that really matters so why get a complicated formula for way too much money. Just get the Idebenone and use it with your favorite moisturizer.

Best Anti Aging Moisturizer

In my opinion the best anti aging moisturizer is an affordable moisturizer containing Retinol. Retinol is an antioxidant found in Vitamin A. Applying it directly to the skin is a much more efficient mechanism than consuming it in our foods. Because most people use moisturizers anyway make sure to use one with Retinol to help decrease skin damage and to help maintain collagen production in the skin.

Amazons list of top selling retinol moisturizers are here but I suggest the Skincare LdeL Cosmetics Retinol Day Cream from Skincare LdeL Cosmetics as it is not too fancy or expensive but also includes SPF 20 for more protection. You can easily add the Idebenone right into the mix and kill two birds with one stone.

Best Anti Aging Peptide Night Cream

Lastly I recommend a quality yet inexpensive night cream moisturizer based on a peptide complex. Peptides help boost collagen production and are thus a good at preventing lines and visual effects of aging due to a loss of collagen production. When used in conjunction with retinol and Idebenone this trio of products should be the best combination of affordable anti aging products you will ever need.

Here is a list of Amazon’s top selling peptide creams but I suggest you just pick up a cheap, simple, and affordable bottle of Olay’s Olay Regenerist Daily Regenerating Serum, Concentrated Amino-Peptide Complex and apply nightly before bedtime.

Combined these three products will cost you less than $50, which is far less expensive than certain individual products and should give you a perfect combination simple anti aging protection.

As for me; I’ll continue thinking about starting my own regimen using products like this. My wife has long been suggesting I at least start with a basic moisturizer, Vaseline for men anyone? I suppose it will be worth it as I continue to age. Let me know your thoughts below and give me some motivation to get over my manliness and start taking care of my skin. :)

Stop Heart Disease – Leading Cause of Death In America

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 22:50:00 +0000

Heart disease is well known to be the leading cause of death in America and it has been so for a long time. Over the years previous leaders like infection and influenza have been overcome by modern medicine while other leaders have emerged such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s. Despite the changes over time however, heart disease is easily the current leader in American and it doesn’t appear to be going anywhere soon.

If you want to live a longer life then you have to take steps to minimize your risks for developing heart disease and prepare yourself to recover from it should it form despite a healthy lifestyle.

Causes of Heart Disease

Heart disease is caused for a number of reasons but most predominantly it is due to genetics, environmental factors, and lifestyle choices. Of these three, lifestyle choices account for the vast majority of heart disease cases and should be the starting point for any program designed to prevent heart disease.

Heart disease is caused primarily due to plaque buildup in the arteries and arterial plaque build up is caused mostly due to poor cholesterol levels, obesity, and hypertension. Digging a little deeper you may want to read about the leading causes of hypertension, how to lower cholesterol levels, or learn a bit about what are normal blood sugar levels, as this contributes to metabolic syndrome and heart disease.

Another one of the leading causes of heart disease is smoking and the related affects of it. People who smoke consistently have a shorter life span than people who don’t and the quality of life in the end is almost always worse off.

Why Heart Disease Is The Top Cause

So why is heart disease a leader? The answer can be simplified or discussed in thesis form but as this is merely a blog I’ll say this. Tobacco is a habit that can lead to heart disease and many people started smoking well before this was known or before they cared to understand.

Additionally fast food quickly gained in popularity at a time that was unique in American history. The women’s movement allowed many mothers to exit the home and enter the workforce causing the demand for convenience food to soar. This alone is not a problem but the convenience food found in fast food restaurants contributes in a major way to the development of heart disease because it is often loaded with sodium and fat; which makes the food cheap and allows it to last a long time.

To compound the problems that have allowed heart disease to inflate over the decades is the rise in popularity of soda and sweetened beverages. Many people do not realize it but drinking sodas, sweetened teas, and juices adds an amazing amount of calories to our diets which in the past would have been occupied by water. These calories add to our waist lines and cause obesity which increases the likelihood of developing heart disease.

Lastly, because modern medicine has nearly eliminated or minimized many of the conditions that were so significant in the past we all live longer today than ever before. This allows conditions like heart disease to develop over a lifetime. In the past people didn’t live long enough to have heart disease in abundance but now as life expectancy is much higher these diseases of long life become more apparent.

How To Prevent Heart Disease

So how do you prevent heart disease? It should be clear. Each of the above mentioned causes are lifestyle choices we all make. If we are expected to live so long and more than a quarter of us succumb to hart disease then preventing this condition by not smoking, not eating fast food, not drinking soda, and not developing obesity seems only natural. If you want to improve longevity and quality of life in your extreme old age then all you have to do is be a little proactive. Eat right live longer and live a healthier life.

How To Increase Insulin Production Naturally

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 12:27:00 +0000

One theme that has proven to be routinely visited on this blog is diabetes, insulin, and blood sugar… and for good reason. Diabetes has long been tied to most every major condition and is quickly climbing the ranks of the leading causes of death in America.

Of course most people don’t just have diabetes, they bring it upon themselves with their diet and lifestyle. The exception to this being Type-1 diabetes however type-2 is far more common in America.

For those with pre-diabetes these are two fundamental problems to deal with. Pre-diabetes means your fasting blood sugar levels are too high and insulin production must be higher than normal to bring blood sugar levels back under control. Unfortunately insulin resistance tends to make this more difficult and causes the body to require an increase in insulin production above and beyond what normal healthy individuals require before lowering insulin levels back to normal after blood sugar levels decrease.

Naturally you can assume that reducing insulin resistance is key to improving your health however increasing insulin production is also high on the list. If your body can produce more insulin then in theory your blood sugar levels should return to normal levels quicker resulting in less damage to your body. This begs the question of how to increase insulin production naturally and preferably with food or exercise.

There are actually not many foods that directly increase insulin production. Most insulin producing foods actually have the effect of managing blood sugar levels more efficiently or keeping blood sugar levels from climbing to fast or high rather than actually increasing insulin levels. This allows normal levels of insulin to work a little bit better however recent research by a group of medical scientists have identified in laboratory settings a unique finding when it comes to increasing insulin production with food.

Increasing Insulin Production Naturally With Red Cherries

Reported in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry a group of scientists led by Muraleedharan G. Nair, PhD found that a chemical called anthocyanins found in red cherries was able to increase insulin production by roughly 50 percent. The study authors were quick to point out that eating a lot of cherries would not necessarily help a person lower blood sugar faster because of an increase in insulin production because of the sugar content in cherries however a cherry extract might just do the trick.

If you are fighting the symptoms of pre-diabetes or insulin resistance then maybe picking up some cherry extract to have with your meals may help. You surely can’t rely on just doing this to get healthy but assuming you are changing your diet and improving your exercise regimen naturally increasing insulin production sure can’t hurt.

Source
http://sciencedaily.healthology.com/diabetes/article387.htm

How To Lower Cortisol Levels Naturally – Relax

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 00:58:00 +0000

A while back I had my cholesterol levels checked as well as my blood pressure and fasting blood sugar levels checked. Actually I wasn’t fasting at the time so my readings for that test were obviously high. A normal blood sugar range is a level below 100 and mine was somewhere around 140 at the time… which is in the normal range for a healthy person who has just had breakfast.

Anyway, the nice lady who tested my blood was slightly concerned about my blood pressure as it was the only thing that she could latch onto as a potential problem. My weight and cholesterol levels were amazing but my blood pressure was around 125 over 80. She asked if I drank coffee and a happily responded with a resounding yes. Even the thought of coffee makes me happy; I'm such an dork.

To my surprise she told me that I shouldn’t drink coffee at all because it raises my cortisol levels and also plays a role in my elevated blood pressure.

Now, I know caffeine raises blood pressure (see my post on the leading causes of hypertension for more triggers) and it should be a place to cut back on if a blood pressure problem starts cropping up but I figure 125 over 80 isn’t that bad... but what is this business about my cortisol levels being too high, especially since she didn't even test them?

Doing some research I’ve found out a bit about this hormone but admittedly, I’m still a little short on full understanding of this hormone in it's entirety.

What Is Cortisol

Cortisol as it turns out is a hormone that “is produced by the adrenal cortex in the adrenal gland and is one of the primary factors in the body’s stress response… it raises blood pressure during times of stress.”

I’m not going to go into this too much as a lot of my info is simply regurgitated from other people who know about this topic that I do. TestCountry.org has this to say about what Cortisol does:

“The body needs cortisol in order to function properly. And there is quite a complex system in place in charge of regulating this substance. Basically, the hypothalamus releases CRH, which then triggers the pituitary gland to release ACTH. ACTH then encourages the adrenal cortex in the adrenal glands in the body to produce more cortisol. When you are highly stressed, pregnant, depressed, very athletic, an alcoholic or suffer from a panic disorder, you will have high levels of cortisol.

As you can see, it is all about balance when it comes to cortisol in the body. And when that balance is thrown off, serious problems can arise.

If you have too much cortisol you may end up with Cushing’s Syndrome, which can manifest itself by means of obesity in the upper body and very thin limbs. Or, if you do not have enough cortisol, you may end up with Addison’s Disease, a very serious condition caused most often by tumors on either the pituitary or adrenal glands.”

From additional research I’ve learned that the cortisol hormone essential evolved as a survival mechanism. When stress levels got high our ability to deal with the immediate stresses or threats were raised. This is kind of like the increase in adrenaline when we get excited. The problem is however the high levels of cortisol for prolonged periods of time can be dangerous to our long term health. I did touch on this concept in a post last fall on symptoms of anxiety predicting lifespan.

This is actually quite consistent with all the posts on this blog in which I’ve described the formula for living a longer life. Check out my recent post on how to live to 100 years old for more info. In populations and groups of people who live extremely long lives, they tend to do very well with keeping stress levels low. In fact centenarians as a group almost universally have low levels of stress and have always had lifestyles that supported stress relief either through social interaction, physical exercise, or a combination of the two.

How To Lower Cortisol Levels Naturally

So then, how to lower cortisol levels naturally seems to be a pretty easy question to answer. Without doing much research one would surmise that simply eliminating and treating stress in your life is the best way to lower cortisol levels. In fact lowering cortisol levels probably goes hand in hand with simple exercise and staying active socially… so long as you don’t overwork yourself that is.

In the future I want to explore this topic a little more. There actually appear to be a number of ways to lower cortisol levels but I want to take some time to review the scientific literature and medical studies that support the many claims before sharing them here on this site. In the mean time, lower your cortisol levels by lowering your stress levels. Reserve this stress hormone for your survival instinct only and you should be doing pretty good.

Eat Right Live Longer – It’s Easier Than You Think

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 23:19:00 +0000

I’ve been doing a good deal of reading lately and a lot of it has to do with finances; I’m not going to lie. In fact a little over a month ago I posted on Money And Longevity and a while before that I posted an article titled: Can You Afford To Live To 100 where I brought up the topic of longevity and finances and the problems longevity can create when you don’t plan on living so long.

What is strange is that financial planners actually advise people to plan on living to around 90 or so but rarely do they advise you to protect your financial future beyond that because the statistics shown few people live that long. Unfortunately the statistics also show that centenarian are the fastest growing demographic in American and are expected to double and triple in size in just a matter of a few years.

Why is this? They follow a simple mantra than many people are following today.

Eat Right Live Longer

Today we know more about nutrition and how it affects the body, much more in fact than we did many years ago when TV dinners and fast food became popular. Unfortunately we have two distinct groups of people forming in our modern society, the group that eats right and will longer and healthier lives and another group who eats cheap convenience food. For more on this phenomena check out this fabulous guest post from not too long ago titled: Can Watching TV Make You Fat and this older post titled Americans Eat Way Too Much Sugar.

The simple fact of the matter is this. If you eat poorly and stay relatively inactive throughout your life your financial planner is probably right. Planning on not making it to 90 is probably safe but with advances in modern medicine those people who stay active and eat right will likely live longer. I’d venture to say that the odds are probably more in our favor of living past 90 and close to if not into your 100s.

Personally, I’m still in my 20’s and I expect the chances of me living into my 100s to be pretty high. I follow the mantra eat right, live longer and I feel that it’s a valid and legitimate expectation considering the next 70 years of medical advancement.

For this reason it is probably safe to plan for extreme longevity and you should probably have your finances adjusted accordingly. Longevity insurance is a product that has always been available and it may be something to look into but for those who are young it’s time to start looking forward to our future. Expecting a productive life of extreme longevity is something we all need to adopt.

In the future I’m going to post a bit more about longevity insurance, as I think it’s a valid subject we should think more about and also I plan on reading the book titled Eat Right Live Longer as I am curious what it can add to the discussion. As always I do recommend the books, Longevity Made Simple and The Blue Zones which I’ve previously reviewed. Expect an eventual review of Eat Right Live Longer here on How To Live Longer in the near future.

Library, here I come.

Increasing Taxes On Soda – Will It Help?

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 15:23:00 +0000

In case you missed my post on Does Soda Cause Alzheimer's Disease or the recent guest post on Does Watching TV Make You Fat, new research has been released showing that indeed people will curb their drinking of soda if we simply tax it.

The following reports from the NY Times reported on finding from the American Medical Association:

"The American Journal of Public Health released a study this afternoon finding that when the price of soda goes up, consumption goes down." Additionally, "the 45-cent price increase on regular soda was associated with an increase in the sales of diet soft drinks. Coffee sales also increased." Notably, "consumers did not increase their purchases of juices and sugary snacks -- such as cakes and cookies -- when they slowed their purchases of sugar-sweetened soft drinks."

And also, from the LA Times:

"researchers at Harvard implemented a temporary soda tax in the cafeteria of the school's Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Then they waited to see whether actual people changed their drinking habits." They found that "during a four-week period when the price of a 20-ounce bottle of soda went up by 45 cents -- which amounted to a 35% price increase -- sales fell by 26%. Meanwhile, sales of bottled diet soda rose by 20%."

Benefits Of Taxing Soda

I’ve been saying this for a while now (see my post: American's Eat Way Too Much Sugar), soda is the bain of our existence and we all drink too much of it. It has been linked to diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and even to Alzheimer’s disease. Anything we can do to encourage people to stop drinking so much soda should be done.

Ironically we are not only contemplating taxing soda but we should also be considering getting rid of the farm subsidy on corn as this is what makes the manufacturing of corn-syrup, the main sugar in soda and juices, so cheap. It is silly to subsidize the manufacturing of corn syrup and then tax the final product… ahh, but that’s the government for you. Ridiculous.

Resveratrol Jarrow Supplements – An Alternative To Red Wine?

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 08:32:00 +0000

I’ve talked a lot on this blog over the past year or so about healthy living and how eating right and living an active lifestyle is how you follow the path to living a longer life. However, nutritional supplements always come into question when you start getting into the nitty-gritty of getting optimal nutrition.

Resveratrol is one such supplement which I’ve talked about a long time ago in my post Longevity And Resveratrol Supplements which you may have missed. It is found in abundance in red wine and is the primary reason why red wine is considered good for longevity. In addition it contains a lot of antioxidants, as do other alcoholic drinks, and it allows you to lower your stress levels. All of this is well documented at helping people live longer healthier lives.

Resveratrol specifically doesn’t have to come from wine and many people who do not drink alcohol for personal reasons tend to get it via nutritional supplements. The compound works in the body the same way so it really shouldn’t make any difference how you get it except in popping a pill you won’t get the stress relief or frankly the enjoyment of sipping on a glass of wine.

Resveratrol Jarrow Supplements

One popular Resveratrol supplement is Resveratrol Jarrow Supplements. Jarrow makes a wide variety of supplements and is respected in their quality so I figured they were a good candidate to take a look at. As I noted in my past post on Improving Longevity With Juvenon Supplements, not all branded supplements are a good buy.

Jarrow Resveratrol however looks to be a decent product although a bit of a premium in price compared to the raw ingredients. Just like the Juvenon product, the difference in this being that many of the secondary components are a little less easy to find on their own making this a viable bundle supplement.

According to their label Resveratrol Jarrow supplements contain 100mg of Resveratrol as well as vitamin C, grape seed extract, grape skin extract, and green tea extract. Vitamin C obviously is pretty easy to find but I’ve never owned grape seed or grape skin extract before. Both of these seem like they would be fitting for a Resveratrol supplement however, in actuality they are not required at all outside of their individual antioxidant value.

Overall the price is not bad either as a bottle of 60 Jarrow Resveratrol capsules can easily be found for less than $20 and the best price I can find doing a quick search for plain Resveratrol on Amazon is for a 60-count bottle for around $11. This is definitely a noticeable price difference but in this case I think the added benefit may be worth it because Resveratrol can vary in price by so much.

Personally, I’m going to continue having my wine on a near nightly basis and be done with it, but that’s just me.

Do you have any thoughts on Resveratrol? Any supplements stick out in winners in your book?

How To Live To 100 Years Old

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 18:40:00 +0000

There’s so much scientific literature out there these days on living to 100 years old that it’s hard to sift through it all. People are living to 100 and beyond with much greater frequency than in any time in our history.

Living To 100

In fact centenarians are the fastest growing demographic group in America slated to grow double many times over in the next 20 years. Their growth is even puting a strain on finances as I highlighted in my post on Money and Longevity. I also highlighted an awe inspiring TED talk back in April on how we can avoid aging and live longer and this TED talk is along those same lines.

Dan Buettner, author of The Blue Zones (you can see my The Blue Zones Review here) gave this talk back in September of 2009 and was published on the web in January of 2010. Dan and his team have identified pockets of longevity around the world and identified the traits that seem to cause the longevity in the population at large.

He then compared the different regions to identify common characteristics (as well as characteristics that could be combined) that would help increase longevity – essentially he identifies simple and effective ways that we can implement to live a longer life.

I’ve obviously written a lot on this blog about how to live a longer life and this talk covers a lot of the longevity tips that I’ve already highlighted but you can’t beat a great TED talk for driving a point home. Enjoy Dan Buettner’s talk on how to live to 100 years old.

How To Live To Be 100 Years Old

For New Readers
If you are new to this site let me invite you to subscribe. I always try to provide quality information on how to live long and healthy lives. Not all posts are on longevity and aging but if the topic interests you then I hope you stick around and leave a comment from time to time.

Age-Related Macular Degeneration

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:14:00 +0000

Reduce Age-Related Macular Degeneration Risks With Kale

Here’s a random macular degeneration stat for the day.

A recent study from the The National Eye Institute found that you can decrease your risk for blindness due to Age-Related Macular Degeneration by 35% by ingesting more of the carotenoids Lutein and Zeaxanthin, which can be found in abundance in both eggs, spinach, and kale among others.

Unfortunately I don't know if this pertains to dry macular degeneration or wet macular degeneration or both... but hey, it can't hurt to eat more kale. Not only does kale help in this regard but it also contains lots of Vitamin K which helps with managing insulin levels among many other positive associations.

You may also want to catch up on some of the many benefits of eating leafy green vegtables in a post from deep in the archives that you may have missed.

More On Eye Care
…and related to eye care and decreasing your risk for long-term eye damage, remember that if you have glaucoma stay clear of situations where your eye pressure is increased such as wearing goggles when exercising.

Source
The National Eye Institute
Macular Degeneration Suppot - http://www.mdsupport.org/library/lutzean.html

Insulin and Alzheimer’s

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 18 May 2010 20:40:00 +0000

The following is a guest post from Marty, a friend and reader who writes for the Amazing Aging Mind. It is a personal story to her.

It is amazing how, in the search for longevity, one finds a very logical conclusion: if you want to live longer, do what it takes to avoid disease. This may seem like a no-brainer, but we often put the cart before the horse. We wait until we have a disease, then try to fight it in order to live longer.

A smoother road to longevity is paved by avoiding disease in the first place. This blog already points to insulin imbalance as the root to the killer Diabetes, but it turns out insulin imbalance may also be responsible for cancer growth and even Alzheimer’s—two other major killers in our current understanding of human health.

I have been researching the connection between Alzheimer’s disease (a disease associated with aging) and Diabetes in an effort to understand the possible causes of my mother’s dementia and to see if I can help stem or even reverse her mental decline.

In the course of this research, I found ample evidence for a connection between Alzheimer’s and the same insulin issues related to Diabetes. Here are some examples:

From the Mayo Clinic:

Many people who have Alzheimer's disease also have a condition called prediabetes, in which their bodies have become resistant to insulin, a hormone necessary for cells to absorb glucose.

From the USC Health Magazine:

Brain insulin disappears early and dramatically in Alzheimer’s disease. And many of the unexplained features of Alzheimer’s, such as cell death and tangles in the brain, appear to be linked to abnormalities in insulin signaling in the brain.

And a piece on Diabetes of the Brain

Proper insulin function in the brain appears necessary to the formation and maintenance of memories. And, crucially, a lack of insulin or insulin resistance is connected both to amyloid protein regulation and to the modification of tau proteins, which can cause tangles.

You can read these articles and more for further details on the connection between insulin and Alzheimers.

Bringing this knowledge home, a recent development in my mother’s condition makes me wonder if we accidentally aided her cognitive improvement by unknowingly targeting the insulin levels in her body.

Because my mother suffered most of her adult life from recurring bladder infections, we decided to cut her sugar intake as much as possible in hopes of reducing these infections. Also, because my mother was so frail, we wanted to boost her caloric and nutritive intake. The product that fit both these purposes was Glucerna—a supplement developed specifically for people with diabetes (read the science behind Glucerna).

We have been giving Mom a Glucerna shake every morning at the start of her day. This has been going on for almost three years. Today Mom is showing not only a stabilization of her previous cognitive decline, but noticeable improvement, as listed in my post on Alzheimer’s and Regression.

Of course I find this amazing and beyond hopeful. And though anecdotal evidence is not scientific proof, given the scientifically proven link between insulin and Alzheimer’s Disease, it is worth looking into the practical solutions to insulin imbalance as a means of preventing the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s and ultimately, of a shortened lifespan.

Here are some more tips on insulin management from the archives:

Thanks Marty! You can read more over on the Aging Mind over on her blog.

Improving Longevity With Juvenon Supplements

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Sat, 15 May 2010 03:07:00 +0000

Is Juvenon Really A Powerful Anti-Aging Supplement?

Have you ever heard of Juvenon? I write a blog on how to increase longevity and I hadn’t heard of this supplement before a few days ago. Now this should not imply that any you have or have not heard of it either but for me the reason I haven't heard of it before is because I tend to not consider supplements a valid method of extending life. I put more emphasis on diet and lifestyle choices but hey; science has brought us this far; maybe it’s got more to offer us.

Despite my personal belief I thought I’d investigate this supplement a bit and see what it is and why it has been glorified as a longevity secret recently made available to the public. According to the company’s website Juvenon is essentially a mixture of two chemicals normally found in the body. The supplement is made of acetyl-L-carnitine and alpha-lipoic acid. It’s also got a couple other nutrients in small degree which are clearly displayed on the label. If you are unfamiliar with either of these two chemicals then see these write-ups on the chemicals published by the University of Maryland Medical Center: acetyl-L-carnitine and alpha-lipoic acid.

Looking at the label we see that each “serving” the anti-aging supplement Juvenon contains a gram of acetyl-L-carnitine and about 400 mg or .4 grams of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA), which by the way is very different from the fatty acid ALA. The Juvenon supplement is also touted to be sold in a bottle of 30 servings (60 tablets) for roughly $34-$40 per bottle. This got me thinking. Even if this combination of natural chemicals has the ability to improve longevity and the health of our cells, can’t we just buy these two supplements separately and join them together on our own?

Sure enough, heading over to Amazon.com I found with virtually no effort a bottle of 60-count 400mg Alpha Lipoic Acid tablets for $13 and a 100-count bottle of 500mg acetyl-L-carnitine for only $10. Combined, this gives you roughly 50 doses of the combination of chemicals found in the Juvenon supplement for a little over $20. Run the math and you are look at roughly a 50-75% savings over buying the branded supplement from Juvenon directly.

Does The Juvenon Supplement Actually Help With Anti-Aging?

So anyway all the above goes to show you that buying supplements can be a huge waste of money if you go about it the wrong way but it doesn’t touch on the validity of the anti-aging compound. Does Juvenon actually help you live longer?

I dug into the archives of Newsweek for a story they ran on the supplement back in 2005 when the studies by the company were fresh and Juvenon was just going into production. Newsweek had this to say about how the longevity supplement worked:

In studies published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2002, Ames and his colleagues fed older rats two chemicals normally found in the body's cells (and also sold as nutritional supplements): acetyl-L-carnitine and alphalipoic acid. Not only did the rats perform better on problem-solving and memory tests, but they moved around with more ease and energy.

Researchers determined that the combination of chemicals had improved the function of mitochondria, organelles that serve as a cell's main energy source. Ames formed a company called Juvenon to license the combination of cell-rejuvenating supplements (also sold separately at several health stores). The company plans to begin human trials soon to evaluate the cognitive effects of the dual supplements. In the meantime, Ames, who chairs Juvenon's scientific advisory board but gets no proceeds from the company, is overseeing lab research on human cells in tissue culture. In one study, Berkeley researchers found that lipoic acid protected the cell from oxidation when iron or hydrogen peroxide was added.

Now he hopes to replicate those results in human subjects. Other studies have already linked unhealthy mitochondria to Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, type 2 diabetes and other degenerative diseases, so reversing or repairing decay in mitochondria could help to stave off the age-related diseases. "I'm hoping we can add a few years to people's lives," says Ames, who's 76. "I think we can."

And from the Juvenon company website:

Research has shown that an important factor in aging is the decay of the mitochondria- the organelles within the cell that convert amino acids, fatty acids and sugars into energy. Research performed by Juvenon scientists and others has demonstrated that as we age, the efficiency of the mitochondria diminishes, as does their quantity per cell. The effect is a body operating at one-half to one-fourth the energy it had at youth.

Basically Juvenon believes that this combination of chemicals can slow or reverse the decay of the mitochondria and can thus slow aging and increase energy as we get older. As far as I can tell however research studies have not yet concluded on humans to see if this is the case.

Right now it seems the company is relying on the observations of rats tested in the 2002-2005 time period. Considering the supplements show some promise in animals and have little risks to humans in these quantities then I guess it’s not that big of a deal to try supplementing with these yourself but I’m not convinced yet. I think you’re going to be doing much better at improving longevity by simply enjoying a glass of wine with dinner, staying active, and limiting portion sizes at meal time… but that’s just me.

Reference
Newsweek - http://www.newsweek.com/id/48238
Juvenon Company Overview - http://juvenon.com/science/overview.htm

How To Lower PSA Levels Naturally

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:54:00 +0000

I'm sure a lot of men relate to concerns over elevated PSA levels. Postate cancer is one of the leading cancers affecting men in America and high PSA levels are one of the markers for the early stages of this condition. A PSA level reading is a standard test your doctor does on you as part of your regular prostate cancer screenings.

Many doctors will check the prostate "manually" in addition to checking PSA levels in the blood but even when both are done consistently it is no guarantee that problems with the prostate will be avoided or that a prostate cancer diagnosis will actually lead to immediate treatment. This is because prostate cancer is a slow growth cancer which often doesn’t metastasize after first diagnosis for months and sometimes years.

What is considered smart is in treating high PSA levels naturally with diet, nutrition, exercise, and supplementation while you wait for further medical observations to conclude. The longer you can maintain low PSA levels and discourage further prostate cancer growth the longer you can comfortably live with this condition.

The next most obvious question after how to screen for prostate cancer is how to lower PSA levels naturally before the doctor begins formal treatment for the condition. Doctors will often not treat prostate cancer until the condition has progressed for months to years down the road. This is because early stage prostate cancer is not dangerous and treating it too early can be troublesome and often make it worse. Luckily there are a few answers to this question that have been shown promise in clinical studies and research.

How To Lower PSA Levels Naturally

Aspirin has been shown to help with lowering PSA levels in men who take the drug routinely and have enlarged prostate. Aspirin in low dose form has long been known to help the heart and now studies shown that it may be effective in keeping PSA levels lower.
Foods that help with prostate cancer prevention can also help with its advancement and possibly with managing lower PSA levels. Tomatoes and Broccoli consumed in the same meal has been shown to do just that though researchers still don’t know why.
Eating cruciferous vegetables has been shown by researchers to be particularly helpful in lowering risks for developing aggressive prostate cancer. If you have elevated PSA levels and want to decrease your risks then make sure to eat plenty of these types of PSA lowering foods.
Lowering cholesterol levels have long been shown to positively influence your body in just about every way imaginable. There are various studies that have linked high cholesterol levels to high PSA levels and thus lowering PSA levels might be possible with a cholesterol friendly diet.
Pomegranates have also been shown in very recent studies to be effective in helping to manage high PSA levels. A study concluded in 2006 showed that the antioxidants in the fruit may be the cause of the benefits but until further research is conducted the results are tentative yet promising.

Remember lowering PSA levels naturally is basically as simple as living and eating more healthy. Make sure to emphasize in your diet specific foods to lower PSA readings like those mentioned above. None of the above methods should be considered a cure for prostate cancer nor are they a means of preventing it but they are good ways to help manage your PSA until your doctor feels it’s time to take medical action.

Do you know any more ways how to get a low PSA reading? If you have any further ideas on reducing PSA levels naturally while you are in the “wait-and-see” treatment phase share them in the comments or drop me an email. I’ll add them to this list.

Money and Longevity

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 10 May 2010 17:53:00 +0000

I just came across another excellent piece on human longevity published over at Smart Money. The premise behind the article is money and how centenarians are financially as a group and how they perceive their wealth status.

I wrote a bit about money and longevity a few months back in my post Can You Afford to Live To 100 and I’d encourage you to check that out but also to read this article on Smart Money as they reference quite a few studies on aging and longevity, many of which conclude some of the basic things I’ve preached about over the past year on this blog such as this recent post on how to increase longevity.

Longevity and Financial Security
According to the conclusions of the author’s research many centenarians are living below the poverty level due to various reasons. They have either out lived their savings, never had any, or they gave it away for tax reasons. Despite this however the centenarians as a group feel extremely optimistic about their financial situation and 96 percent of them feel they are better off than their peers.

A full 95 percent [of centenarians] said they had enough money to meet their needs, while 76 percent reported they had “enough to buy extras.” Overall, a staggering 96 percent of 100-year-olds said they were doing better than or the same as others of the same age. These expert survivors, the researchers concluded, have managed to adapt successfully to a ripe old age, and they perceive themselves to be better off than their peers—when clearly objective resources reveal quite the opposite.

Longevity and Health Status
Additionally it is noted that centenarians, the worlds oldest people, are proving that aging to extreme lengths does not mean that you have to live for decades in poor condition. They conclude that people who make it to 100 are models of health and they live with few disabilities and little sickness until only the very end of their lives.

As a group, 100-year-olds aren’t 80-year-olds who have tacked on 20 years of physical and mental decline. Instead, centenarians typically don’t suffer the chronic illnesses associated with age—such as Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular trouble or diabetes—until shortly before dying. In fact, they often escape them altogether, according to studies of centenarians in Georgia and New England. Of people who make it to 100, more than 90 percent were physically and mentally healthy into their 90s, and about half still live either on their own or with families. “Centenarians disprove the perception that ‘the older you get, the sicker you get,’” says Thomas Perls, associate professor of geriatrics at Boston University School of Medicine and director of the New England Centenarian Study. “They teach us that the older you get, the healthier you’ve been.”

Lessons From Centenarians
If this tells you anything about living a longer life it is that centenarians are likely the people we all should be modeling our lives after. They are happy and optimistic. They live healthy and active lives. They exemplify the meaning of coping with life’s struggles and rolling with the punches. They don’t get too stressed out and they only worry about what they have power over. And regarding money and longevity… money is a means for them but not an end. So long as their basic necessities are met they remain happy and content. This should be a lesson for us all.

Reference:
Smart Money - http://www.smartmoney.com/personal-finance/retirement/why-centenarians-are-so-content/

Longevity and Fertility

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Fri, 07 May 2010 20:18:00 +0000

I came across an interesting article today on the relationship between human longevity and fertility, obesity, and gender. The article noted a a few interesting distinctions in longevity trends which I haven’t really covered very much on this site.

For one the author notes that species tend to have increased longevity when they are less fertile:

Similar factors also affect humans, for example women in countries hit by famine... When there’s a famine, women often stop ovulating and lose reproductive condition. For women whose bodies find a way to remain fertile, they produce more babies but tend to have shorter lives than others.

The author also notes that women tend to be more obese when they are poor in wealthy nations and rich in poor nations:

We may think that the high obesity rates are a disease of wealthy nations – but you’ll find that the people who are most at risk for obesity are the poor women in wealthy countries and the wealthier women in poor countries,' Professor Brooks says. 'Although one of the reasons is that these women can afford only enough high energy food to get obese, but not enough food with high protein, we also found that far more women are obese than men.

This seems to indicate that women who are either poor in wealthy nations or rich in poor nations are at a disadvantage when it comes to their expected levels of longevity due to their likelihood of becoming obese.

Obesity also affects fertility and women who are obese usually are less fertile and thus this does help to offset the loss of life expectancy but obviously not entirely and not in every case.

If anything, all of this is just interesting food for thought. For more on increasing longevity check out this handy list of longevity tips I prepped a while back and if you want to check out the complete article it can be found at Red Orbit.

Can Watching TV Make You Fat?

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 13:58:00 +0000

The following is an exellent guest post by Matthew Denos, PhD and author of Weight Loss Triumph.

How much time do you spend watching TV? Television viewing is ranking third, after work and sleep, in the list of the most time-consuming activities in the US. With the average US household watching about 8 hours TV a day, Americans are watching more TV than ever before [1].

At the same time, the incidence of obesity has risen sharply in the last 10 years. No wonder we are being called a couch potato-society! But is there an association between these two trends? Is the time you spend in front of the screen increasing your chances of gaining weight? Is it hindering your chaces of living a longer life?

The Association Between TV Viewing And Obesity

Research has shown consistently that TV viewing relates positively to body weight. Passive entertainment through television has been suggested as a contributing factor to the alarming rise in obesity. Risk for overweight is substantially higher among families who watch TV 6 or more hours a day. Even at modest levels of TV watching (1 hour a day) an association with obesity is still noted [2].

The Nurses’ Health Study, which analyzed the sedentary behavior of 50,000 women aged 30 to 55 years, provided strong evidence that prolonged TV watching is directly related to obesity. For each 2-hour/day increase in time spent watching TV, the risk of these women becoming obese increased by 23% [3]. Many studies have confirmed a positive association between TV viewing and body mass index in both children and adults.

Does Watching TV Make You Fat?

Ok, research shows that people who watch TV tend to be overweight. But does this infer causation? Which came first, the obesity or the TV habit? In other words, is it the very act of watching TV that somehow increases your chances of becoming overweight or is it certain aspects of the specific lifestyle of the average heavy TV viewer (i.e unhealthy diet, reduced physical activity) that account for the observed TV-obesity association?

Well, a number of very plausible explanations have been proposed in favor of TV viewing having a causal effect on obesity. First of all, the TV-obesity relation is observed even among people who exercise and lead an overall healthy lifestyle. Stated differently, when diet and exercise habits are factored in, the association between TV viewing and obesity still remains. Therefore, although it is true that those who watch more TV tend to engage in lower levels of vigorous activity, this by itself cannot explain the link between TV viewing and obesity.

How Can TV Sabotage Your Weight Loss Efforts

Here are some mechanisms by which TV viewing can impact on your weight, which do not rely upon TV viewing “displacing” your physical activities.

You Eat More

Eating in front of the TV increases your meal intake especially of sweet, high fat snacks. In a sample of 78 mostly female undergraduate students, eating behavior was compared between days when meals were consumed with the TV on and days when TV was off while eating [4]. Participants ate more often on days when they ate with the TV on—one extra meal—resulting in higher calorie intake, specifically of fat and sugar. The amount eaten was proportional to the time spent in front of the TV.

In a similar study, 48 women were served 4 lunch meals and were instructed to eat two of them in a quite room and the other two while watching TV [5]. The subjects ate 13.4% more calories in the presence of TV. But why is it that you tend to eat more when eating with the TV on?

First, food is widely portrayed on TV. In a typical 1-hour TV segment, you are exposed to approximately 11 food and beverage appetizing commercials. The most heavily promoted foods are high in fat and sugar, a pattern that contradicts the recommendation of the Food Guide Pyramid. In contrast, healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables and complex carbohydrates, are rarely featured.

Second, the attention paid to the TV distracts you from your concurrent eating behavior. It prevents you from listening to your “internal processing food cues” and “exerting your habitual dietary restraint”, researchers note.

You Have A Lower Metabolic Rate

Studies show that when you watch TV you spend less energy than when you rest. If two people were to do nothing but either watch TV or rest without watching TV for a whole day, the one who watches TV would spend 211 fewer calories [6]. Television viewing has a lowering effect on metabolic rate. In fact, when you watch TV you spend almost as much energy as you spend while sleeping.

You Eat More At Subsequent Meals

A recent study showed that the effects of television on food intake extend beyond the time of TV watching to affect later consumption. Specifically, television watching during lunch time increases afternoon snack intake [7].

The participants, 16 normal-weight young women students, consumed a meal either watching a 10 minute video clip played on a TV or in the absence of the clip. The lunch was the same in both situations. Two and a half hours later the participants were given cookies as an afternoon snack and were asked to eat as much as they wished. None of the women were alerted to the purpose of the experiment.

Participants ate more cookies in the afternoon snack following the lunch with TV than following the lunch at which they had not watched TV. Why is it that watching TV while you eat can make you consume more food at a later meal?

Researchers believe that the distraction of your attention away from the meal while watching TV makes it more difficult for you to recall this meal. So, why is that important that you remember your last meal? Studies have shown that how much we eat at a certain meal depends on the information we have in memory about the most recently consumed meal. This also explains why amnesiacs overeat compared to normal people when offered multiple meals.

In the above experiment, the participants were asked to rate how vividly they could remember the lunch that they ate. Interestingly, the women who ate their lunch watching TV had lower vividness of lunch recall than those who ate in the absence of TV.

How Can You Avoid The Fattening Effect of TV Viewing?

Become more active – Reduce TV viewing. The Nurses’ Health Study suggested that 30% of people who are on a trajectory to becoming obese can avoid that by watching less than 10 hours a week TV and taking a brisk walk for a minimum of 30 minutes a day.

Ways to limit TV viewing include removing televisions form your bedroom and kitchen and using devices to limit access. As an adult, by simply substituting 30 minute of TV viewing with slow-paced walking, you will expend energy equivalent to 6.6 lb weight loss over the course of a year.

Avoid Eating While You Watch TV. Separating the acts of television viewing and food consumption will diminish the stimulus effect of TV viewing on eating. Consuming your meal undistracted by TV raises awareness of what is eaten and will make you more sensitive to inhibitory satiating factors. It will also better register the eating event in your memory and help you control later snack intake.

Conclusion

Energy intake has the tendency to increase with longer television viewing. A repeated consumption of meals in the presence of TV can lead to excessive food consumption over a long period of time, and facilitate development of overweight. Reducing the time you spend watching TV, can help you in your weight loss effort by decreasing your overall daily food consumption.

About The Author

Matthew Denos, PhD, is a biology scientist and writer who is concerned about the obesity epidemic. His articles, based on peer-reviewed journals, touch on practical issues related to daily life. His blog, devoted to weight loss program reviews, can be visited at coupon for medifast bistro md coupon.

-------------------

References

1. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2008/11/americans-now-w.html

2. Altering TV viewing habits: an unexplored strategy for adult obesity intervention? Foster JA, Gore SA, West DS. Am J Health Behav. 2006 Jan-Feb;30(1):3-14. Review.

3. Television watching and other sedentary behaviors in relation to risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus in women. Hu FB, Li TY, Colditz GA, Willett WC, Manson JE. JAMA. 2003 Apr 9;289(14):1785-91.

4. Television viewing is associated with an increase in meal frequency in humans. Stroebele N, de Castro JM. Appetite. 2004 Feb;42(1):111-3.

5. Non food-related environmental stimuli induce increased meal intake in healthy women: comparison of television viewing versus listening to a recorded story in laboratory settings. Bellisle F, Dalix AM, Slama G.

6. Effects of television on metabolic rate: potential implications for childhood obesity. Klesges RC, Shelton ML, Klesges LM. Pediatrics. 1993 Feb;91(2):281-6.

7. Television watching during lunch increases afternoon snack intake of young women. Higgs S, Woodward M. Appetite. 2009 Feb;52(1):39-43. Epub 2008 Jul 23.

Heart Attacks May Predict Diabetes

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 22:42:00 +0000

As I’ve often noted on this blog one of the best ways to increase longevity is to minimize the risks for serious causes of death as noted by the CDC. Toping this list is heart attack as I noted in my last post on the common signs of clogged arteries.

Another leader on this list is diabetes however it is notable that most people who have diabetes do not actually die because of it but due to something else which is often affected greatly by the presence of Diabetes.

Predict Diabetes
I recently ran across this interesting article which was just published in the Medical Journal, Diabetes Care, which was based on the 2009 American Diabetes Association (ADA) Scientific Sessions. The article discusses the relationship between heart attacks and diabetes and implies a reasonable way to decrease your risk for having heart attacks or to predict diabetes after a heart attack.

The article notes findings and conclusions from the Steven Haffner’s San Antonio Heart Study which found that people who had heart attacks who had not ever been diagnosed as having diabetes did in fact have diabetes one third of the time and had pre-diabetes another third of the time.

In essence the heart attack was a warning sign or symptom related to an undiagnosed diabetic condition. It was further implied that:

“[cardio vascular disease] prevention might be gained with diabetes prevention. Waist, triglyceride, and fasting glucose were not, but HDL cholesterol, blood pressure, and the presence of diabetes have been shown as predictors of CVD.”

Prevent Diabetes To Prevent Heart Atatcks
What they are saying is that diabetes is a predictor for cardiovascular disease which is the leading cause of death in America. And even in cases where diabetes was never diagnosed prior to a heart attack the patients were at least in pre-diabetes condition at the time of the heart attack. Thus, if you make your emphasis on preventing diabetes you will simultaneously be lowering your risk for heart disease.

“Risk factors for conversion to diabetes were age, obesity, fasting and 2-h glucose, fasting insulin, and, more strongly, insulin sensitivity...”

You can’t do anything about your age but lowering obesity, improving insulin sensitivity, and maintaining a normal blood sugar range is crucial to preventing diabetes and if you do these things then according to this paper you may be decreasing your risk for having a heart attack too which just might help you live longer.

You can see the full paper at Diabetes Care here.

Common Signs Of Clogged Arteries

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 03:18:00 +0000

As I’ve previously noted here on this blog one of the biggest factors in increasing longevity is to simply look to the leading causes of death in America and see which items you can lower your risk profile for. Considering heart disease is number one on the list I though it might be worth listing off the common signs of clogged arteries to alert you to potential health complications down the road which may hinder your ability to live a longer life.

Signs Of Clogged Arteries

First of all do you know what the common signs and symptoms of clogged arteries are? The most common are fairly easy to remember and most children could probably recite them. Chest pain, tingling in the arm or shoulder, lightheadedness, fatigue and lethargy are some very well known symptoms.

How about some of the lesser known signs of clogged arteries such as dizziness, heart palpitations, nausea, sweating, loss of vision on one side, limb mobility issues, slurring of words, slow healing of foot or ankle injuries, gangrene, cold feet, leg pain, and shortness of breath.

For some reason or another women in particular don’t often follow the classic and well known symptoms of heart attacks so knowing many of these lesser known symptoms of artery blockages may be very important.

Priority #1 - Preventing Blocked Arteries From happening
Now I also wanted to put out there that simply waiting until you experience these symptoms of artery blockages is simply unacceptable as a means of prevention and I would assume anyone reading this blog would understand that as well. Some early things you can do to detect artery blockages would be to simply have your lipids tested regularly. Make sure your choleterol levels are in a safe range; make sure you are in a normal blood sugar range, and make sure your blood pressure is under control.

As many of you already know most of these issues can be addressed by doing two things. Eat less food and mostly foods which are unprocessed and get more active. You don’t have to work out for two hours every day either. Simply doing little things every day that keep you active such as walking around the block or taking a few laps in the pool before you veg in the hot tub can go a long way towards helping to prevent arterial plaque buildup due to physical inactivity. It’s not just any one thing that is the secret, it’s about doing lots of little things throughout your day that add up.

If you really want to know how to live long you have to wake up to the fact that small incremental progress in minimizing risks for diseases such as heart disease, stroke, and all others is how it’s done… and as a last resort know these signs of artery blockages as this is the number one way that American’s cut their lives short.

To conclude I wanted to share with you this academic clip via YouTube on what happens when arteries become clogged. Seeing it from the inside really brings it all home if you ask me.

Clogged Arteries In The Heart

Can We Avoid Aging?

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 04:27:00 +0000

I recently found this great TED Talk on avoiding aging given by Aubrey de Grey, a researcher from Cambridge University, a few years back. I know I often talk about specific things that medical research has shown us about aging and increasing longevity so I thought this lengthy monologue would a nice compliment to what I've blogged about in the past.

One note that I have, which has absolutely nothing to do with trying to or wanting to avoid aging, is that I love they way Aubrey looks in this video. He seriously reminds me of Methuselah or something. :)

How To Prevent Plaque Buildup In Arteries

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 04:22:00 +0000

Artery Plaque

Before going any further let me direct you to a few resources on artery plaque that I’ve previously covered here on this site. First and foremost give this past post on how to prevent plaque buildup in arteries a look over for a good overview on what artery plaque is and why it’s important to prevent and reverse plaque buildup in arteries. To summarize however I’ll say this; arterial plaque is essentially fatty build up inside the arteries which is a main cause of arterial disease or atherosclerosis which is a main contributor to three of the leading causes of us as a society living shortened lives.

To summarize even further: If you want to know how to live long then you should start out by preventing plaque build up in the arteries.

A Story
This past weekend my wife and I took off for a vacation. We had some familial obligations but we also had some free time so we decided to hit up the local wine country and visit some budding vineyards. We splurged a little bit and definitely had a few glasses of wine too many one of the nights but hey it’s vacation.

On our ride back home earlier this week we started catching up on our podcasts and listened to a whole slew of old episodes of NPR’s Your Health podcast which often touches on many similar disease prevention and longevity secrets that I touch on here on this blog. One episode we listened to struck the two of us more than any other and that was the episode on Longevity Tips.

What I found particularly strange about many of the longevity tips they discussed was not that they preached a lot of what I’ve said over and over here on this blog such as virtually everything I mentioned in my last post on how to increase longevity but also some of the crazy things that I’ve never discussed because I’ve yet to be convinced that they are more than hype.

Anti-aging secrets such as HGH treatments and CRON were discussed as was a new technique in very early developmental stages which is called bioprinting. The concept here is that as your body breaks down you can simply build new organs, tissues, etc. through the use of a bio-printer. Conceptually this will make you virtually immortal as you can always replace whatever part of your body is breaking down.

As fantastic as that seems (and I mean that in the sense of pure fantasy rather than pleasure) I am not about hype and I am not interested in anti-aging techniques that are not proven effective and not simple. I believe that you can live longer very easily by simply doing the right things and mitigating the risks for those most likely to get you in the end… which brings me back to reversing arterial plaque buildup.

Because plaque buildup in the arteries is directly responsible for the major causes of early death as represented by CDC statistics year after year, addressing this problem is the most effective way to lengthen your life. Decrease plaque buildup in arteries and you will more than likely live longer than the average person. It’s that simple.

Preventing Plaque Build Up In Arteries

I already have discussed most of these topics on this blog before but I will iron them out here in simple bullet format for ease of reading and reference. You easily prevent plaque build up in the arteries by:

Lower Your LDL Cholesterol Level – When LDL cholesterol levels are too high cholesterol begins building up on your arterial walls causing artery blockages. This is also one of the leading causes of hypertension. Studies have long shown that you can lower your LDL levels by more plant sterols and getting more omega 3 fatty acids.
Cardiovascular Disease Prevention With Vitamin D – In addition to eating a healthy diet that supports better cholesterol levels vitamin D has increasingly been shown to be pivotal in preventing arterial plaque build up, hypertension, and heart disease.
Lower Systolic Blood Pressure – As previously stated you can lower your blood pressure by preventing arterial plaque buildup but ironically you can help prevent clogged arteries due to plaque build up by lowering your blood pressure. When your blood pressure is high it is more likely to become damaged and more likely to cause plaque buildup. Walking every day is a great way how to lower blood pressure and if you do it outside you will get more sun and make more Vitamin D. Win-win.
Maintain a Normal Blood Sugar Range – Elevated blood sugar levels put people in a far greater risk pool for having arterial disease complications. When blood sugar levels are out of control diabetes, heart disease, and stroke risks are all elevated even when all other risk factors have been mitigated. The easiest way to keep a normal blood sugar level is to simply stay active every day… possibly through walking or other moderate exercise By doing so you will help manage better insulin levels, increase HDL cholesterol, preventing plaque build up in arteries, and manage your blood pressure levels better.
Lastly, Increase Omega-3 Levels With Wine - Remember moderation though. Don’t follow our lead. :) Wine has been shown to increase omega-3 levels which help to prevent arterial plaque buildup and help to lower the risk of heart disease. It may even be why people from wine drinking cultures seem to live longer as discussed in the Blue Zones.

There you go; this is a simple list of actual things you can do to prevent plaque in arteries from building up and live a longer life. No crazy hocus-pocus; just good old-fashioned advice with plenty of science to back it up. I could easily add to this list but I won’t for brevity. Though I could easily remind you to not smoke. But that’s just too easy. :)

As an aside, you may also find this resource on how to remove plaque in arteries handy as well.

Increase Longevity And Live Longer

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 22:38:00 +0000

Increase Longevity

I wanted to take some to summarize a lot of what has been previously said here on Live A Longer Life and bring to your attention a resource that was emailed to me not too long ago. A reader recently forwarded me a link to a website that basically summarized the longevity secrets as discussed and highlighted in The Blue Zones. In case you missed it you can see my review of The Blue Zones here.

The Blue Zones as you recall was a book that analyzed the longevity secrets of various subsets of cultures who lived abnormally long compared to the rest of the population and world. The premise of the book was to identify things these people were doing that helped them to increase longevity. The book was not really a scientific study of the art of living longer or a scientific guide to longevity science but it did mimic many of the longevity secrets I’ve shared here on this blog over the past year.

The article emailed to me is a great resource for further breaking down the book and it’s finding and I invite you give it a look for a great in depth summary of how The Blue Zones authors believe you can increase Longevity. You can take a look at the article here at Surgical Technician Schools.

To summarize yet again what has already been said you need to keep the following things in mind and address each on individually in your life. By doing all of these you will not be guaranteeing an increase in longevity but you will be greatly improving your chances.

To increase longevity you should generally live an active life full of either exercise, physical work, or some of both. It is not really necessary to work out to exhaustion either; simply taking part in regular and routine light to moderate exercise should be enough. You can see my post on how exercise promotes longevity for more on this.
People who eat less food tend to have increased longevity compared to their peers who eat larger portion sizes. This concept has been noted time and again by countless studies of wide varieties of animals and it is a practice widely adopted by groups of people across the nation. The Calorie Restriction Diet or CRON diet encapsulates the concept in that people following the plan try to get as much nutrition as possible for each calorie they consume. No calorie goes wasted and the goal is to shoot for an average calorie decrease in consumption of 20-40 percent.
If you make sure you live your life with a sense of purpose studies and statistics show you will be far more likely to increase longevity regardless of anything else you do. Even if you have bad personal habits people who have a purpose in life tend to live longer than those who have nothing going on. You can see an old post of mine on this topic of living a longer life with purpose.
Another statistical sure-fire method of increasing longevity is to live your life with a positive attitude. In my post on beating depression I discuss the concept of positive thinking and how it helps the body recover from illness. The concept is that the mind is more powerful than the body at times and can will the body to live longer simply by desiring it. Powerful stuff. You can also read a related article on the topic highlighting the benefits of having positive personality traits.
Lastly lessons from the Blue Zones show us that people who live long lives tend to eat traditional meals which have been shown to have synergistic qualities. By eating good foods together you often will find better nutrition than if you ate the same foods separate. One easy illustration of this technique is to use food science findings and apply it to our cooking. Black pepper and turmeric have been widely shown to be very nutritionally sound when consumed together, far more so than if they are consumed separately. Similarly other foods can offer the same types of synergies such as olive oil and fat soluble vitamins.

How To Live Longer & Live Better

Of course you can do all of these things but there are always specific ways to live better without making major changes to your lifestyle. For that reason I wanted to direct you back to my index for general Longevity Tips. Many of the posts here on this blog revolve around the topic of how to increase longevity and as they go live many will be included on this index. If you are a new reader of this blog I’d like to invite you to head into the archives and see what miscellaneous longevity tips there really are.

Of course we don’t have complete control over our longevity; there is a great deal of luck involved. This is easily illustrated by the prevalence of accidents at work and at home. It’s also illustrated by the countless people who get seriously ill with no warning and for no known reason. However, despite these potential pitfalls we should truly believe that we are capable of improving longevity and living longer and better lives.

Women, Here’s How You Can Live Longer, Better and Smarter

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:59:00 +0000

The following is a guest post contributed by Amy S. Cook, who writes on the topic of LVN to RN. Amy welcomes your comments at her email: amy11s.cook@gmail.com. - Thank you Amy for your contribution.

When it comes to battling their weight, women have it worse than men. No, it’s not because there are physiological differences between men and women that make it harder for the latter to lose weight; it’s only because they add on the pounds during their pregnancies (or pregnancy) and then have trouble losing them once the baby is born. But the fairer sex does have one huge advantage over the stronger sex – they live longer because of their low testosterone levels. But there’s no use of living longer if you’re going to be plagued by ill health and disease, so it’s imperative that women pay attention to their health at every stage of their lives.

When in high school and college, it’s necessary to stay fit and slim because you don’t want to be teased and ostracized for being “the fat one”. It’s an unfortunate fact of life, but when you’re a teenager, external appearances matter much more than they should. So if you want to fit in, you must take the fitness route if you’re overweight or tend to put on weight fast.

Once you’re done with college, you enter the professional world, and you soon realize that it’s not all that different from school. People don’t take overweight women seriously unless they’re able to prove themselves. So again, if you want to prove your worth, it’s worth your while to watch your weight. There’s another hidden benefit to staying slim when you’re in your 20s and 30s. If you’re looking to get married and start a family, it’s been proved that overweight women are less fertile than their slimmer counterparts.

Once you have a baby, it gets even more difficult to maintain your weight. Unfortunately, most of us are not as lucky as those celebrities who have no trouble at all losing all that baby weight in just a few short weeks after junior arrives. But since we’re mere mortals, we have to huff and puff really hard to burn that additional weight away. And with the baby to look after as well, there’s hardly any time to spend on exercise – you prefer to sleep or catch up on your work if you have a few minutes of free time.

But if you’re smart, you’ll realize the wisdom of setting up a workout routine as soon as possible after your delivery because:

The longer you wait, the harder it is to get started and the more weight you gain.
Exercising after pregnancy brings you various health benefits.
You feel much better about yourself when you sweat it out and start to lose weight.
You don’t suffer from post-partum depression.
You go on a healthy diet which in turn is good for your baby if you’re breastfeeding.

And once you’re back to your normal weight, you must continue to exercise because:

It’s the best way to maintain your weight.
It’s the best route to good health.
It’s a proven way to fight disease and keep illness away.
It helps you live a long and healthy life.

So women, this is exactly what you need to do to live a longer, smarter and healthier life.

What Is A Normal Blood Sugar Range?

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 08:41:00 +0000

Today I went in to the office and was surprised to see a complimentary health fair provided by my employer. This always makes me happy and I was very excited to learn that we all were given the opportunity to attend the fair and have our blood sugar levels checked to see if we fall in a healthy and normal blood sugar range.

Fasting Blood Sugar Test
Unfortunately I wasn’t fasting because for some reason I didn’t realize the health fair would be put on but I got my blood sugar levels tested anyway. Turns out that after eating a bowl of cereal at 9am, a doughnut at 10am, a can of Campbell’s Chunky soup at 1pm and a Snicker’s bar at 2pm my blood sugar levels ended up sitting at 120 at 3pm. Not bad for all that food running through my system.

This got me thinking however. If a fasting blood sugar normal range is 100 and below what then are normal blood glucose levels for people who aren’t fast? Similarly what is a normal range for blood sugar that I should be shooting for at any random time during the day. After all; I don’t just want to hit the middle of the blood sugar range; I want to be better than normal.

What Is A Normal Blood Sugar Range?

First of all normal blood sugar levels are really dependent on a few things. Does normal mean good or does it mean average? If it means good you want your fasting blood sugar levels to be below 100 mg/dl. People who are prediabetic according to the normal definition of diabetes is a fasting blood glucose range between 100-126. Anything over 126 is considered a diabetic range for your blood sugar levels.

Likewise a normal blood sugar range for people who have not been fasting is usually in the low to mid 100s. This means that my blood sugar levels were in the normal range despite that Snickers bar.

Achieving A Normal Range – Blood Sugar

So anyway, what does all of this mean? How does one look at this data and objectively make a plan for achieving the desired blood sugar range? Normal blood glucose levels are a good thing and steps should be taken if your are in an elevated range. The stats are clear in that people with diabetes have health problems that continue to magnify and multiply as age advances. If you want to live longer then you have to manage your blood glucose levels better.

In past posts on this blog I have discussed at length a multitude of ways to do just this. A normal range for blood sugar is not something that you should have to actively manage your body should do it for you. In fact your pancreas should do it for you automatically. Unfortunately people in poor health may need to focus on recovery first before the body manages blood glucose levels appropriately again.

The following list contains a number of posts on this blog that relate closely to managing blood sugar ranges by preventing or treating insulin resistance. If you need help in returning to a healthy and normal blood sugar range then re-read these posts and start making changes in your life today.

• Stop Insulin Resistance – 11 Ways To Stop Insulin Resistance For Good
• Insulin Production – Manage Insulin Production Better with Fiber
• Reduce Insulin Levels – High Intensity Exercise Helps You reduce Insulin Levels Quickly
• Reverse Insulin Resistance – Use citrus peel extract to aid in reversing insulin resistance
• Improve Insulin Sensitivity – The Fatty Acid ALA can help significantly with insulin sensitivity issues
• Insulin Levels & Vitamin K – Vitamin K helps the body maintain healthy insulin levels which help keep your body in a normal glucose range and experience normal blood sugar recovery.
• Insulin Resistance & Sleep – People who get better and longer sleep typically have better insulin and blood glucose levels

Lastly insulin resistance is not the only reason you may not be in a normal blood glucose range; make sure you use cinnamon in your cooking to help reduce blood sugar spikes in your every day meals. Staying in a normal blood sugar range is worth it and it will help you live a longer life.

Stroke Risk Factors And Heart Medication

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:40:00 +0000

Does Heart Medication Increase Stroke Risk Factors?

Two very popular heart medications on the market today show very similar results in relieving many of the main symptoms of heart disease and encouraging longer life in patients however the stroke risk factors of taking these heart medications is unclear and needs more study.

Before we discuss the resulting increases in stroke risk with taking heart medication lets first look into the two types of meds identified int he following study.

Beta Blockers
Beta blockers is a heart medication that is used for the treatment of heart diseases such as arrhythmias, hypertension, and heart attacks among many others. These heart medications work by blocking the stimulation of beta receptors and as a result they cause the heart to relax. The pulse rate drops as does the force of the contraction.

ACE Inhibitors
Similar to beta-blockers, ACE Inhibitors also are used for the treatment cardiac related diseases such as hypertension and congestive heart failure. They basically work by lowering the resistance of blood flowing through the arteries (i.e. artery plaque build up) thus increasing cardiac output and relieving strain on the heart.

Both heart medications, beta blockers and ACE inhibitors, have been proven effective in the treatment of serious heart diseases but a recent group of studies compared the two forms of treatments and find that the two have very different results when it comes to the increase in stroke risk factors.

Increasing Stroke Risk Factors

"According to a review of twelve randomized trials that involved 112,117 patients, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, beta blockers and ACE inhibitors were equally effective in lowering blood pressure and preventing heart failure.

The drugs differed in the fact that people taking beta blockers [had notably increased stroke risk factors and] were much more likely to suffer a stroke. The researchers recommend not taking beta blockers for high blood pressure but advise speaking with your physician before making any changes."

Risk Factors For Stroke
This finding on the stroke risk factors of heart medications is quite conclusive in my opinion. Generally speaking, either treatment plan is just as good as the other with individual exceptions. For instance some people might be prone to adverse side effects to one heart medication over the other. Stripping these side-affect cases out of the picture however, the only finding worth noting is the fact that beta blockers increase the risk factors for stroke in patients down the road. I would assume that this is reason alone to lean to treatment with ACE inhibitors over Beta-blockers but of course there are always case-specific details which a doctor must weigh independently.

Improve Your Risk Factors For Stroke

A study of this size really averages out outliers so that they can’t be seen without diving into the data. If you are an outlier and don’t conform to the law of averages hopefully your doctor will catch it and prescribe the correct heart medication treatment accordingly. Of course you can always take some action yourself and improve your stroke risk factors by taking walking breaks, eating more fish, and avoiding binge drinking.

You may also be interested in similar stroke risk findings involving the correlation of an increased risk factor for stroke and when high systolic blood pressure is present. If this describes you then learning what some of the leading causes of hypertension are and working to lower blood pressure should be your top priority which these heart medications can help with.

Source
Best Life, Feb 2009
Journal of the American College of Cardiology - http://content.onlinejacc.org/cgi/content/abstract/52/13/1062

Get A Good Posture Office Chair

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 01:49:00 +0000

A Good Posture Office Chair May Help Stop Heart Disease

Studies have recently come out showing that your heart is affected negatively by having poor posture and using poor posture office chairs. Whether you believe it or not if you have poor posture you may be at risk for heart disease according to these findings.

You should look into your desk situation at home or at work especially if you are already in danger of heart disease and especially if your office chair causes you to have poor posture. Best Life had this to say about the findings:

Posture and Heart Disease

"Slumping over your keyboard [at your desk] not only makes you look like a slob but also increases your risk of heart disease. According to a new study in The Journal of Neuroscience, bad ergonomic posture at your desk [or using a bad posture office chair] might actually raise blood pressure.

Researchers found a direct neural connection between the muscles in the back of the neck and the part of the brain stem that regulates heart rate and blood pressure – the nucleus tractus solitarius. This finding may help researchers figure out why desk jockeys are prone to hypertension."

Alternative Hypertension Treatments

This study and finding makes a strong case for analyzing the ergonomics of your desk area from reasons outside of the obvious. Neck pain and hunchback are now not the only reasons to sit up straight and stick your chest out, posture is also apparently another one of the leading causes of hypertension… practicing correct ergonomic posture and the using a quality posture office chair might be good for your heart too.

It seems that alternative treatments for hypertension is a constant theme in life and the question is posed by many. Many of the alternative treatments (non-medicine) are just unknown to the bulk of society. Everybody knows they should exercise but if the cause of hypertension is due to some other factor, then exercise is not the end-all answer.

This is just another alternative cause and treatment for hypertension I’ve blogged about on How To Live Long, and interestingly many causes are tied to sitting at a desk all day. This tells us that those of us who do sit all day really should take heed of the warning signs like poor posture which these findings alert us to. Sit up straight and walk around the office a few times a day and you will most likely live a longer life.

Source
Best Life mag., Feb. ‘08

Links for 2009-07-20 [del.icio.us]

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Getting Crowded in 100-Year Old Clubs.
An interesting piece on the expected increase in the centenarians of the world over the next 30 years. This is the fastest growing demographic in the nation.
Young Women & Alcohol Abuse
Interesting article by Holiday Honey on women and alcohol. It's hard to moderate alcohol consumption according to her for young women.