Old Age Life-threatening

I’ve just had my 89th birthday and I’m one of the fortunate ones who so far does not have a fatal illness of any kind.  It occurs to me however that very old age is actually very like a life-threating ‘disease’. There are easily recognized symptoms of the onset of aging process that gradually get worse: you tire more easily, have problems with balance, become less active because of discomfort in joints, and as you lose stamina, you get frail and forgetful, don’t feel like engaging any longer and tend to let things go and to withdraw. As your body and mind deteriorate, you lose interest in life it can make for a very sad end.  

Since we recognize the symptoms of aging, I figure we should be able to treat them as we would other health conditions. Research verifies the fact that being proactive about any treatments that are available to ameliorate your health condition makes a tremendous difference to its progress. Having a positive attitude may be the most important factor. It is not an easy choice to decide to do the things that will keep the aging symptoms at bay, I know you must work on it and have the discipline and desire to do the things that will keep you fully alive into old age. 

First of all your body’s health is the top of the list.  As we age we eat less and don’t assimilate the nutrients in our food as well. Click on vitamin supplements to read why they are highly recommended and to make sure your body is getting all the vitamins and minerals it need at the right dosage. It can be complicated and at the very least we need to take a recommended ‘One-a-day’ supplement meant for the elderly.  Keeping body and mind active can make a tremendous difference on the well being and duration of your aging experience.   

One fact I hadn’t fully expected is that as I get really old, less and less is expected of me and I have much more time to do with as I will. With all of today’s distractions, it is easy to be lazy mentally - old age is not only life-threatening but also mind-threatening - so I actually made a few resolutions this year to tether my tendency to drift. I printed them out and pinned them up so they are often in my face and give structure to my day. I’ve set aside definite times to exercise and to work on current projects related to my long term goals. I am finding I’m happier about wasting time when I have made every day count by doing something worthwhile to mark its passing. But the biggest effect I’ve notice even in the few weeks since doing it, is how much better and stronger I feel because I’m exercising regularly every day. Even though I have to force myself to be more active. I can see already that it has made a positive difference 

One of my long term goals has to do with writing down my personal philosophy I’ve worked out over a lifetime and how the ‘world view’ has changed during my long life. Actually, back in 2010 in my first blog posting what I wrote still holds:

 ‘Most of what I’ve learned, insights I’ve had, and what goes on in my mind will be lost forever when I go.  That is unless, of course, I should write. It’s sort of amazing that through the written word an ordinary person like me can leave a permanent record behind. I think each of us is unique and should leave some sort of written legacy - but it is not easy. Most of us are like me - not real ‘writers’ who are clever with words and have a compulsion to write but I often think what a wonderful gift it would have been if my grandparents who died before I was born had written something about themselves. Another advantage of the written word is that the reader has the choice to peruse what I have to say or not.

I’m planning to follow my own advice and fight the progress of the worst aspects of old age - my hope is to be fully alive and engaged as long as I live!    Rie

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Antioxidants

Antioxidants are all about the problems that happen when oxygen we are constantly breathing in, ‘burns’ the food we eat to give us the energy we need to stay alive.

It works like this: single oxygen atoms need extra electrons [they need 8 to be stable] so two of them pair up to form a weak bond and they go around as a molecule [see picture]. But when molecules encounter food that’s ready to be oxidized, they easily split apart and while one atom oxidises food the other – it’s called a free radical - is compelled to attack anything to grab a couple of electrons to satisfy it’s chemical need. Cell tissues are most often attacked and disrupted but it doesn’t stop there – the attacked cellular molecules split apart themselves each creating two free radicals and they in turn attack more cellular components forming more and more radicals needing electrons and a chain reaction starts that only ends its destructive deeds when enough antioxidants are present to donate electrons and not become free radicals themselves. If you click on video the whole process is nicely illustrated and makes it plain that antioxidants mop up free radicals helping prevent damage to cells and tissues.

The damage caused when antioxidants are not present can trigger all sorts of nasty things like a variety of cancers, arthritis, cataracts, heart disease, atherosclerosis, and premature aging to name a few. So it’s obvious we should make every effort to see that our bodies have an ample supply of antioxidants to stop damage as quickly as possible!

We do naturally produce some antioxidants but since most are found in foods we eat. It’s important to know that antioxidant rich foods are fruits and vegetables [especially the coloured ones], cereals, beans, nuts and seeds. Apparently the best way to make sure you are getting enough antioxidants is to eat 5 to 8 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. That’s a bit much for me so I take vitamin supplements like vitamins A, C and E that are concentrated antioxidants.

If you want to have the best information possible about antioxidants for optimal health and foods high in antioxidants, I suggest you click on the link provided here. Knowledge is power - fight back - live long. Rie

Aging repeat

Ageing revisited

I have been denying it but proof positive I am becoming forgetful is that I forgot I had written a blog on aging that repeats a number of the observations I made in the April post on the same subject. Shocking! but there it is – irrefutable evidence – a common symptom of aging!

We have our first birthday after we have lived for a whole year so, since I had my am 86th in January, I am half way through my 87th year and feel qualified to add my two cents worth on the subject of ageing.

We have one unique body we are born with and, good or bad, we must live in it for our lifetime. We do however have a lot we can do about how it ages. If we were given a new car when we were driving age and told that it had to last us through our lifetime we would surely make it our business to take good card of it – have it checked up regularly, change the oil and have it seen to right away if there were any mechanical problems. Our bodies tend to be self-healing and are far more forgiving but to keep our health and feel fit as we age, we need to take care of it.

In the early 50’s I started taking an interest in nutrition and absorbed the very readable books by Adelle Davis. Nowadays our diet is often very different from our hunter-gatherer ancestors and we can easily have a deficiencies of some of the vitamins. I have been knowledgeably supplementing for most of my life. So rule number one for long life is take care of your body, eat well, exercise and all that good stuff and obviously don’t smoke. I did for 30 years when we didn’t know better and I still suffer with clogged arteries in my legs.

I expected there would be noticeable deterioration in vigour in my 60’s and 70’s but actually, I was constantly surprised at how great I felt and how much sustained energy I had through until I was 82. That's when I began to slow down a bit but was still active. At 85 the circulation problems began to really slow me down so I am being proactive and hope to have the trouble at least alleviated.

Someone once said 'Growing old is like being increasingly penalized
for a crime you have not committed' and unfortunately the aches and pains of moving have started to descend and my greatest pleasure for now is using my head – and hopefully my deterioration into forgetfulness will be slow. Rie