Extending Life, Preventing Chronic Illness

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Many people think they do not want to live until their 100’s, because they envision a life of dysfunctional old age, restricted mobility, poor sensory function and corrupted brain capacities. However, centenarian studies show that people who live the longest are also the healthiest. Centenarians have less cancer and cardiovascular disease and if they do, they recover better and stay autonomous longer.

Our centenarians show us the way to age gracefully. Everyone can live and die a natural death. All it takes is to accumulate as many years as possible of a healthy life, day after day. No matter how old you are, it is not too late to start now. Our western world promotes a poor nutrient, high chemically processed foods diet and a sedentary lifestyle, which both strongly contribute to chronic illnesses that shorten our natural lifespan. We die from cardiovascular disease, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. These diseases can be very easily prevented and it is never too late to start.

First: Create a Clear Strong Intention

Take a few days to reevaluate your life and make the decision to take control of your health for the best: be healthy and happy. Then get educated: Turn off your TV to avoid being bombarded by pernicious advertising promoting agribusiness and consumption, programming your brain with unconscious behaviors. Get an educated opinion through your own research. It takes courage to swim against the mainstream but the reward is extremely valuable: a healthy body and a happy mind.

Second: Remove Any Barriers You May Have

Remove any barriers that are preventing you from implementing your plan to eat healthy, be physically active and have a life of meaning and purpose. Make a list of the following obstacles:

1) Addictions

All of us have to deal with addiction because we live in a society that is promoting addiction to material goods rather than a motivation for personal growth. Companies know that to keep people buying more than what is needed they have to create diversity and multiple stimulating goods. Salt, sugar and corn are in great amounts in all processed foods because they stimulate the part of the brain that release pleasure hormones. The results are a nation of continuously increasing obese and overweight people who are shortening their lives unnecessarily.
Most people think of addictive substances as nicotine, alcohol, pharmaceutical and recreational drugs. However, studies have shown that sugar and gluten cause the same neurochemical addiction pathway.

2) Psychological Drama

Another obstacle to a healthy life is attachment to psychological drama. Psychological drama has the same effect as drugs and creates a foggy mind. Our life becomes boring when we do not use our creativity and we search for stimulation by stirring our relationships with people. Psychological drama takes away our peace.

3) Traumas

We get stuck by holding on to traumas that we experienced in the past, carrying our stories with us and missing the experience of the present. Aging gracefully includes letting go of these wounds, forgiving others and ourselves. Wisdom is the learning that we gain from the acceptance of our vulnerability and our sensitive nature.

Forgiveness

4) Sedentary Lifestyle

Our modern society has evolved towards a mechanically assisted lifestyle. We do not use our body anymore in our daily life. Rather we press buttons, steer wheels, and sit in front of a computer. This is at a loss of meaningful physical exercise that we were getting in the past growing our garden, pushing our bike and grinding our flour. Meaningful activities connect us to our environment in a different way than exercise does. Meaningful activities are an antidote for depression and anxiety that undermine our modern world.

Once we dedicate ourselves to a good life and remove the obstacles, choices are easy and health comes naturally. A healthy body and mind will take you to the limits of your potential for a long life uninterrupted by the sad mortality from modern diseases.

The Art and Science of Aging Well

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Today Dr Baylac was a keyspeaker on longevity at the Pathways To Longevity Conference hosted by the Centre for Neuroskills in Honolulu. The Art and Science of Aging Well discusses key concepts of aging and aging well.

Where are the five highest concentrations of centenarians in the world, the so-called Blue Zone Locations?

  1. The community of Seventh Day Adventists in the small town of Loma Linda in California
  2. Okinawa Island in Japan, famous for the longest disability-free life expectancy in the world
  3. Sardinia, Italy, with the highest concentration of centenarians
  4. Icaria, Greece
  5. Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica where healthy centenarians live in a solid support network of friends and family

What are the characteristics of these Blue Zone locations?

Geographic and Ideological Isolation:

  • Centenarians live in isolated areas, on an island, peninsula or in religious isolation such as the 7th Adventists with little contact with the modern world.
  • They operate as a community and take care of each others needs
  • They live outdoors a good part of the time and get plenty of sun exposure
  • They get plenty of physical activity: working in the fields, walking or bicycling to neighbor locations
  • They have a strong sense of belonging, perpetrate tradition, family celebrations
  • Happy and sense of purpose

Somehow, despite the presence of diseases, people who become centenarians don’t die from those diseases, but rather they are able to deal with them much better than other people and remain independently functioning more than 30 years beyond the age of 60.

Centenarians show delayed onset of cancer and cardiovascular disease as well as higher survival rates of these diseases.

  • Cancer is delayed to the age of 80.5 years compared to 63.2 years in the general population2 (Most common cancers: breast, prostate and colon)
  • 88% of centenarians delay or escape the age-related lethal diseases: cardiac disease, stroke and diabetes

The Okinawa island of Japan is famous for longevity and shows the following characteristics:

  • Okinawa has the longest life expectancy in the world
  • Longest health expectancy, healthy youthful looking, energetic
  • Low rate of heart disease, stroke, cancer even stomach cancer, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s
  • “Okinawa inhabitants reach ages similar to the Japanese average of 86 for women and 78 for men. However, the real encouraging factor is not that people reach these ages, but they grow old in a much better state. Some in their 90’s can honestly vouch that they still have an active sex life.”

The Okinawa Diet:

  • Low-calorie, low glycemic diet. Consume only 25% the amount of sugar and 75% the amount of fat than what the Japanese eat. Diet consists of vegetarian, seafood and soy. No meat, eggs or dairy products
  • Anti-oxidant rich foods: they consume about 300 g of green, yellow, orange vegetables, fruits, tubers a day. These vegetables are rich in vitamin C, A and flavonoids
  • Calorie control: hara hachi bu, a cultural habit consisting of only eating until they are 80% full and staying physically active the natural way. Average body mass index (BMI) of 18 to 22”.
  • “Elderly were found to have impressively young, clean arteries, low cholesterol, and low homocysteine levels when compared to Westerners. They have low blood levels of free radicals”

What does the Okinawa social life and social support structure look like?

  • “Ikigai’: sense of purpose, “a reason the get up in the morning”.
  • The elders here have low depression levels.
  • “You can see persons aged 90-100 on motorcycles or mountain bikes on the streets. Most of them practice karate, kendo, dancing, walk daily several kilometers, and even work on vegetable gardens and after that sell the products”.
  • Social network: people take care of each other, forming more coherent and supportive links than in the western world. They have a positive attitude toward life and low levels of stress.

What are the health characteristics of centenarians?

  • Stay healthy longer
  • Delay both natural signs of aging and chronic illness
  • Manage chronic illness better and do not die from it
  • Less disabled and more autonomous

What are the personality traits of centenarians?

  • Happiness, sense of purpose, faith, spiritual commitment
  • Sense of responsibility
  • Resilience and hardiness
  • Sense of independence
  • Can handle stress better
  • No depression or anxiety
  • Have fun and enjoy themselves

View the presentation for the full discussion on longevity:

  • What is aging and what happens to our bodies when we age?
  • What causes aging and chronic illness?
  • Longevity factors
  • Discussion and review of centenarian studies
  • How do we apply the lifestyle factors of centenarians to the modern world
  • The consequences of sedentary lifestyles and chronic sitting
  • Finding meaning in the world
  • Emotional stress and longevity

Longevity and Healthy Aging

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Living longer and healthier is a challenge in our modern world. According to Gravilov and Gravilova a couple of scientists who spent the last 30 years of their lives studying longevity, if you are a woman born in November to parents who lived a long life and had a happy and healthy childhood you are lucky and have a good chance to be a centenarian. These attributes are a good start but this is not enough. If you have an office job, like to watch TV, snack on chips and drive everywhere, your sedentary life and your overeating habits may considerably decrease your chances of living a long life.

Our life expectancy has increased over the last generations but we do not die healthy and of old age. Instead we die from agonizing diseases: cancer, heart disease, COPD, Alzheimer’s, stroke and diabetes to name only the top six. The people who die from old age are not in the statistics because there are so few of them. The Hunzas in Pakistan and the Ikarians in Greece live isolated and feature the largest proportion of healthy elderly people in the world.

What is their secret?

  • First they eat with frugality and a variety of fresh natural organic foods that they harvest themselves. They only eat two meals a day and do not snack.
  • Second they have an active lifestyle. They move around constantly going up and down the mountains, farming and tending their gardens.
  • Lastly, they are happy people living a stress free life. They do not wear a watch, nap several times during the day and visit with each other often. They engage in their community, have an important social network and are connected to each other in a meaningful way.

It is not news that diet, exercise, social connectedness and happiness are the foundation of health and longevity. The Hunzas and the Ikarians are the living proof of all our laboratory studies. The question is, is it possible to be happy in our modern urban societies and lifestyles?

We now live in cities where we have lost touch with nature and where natural simple pleasures are replaced with addictive behaviors that do not quench our loneliness but rather enslave us. We are looking for white sugar treats to fulfill our need for love and are turning to alcohol to numb the pain of loneliness. We are getting in codependent relationships out of the fear of knowing ourselves and we lie to our partners when we pursue our volatile desire for extra marital sex. We get in such a mess emotionally that we cannot get out of the downward spiral. Certainly we are not happy, but is it possible to even dream of being happy in our modern world?

We cannot all go back to the old lifestyle of the village although a few people do. The question is how can we continue living in a city, driving a car and having a 9-5 job and collect the same benefits as the Hunzas and the Ikarians? I believe it is possible. It just takes a lot of awareness, strength and determination. It takes self-respect and high self-esteem. Here are some rules to organize our lives by.

1. Exercise

Although exercise cannot replace the continuous use of the body due to physical work, it has tremendous benefits. Exercise does not have to be strenuous but a fast walk in a park or any workout in a gym, will contribute to ward off obesity, high blood pressure and depression which are important risk factors of aging and mortality.

2. Sleep

Sleep and rest are fundamental. There are ways to cultivate proper sleep without medication avoiding stimulating foods and dealing with anxiety. Stimulants such as coffee, black tea and chocolate interfere with our ability to fall asleep and must be avoided. Excessive consumption of candy, chocolate bars or baked goods spike the blood sugar and interrupt sleep. Chaotic thoughts can be controlled by the practice of mindfulness, bringing the mind to the present with breathing.

3. Nature Therapy

Spend time outdoors as much as you can. Being in a natural setting provides profound healing and psychological benefits. Studies have shown that psychiatric patients improve when they are housed outside of the hospital in tents (tent therapy) and their condition deteriorates once back inside the hospital.

4. Stress Free Life

We need to learn how to take life in stride and continuously remind ourselves of our mortality and practice detachment from events that throw us out of our center. We tend to make ourselves responsible and blame ourselves for what is happening to us.

5. Social Connectedness and Love

We must be engaged in activities that bring goodness to other people in order to feel that our life has meaning.

6. Nutrition

Eating fresh, local organic food as much as possible including lots of fruits and vegetables is the key to a healthy body and brain. Having a small garden if possible even a windowsill herb garden will help. Eat plenty of the foods that will prevent inflammation and oxidation. Coriander will help with forming collagen and delay wrinkles, broccoli and all the Brassica family of vegetables will help in cancer prevention, turmeric will help to keep inflammation down, ginger will help with digestion. There are many other plants that will keep us healthy.
Avoid wheat, dairy, processed foods and be frugal when eating.

7. Go to a Naturopathic Doctor

A naturopathic doctor will look at all the aspects of your life in his or her health assessment. He or she will prescribe natural dietary modifications and remedies that will heal you truly by addressing the cause of disease. She or he will look at your nutritional deficiencies and support you in making decision that will empower you and set you free. Read about naturopathic consultation here.

Finally feel young and you will stay young!

The Vital Stroke. Aging and Vitality

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I was savoring some well-deserved pupus on the ocean front lanai of the Royal Kona hotel this Saturday afternoon after the 18 miles Liliuokali race, watching the ocean and waiting for the first iron kane canoes to appear on the horizon. I could not believe my eyes but the water sprinkled with dots, two or three well ahead of some other much smaller dots. It was too early, I thought, to be our paddlers. Just about an hour and a ½ had elapsed from their departure time! But sure enough I was them! I continued staring in the direction of Kealakekua and now I could see clearly the 2 back dots taking the form of canoes. I wished I had binoculars to see the details of what was happening with the 2 first canoes. Short of having binoculars, I decided to get the most out of the experience on the level that I could. It became a great revelation. I received a clear message of energy and vitality. As the canoes were getting closer I could see the men paddling fast and hard as if they were paddling for a short distance race and they already had about 15 miles in their arms. They were giving all they had in their heart in the form of power, for the sake of racing. I was moved to tears.

This experience was so strong that I wanted to share it with our makule paddlers. I took a walk to the Kamehameha hotel to the outdoor award site, curious to observe the winners of the race and eager to share my experience with my team. I told the story to one of our paddlers. I told her how impressed I was with the speed and wholeness of the paddling team and she commented “ Yes but they are young”

This comment made me think: Is vitality the attribute of youth only and does it get lost inevitably with aging or can it be retained?

YES vitality can be cultivated!

Here are the ways that you can support a vital body:

Nutrition, exercise and positive thinking

Exercise, we got it, we all love it. Exercise is what is bonding us. Paddling! But this is only one part of the package. You also got to eat live foods

Live foods are as important as exercise to maintain the life force. We restore the damages done to our bodies with food and water. Food is more than what it taste like. Food is needed to repair properly the daily damage from time. Our body will use whatever we give it to do the job. Our body and brain is programed to eat food from the earth, whole foods not processed foods. The more live food the body/brain receives the better the repair job and the more lively and awaken we will feel.

Please make an effort to eliminate toxic foods from your life: processed food, dead food and non-food substances.

The next fundamental factor is how you think. You must think positively. If you think that aging is an illness that cannot be avoided, the corners of your lips are going to go down. I once had a patient who was exercising her upper lip muscles and I inquired: what was she doing? She explained that as we aged the corners of our mouth tend to look down and she strengthening the upper muscle of her lips to have a youthful smile and look. Certainly she was concerned about her appearance but the sagging upper lips is also a reflection of how we feel inside and making a conscious effort to fight gravity helps to uplift our feelings.

Gravity may create damage on many body parts. While the vital energy is the strongest at birth it does not take much effort to maintain it earlier in life. However, while growing old, it takes individual awareness and effort to maintain this vitality as long as possible. Cosmetic surgery will not do it. It may lure the other but not yourself. It takes effort and all effort is rewarding. Conserving vitality is an important component of happiness.

Please think positive. There is no limit to the power and creativity of the human mind. We can all have a vital stroke regardless of our age! This is not a matter of technique, it is a matter of believing that we have enthusiasm, passion and strength and our stroke will have the vitality of a 20 year old.

The source of a vital stroke is a vital mind and a vital body grown with real food, exercise and positive thinking .

by Maya Nicole Baylac N.D.