But there’s another measurement of age that has a far bigger impact…

Known as epigenetic or biological age, it presents a more accurate picture of how well your body’s cells and tissues are functioning. That makes it a more precise measure of age and risk for age-related disease.

The good news is that there are ways to slow down the epigenetic aging process and push back the onset of aging-related diseases, potentially increasing both your healthspan and lifespan.

And research has revealed one of the simplest and most effective ways to reverse your body’s aging clock is something you can do right now…

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Delivering measurable reductions in biological age

In research from Tohoku University, scientists reviewed existing evidence from studies showing that regular exercise, physical activity and fitness may influence epigenetic aging and potentially reverse it.

The results were compelling enough that you may just want to get up and dance — or walk, run, lift weights, go swimming, or engage in any type of exercise that floats your boat.

That’s because the deep dive into study after study revealed the incredible benefits of staying active for reducing epigenetic aging, including:

• A study in mice that demonstrated that endurance and resistance training reduced age-related molecular changes in muscle tissue.
• A human study that found exercising reduced biological age markers in blood and skeletal muscle.
• Research that revealed that sedentary middle-aged women could reduce their epigenetic age by two years after just eight weeks of combined aerobic and strength training.
• Another study that found older men with higher oxygen uptake levels, a key measure of cardiovascular fitness, had significantly slower epigenetic aging.

According to the scientists, “These findings suggest that maintaining physical fitness delays epigenetic aging in multiple organs and supports the notion that exercise as a geroprotector confers benefits to various organs.”

Considering all that can go wrong without exercise, I’m not really surprised.

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Which organs benefit most?

The research also was able to show that while exercise is excellent for slowing aging across your entire body, specific organs grab even bigger benefits.

Obviously, exercise offers benefits for your skeletal muscles, which are used to move your body as you exercise, allowing them to stay strong and healthy.

However, beyond muscle, regular physical training may also slow the aging process in your heart, liver, fat tissue, and even your gut (which controls a significant portion of your immune system).

The scientists do say, though, that if you want to experience the anti-aging benefits of exercise to the fullest extent, the key is to leverage a structured exercise routine that is planned, repetitive, and goal-directed.

That’s because regular exercise, like riding an exercise bike, playing tennis, going for a jog or lifting weights, appears to have more potent effects on slowing epigenetic aging than general physical activity, such as walking or doing household chores.

In addition to exercise, restricting calories can also help reduce aging and even mortality risk. So you have choices. Do what feels right for you.

Sources:

Exercise may actually reverse your body’s aging clock – ScienceDaily

The post Doing this regularly could help you age in reverse appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

They were a huge part of the drug culture of the 1960s and were especially known for psychedelic or hallucinogenic effects.

Who would have thought that the same chemical that produced powerful hallucinations might one day be found to help you live a longer and healthier life?

Not me, that’s for sure.

But ongoing research is showing this to be the case.

“Magic mushrooms” might just be the next weapon in the ongoing effort not just to live longer but to ensure those extra years are healthy ones…

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Psilocybin reduces oxidative stress and slows aging

“This study provides strong preclinical evidence that psilocybin may contribute to healthier aging — not just a longer lifespan, but a better quality of life in later years,” says Dr. Ali John Zarrabi, co-investigator of a study at Emory University in Atlanta.

Psilocybin is the active compound found in psychedelic mushrooms. When it is consumed, it forms a metabolite called psilocin.

Emory University researchers dosed 19-month-old mice — an age that in human years would correspond to between 60 and 65 — with psilocybin doses that ranged from 5mg to 15 mg over a 10-month period.

The treated mice lived 30% longer than untreated mice and also experienced better aging — including healthier physical traits like better fur condition and hair regrowth.

Psilocybin is known for its psychological effects, especially in regard to relieving depression and boosting the feel-good hormone, serotonin. But this research indicates that it also targets several key biological markers of aging, including reducing oxidative stress, enhancing DNA mechanisms and maintaining telomere length.

According to the researchers, these underlying cellular processes play a critical role in both aging and disease onset.

How do we explain this?

“Most cells in the body express serotonin receptors, and this study opens a new frontier for how psilocybin could influence systemic aging processes, particularly when administered later in life,” says Louise Hecker, PhD, senior author of the study and former associate professor at Emory University, where the work began and was funded.

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Not a fan of shrooms? You have choices

Dr. Zarrabi emphasized the importance of further research in older adults, as well as the well-documented overlap between physical and mental health.

“My hope is also that if psilocybin-assisted therapy is approved as an intervention for depression by the FDA in 2027, then having a better quality of life would also translate into a longer, healthier life.”

But until then, how do we increase our chances of living a long and healthy life?

For starters, just move. Switching to an active lifestyle at any point in adulthood has been shown to extend lifespan. And you control the dial on effort and benefits. The plan you’ll stick to is the one that will bring you results.

Eat the rainbow. This term was coined for a good reason: Colorful foods are rich in flavonoids that are linked to a disease-free, longer life.

Avoid foods that send aging into overdrive. Certain foods accelerate aging. You’ll find which ones here.

Take advantage of shortcuts that research shows can have a powerful effect on aging, including:

• Coffee: the healthy aging secret under our noses
• The vitamin that slowed biological aging 3 years
• Conquer inflammation, the link between unhealthy aging and a shorter lifespan

Lastly, just in case you need more convincing about the importance of movement, here’s a list of 40 things that can go wrong with your body and health if you don’t exercise at all.

Dr. Jesus Peteiro, the author of a 2019 Spanish study on exercise capacity (how long and how hard you can work out), sums it up for us: “Exercise as much as you can. Fitness protects against death from any cause.”

Sources:

Natural Compound Found in Mushrooms Delays Aging and Extends Lifespan, Study Suggests — SciTech Daily

Psilocybin treatment extends cellular lifespan and improves survival of aged mice — Nature Partner Journals’ Aging

The post The magic mushroom secret for slower aging, longer life appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Nearly 1 in 4 American adults don’t get the weekly two days of muscle training and 150 minutes of moderate exercise recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And only 1 out of every 10 adults knows how much and what kinds of exercise they need to get to protect against health ailments.

It’s having a big impact on our health. Physical inactivity is at the root of an estimated 3.2 million deaths every year.

If you are one of those who mean to get regular exercise but never quite manage it, today may be a good day to start — especially if you want to live longer….

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It’s never too late to move more

An international team of researchers sought to find out if differing patterns of physical activity, as well as its cumulative impact during adulthood, might be linked with a lower risk of death from all causes, as well as specifically from cardiovascular disease and cancer.

They dug into research databases for relevant studies that assessed physical activity at two or more points in time. Their review ultimately included 85 studies published in English up to April 2024, with sample sizes ranging from 357 to 6,572,984 participants. To overcome the challenges of different analytical methods, the researchers carried out separate analyses for each study.

Overall, pooled data analysis of the study results showed that a higher level of physical activity was connected with lower risks of all the included outcomes.

When looking deeper, the results were even more impressive. Consistently active people had an estimated 30-40 percent lower risk of dying from any cause. And those who increased their levels of activity from below those recommended for good health had a 20-25 percent lower risk of death from any cause.

More specifically, participants who switched from being physically inactive to being more active were 22 percent less likely to die from any cause than those who remained inactive. In comparison, those who increased their leisure-time physical activity levels had a 27 percent lower risk of all-cause death.

As expected, swapping an active lifestyle for an inactive one wasn’t associated with a lower risk of death from any cause.

The bottom line: switching to a more active lifestyle at any point in adulthood may extend lifespan, and it’s never too late to start.

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Cardiovascular risk was the big winner

Generally, the associations between a high level of physical activity and a lower risk of death were more evident for cardiovascular disease than for cancer, though both showed benefits.

Compared with consistently inactive participants, those who were consistently active overall or were active only in their leisure time were around 40 percent less likely to die from cardiovascular disease and 25 percent less likely to die from cancer.

Despite these findings, in general, the evidence for the connections between physical activity patterns and death from a specific cause remained inconclusive, especially for cancer death.

According to the pooled data, people who were consistently active or who became active had lower risks of death from any cause, and specifically death from cardiovascular disease, when they met the recommended weekly physical activity levels.

However, those who were consistently physically active and performing more than the recommended maximum weekly amount of moderate to vigorous intensity exercise only saw a slight additional reduction in risk.

In other words, don’t sweat it if you can’t go harder.

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The researchers note that maintaining or increasing physical activity at levels below the recommended amount was linked with appreciable health benefits. This suggests that even minimal physical activity is better than none, they say.

Despite the limitations, including the subjective nature of the physical activity assessments, the researchers say the findings have significant health implications for starting and maintaining regular exercise.

So what does this mean for you? If you’re already exercising regularly, keep it up. And if you’re not, try easing into an exercise regimen by adding a brisk 30-minute morning or evening walk to your daily routine at least a few times a week. Walking doesn’t require a gym, and the only equipment you’ll need is a pair of sneakers.

If motivation is a problem, do what my husband does and take your phone with you so you can listen to music, an audiobook or a podcast while you walk. It really helps give you something to look forward to.

Sources:

It’s never too late: Just moving more could add years to your life — ScienceDaily

Physical activity trajectories and accumulation over adulthood and their associations with all-cause and cause-specific mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis — British Journal of Sports Medicine

The Truth About Exercising and Aging — WebMD

How physical inactivity impacts you as you age — Northwell Health

The post Just ‘move more’ to lower disease and lengthen lifespan appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Maybe it’s because women cross a proverbial threshold — menstruation — that eventually opens a door for young women to begin regular gynecological checkups. Along with those yearly visits come screenings for female-specific cancers.

This kickstarts a habit of regular preventive care that becomes ingrained. But for men, it’s a different story…

Our culture gives men the message that they need to “be strong” and “handle things.”

This message makes a lot of men — especially young men — reluctant to take care of their health, and it’s a habit that’s slow to change.

A new study shows just how big an impact this is having on the health of men, and the news isn’t good…

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An ounce of prevention = a pound of cure

It’s not just a saying. Preventing disease really is a much easier route than curing one. But it’s not a message men have gotten — and it shows…

Last year, Harvard researchers shared that the life expectancy gap between men and women had grown to as much as six years. Sadly, experts say it’s due in part to preventable deaths.

“When you’re in your 20s, 30s, you’re indestructible, you’re Superman,” says Scott Stephens, a 62-year-old who never thought about his health care until he was in his 40s and his father developed prostate cancer.

“It’s also a badge of courage; why should I go? I don’t need to call my doctor.”

A new survey by the Cleveland Clinic looked at members of Gen Z (born 1997-2005), Millennials (born 1981-1996), Gen X (born 1965-1980) and Boomers+ (born before 1965).

They grouped Gen X and Boomers together and Millennials and Gen Z together. Then they compared their survey answers to some specific questions:

• Get a yearly physical (61% Gen X and Boomers+ vs. 32% Millennials and Gen Z men)
• Avoid smoking/vaping (60% Gen X and Boomers+ vs. 43% Millennials and Gen Z men)
• Address mental health (53% Gen X and Boomers+ 59% Millennials and Gen Z men)

Additional revelations from the survey were:

• Most men fear getting cancer (74%), but rates of screenings and cancer awareness remain low.
• One-third of Gen X and Boomers+ who are eligible for colorectal cancer screening have not been screened or are not sure if they’ve been screened.
• A quarter of men with an average risk of prostate cancer (50+) have not been screened or are not sure if they’ve been screened.

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What men should do to protect their health

There’s a clear generational divide in how men approach health. But if we jumped back in time 30 years or so, we’d likely find the exact same habits playing out.

In other words, Gen Z isn’t the first generation of young men to place a low priority on their health. It seems that it’s just a matter of getting older before men begin to take health seriously — when symptoms crop up that require attention.

But regardless of age, there are steps men should be taking at each stage of life to safeguard their health:

In your 20s or 30s. Stop relying on the Internet. Make an appointment and get a handle on how healthy (or unhealthy) you are.

“Men should first come around age 21 for general health maintenance,” says Dr. Messmer. It’s also a good time to start measuring cholesterol, especially if there’s a family history of heart disease.

In your 40s. Colon cancer screening should start when men are in their 40s and then repeat every 10 years. If you have a family history, screening should start five years earlier than the age at which the relative was diagnosed and be repeated every five years.

Prostate, bladder, and kidney cancer screening should also begin in a man’s 40s.

In your 50s or 60s. This is the time when urologic issues tend to crop up. Many men come in with erectile dysfunction but discover they have a more serious prostate problem. Besides the standard PSA test, doctors now have other ways to gauge a man’s risk.

Finally, Dr. Ryon McDermott of the University of South Alabama points out, “The brain and the body are obviously very connected.” It’s never too late to start taking care of your mental health.

Sources:

National Cleveland Clinic Survey Examines Generational Divide in Men’s Health — Cleveland Clinic

It’s Time to Man Up and See a Doctor — Web MD

Widening Gender Gap in Life Expectancy in the US, 2010-2021 — JAMA Internal Medicine

Mars vs. Venus: The gender gap in health — Harvard Medical School

The post The unnecessary reason for men’s increasingly shorter lifespans appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

This means that a person born in 2000 could, on average, live 30 years longer than someone born in 1900, reaching an age of around 80. However, we may have reached an upper limit on human longevity.

In certain countries, including the U.S., the average lifespan has declined slightly in recent years, partly due to our inability to slow the effects of aging, such as frailty, dementia, heart disease and sensory impairments.

Still, scientists continue to explore ways to mitigate the impacts of aging, including high-intensity exercise, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and supplements such as astaxanthin, pyrroloquinoline quinone and grape seed extract. Each of these methods is believed to activate distinct “longevity switches” in the body, potentially extending lifespan.

Recently, however, researchers may have identified the simplest and most ancient longevity switch of all…

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The impact of caffeine on AMPK

We’ve long known about the potential life-lengthening benefits of coffee, including reduced risk of age-related diseases. However, we haven’t been entirely clear on the mechanism behind it all.

A few years ago, researchers at Queen Mary University of London found that caffeine helps cells live longer by acting on a growth regulator called TOR, or Target of Rapamycin. This biological switch, which tells cells when to grow based on the availability of food and energy, has been controlling energy and stress responses in living things for over 500 million years.

In a recent study, the same research team sought to investigate the effect of caffeine on fission yeast, a single-celled organism closely related to human cells. In doing so, they were surprised to learn that caffeine doesn’t act directly on TOR. Instead, it activates the AMPK system, which acts as a sort of cellular energy monitor and is evolutionarily conserved in both yeast and humans.

“When your cells are low on energy, AMPK kicks in to help them cope,” explains Dr. Charalampos (Babis) Rallis of Queen Mary University of London, the study’s senior author. “And our results show that caffeine helps flip that switch.”

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How caffeine supports our cells

Using the yeast model, the researchers demonstrated that caffeine’s effect on AMPK influences how cells grow, repair their DNA and respond to stress. All of these factors are tied to aging and disease.

“These findings help explain why caffeine might be beneficial for health and longevity,” says Dr. John-Patrick Alao, the postdoctoral research scientist leading this study. “And they open up exciting possibilities for future research into how we might trigger these effects more directly — with diet, lifestyle or new medicines.”

Interestingly, AMPK is also a target of metformin, a common diabetes medication being studied in conjunction with the antifungal agent rapamycin for its potential to extend human lifespan.

Clearly, more research is needed before we can definitively say that caffeine helps us live longer. However, we do know that caffeine has several other health benefits.

For instance, caffeine can help you burn more fat while exercising and fight off Alzheimer’s disease. It protects heart health by lowering LDL cholesterol and reducing the risk of heart failure and atrial fibrillation. It can also lead to reduced dementia risk, prevention of the brain deterioration caused by Parkinson’s disease, lower risk of type 2 diabetes and reduced odds of colon cancer recurrence.

With all these positives, it’s safe to say that you’ll want to keep up your morning coffee habit, or adopt one if you don’t currently indulge.

That said, if you find that the caffeine in coffee makes you too jittery, try a cup of green tea instead, as I do. I find the caffeine in green tea to have a much lighter touch. And the antioxidants in green tea may help ward off cancer, protect your eyesight and balance your blood sugar, all things that can go a long way in helping you live a long, healthy life.

Sources:

Scientists reveal your morning coffee flips an ancient longevity switch — ScienceDaily

Dissecting the cell cycle regulation, DNA damage sensitivity and lifespan effects of caffeine in fission yeast — Microbial Cell

Human Longevity May Have Reached its Upper Limit — Scientific American

What doctors wish patients knew about falling U.S. life expectancy — AMA

The post The cellular longevity switch tripped by caffeine appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

After all, who would voluntarily dunk themselves in cold water? A man named Wim Hof, for one. He’s known as the Iceman, and his method of cold exposure may sound crazy, but crazy like a fox.

Surprisingly, research has consistently shown that cold water immersion offers numerous health benefits, including reduced body fat, which can improve blood glucose levels. It also appears to mimic the effects of calorie restriction, which is associated with increased lifespan.

If that last part got your attention, you’ll be interested in what researchers learned when they took a dive into how cold water impacts aging at the cellular level.

Here’s what you need to know (plus, a way to grab these benefits that won’t make your teeth chatter)…

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Boosting cellular resilience and autophagic function

Research conducted at the University of Ottawa, which has expertise in cold-related studies, explored the effects of cold water acclimation on autophagic and apoptotic responses.

In simple terms, they sought to learn more about the effects of frigid temperature on cell health, cell recycling and programmed cell death, to support youthful health and vitality.

The researchers collected blood from participants who took a one-hour cold water plunge (57.2°F) each day for seven days.

The results?

“Our findings indicate that repeated cold exposure significantly improves autophagic function, a critical cellular protective mechanism,” says Professor Glen Kenny. “This enhancement allows cells to better manage stress and could have important implications for health and longevity.”

Additionally, those cold plunges led to a decrease in blood markers related to cellular damage.

Overall, the scientists suggest that cold exposure, which enhances autophagic activity, may not only prolong cellular longevity but also prevent the onset of various diseases and potentially slow down aging at a cellular level.

They even went so far as to call it “a tune-up for your body’s microscopic machinery!”

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Looking beyond cold to power longevity

As great as that sounds, there are probably not many of us willing to jump into a cold bath regularly in the hopes of grabbing those benefits.

What else can you do that’s also backed by research to promote extra years of healthier aging that could increase your odds of a longer lifespan?

Get active. In one study, people who were the most active had an incredible 73% lower risk of death than their least active counterparts. Walking counts, especially if you do it at a fast pace.

Supplement smart:

• Vitamin D was found to reduce biological aging by three years during a four-year study.
•  Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) tops the list of 10 micronutrients that turn the key on age reversal by supporting the cellular powerhouses known as mitochondria. One of those is also an old favorite…
• Omega-3 fatty acids, which support the structure and function of mitochondrial membranes.

Lastly, cultivate relationships. Many studies have shown that loneliness is associated with factors that can shorten lives, while having friendships cultivates good health and promotes longevity.

Cold water immersion may seem intimidating, but its potential benefits for cellular health and longevity are noteworthy. However, it’s certainly not for everyone.

Fortunately, a healthy, long life can also be achieved through regular exercise, a good diet, smart supplementation and nurturing relationships. By embracing this holistic approach, you can not only promote healthy aging but also tap into the potential for longevity.

Sources:

Cold plunges actually change your cells — ScienceDaily

The post Cold water immersion: Adapting your cells to live longer appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Flavonoids help prevent diseases like diabetes and heart disease.

So you may think that it’s a good idea to eat as much flavonoid-rich food as you can.

Well, you wouldn’t exactly be wrong there, but ….

“Eat the rainbow” was coined for a good reason: to reap the incredible disease-fighting benefits of flavonoids and reduce your risk of early death, research suggests it’s key to get them from many different sources.

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Diversity matters to live long and without chronic disease

An international team of researchers analyzed data on 124,805 adults in the UK Biobank aged 40 or over, looking for links between self-reported diet and health.

They found a correlation between the amount of flavonoids in the diet and conditions such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer and neurological disease.

According to ECU Research Fellow, first author and co-lead of the study Dr Benjamin Parmenter, “Flavonoid intakes of around 500 mg a day was associated with a 16% lower risk of all-cause mortality, as well as a ~10% lower risk of CVD, type 2 diabetes, and respiratory disease. That’s roughly the amount of flavonoids that you would consume in two cups of tea.”

He added, however, that those who consumed the widest diversity of flavonoids from a variety of foods, even when consuming the same total amount, had an even lower risk of these diseases.

So why does diversity matter?

According to study co-lead Professor Aedín Cassidy from the Co-Centre for Sustainable Food Systems and Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University Belfast, “… different flavonoids work in different ways, some improve blood pressure, others help with cholesterol levels and decrease inflammation. This study is significant as the results indicate that consuming a higher quantity and wider diversity has the potential to lead to a greater reduction in ill health than just a single source.”

“The results provide a clear public health message, suggesting that simple and achievable dietary swaps, such as drinking more tea and eating more berries and apples for example, can help increase the variety and intake of flavonoid-rich foods, and potentially improve health in the long-term,” she added.

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How to improve your flavonoid game

There are over 6,000 known flavonoids found in a variety of foods, and they can appear together in some foods, including:

Flavonols like quercetin, found in apples and pears, lower stroke risk and reduce inflammation. Quercetin also slashes dementia risk, along with kaempferol and others.

Isoflavones are a type of phytoestrogen.

Flavanones lower cholesterol and fat in the blood..

Anthocyanins found in purple, red, and blue produce are antioxidants that support brain, heart and immune functions.

Chalcones have antioxidant properties, protecting the body from cancer and age-related illnesses.

Catechins are popularly found in green tea, and play a role in skin and gut health, among other benefits.

Clearly, you want to be eating plenty of flavonoids.

But here’s the thing … these different classes of flavonoids aren’t all found in one place.

They’re spread among a wide range of foods, including:

• Blueberries
• Peaches
• Red grapes
• Cranberries
• Apples
• Kale
• Onions
• Broccoli
• Black and green tea
• Soy beans
• Cherries

Oh, and they’re also found in red wine and dark chocolate!

A challenge for you

The people in this study who were consuming the most flavonoids were snacking on 19 different types of flavonoids a day!

Can you come close to that? Want to try?

The way to do it, or to even come close, is to eat a wide range of flavonoid-rich foods. Some were mentioned above. Others include:

• lettuce
• bananas
• raspberries
• blackberries
• strawberries
• citrus fruits
• tomatoes
• pears

Nutritionists advise you to “eat the rainbow,” meaning you should consume fruits and vegetables of many colors in order to get your share of flavonoids.

And with summer upon us, that shouldn’t be too hard!

Sources:

Having a mix of tea, berries, apples, and grapes every day may lower your risk of chronic disease and early death — Scimex

A Mix of These Specific Foods Could Help You Avoid Chronic Disease — Science Alert

High diversity of dietary flavonoid intake is associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality and major chronic diseases — Nature Food

Top foods high in flavonoids — Web MD

The post Diversify your flavonoids to ditch disease and live longer appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Many of us strive to follow a healthy diet, exercise regularly, reach for vitamins and supplements that support healthier aging, and may even try calorie restriction in hopes of that end goal.

Those with deep pockets can employ extreme (and expensive) “hacks” like hyperbaric oxygen chamber treatments, cryogenic chamber sessions, red light therapy, stem cell treatments and personal doctors or life coaches that keep them on strict regimens.

But what if living a longer, healthier life was as simple as popping a pill? Sounds like a pipe dream, right?

Well, we may be inching closer to that reality just by using currently approved drugs…

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A longevity drug cocktail?

A research team led by scientists from the Max Planck Institute in Germany sought to explore the impact of a pair of anticancer drugs, rapamycin and trametinib, on the lifespan of mice.

Rapamycin, which is also used to prevent organ rejection, has shown promise in extending lifespan in previous animal studies. Trametinib has been shown to extend the lifespan of fruit flies.

The researchers administered regular doses of rapamycin, trametinib, or both to hundreds of mice starting at six months of age. They then measured their survival for the remainder of their lives.

Each drug showed potential. Rapamycin alone extended the lifespan of mice by 17% to 18%. At the same time, trametinib showed a more modest boost in longevity, at 7% to 16%.

But it was together that the drugs truly shone…

Mice treated with a combination of rapamycin and trametinib saw a lifespan extension of about 26% to 35%.

Both of the drugs act on the same signaling pathway, known as the Ras/Insulin/TOR network, which plays a central role in aging. However, they target different points along the path.

When the researchers analyzed gene expression, they found specific changes that occurred only when the drugs were administered together.

What’s more, the combo treatment delayed the growth of liver and spleen tumors in the mice and reduced chronic inflammation in the brain. The treated mice also seemed more active in older age than the control mice, weighed less and experienced a slower decline in heart function.

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But we’re not there yet

While these results are encouraging, they are far from proving that these drugs are a miracle longevity elixir.

They need to be tested in humans first, and the researchers agree that they likely won’t have the same impact on lifespan as they did in the mice, but could hold benefits for our golden years.

“While we do not expect a similar extension to human lifespans as we found in mice, we hope that the drugs we’re investigating could help people to stay healthy and disease-free for longer late in life,” says geneticist Linda Partridge, co-senior author of the study.

“Further research in humans in years to come will help us to elucidate how these drugs may be useful to people, and who might be able to benefit,” Partridge adds.

Since both rapamycin and trametinib are already approved for use in humans in the US and European Union, human trials for the drug combo could begin soon.

But I can’t help but wonder what the cost of these cancer drugs will be if they’re approved for off-label use, and if we are looking at just another health hack for the rich and famous. It’s doubtful insurance companies will foot the bill in the absence of a medical diagnosis.

In the meantime, don’t sit idly by while your longevity clock keeps ticking away. Check out how a simple vitamin slowed biological age by three years— and in human subjects! Plus, 10 micronutrients that turn the key on age reversal.

Sources:

Live longer — EurekAlert!

Anti-Aging Cocktail Extends Mouse Lifespan by About 30 Percent — Science Alert

The geroprotectors trametinib and rapamycin combine additively to extend mouse healthspan and lifespan — Nature Aging

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for healthy aging: From mechanisms to therapeutics — Redox  Biology

Cold and longevity: Can cold exposure counteract aging? — Life Sciences

Near-infrared light increases ATP, extends lifespan and improves mobility in aged Drosophila melanogaster— Biology Letters

Anti-aging based on stem cell therapy: A scoping review — World Journal of Experimental Medicine

The post Two existing drugs that could extend human lifespan appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

The opposite — a sedentary lifestyle — has been linked to everything from heart failure and stroke to dementia and more.

But let’s face it, 10,000 is a big number.

And fitting that many steps into every day can be a challenge.

Luckily, research shows that while getting close to 10,000 steps a day might be an admirable goal, it takes far fewer steps to tip the scales in favor of a healthy heart and longevity.

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Surprisingly lower amount of steps benefits the heart

Researchers delved into almost seven years’ worth of data from 72,174 volunteers in the UK Biobank. Each participant had worn wrist accelerometers to track their average number of steps and time spent sitting for seven days.

As expected, the results confirmed between 9,000 and 10,000 steps daily to be the perfect amount to shoot for to counteract a highly sedentary lifestyle (sitting for over 10.6 hours daily). In fact, getting this high number of steps in daily lowered heart disease risk by 21 percent and overall mortality risk by almost 40 percent.

However, the researchers also found that regardless of a participant’s sedentary time, 50 percent of those benefits kicked in at around 4,000 to 4,500 daily steps.

And the data showed that getting any amount of steps above 2,200 per day led to lower heart disease and death risk whether a person spent only a little bit of time each day sedentary or landed in that high sedentary lifestyle group.

This means that if you can’t get to 10,000, you can still experience significant benefits from a much lower level of walking time.

And that’s good news because, on average, getting in 2,200 steps will likely take only about 20 minutes.

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More benefits from walking

So if reaching 10,000 steps in a day is just more than you can handle, get in the amount that works for you — but try for somewhere between 2,200 and 4,500, at least — as long as you try to do it every day. But the more, the better — if you can work up to it.

If you just need a little help in the “get-up-and-go” department, try dimethylglycine, or DMG for short. Since the 1970’s, it’s been used by athletes looking for a performance edge, but the supplement has been found to safely support heart and immune system health and fight inflammation.

Besides supporting your heart and increasing your chances for a longer lifespan, walking offers too much to pass up. See what else a little walking every day can do for you:

• Living with osteoarthritis of your knees? Walking could help you avoid knee replacement surgery;
• Walking can help you walk away from low back pain;
• Walking also boosts metabolism, which can help you stay fit and trim;
• It can also help beat back pain and protect against breast cancer;
• Increase your walking pace to lower the risk of Afib by 46%!

Sources:

Scientists Reveal The Optimal Number of Daily Steps to Offset Sitting Down – Science Alert

The post The least number of steps to lower heart disease risk appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Such a fountain may exist only in legend. But science hasn’t stopped searching for ways to stop the clock…

They’ve zeroed in on a popular vitamin that’s demonstrating much promise in the real fight against aging.

Not only does it appear to slow biological aging, but it also reduces risk for diseases generally associated with the aging process…

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The nutrient that can help protect telomeres

Telomeres are repeating sequences of DNA at the ends of chromosomes that keep the chromosomes from deteriorating. They’re sort of like the plastic end caps that prevent the fibers that make up a rope or shoelace from unraveling.

As we grow older, these telomeres become shorter. And that exposes our chromosomes to degradation that increases risks for various age-related diseases.

So far, investigators have explored two nutrients for their potential in supporting telomere length: vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids. But those studies have been short-term and small in scale, and results have been inconsistent.

This prompted researchers led by Mass General Brigham and the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University to conduct a sub-study of the VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL (VITAL) trial. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial tracked supplementation of these two nutrients in U.S. females aged 55 and older and males aged 50 and older for five years.

The VITAL Telomere sub-study included 1,054 of these participants, whose telomere length in white blood cells was assessed at the start of the study and again at years two and four. And when it came to telomer length, vitamin D3 took center stage…

Compared to those on a placebo, individuals taking 2,000 IU/day of vitamin D3 experienced significantly reduced telomere shortening over a four-year period.

In fact, this reduction prevented the equivalent of nearly three years of aging! The impact on age-related disease was also impactful. Daily, vitamin D3 supplementation:

• Reduced the incidence of advanced (metastatic or fatal) cancer by 17%.
• Reduced all incident autoimmune diseases by 22%.
• Decreased circulating high sensitivity-C-reactive protein (a chronic disease biomarker) concentrations by 19%.

“VITAL is the first large-scale and long-term randomized trial to show that vitamin D supplements protect telomeres and preserve telomere length,” says co-author Dr. JoAnn Manson, principal investigator of VITAL and chief of the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system.

“Our findings suggest that targeted vitamin D supplementation may be a promising strategy to counter a biological aging process, although further research is warranted,” says Dr. Haidong Zhu, first author of the report and a molecular geneticist at the Medical College of Georgia.

By contrast, daily supplementation with one gram of omega-3 fatty acids demonstrated no significant impact on telomere length throughout the follow-up.

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Don’t skimp on your vitamin D3

Unfortunately, the best source of vitamin D — sun exposure — is a double-edged sword, as it can cause skin cancer and visible aging of the skin. Wearing sunscreen to protect yourself from the sun’s ill effects also prevents the sun from triggering your body’s natural vitamin D production.

So, how about diet? There are only a few foods that contain vitamin D3 (the best form of vitamin D), including beef liver, egg yolks and cheese. And you would have to eat a ton of these foods to get the recommended daily amount of the nutrient.

That’s why supplementation is the best way to ensure you’re getting enough vitamin D3. Make sure you’re getting at least 2,000 IUs a day (the amount used in the VITAL study), but if you’re vitamin D-deficient, you’ll want to up that to a therapeutic dosage of 4,000 to 5,000 IUs daily, at least. The benefits are just too good to pass up…

Other health benefits associated with vitamin D include:

• A 20% reduction in the risk factors of heart disease
• Improved mood
• Increased insulin sensitivity
• Decreased formation of insoluble proteins such as beta amyloid

Sources:

Vitamin D supplements show signs of protection against biological aging — ScienceDaily

Vitamin D₃ and marine ω-3 fatty acids supplementation and leukocyte telomere length: 4-year findings from the VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL (VITAL) randomized controlled trial — The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

The post Slow biological aging 3 years with a vitamin appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

If you’re one of those people sticking to a no-carb, low-carb, keto or Atkins-inspired diet, prepare to have your mind changed.

In a lot of people’s minds, carbs fall into the category of “they’re fattening, and they don’t hold much nutritional value,” and they’re bad for you.

Well, nothing could be further from the truth.

And if you’re a woman, eating the right carbs during middle age can be like an insurance policy that will all but guarantee your health in old age…

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Quality carbs in midlife linked to a healthier old age

You probably know that there are two kinds of carbohydrates: refined and unrefined.

Refined carbs are mostly white. Think white bread and white rice. But they also include pastries, waffles, pizza dough, and muffins. Refined carbs are considered ultra-processed foods.

Unrefined carbs are high-quality carbs from natural, whole foods that haven’t undergone significant processing, so they retain their natural fiber and nutrients, like whole grains (such as brown rice, quinoa, and oatmeal), fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds.

Researchers from Tufts University and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health sought to determine the long-term significance of our carb choices, not just in the present — but thirty years down the road.

“We’ve all heard that different carbohydrates can affect health differently, whether for weight, energy or blood sugar levels. But rather than just look at the immediate effects of these macronutrients, we wanted to understand what they might mean for good health 30 years later,” says Andres Ardisson Korat, the study’s lead author.

The researchers analyzed data from the Nurses’ Health Study collected every four years between 1984 and 2016 from 47,000 women aged 70 to 93 years in 2016, including specifics about their intakes of carbohydrates and dietary fiber.

Dietary glycemic index and glycemic load were also derived from the validated questionnaires.

Parameters set to define healthy aging included the absence of 11 major chronic diseases, lack of cognitive and physical function impairments, and good mental health, as self-reported in questionnaires.

A total of 3,706 participants met the definition of healthy aging. How did carbs play into all the data?

It turns out that carb quality intake in midlife is a strong predictor of healthy aging:

• Higher intakes of total carbs, high-quality carbs from fruits, vegetables and legumes and total dietary fiber were linked to between six and 37% greater likelihood of healthy aging,
• On the flip side of the coin, intakes of refined carbs (added sugars, white grains and potatoes) were associated with 13% lower odds of healthy aging.

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How to choose your carbs wisely

Carbohydrates are a vital component of a healthy diet.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that carbohydrates make up 45% to 65% of total daily calories. So, if you’re eating 2,000 calories a day, between 900 and 1,300 calories should be from carbohydrates.

If you still need tips on choosing your carbs wisely, here’s some advice from the Mayo Clinic:

• Focus on eating fiber-rich fruits and vegetables.
• Replace refined grains with whole grains.
• Eat more beans, peas, and lentils.
• Stick to low-fat dairy products, which limit saturated fat, but be mindful of added sugar.
• Limit added sugars from any source; the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend getting less than 10% of your daily calories from added sugar.

And about those ultra-processed foods that can contain refined carbs — avoid them like the plague. They can send aging into overdrive.

The bottom line: what’s on your plate today can help you or haunt you. Make good carb choices for healthy aging.

Sources:

In healthy aging, carb quality counts — Eureka Alert

Dietary Carbohydrate Intake, Carbohydrate Quality, and Healthy Aging in Women — JAMA Network Open

Carbohydrates: How carbs fit into a healthy diet — Mayo Clinic

Dietary guidelines for Americans 2020-2025 — US Department of Agriculture

The post Don’t give up these carbs, for healthiest aging appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Don’t write these symptoms off as arthritis or “getting older.” Get checked out by your doctor.

It could be claudication, leg pain and leg cramps caused by too little blood flow to the muscles, a sign of peripheral artery disease (PAD).

PAD is not uncommon, yet it often goes undiagnosed.

PAD is like coronary artery disease, except it impacts the blood flow in arteries that carry blood to your legs. Left untreated, it can lead to heart attack and stroke, kidney disease, and even gangrene of the foot, which requires amputation.

Some people are at lower risk of developing PAD than others, according to recent research.

To know if you’re one of them, just take a look at your family tree…

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A secret of long-lived families

Researchers from four major universities believe the long-lived secret of families with exceptional longevity may be significantly better vascular health than that of the general population.

My mother lived to be 101, so I could be one of the lucky ones. Hopefully, you are, too.

Using data from the Long Life Family Study, a longitudinal study examining factors contributing to healthy aging and survival, researchers analyzed information on 1,090 long-lived individuals, their 1,554 children and 362 spouses.

Among the oldest participants (average age of 89), about 18% had PAD. But among their children (average age of 60), only 1% had PAD — an amount far lower than the 12% found in other studies.

This suggests that certain protective factors, whether genetic or lifestyle-related, are helping these families to maintain healthier arteries. But that’s not all…

Among known risk factors associated with PAD, including aging, high blood pressure, smoking, use of hypertension medication, cholesterol and diabetes — those last two conditions were not significant risk factors in the study group.

And lastly, they identified four genetic markers associated with protection from PAD… information the researchers hope will help them learn to prevent the condition in people who are less genetically fortunate.

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What you can do to avoid PAD

Obviously, you can’t control your genetics or whether you belong to a family where people live into their 90s or die much younger.

But you can control risk factors related to your behavior and your environment…

Getting plenty of omega-3 fatty acids in your diet may help. One study found that for every 1% reduction in an index that measured omega-3s, the odds of being a PAD patient increased by a whopping 39%.

Fatty fish, including salmon and mackerel, are excellent sources of omega-3s. Flax seed, soybeans and walnuts are vegan options. Of course, supplements are also an easy option.

The study I just mentioned also found that, for every additional year of smoking, the odds of having PAD increased by 4%.

Do the math. If you smoke, get help quitting. If you don’t smoke, then don’t start.

PAD is basically atherosclerosis of the legs, so it’s not surprising that other risk factors, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, must be well managed or, better yet, avoided. Diabetes alone can increase PAD risk by 10 times!

The DASH diet can help check your blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure. But if your doctor has you on medications, follow their orders.

Remember to move. Physical activity, even just walking, can improve blood flow and reduce the risk of PAD. Lastly, work on maintaining a healthy weight.

So, even if your family tree indicates PAD may be a risk for you, there’s a lot you can do to turn that risk around and start a long-lived branch on your own tree!

Sources:

 Long-lived families show lower risk for peripheral artery disease — Eureka Alert

Epidemiology and genetic determination of measures of peripheral vascular health in the Long Life Family Study — Aging

New research shows people with PAD could have an omega-3 deficiency — Eureka Alert

The post The condition you won’t find in a long-lived family tree appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

That’s why their nickname is the “powerhouses of our cells.”

And as mighty power generators, mitochondria are associated with longevity — as long as they’re functioning optimally.

But when they aren’t, cellular energy production wanes, oxidative stress runs rampant, mitochondria become prone to DNA mutations, and the cellular processes that normally regulate programmed cell death and stress response become dysfunctional.

All this eventually leads to cellular decline and ultimately what we know as the aging process.

But if mitochondria eventually fail, why are they linked with longevity?

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The key to age reversal

Aging may be inevitable, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing we can do to slow it and enjoy more healthy years — especially now that we know mitochondria are the key.

In studies using C. elegans, a worm model often used in research, scientists saw that interventions could improve mitochondrial function — and extend lifespan.

In other words, our mitochondria could be revived — or motivated to keep churning out that good old ATP,  and that’s made it a prime target for longevity research.

In fact, scientists believe mitochondria are behind the life-lengthening effects of calorie restriction, which has been proven to slow the pace of aging in humans.

Thankfully, eating less isn’t our only option to support mitochondria’s healthy aging effects…  

Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) is a micronutrient found in some foods like natto, parsley and green tea, that helps mitochondria produce ATP. But it also increases the number of mitochondria, an important benefit since our bodies produce less as we age.

But longevity is just one part of aging research where mitochondria are breaking ground…

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Mitochondria and skin aging

Experts have begun to explore the mitochondria’s role in cellular rejuvenation and the direct impacts that can have on the visible signs of aging.

“Mitoscientist” Dr. Keshav K. Singh is a world leader in mitochondrial health and disease and founder of the Mitochondria Research and Medicine Society in the US and India.

His research at the University of Alabama in Birmingham includes how mitochondria can slow, potentially even reverse, the signs of skin aging, opening promising avenues for therapeutic development.

Currently, that involves developing strategies to prevent, slow and treat skin wrinkles and hair loss in mice — and translating those benefits to humans.

Similar to the research I mentioned earlier using a worm model, Dr. Singh’s research involves a mouse whose age can be manipulated at will — actually made older and then, younger again — providing an unprecedented opportunity to understand tissue-specific aging.

It may be years before Dr. Singh’s research translates to products or procedures that change how our skin ages, but a prescription for healthy mitochondria may already exist…

10 micronutrients that support your mitochondria

Experts in aesthetic medicine in France are already working on a prescription for healthy mitochondria to support healthier aging.

Their answer is micro nutrition, consisting of PQQ and nine other ingredients, that protects mitochondria from oxidative damage and stimulates the growth of new mitochondria.

Their suggestions include:

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), which helps mitochondria make ATP, the fuel that powers most cellular functions. CoQ10 is also a powerful antioxidant that helps control oxidative stress.

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is a form of vitamin B3 very popular in regenerative medicine. It’s an essential coenzyme in regulating metabolism, longevity, DNA repair and producing energy.

Erythrothioneine is an amino acid present in high quantities in mushrooms and is called a “longevity vitamin” by some. It guards mitochondria from free radical damage. It can also be applied to the skin to reduce signs of aging and sun damage.

Alpha-lipoic acid is an antioxidant that increases cellular levels of NAD. It may also enhance the anti-aging activity of sirtuins, genes that are involved in the regulation of metabolism and longevity.

The B vitamins, known as “respiratory’ vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B6 and B12) help balance magnesium in the body. Magnesium helps transport ATP.

Acetyl-L-Carnitine increases overall cellular respiration, and with D-ribose and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) optimizes respiratory chain activity — a process involved in generating power to synthesize ATP.

Lastly, omega-3 fatty acids, because they support the structure and function of mitochondrial membranes.

Sources:

The Mitochondrial Basis of Aging — Journal Molecular Cell

The Mitodesign Lab — keshavsingh.org

Exploring the role of mitochondria transfer/transplant and their long-non-coding RNAs in regenerative therapies for skin aging — Mitochondrion

The mitochondria at the very heart of the anti-aging medicine — Anti-Age

The post 10 micronutrients that turn the key on age reversal appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Muscle strength helps improve balance and prevent falls as we age. It also lowers the risk of developing metabolic syndrome, which can include heart disease and diabetes.

Good cardiorespiratory fitness (also called aerobic capacity) is connected with a lower risk for heart failure and stroke.

Together, these two fitness measures are a good predictor of longevity.

But even in the face of cancer, we’re learning how maintaining muscle strength and cardiorespiratory fitness can genuinely make the difference between life and death…

Longer life in the face of cancer

An international group of researchers has proven that exercise programs tailored to boost muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness can help increase the chances of survival for cancer patients, even those in advanced stages of the disease.

The researchers analyzed data from 42 studies involving nearly 47,000 patients with various types and stages of cancer.

Here are their findings:

• Patients with high levels of muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness were 31% to 46% less likely to die from any cause than those with poor levels.
• With each unit of increase in muscular strength, this risk fell even further by 11%.
• For patients with advanced-stage cancer (stages 3 and 4), the combo of strength and fitness was associated with an 8% to 46% lower risk of death from any cause.
• For those with lung or digestive cancers, this fitness combo was associated with a 19% to 41% lower risk of death.
• Each unit increase in fitness level was associated with an 18% lower risk of death from cancer itself. 

“Our findings highlight that muscle strength could potentially be used in clinical practice to determine mortality risk in cancer patients in advanced stages and, therefore, muscle strengthening activities could be employed to increase life expectancy,” the researchers state.

In other words, people with advanced cancers could increase their expected lifespan and improve their quality of life by engaging in exercise that improves their aerobic fitness and muscle strength.

Exercise for prevention and survival

Sarcopenia is a progressive loss of muscle mass associated with aging. Though the researchers did not mention this condition, there’s some relevance…

Cancer is prevalent in older adults with sarcopenia, but also cancer treatment can increase the risk of developing sarcopenia. So you can see how regularly exercising for muscle mass and cardiorespiratory fitness is to your benefit.

In addition to fitness being a contributing factor to cancer survival and longevity, exercise can reduce your risk of ever getting cancer.

We’ve previously shared that exercise works like a roadblock to prostate cancer progression, has powerful effects on slowing tumor growth in breast cancer and is essential to surviving colon cancer.

That said, if you have cancer or are under a doctor’s care for an illness, discuss your exercise plans with them before getting started.

Here are some simple exercises that fit the bill:

Strength training exercises include push-ups, squats, planks, and weightlifting. Here is a series of videos from the Mayo Clinic to help you get started.

Gymnastics, swimming, and cycling also strengthen your muscles.

Jumping rope, jogging, tennis, walking and climbing your stairs at home all offer chances for improving cardiorespiratory capacity.

Walking, swimming, tennis, dancing, and elliptical training combine strength training and aerobic exercise. They work both upper and lower body muscles, giving you insurance against sarcopenia.

Sources:

Muscular strength and good physical fitness linked to lower risk of death in people with cancer — Eureka Alert

Association of muscle strength and cardiorespiratory fitness with all-cause and cancer-specific mortality in patients diagnosed with cancer: a systematic review with meta-analysis — British Journal of Sports Medicine

7 Reasons Why Strength Training Is Key to a Long Life  — AARP

The post The fitness combo for cancer survival & longevity appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But you may not know that there is more than one type of body fat, and they are not created equal…

White fat, or adipose tissue, is the kind that stores energy and becomes problematic when there’s too much of it in the body. However, the other type of fat, brown adipose tissue (BAT), actually burns energy and boosts metabolism.

This thermogenic process may help protect against health conditions such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. And recent research indicates BAT may do even more…

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Brown fat for endurance and healthy longevity

Researchers at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School decided to evaluate the impact of this calorie-burning brown fat on exercise endurance and healthy aging.

So, they extracted BAT from mice genetically modified to live longer lifespans and transplanted it into a group of normal mice. Within only three days of the transplant, the normal mice showed improved running endurance. By contrast, however, regular BAT took much longer to produce similar improvements.

“Our hypothesis is that BAT protects against impaired healthful longevity, i.e., obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and reduced exercise tolerance,” the researchers write in the published study.

Most studies have shown that exercise regulates BAT activation and increases BAT density. However, the Rutgers team’s research demonstrated that BAT can significantly improve exercise performance, inspiring us to push our limits. But that’s not all it can do…

Aside from its thermogenic properties, the researchers emphasized BAT’s potential to improve blood circulation and reduce cellular stress. This promising aspect of BAT may help combat age-related muscle loss, fatigue, and metabolic decline, giving us hope for a healthier and more active future.

Continued research into the effects of BAT could lead to the development of promising therapies to help older adults live more active lives while reducing the risk of chronic age-related conditions.

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Treatments designed to mimic the benefit of BAT could also lead to innovative approaches for improving energy levels, maintaining a healthy weight and supporting heart health.

“​​In view of the ability of BAT to mediate healthful longevity and enhance exercise performance, it is likely that a pharmaceutical analog of BAT will become a novel therapeutic modality,” they write.

How to get BAT working for you

As promising as this research is, it will be years before it results in readily available therapeutic options. It’s also important to note that the prevalence of BAT decreases with age.

That means while you’ve still got it — put it to work…

You can do things you can do to activate the BAT in your body, as well as convert more white fat into brown fat. One way is through cold exposure: things like taking cold showers, turning down the thermostat in the winter and soaking your feet in an ice bath.

You can also rev up BAT through exercise. One study shows that during exercise, brown fat signals the muscle to take up more fatty acids to use as fuel. And irisin, a hormone released during exercise, can help white fat cells turn beige.

There are foods and specific nutrients that can also help stoke the BAT furnace:

• A combination of black seed oil and omega-3 fatty acids can help white fat convert to brown.
• Flavanols have the power to activate fat browning via the sympathetic nervous system.
• Coffee can stimulate the activity of brown fat cells.
• Vitamin A, when combined with cold, can convert white fat into brown.

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One final note: It’s crucial to control inflammation in your body, as it can block BAT activation. You can take steps to reduce inflammation, such as maintaining a healthy weight and consuming anti-inflammatory foods, empowering yourself to optimize your BAT function for healthier aging.

Luckily, some of the aforementioned methods for activating BAT also help reduce inflammation, like exercise and fish oil, which is a great source of omega-3s.

You can also retool your diet to include more anti-inflammatory foods like fatty fish, nuts and seeds, whole grains, Mediterranean spices, tomatoes, olive oil, green leafy vegetables and fresh fruit. All of these foods are great sources of anti-inflammatory antioxidants!

Sources:

Brown fat boosts exercise performance and promotes healthy longevity — EurekAlert!

Brown adipose tissue enhances exercise performance and healthful longevity — Aging

The post How to activate brown fat for endurance and longevity appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But you may not know a few other clocks govern our bodies. The biological clock regulates the circadian clock and other peripheral clocks that handle functions across our cells, tissues and organs. And the master clock is a cluster of nerve cells in the brain’s hypothalamus that, as its name implies, runs all the other clocks in the human body.

Then there’s the so-called epigenetic clock, a group of biomarkers that indicate biological aging. If you’re interested in staying as young as possible for as long as possible, this is the clock you want to pay closer attention to.

Scientists involved in aging research have been able to take these known biomarkers and create DNA methylation clocks to measure the impact of variables and how they may impact human aging.

Using three such clocks, an international team of researchers has found that if you’d like to slow biological aging, even late in life, there’s one nutrient you’ll want to take every day…

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Vitamin D, Omega-3 and your epigenetic clock

Almost 800 Swiss participants in the European DO-HEALTH study took part in specific interventions to see how they impacted their epigenetic clocks, including:

• 2,000 IU of vitamin D per day;
• One gram of omega-3 fatty acids per day;
• And a strength training program.

At first, the interventions tested showed benefits on one epigenetic clock, PhenoAge, but not on the others. However, in the post-hoc study, a follow-up analysis conducted after the main study, omega-3s proved much more effective than previously thought.

According to those results, one gram of omega-3 daily slowed aging on three of four DNA methylation clocks — PhenoAge, GrimAge2, and DunedinPACE — by 2.9 months to 3.8 months over three years.

“One of the most critical questions in the field of rejuvenation is whether a treatment exists that can effectively rejuvenate humans, not just mice,” says co-author Dr. Heike Bischoff-Ferrari of the University of Zurich.

“Given the well-documented health benefits of omega-3, we explored whether it also influences the most reliable molecular markers of biological age: epigenetic clocks,” Bischoff-Ferrari told MedPage Today. “Our findings show a robust signal that omega-3 supplementation — algae-based and one gram per day — rejuvenated biological age by, on average, three months in three years.”

But that’s not all they discovered…

Other DO-HEALTH analyses in small samples saw that omega-3 supplementation lowered the risk of falling. In contrast, a combination of omega-3, vitamin D and exercise lowered risks of pre-frailty and invasive cancer.

The DO-HEALTH participants had a mean age of 75 at the start of the study, and 59 percent were women. About half were considered healthy agers, meaning they were free of chronic diseases, disabilities, cognitive impairments and mental health limitations. Most participants were physically active, with 29% active one to three times a week and 59% active more than that.

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just one gram of omega-3s a day

Of course, we already know that people with higher intake of omega-3s live longer. This new discovery means they can maintain their health and vitality while they do!

Fatty fish is a good source of omega-3s. However, depending on the fish, you would have to eat one to two servings per day to get the daily dose of one gram used in the study.

One thing to note, though, is that this study was done on algae-based omega-3s, so I did a little more research: Algae-based omega-3s come from algae grown in the ocean or commercially in tanks or ponds. It’s a source popular among vegans.

If you’re not vegan, omega-3s from krill oil may be the next best thing. Krill are tiny crustaceans that feed on ocean algae.

Not only is krill oil better absorbed than fish oil, but you don’t have to worry about fish burps. Krill also contains astaxanthin, a powerful antioxidant that challenges aging, is anti-inflammatory and contains higher amounts of EPA — the omega form that blocks pain.

Sources:

1. Omega-3 Daily May Slow Biological Aging — MedPage Today

2. Individual and additive effects of vitamin D, omega-3 and exercise on DNA methylation clocks of biological aging in older adults from the DO-HEALTH trial — Nature Aging

3. Daily Rhythms of the Body and the Biological Clock — Frontiers

4. Circadian Rhythms — National Institute of General Medical Sciences

5. Circadian Rhythm — Sleep Foundation

6. Circadian Rhythms and the Brain — Harvard Medical School

7. Which Fish is the richest in Omega-3s? — Seafood Nutrition Partnership

The post Nothing fishy about the supplement that slowed aging appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

When you’re young, your telomeres are nice and long. But as you age, they begin to gradually shorten, leading to cellular aging and age-related disease. But genetics as well as some factors within our control can cause this process to ramp up prematurely.

Some diseases linked to shorter telomeres include osteoporosis, diabetes and heart disease. Now, research indicates a trio of age-related brain conditions could be added to this list — and demonstrates how short telomeres may not be the cause but instead a signal to heed…

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A biomarker that signals brain risks

The length of telomeres within leukocytes, or white blood cells, is a known marker of biological aging. Researchers analyzed data from more than 356,000 participants in the UK Biobank to explore links between telomere shortening and the onset of stroke, dementia or late-life depression — all conditions linked to cerebral small vessel disease, a condition associated with aging and accumulation of vascular risk factors.

The participants also had a Brain Care Score assessment to measure the impact of modifiable risk factors, such as lifestyle choices and social interactions. They were monitored for an average of 12 years, and the results were clear…

Compared to participants with longer leukocyte telomeres, people with the shortest leukocyte telomeres had:

• An 8% higher risk of stroke;
• A 19% greater risk of dementia;
• A 14% increase in late-life depression risk.

Overall, people with the shortest leukocyte telomere length had an 11% higher risk of developing at least one of these conditions than those with longer telomeres.

“Our findings suggest that, while leukocyte telomere length may be a well-known indicator of biological aging, it does not directly cause these age-related diseases,” says Dr. Tamara N. Kimball, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Henry and Allison McCance Center for Brain Health at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

“Instead, leukocyte telomere length may act more as a reflective marker of underlying biological processes and cellular stress that precede these age-related diseases.”

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Heeding the signal

Dr. Kimball added “In a clinical setting, leukocyte telomere length could help identify people who may need more intensive monitoring or preventive measures. It could also guide personalized interventions, including lifestyle adjustments and therapeutic approaches, to enhance overall health.”

During the study, they saw how this could work…

The analysis found that in people with a low Brain Care Score, an indicator of unfavorable lifestyle choices, shorter leukocyte telomeres were associated with an 11% increased risk for stroke, dementia and late-life depression.

However, in people with a high Brain Care Score — an indicator of favorable lifestyle choices — shorter leukocyte telomeres were not linked with a higher risk of these age-related brain diseases.

“This suggests that adopting healthier lifestyles and improving modifiable risk factor profile may lower the negative effects of shorter leukocyte telomeres,” Kimball says. “In short, it is never too late to start taking better care of your brain.”

Lifestyle choices that can accelerate telomere shortening include smoking, lack of exercise, ultra-processed foods, stress and exposure to pollutants. So, if you want to protect your telomeres and your brain — avoid these behaviors.

Exercise, even just brisk walking is associated with longer telomeres. In one study, researchers doung it could translate to the equivalent of turning biological age back 16 years.

You can also add the following foods and nutrients to your diet, all of which help preserve the length of telomeres:

• Flaxseed, an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids.
• Spinach, a source of folate.
• Vitamin D.
• Berries, which contain resveratrol and plenty of antioxidants such as vitamin C.
• Oats, loaded with fiber to prevent telomere-damaging insulin resistance.
• Magnesium, found in a wide range of plant-based foods, as well as fish, poultry and beef.

Sources:

Biomarker tied to premature cell aging may signal stroke, dementia, late-life depression — EurekAlert!

Five foods that protect your telomeres and extend your life — Ornish Living

 Magnesium — Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

The post A signal before stroke and dementia appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

In 2021, there were 89,739 centenarians living in the United States, nearly twice as many as there were two decades ago.

So, what changed over the past 20 years? A few things:

• There have been more medical advances that allow people to live longer.
• Fewer people are smoking, and more are following a lifestyle that protects their heart health.
• Rapid population growth has also contributed to the influx of centenarians.

What about genetics?

While it’s true that genetics can play a role in enjoying life to 100 years of age, lifestyle is much more critical. And there’s one factor in your lifestyle that may give you a leg up in your quest to reach the century mark — and it focuses on one specific organ….

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The longevity organ

The gut microbiome, composed of trillions of “friendly” bacteria and other microbes, is proving to be central to our health.

A thriving gut microbiome not only contributes to your overall gut health but can affect dementia risk, support mental health, promote good sleep, and influence the health of your skin, muscles, heart, and immune system. And when your gut microbiome gets disrupted, it can trigger conditions like diabetes and obesity.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg…

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen studied the intestinal bacteria of 176 healthy Japanese centenarians to determine whether their gut microbiome had any influence on their longevity.

“Previous research has shown that the intestinal bacteria of old Japanese citizens produce brand new molecules that make them resistant to pathogenic — that is, disease-promoting — microorganisms,” says Joachim Johansen, a postdoc and first author of the study.

What these researchers discovered was that these centenarians had a unique combination of intestinal bacteria and bacterial viruses. In fact, one of the study’s findings was that specific viruses in the intestines can have a beneficial effect on the gut microbiome.

“Our intestines contain billions of viruses living of and inside bacteria, and they could not care less about human cells; instead, they infect the bacterial cells,” says Simon Rasmussen, a University of Copenhagen professor and last author of the study.

The researchers also found high biological diversity in the gut bacteria of the centenarians, which is usually associated with a healthy gut microbiome. This better protects them against aging-related diseases, Johansen notes.

The virus-bacteria connection

The researchers designed an algorithm to map the intestinal bacteria and bacterial viruses of the centenarians.

“We want to understand the dynamics of the intestinal flora,” Rasmussen says. “How do the different kinds of bacteria and viruses interact? How can we engineer a microbiome that can help us live healthy, long lives? Are some bacteria better than others?”

The researchers hope to use the algorithm to describe the balance between viruses and bacteria and determine what that optimal balance should be to protect the body against disease.

The obvious next step, Rasmussen says, is to find out whether only some or all of us have this combination of bacteria and viruses.

“Intestinal bacteria are a natural part of the human body and of our natural environment. And the crazy thing is that we can actually change the composition of intestinal bacteria. We cannot change the genes – at least not for a long time to come. If we know why viruses and intestinal bacteria are a good match, it will be a lot easier for us to change something that actually affects our health.”

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Diversify your longevity organ

If you want a gut full of diverse bacteria, a great way to start is by diversifying your diet.

A couple of years ago, researchers at Stanford School of Medicine found that a 10-week diet high in fermented foods boosted microbiome diversity and improved immune responses. According to those researchers, their findings are an example of how a simple diet change can remodel the microbiota.

Fermented foods are “foods made through desired microbial growth and enzymatic conversions of food components.”

Traditional Japanese cuisine places a heavy emphasis on fermented foods, including fermented bean paste (natto), tempeh, soy sauce, miso, rice vinegar and pickled vegetables. In fact, some type of fermented food is included at almost every meal.

Could this be the link to their longevity? Fermented foods are considered superfoods, so it certainly makes sense.

According to Tim Spector, an author and professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, “The Japanese love of many fermented soy products could be one reason that they have much better health than in the west, [and] stay slimmer despite eating lots of rice and other high carbohydrate food.”

If traditional Japanese fermented foods aren’t readily available to you, try adding Kombucha tea, kefir, yogurt and cottage cheese to your diet.

Sources:

Why do some people live to be a 100? Intestinal bacteria may hold the answer — University of Copenhagen Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

More people are living to be 100: Here’s why — The Hill

Fermented-food diet increases microbiome diversity, decreases inflammatory proteins, study finds — Stanford Medicine

New Global Definition for Fermented Foods — The Fermentation Society

Fermented Foods: Japan’s Secret to Good Health — Discover

The post How to support your longevity organ appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

In fact, studies have shown that doing something as simple as eating an optimal diet (one with more legumes, whole grains and nuts and less red and processed meat) can add six to seven years to your life.

And if you think that’s amazing, hold onto your hat…

While we’ve always known that exercise can boost longevity, new research has shown that its benefits are twice as strong as previous estimates and staying active could extend your life by as much as 11 years.

Here are the details…

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Physical activity lowers death risk, lengthens life

Previous studies have traditionally relied on survey responses to estimate exercise’s longevity benefits. However, this latest research from Griffith University went a step further, asking participants to wear an accelerometer to more accurately measure daily activity levels.

And the results revealed that when it comes to staying active, the benefits can really stack up.

The researchers found that people who were most active had an incredible 73 percent lower risk of death than their least active counterparts. 

For those in the least active quartile, a single one-hour walk meant around six additional hours of life.  But, according to lead researcher Professor Lennert Veerman it’s the least-active cohort that had the greatest potential for health gains.  

“If you’re already very active or in that top quartile, an extra hour’s walk may not make much difference as you’ve, in a sense, already ‘maxed out’ your benefit,” he said.   

“If the least active quartile of the population over age 40 were to increase their activity level to that of the most active quartile, however, they might live, on average, about 11 years longer.”

How much exercise would you need to ramp up to?

“It can be any type of exercise but would roughly be the equivalent of just under three hours of walking per day.

 “If there’s something you could do to more than halve your risk of death, physical activity is enormously powerful.”

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A few hours of walking

Most people don’t realize that all the walking you do in a day counts toward your total. That includes moving about your house a bit, doing housework or going up and down the stairs.

But to be honest, 3 hours of walking is a lot. That equates, depending on walking pace, to between 18,000 and 30,000 steps.

And, realistically, most of us have a hard enough time meeting the recommended 10,000 steps a day. So, I have a little secret I rely on to give my longevity efforts a little boost.

I supplement with pyrroloquinoline quinone — or PQQ for short — and CoQ10 daily. These nutrients have a lot of research behind them…

PQQ supports mitochondrial health — the tiny “power plants” in your cells that produce energy. CoQ10 is a powerful antioxidant so it reduces oxidative stress which is a major cause of degeneration. And it also supports mitochondrial function.

The declining function of mitochondria with age, along with increased oxidative stress and damage to their DNA, is strongly linked to the aging process. That’s why some researchers suggest that maintaining healthy mitochondria could contribute to a longer lifespan.

At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it, while I also try to get a few extra steps in…

Simple secret to living a longer life – EurekAlert!

The post Walk this way to add 11 extra years to your life appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

In the U.S., the average lifespan for a woman is 5 years longer than that of a man. And the difference is even greater worldwide, where the average lifespan for women exceeds that of men by 7 years.

For as long as science has recognized the difference, scientists have been trying to unravel the reasons. Now, they’ve zeroed in on one of them… a quirk of nature that occurs in some men as they age…

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Losing the “male” chromosome

We all know that the vast majority of women are born with two X chromosomes, while the vast majority of men have one X and one Y chromosome.

However, what is not as widely known is that an estimated 40 percent of men will lose their Y chromosome in a fraction of their cells by the time they reach the age of 70.

This Y chromosome loss primarily occurs in cells that undergo rapid turnover, such as blood cells. It doesn’t happen in male reproductive cells, so men who experience this loss won’t pass it on to their children.

In some studies, researchers have observed that men who lose their Y chromosome are more likely to experience age-associated diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, as well as early death.

This prompted researchers from the University of Virginia School of Medicine (UVA) to look further into the relationship between Y chromosome loss and early death. What they discovered is believed to be the first hard evidence that the loss of the Y chromosome directly causes harmful effects on men’s health.

The impact of Y chromosome loss on the heart

The UVA research team used gene-editing technology to develop a special mouse model, then used those mice to better understand the effects of Y chromosome loss in the blood. Results showed the loss accelerated age-related diseases, made the mice more prone to heart scarring and led to earlier death.

The scientists noted that the results weren’t just driven by inflammation in the mice. Their immune systems underwent a complex series of responses, leading to a process called fibrosis throughout their bodies. And this process is what the researchers believe may accelerate disease development.

The UVA researchers didn’t stop with mice. They also investigated the effects of Y chromosome loss in human men by analyzing data compiled from the UK Biobank, a massive biomedical database. What they found was that Y chromosome loss was associated with cardiovascular disease and heart failure. And as chromosome loss increased, so did the risk of death.

These findings could explain nearly four of the five-year difference in lifespan between U.S. women and men, according to UVA researcher Dr. Kenneth Walsh.

“The years of life lost due to the survival disadvantage of maleness is staggering,” Walsh says. “This new research provides clues as to why men have shorter lifespans than women.”

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Is it possible to combat Y chromosome loss?

Is there anything that can be done to counteract this loss of the Y chromosome? Science hasn’t found that answer yet. But there may be a way to counter its effects on the body.

According to Walsh, men who suffer Y chromosome loss could particularly benefit from an existing drug, pirfenidone, that targets dangerous tissue scarring and could help these men live longer, healthier lives. Pirfenidone is approved to treat a form of lung scarring and is being tested to treat heart failure and chronic kidney disease, two conditions in which tissue scarring occurs.

While Walsh believes men with Y chromosome loss could respond well to this drug, as well as other antifibrotic drugs in development, more research is needed to determine that.

But to administer any of these therapies, healthcare professionals will need to be able to identify men suffering Y chromosome loss. Unfortunately, doctors currently have no easy way to do that.

One of Walsh’s collaborators, Lars Forsberg of Uppsala University in Sweden, has developed an inexpensive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, similar to those used for COVID-19 testing, that can detect Y-chromosome loss. However, this test is largely confined to his and Walsh’s laboratories.

“If interest in this continues and it’s shown to have utility in terms of being prognostic for men’s disease and can lead to personalized therapy, maybe this becomes a routine diagnostic test,” Walsh says.

Is there anything men can do right now?

If you smoke, quit.

Walsh and his team discovered that smokers were especially likely to suffer Y chromosome loss as they age. Combine that with all the other health risks of smoking and the damage it can do to your heart and lungs, and you’re better off without those cigarettes.

Here are 6 proven ways for you to quit smoking this year.

But that may not be all men should do to try to live longer…

While your Y chromosome may not be a modifiable factor immediately in your control, there are plenty of others.

For starters, men have a bad reputation for putting off healthcare — both physical and mental. Instead:

• Pay attention to symptoms and changes and report them to your healthcare provider.
• Don’t skip out on regular checkups.
• Talk with a professional about feelings of depression and anxiety.
• Practice known healthy lifestyle habits, like eating right (more fruits, vegetables and fiber) and getting regular exercise.

Sources:

Loss of Male Sex Chromosome With Age Leads to Earlier Death for Men—UVAHealth

Hematopoietic loss of Y chromosome leads to cardiac fibrosis and heart failure mortality — Science

Why men often die earlier than women — Harvard Health Publishing

The post The one thing men lose with age that could shorten their lifespan appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

In fact, my husband jokes that without my coffee I wouldn’t be able to survive.

As it turns out, his little joke might not be too far off the mark…

That’s because a comprehensive review of coffee research has revealed the popular drink could be the secret to healthy aging that’s been under our noses the whole time…

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Health that adds up to more years

Researchers at the University of Coimbra in Portugal combed through 85 previous studies involving hundreds of thousands of participants to determine how drinking coffee affects health and lifespan.

Altogether, they found that drinking approximately three cups of coffee a day is associated with an extra 1.84 years of life tacked onto a healthier lifespan.

Those extra years are most likely the result of lowering the risks of several chronic diseases typically seen in older age, including:

• Cardiovascular diseases and stroke – These included hypertension, arrhythmia and ischemic brain diseases, along with metabolic risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, such as metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes and obesity.
• Respiratory diseases – Coffee consumption was inversely associated with mortality from respiratory diseases.
• Cognitive decline – The majority of the studies concluded that the regular consumption of coffee is inversely associated with the risk of developing dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s disease.
• Depression – Drinking two to three cups of coffee per day was associated with the lowest risk of depression and anxiety.
• Vision deterioration – The caffeine in coffee was also found to bolster dynamic visual acuity and increase reading rate and tear film quality while preventing neurodegeneration in the eye.
• Frailty – Coffee consumption is also linked to improved physical functioning and reduced frailty. It also affords protective effects against osteoporosis/osteopenia, the risk of falls and the risk of fractures in the elderly.

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Coffee’s special ingredients get the credit

According to the researchers, in addition to preventing the most common diseases we face with age, coffee consumption also helps preserve muscular, cardiovascular, mental and immune system functions.

“Traditional clinical recommendations have at times overlooked coffee’s role in healthy aging,” says Rodrigo Cunha, principal investigator in the Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology and professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Coimbra.

“Our review underlines the role regular, moderate coffee consumption can play in mediating against the biological mechanisms which naturally slow or fail as we get older — triggering a range of potential health issues and comorbidities.”

Those biological mechanisms he’s referring to are known as the 7 pillars of aging and include:

• Genomic instability
• Shortening of telomeres
• Epigenetic alterations
• Loss of proteostasis
• Deregulated nutrient sensing
• Mitochondrial dysfunction
• Cellular senescence

Cunha explained that it’s the molecular constituents of coffee that get the credit for attenuating these aging processes…

“In simple words, chlorogenic acids are antioxidants that can attenuate the chemical deterioration of our cells and allow for better cell recovery after exposure to noxious stimuli.

“In parallel, caffeine refrains the activation of receptors signaling stress and/or danger prompting a reorganization of resources for optimal and more constant function, thus preserving the quality of our cells despite recurrent challenges.”

So don’t feel guilty for enjoying your morning coffee.

Sources:

Impact of coffee intake on human aging: Epidemiology and cellular mechanisms — ScienceDirect

Giant Study Links Drinking Coffee With Almost 2 Extra Years of Life — Science Alert

Coffee may help prolong lifespan by almost 2 years, on average — Medical News Today

The post Coffee: The healthy aging secret under our noses appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Known as Life’s Essential 8, it is a checklist of eight lifestyle behaviors (like exercise) and health factors (like controlling cholesterol) that are key factors for improving and maintaining cardiovascular health.

The first study using this new measurement tool showed that heart health in the United States is less than ideal, with 80 percent scoring at a low or moderate level.

Not great news.

And while it may seem like a no-brainer, another look at what happens when Life’s Essential 8 is adhered to may offer just the incentive we all need to get serious about our heart health…

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A healthy heart can make you six years younger

According to research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2023, having optimal cardiovascular health may slow the pace of biological aging.

Specifically, a high heart health score appears to slow biological aging and potentially stave off age-related diseases — essentially extending lifespan.

That’s the finding of researchers who took a close look at the association between heart and brain health — as measured by the Life’s Essential 8 checklist — and the biological aging process.

To start, the researchers compared the chronological (actual) age of each participant with their phenotypic age.

Phenotypic age is a measure of age based on the results of nine blood markers for metabolism, inflammation and organ function, including glucose, C-reactive protein, and creatinine.

They then calculated the subjects’ phenotypic age acceleration — or the difference between one’s phenotypic age and actual age. A higher phenotypic age acceleration indicates faster biological aging.

Participants with the highest cardiovascular health scores were, on average, biologically six years younger than their chronological age.

“We found that higher cardiovascular health is associated with decelerated biological aging, as measured by phenotypic age.

“We also found a dose-dependent association — as heart health goes up, biological aging goes down,” says study senior author Dr. Nour Makarem, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City.

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8 steps that can help you age slower

“Greater adherence to all Life’s Essential 8 metrics and improving your cardiovascular health can slow down your body’s aging process and have a lot of benefits down the line. Reduced biologic aging is not just associated with lower risk of chronic disease such as heart disease, it is also associated with longer life and lower risk of death,” Makarem said.

If you’d like to get on board, check out Life’s Essential 8. These key measures for improving and maintaining cardiovascular health consist of health behaviors (HB) and health factors (HF) that are modifiable and if improved, can reduce the risk for heart disease, stroke and other major health problems.

Life’s Essential 8 includes:

• Eat Better (HB)
• Be More Active (HB)
• Quit Tobacco (HB)
• Get Healthy Sleep (HB)
• Manage Weight (HF)
• Control Cholesterol (HF)
• Manage Blood Sugar (HF)
• Manage Blood Pressure (HF)

Print out this list and post it on your fridge. Find your weak spot and focus on improving it first. For me, that’s “Be More Active.”

That means I need to make an effort to practice a couple of hours of moderate to vigorous exercise every week. If you need tips on how to achieve that or any of the other recommendations on the list, just visit their site.

Nothing fancy or hard to follow — just some support in getting started and continuing along a path that could help you age slower and healthier!

Sources:

Heart Health Linked to Slower Aging — Neuroscience News

Life’s Essential 8 — American Heart Association

Only 1 in 5 people in the U.S. has optimal heart health — Eureka Alert

The post 8 steps to slow aging as much as six years appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

And what better way to do that than by getting out on the golf course? The sport, often celebrated for its relaxed pace and scenic landscapes, offers a surprising array of physical, mental, and social benefits that make it an ideal activity for healthy aging. 

Whether you’re looking for improved cardiovascular health, sharper mental acuity, or stronger social ties, golf can transform how you age.

Let’s have a look at the incredible ways golf supports well-being, proving it’s more than a sport — it’s a pathway to a longer, fuller life. 

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Physical Health Benefits 

One of the biggest factors to aging well is staying physically strong. Losing some muscle mass and strength is inevitable as you get older, but staying active with a low-impact sport like golf can make a huge difference. Here’s what you’ll experience: 

Increased Cardiovascular Fitness 

You can cover 4 to 6 miles walking an 18-hole golf course! This kind of low-intensity aerobic exercise is amazing for heart health because it lowers your blood pressure and cholesterol, reducing your risk of heart disease as you get older. 

Improved Muscle and Joint Health 

The golf swing engages various muscle groups, including your core, back, and legs, increasing both muscle strength and endurance. Plus, the low-impact nature of golf is gentle on the joints, making it suitable for older adults who want to maintain mobility without too much strain. 

Better Flexibility and Balance 

Executing a proper golf swing requires both flexibility and balance. As you get older, the more flexible you are and the better your balance — the lower your chance of falling. Falls are a major cause of mortality in older adults, so this is a huge benefit that’ll save you aches and pains, but could also extend your lifespan. 

Prevention of Age-Related Diseases 

Regular participation in golf can actually help prevent conditions related to aging, like arthritis, osteoporosis, and diabetes: 

• Arthritis: Golf involves low-impact, moderate-intensity physical activity, which helps maintain joint flexibility and strength, potentially reducing arthritis symptoms. 
• Osteoporosis: The weight-bearing nature of walking the course and swinging clubs can improve bone density, lowering the risk of osteoporosis. 
• Diabetes: The physical activity involved in golf enhances insulin sensitivity and aids in blood sugar control, which is beneficial for preventing and managing type 2 diabetes. 

Longevity 

Studies indicate that golfers may enjoy a longer lifespan! A Swedish study found that golfers have a 40% lower mortality rate compared to non-golfers, equating to an increased life expectancy of about five years. 

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Mental Health Advantages 

Golf isn’t just about the physical benefits. It’s a thoughtful game that engages your mind as much as your body, so you’ll be getting a regular mental workout as well. 

Cognitive Function 

Golf requires strategic thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making, all of which stimulate brain health. Regular play enhances memory and concentration, contributing to sustained cognitive function as you age. 

Stress Relief 

The serene environment of golf courses provides a natural setting that helps reduce stress levels. As we age, it becomes easier to spend more time indoors, so golf is a great way to get outdoors and engage in physical activity at the same time, doubling the positive effects. 

Mood Improvement 

Moderate physical activity, like walking the course and swinging your golf clubs, releases endorphins, your body’s natural mood enhancers. This leads to improved mood and a sense of well-being. 

Enhancing Sleep Quality 

Golf involves walking, swinging, and carrying clubs, which are moderate-intensity exercises. Such activities help regulate the body’s sleep-wake cycle, leading to faster sleep onset and improved sleep quality. The combination of physical exertion and exposure to natural light during a round of golf promotes better sleep patterns. 

Social Connections 

Aging also often leads to isolation, which can accelerate the end of life. Staying in contact with others is hugely important for aging well, and golf can provide that too. 

Community Building 

Golf clubs serve as social hubs for seniors, giving them a sense of belonging and opportunities to engage with peers. These environments encourage participation in group activities and events, giving older people something to look forward to and many chances to spend time with their golfing friends. 

Companionship 

Regular play with friends or in groups strengthens social bonds, reducing feelings of isolation. The shared experience of the game promotes camaraderie and mutual support among players. Especially for older people who’ve lost spouses, staying in regular contact with other people is necessary for both mental and physical health. 

Golf for All Ages 

The sport’s appeal spans generations. This means that it’s a great way to bond with kids, and grandchildren, or spend time with the whole family at once. 

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Lifestyle Integration 

Routine and Structure 

Regular golf sessions provide a consistent schedule, which is beneficial for mental health as we age. Establishing routines can enhance cognitive function and emotional well-being. The structured nature of golf, with its rules and etiquette, adds a sense of purpose and discipline. 

Outdoor Exposure 

Playing golf outdoors exposes people to nature and sunlight, which keeps your Vitamin D levels up. Vitamin D supports bone health and immune function, both important as we age. Also, spending time in green spaces has been linked to reduced stress and improved mood, contributing to overall mental health. 

Accessibility and Inclusivity 

Golf happens to be a sport that promotes accessibility and inclusivity, making it ideal for healthy aging. Nobody is excluded! 

Modifiable Exercise

Golf is a flexible sport. It doesn’t matter if you’re an experienced golfer or if you’re new to the game, it’s a sport you can enjoy. 

• Walking the Course: Excellent for those who are still mobile. 
• Using a Golf Cart: Reduces physical strain on the course. Alternating between walking and the cart can help you build up strength and endurance. 
• Adjusting Play: Players can choose 9 or 18 holes based on their energy levels. 
• Using Training Aids: If you’re new to golf, using training aids can help you learn faster. 

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Continued Education and Skill Development 

Learning Curve 

Golf’s intricate nature requires players to master various techniques, such as swinging, putting, and course navigation. This complexity offers plenty of continuous learning opportunities, keeping your mind active and engaged. 

Skill Improvement 

The satisfaction and mental engagement from skill development over time contribute to a sense of accomplishment and purpose. As you improve your golf swing, you experience increased confidence and motivation, which are big parts of maintaining mental sharpness and overall well-being. 

Conclusion: Embracing Golf for Healthier Aging 

Golf is more than a pastime; it’s a gateway to a healthier, happier, and more connected life as you age. From building physical strength and mental resilience to building meaningful social connections, the game offers surprising yet undeniable benefits for body, mind, and soul. 

Whether you’re walking the course, perfecting your swing, or enjoying the camaraderie of fellow players, golf provides the tools to embrace aging with grace and purpose. So grab your clubs and hit the course — it might just be the key to your best years yet. 

The post Why golf is the ultimate social sport for healthy aging  appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Yet, many of the choices we make each day actually accelerate aging, including choices like skipping out on exercise and not getting enough sleep.

However, as bad as these are, when it comes to sending our biological clocks into overdrive, the foods we eat could be the worst offenders.

That’s because according to a massive research study out of Italy, eating a certain type of food can make you biologically older than your actual chronological age.

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Anything but natural

The study compared food frequency questionnaires of over 22,000 participants to over thirty different blood biomarkers that measure biological age. Unlike chronological age which is calculated exclusively by the date of your birth, biological age reflects the actual conditions inside your body, including those of your organs, tissues and systems.

Basically, biological aging is your body’s “internal clock”, which can tick faster or slower than the years marked on the calendar, because it reflects the true state of your health — and whether it’s sped up your internal clock.

Specifically, the researchers set out to determine how each participant’s consumption of ultra-processed foods affected their biological aging.

So what are ultra-processed foods?

The easiest way to think of them is as foods that are made in part or entirely with substances you wouldn’t normally find in your kitchen. This could be things like hydrolysed proteins, maltodextrins, hydrogenated fats, as well as dyes, preservatives, anticaking agents, flavor enhancers and artificial sweeteners.

Examples of ultra-processed foods include obvious ones like packaged snacks and sugary drinks. But they can also be foods that seem harmless like the sandwich bread you buy at the grocery store, meat alternatives, and even fruit yogurts and some breakfast cereals.

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Aging accelerated

Unfortunately, these foods it turns out that when it comes to health and longevity, these foods are anything but harmless…

In fact, the study showed that people who ate high levels of ultra-processed foods experienced a significant acceleration of their biological aging.

“Our data show that a high consumption of ultra-processed foods not only has a negative impact on health in general, but could also accelerate aging itself, suggesting a connection that goes beyond the poor nutritional quality of these foods,” said lead researcher, Simona Esposito.

Although this makes it clear that ultra-processed foods and healthy aging simply don’t go together, the exact mechanisms of why these foods are so harmful to our health aren’t quite as clear.

However, nutritional epidemiologist, Marialaura Bonaccio, explains it this way, “Besides being nutritionally inadequate, being rich in sugars, salt and saturated or trans fats, these foods undergo intense industrial processing that actually alters their food matrix, with the consequent loss of nutrients and fiber. This can have important consequences for a series of physiological functions, including glucose metabolism, and the composition and functionality of the gut microbiota. Also, these products are often wrapped in plastic packaging, thus becoming vehicles of substances toxic to the body”.

In other words, these foods, which are anything but natural, are made worse by the toxic packaging they come in, setting off a cascade of health problems in our bodies and accelerating the ticking of our biological clocks.

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Choices for healthier aging

The good news?

It’s not that hard to avoid the foods that accelerate aging.

Foods to skip include:

• White foods – White breads, pastries, pasta, rice and sugar should be a hard pass.
• Sandwich and breakfast meats – Ultra-processed meats are not typically found in the butcher section of the grocery store. They look very different from their original meat source and include lunch meat, hotdogs, bacon, sausage, jerky, canned meat and any other meat that has been processed to change its shape, flavor and freshness.
• Sweetened beverages – Cut out sugar-sweetened or artificially sweetened beverages, including soda, energy drinks, sweet tea and fruit juice.
• Packaged, ready-to-eat foods – Packaged snacks and ready-to-eat meals are loaded with unnatural ingredients and wrapped in plastics that can leach into your body.

And if you really want to turn back the clock, try these six secrets to exceptional aging that studies have proven work.

Sources:

High consumption of ultra-processed foods linked to accelerated biological aging — EurekAlert!

The post Foods that send aging into overdrive appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

It’s information that can let you know if your aging is accelerated and currently headed towards earlier-than-usual functional decline and chronic disease (and need to change your ways) — or if you’ve nailed down healthy living so well that your norm is much younger than your peers.

A few clues about how that’s going can be measured by assessing grip strength, walking speed and gait.

But a Mayo Clinic study has demonstrated a test they say is a more telltale measure of how fast we’re aging than any of those…

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How long can you stand on one leg?

In their study, forty healthy, independent people over 50 underwent walking, balance, grip strength and knee strength tests. Half of the participants were under 65, while the other half were 65 and older.

A custom-made device was used to measure grip. To measure knee strength, participants were in a seated position and were asked to extend their knees as forcefully as possible.

To assess gait, participants walked back and forth on a level walkway at their own pace.

Grip strength decreased at a faster rate than knee strength, making it a better predictor of aging than other strength measures.

But none of these were as accurate a predictor of aging as balance.

Poor balance really shows how fast you’re aging

To test balance, participants were asked to stand in a few different situations:

• On both feet with eyes open
• On both feet with eyes closed
• On their non-dominant leg with eyes open
• On their dominant leg with eyes open

They tried to stand in each of these positions for thirty seconds.

Standing on one leg — specifically the nondominant leg — revealed the highest rate of decline with age.

So, if you’re 50 or over, or are experiencing balance issues like I am, it’s time to take control.

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How to improve your balance

I wrote about a previous study that also produced compelling evidence that poor balance is a sure sign of a shorter life. This study gave more insight into why that is…

“Balance is an important measure because, in addition to muscle strength, it requires input from vision, the vestibular system and the somatosensory systems,” says Kenton Kaufman, Ph.D., senior author of the study and director of the Motion Analysis Laboratory at Mayo Clinic.

“Changes in balance are noteworthy. If you have poor balance, you’re at risk of falling, whether or not you’re moving. Falls are a severe health risk with serious consequences.”

Dr. Kaufman says people can take steps to train their balance. For example, by standing on one leg, you can train yourself to coordinate your muscle and vestibular responses to maintain correct balance. If you can stand on one leg for 30 seconds, you are doing well, he says.

Here are a few other ways to get better balance…

Tai Chi. Studies show that the gentle, meditative movements of tai chi can help older adults improve balance. A good tai chi teacher can show you the precise movements that will offer you more stability.

Heel-to-toe walk. Here’s one you can do on your own. Walk slowly in a straight line, touching your heel to the opposite foot’s toe as you go. Go about 20 paces, using a wall for support if you feel unsteady.

Toe stand. Also known as heel raises, this exercise can strengthen your calf and ankle muscles. With feet shoulder-width apart, raise up on your tiptoes and hold there for one second before lowering. Repeat these 10 to 15 times.

Don’t wait to get started. Dr. Kaufman added“If you don’t use it, you lose it. If you use it, you maintain it.”

Sources:

What standing on one leg can tell you: Biological age — Science Daily

Age-related changes in gait, balance, and strength parameters: A cross-sectional study — PLOS One

The post What standing on one leg reveals about aging appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

And many people don’t know this secret: Due to a serious calculation error, the current RDA is 10 times lower than what was intended.

Is it any wonder then that nearly a quarter of all Americans are vitamin D deficient — and even more struggling with insufficiency — that is, living with lower than optimal levels, believed to contribute to various illnesses?

But a glimmer of hope suggests change on the horizon…

The National Endocrine Society has issued new Clinical Practice Guidelines that may help doctors feel better about suggesting higher dosages of vitamin D — at least for some people…

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What the research says about vitamin D

Vitamin D, also known as the sunshine vitamin the body makes it in response to sun exposure, has been shown in study after study to be one of the most important nutrients for nurturing health.

In fact, research has shown that vitamin D levels are linked to:

• Viral protection – International researchers found that vitamin D helps regulate the immune system and may cut the risk of respiratory infection by nearly half.
• Healthier bones and joints and less back pain – A 2013 study of over 9000 women found that women deficient in vitamin D experienced more severe back pain, more fractures, and greater limitations than women with adequate vitamin D levels.
• Heart health – Australian research discovered that people with vitamin D deficiency are more likely to suffer from heart disease and have higher blood pressure than those with normal levels.
• Healthy energy – In 174 adult patients, 77.2 percent who complained of fatigue had low vitamin D levels. After 5 weeks of supplementation, their symptoms improved significantly.
• Better blood sugar – Vitamin D plays important roles in insulin secretion and glucose metabolism. A 3-year study found supplementing vitamin D was associated with a 15 percent decreased likelihood for developing type 2 diabetes in at-risk adults.
• Memory protection – A study from the University of Calgary’s Hotchkiss Brain Institute of 12,388 people found that vitamin D is associated with more dementia-free years of life. The results also showed that people who took vitamin D supplements had 40 percent fewer dementia diagnoses than those who did not take the supplements.
• Longer life – Low levels of vitamin D have been tied to premature death.

Amazingly enough, that long list may just be the tip of the iceberg of what adequate levels of vitamin D can do…

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Loosening the reins — but a long way to go yet

Geography aside (not everyone resides in a sunlight-filled climate), several things can undermine your body’s natural production of vitamin D, including air pollution, the color of your skin, your weight, your age (older skin doesn’t make it efficiently) and the health of your gut, kidneys and liver.

Taking this into account, it seems any adult could use extra vitamin D, but even the Endocrine Society’s new guidelines are leaving a lot of us out…

If you’re a healthy adult under 75, they suggest you stick to the RDA of only 600 to 800 IU. Worse, even if you have some indication, like a health need for vitamin D supplementation or treatment, but you’re under 50, they only suggest a daily low dose.

Why? There are very few circumstances where the medical establishment recognizes the prevention potential of vitamin D. That’s why the new guidelines only allow “higher than the current RDA” dosages for:

• People aged 75 and up, because they accept that vitamin D is associated with lower mortality risk (speaking for myself — I may only be in my fifties but not dying is something I want to benefit from too!).
• People with prediabetes, because vitamin D reduces progression to diabetes. (The CDC suggests that 80 percent of people with prediabetes don’t know they have it. So why limit the potential to help only those who’ve been diagnosed?)
• Pregnant people, due to the potential to reduce risk of pre-eclampsia, intra-uterine mortality, preterm birth, small-for-gestational-age birth and neonatal mortality.
• Children and adolescents 18 and younger, due to the potential to prevent nutritional rickets and to reduce respiratory infections.

Oddly enough, the Endocrine Society didn’t state a specific amount for these groups — only suggesting dosing higher than the current RDA.

But as vague as that is, it says loads if you read between the lines. Some might say it’s an admittance that toxicity is rare and shouldn’t scare anyone off from experiencing all that vitamin D has to offer.

Further proof of that is the new guidelines do not recommend routine testing of vitamin D levels in any of the groups they’re suggesting higher doses to. That leaves a lot of wriggle room…

They kept the daily upper tolerable limit (UL) for vitamin D at 4000 IU. A UL is set for any vitamin and is the highest level of a daily intake that is likely to pose no risk of adverse health effects in almost all individuals.

But if you purchase a vitamin D supplement at the drugstore or order a high-quality one online, it’s commonplace to see a suggested therapeutic dose set at 5000 IU. That’s the same amount doctors use to raise and maintain deficiencies. To come anywhere close to vitamin D toxicity, the Mayo Clinic indicates a person would need to consume more than 10 times that amount daily for months on end.

Fortunately, we still live in a free country and safe, commonsense vitamin supplementation is your choice.

Sources:

Healthy adults under age of 75 urged to take recommended daily allowance of vitamin D — ScienceDaily

How much vitamin D do you need? — Harvard Health Publishing

Vitamin D deficiency soars in the U.S., study says — Scientific American

Nearly 1 in 4 Americans is deficient in Vitamin D. How do you know if you’re one of them? — USA Today

Conclusive: Vitamin D’s viral ‘protective effect’ — Easy Health Options

More research says vitamin D deficiency can cut life short — Easy Health Options

The vitamin your spine needs the most to battle disc degeneration — Easy Health Options

The vitamin deficiency that doubles risk for heart trouble — Easy Health Options

Vitamin D’s ties to autoimmune and age-related fatigue — Easy Health Options

The vitamin that could turn prediabetes around — Easy Health Options

The ties between vitamin D and dementia thicken — Easy Health Options

The post Medical panel finally admits we need more vitamin D appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

This flexibility makes me feel younger. But now I’m finding out that it may help me live to the ripe old age of 100 that my mother reached.

That’s my goal. If you, too, are concerned about living longer, read on.

There’s some encouraging research showing that staying flexible, rather than just strong, could the best flex for a long life…

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Flexibility correlates with a longer life

An international research team from the United States, Europe, and Canada analyzed data on 3,139 people between the ages of 46 to 65.

By scoring them on passive range of motion involving different joints, they obtained a body flexibility score which they call a Flexindex. Scores can range from zero to 80.

Over a follow-up period of almost 13 years, 302 of these people died — and results showed that those who survived had a higher Flexindex score than those who passed away.

In fact, Flexindex scores were nearly ten percent higher for survivors than for those who died over the course of the study. This was true of both men and women.

After taking age, body mass index and health status into account, men and women with a low Flexindex had a 1.87- and 4.78-times higher risk of dying, respectively, than those with a high Flexindex. For women that’s almost 5 percent!

Stretching increases flexibility and longevity

What is it about stretching that could have such a powerful effect?

For one thing, stretching has already been linked to reduced arterial stiffness and lower blood pressure, key contributors to healthy aging.

Even “passive stretching,” which is when another person such as a workout partner or physical therapist assists you in stretching, was shown to improve blood flow and blood vessel dilation.

Stretching also makes you more flexible and improves range of motion. These qualities can help you keep moving and may also improve balance to prevent falls that can happen with age.

Makes me wonder if the link between stretching and longevity has to do with the flexibility you gain from making stretching a regular part of your exercise routine.

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Fighting a major ‘scourge of aging’

One of the biggest threats to longevity is sarcopenia, the loss of muscle mass due to the natural aging process.

Most people begin losing muscle tissue around age 40. With this loss comes a gradual reduction in muscle strength and function. By age 50, as our body becomes less able to convert protein into muscle, we are losing one percent to two percent of our muscle mass every year.

In our 60s and 70s, this loss becomes even more rapid. We lose muscle fibers, and the ones we have are shrinking. It also increases the risk of other life-threatening conditions like diabetes, osteoporosis, dementia and heart disease.

I don’t know about you, but this is enough to kick all my “I can’t exercise” excuses to the curb.

How to get started

“Sounds great – but I need some direction.”

No problem! Numerous free videos are easy to access online that anyone can incorporate into the busiest of days. If you are new to stretching, look for beginner-level videos.

How much time should you invest in daily stretches?

Previous research found that just 30 minutes of stretching a day was enough for participants to see big changes in blood pressure across three types of measurement.

And if you’re ready to make a bigger commitment to learning a new technique, head for the nearest yoga studio and take some beginners’ classes. Yoga is easy on most bodies (especially the joints) and has been tied to a host of improvements in physical and mental well-being.

Sources:

Can flexibility help people live longer? — Eureka Alert

Reduced body flexibility is associated with poor survival in middle aged men and women a prospective cohort study — Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports

The post Flexibility may be the easiest flex for a longer life appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But a longer life that takes a nosedive into disease and decrepitude is not what we’re after.

What is there to look forward to about a long lifespan if your healthspan — the amount of time a person spends in good health, free from chronic diseases and the disabilities common with aging — is cut short?

Unfortunately, that’s what plays out for many people. Those last ten or more years of life can be spent in declining health, followed by disease, frailty and loss of independence.

We know that inflammation is at the root of chronic illnesses including cancer, diabetes, and heart disease — but until now, a treatment hasn’t existed that can fight inflammation at the cellular level.

But a new study offers hope that a simple treatment could add as much as a decade of those healthy years to your lifespan…

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Conquering inflammation = healthier aging

A group of mice was given an inflammation treatment monthly to remove highly inflammatory cells from their tissues (cells expressing a specific gene called p21).

This treatment regimen allowed the mice to live about nine percent (79 days) longer than expected.

But not only did they live longer. They were also able to walk faster and grip objects with greater strength than untreated mice of the same age.

This is important because, in humans, slowed walking speed and weakened grip are tightly correlated with increased overall frailty.

“We are all very excited about this finding because it demonstrates that we not only extend the lifespan, but indeed extend the life with good health in mice, which is a key goal for the aging field,” says UConn School of Medicine gerontologist Dr. Ming Xu.

Human potential: 8 to 10 extra healthy years

The research team included researchers from UConn Health, The University of Texas, Cedars-Sinai, The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine and the University of Nebraska College of Dentistry

They found that even though the treated mice were older at the time of death, their physical function and overall frailty were better than those of untreated mice in the last stages of their life.

The oldest treated mice lived to be 43 months, equivalent to about 130 years old as a human.

As of now, the researchers are working on translating their results to humans. If the inflammation treatment works as well for humans, it would be equivalent to 8 to 10 additional years of healthy old age.

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Start fighting inflammation now

Diet is one of the easiest ways to start fighting inflammation in your body right now. Here are three ways to start…

Not long ago, researchers at the Stanford School of Medicine discovered that a diet including fermented foods, like natto, yogurt, kefir, kimchi and kombucha tea, could have a powerful effect on tamping inflammation down.

In their study, they saw fermented foods:

• lower levels of 19 inflammatory proteins in the blood, including interleukin 6, which has been linked to conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, Type 2 diabetes and chronic stress.
• reduce activation of four types of immune cells associated with inflammation.

In addition to adding fermented foods to your diet, it’s just as important to avoid or eat fewer inflammatory foods, like ultraprocessed foods, sweetened drinks and red meat.

The opposite of inflammatory foods are alkaline foods that promote a less acidic environment in the body. An alkaline diet includes eating inflammation-busting foods like:

• Olive oil
• Tomatoes
• Nuts (including walnuts and almonds)
• Green leafy vegetables (like kale, spinach and collard greens)
• Fatty fish (such as salmon, sardines, tuna and mackerel)
• Fruits (like blueberries, strawberries, oranges and cherries)

Last but not least, don’t skimp on your vitamin D. Researchers have found a direct connection between low levels of vitamin D and a key biomarker of chronic inflammation that signals a high probability of disease risk.

Sources:

Live longer, die healthier — Eureka Alert

Intermittent clearance of p21-highly-expressing cells extends lifespan and confers sustained benefits to health and physical function — Cell Metabolism

A fermented-food diet increases microbiome diversity and lowers inflammation, study finds — EurekAlert!

The post Conquer inflammation to live longer with vim, vigor and health appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Some studies have indicated that drinking certain types of alcohol, like red wine, in moderation, contributes to a healthy mouth and gut microbiome and reduces risks for heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and prostate cancer.

On the other hand, consuming even small amounts of alcohol has been linked with numerous serious health risks, including many of the same illnesses you just read could be reduced by moderate drinking.

Then there are the studies and anecdotal evidence that has linked alcohol to longevity — like the story of a French nun, Sister André, a supercentenarian who lived almost to her 119^th birthday. Her caregivers claim she enjoyed a glass of red wine daily.

So, what is the truth? A team of researchers tried to find out — and the news isn’t good for those who enjoy their cocktails…

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Flawed comparisons

Over the years, many studies have suggested moderate drinkers enjoy longer lives than those who abstain from alcohol.

The problem is many of those studies suffer from fundamental design flaws, says Dr. Tim Stockwell, a scientist with the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria.

One major issue is those studies have generally focused on older adults and have not accounted for people’s lifetime drinking habits. The studies compared moderate drinkers with groups that either abstained or drank only occasionally.

Those groups also included some older adults who had quit or cut down on drinking because they had developed health conditions that forced them to do so.

“That makes people who continue to drink look much healthier by comparison,” Stockwell says.

For their analysis, Stockwell and his colleagues singled out 107 published studies that followed people over time and examined the relationship between drinking habits and longevity.

When they combined all the data, it appeared that light to moderate drinkers (those who drank between one drink per week and two per day) had a 14 percent lower risk of dying during the study period compared with those who didn’t drink alcohol at all.

But when they dug deeper, they found a handful of higher quality studies that included people who were younger than 55, on average, at the outset of the study and that made sure former and occasional drinkers were not considered abstainers.

In the higher-quality studies, drinking alcohol was not connected to a longer life.

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Stockwell notes that the image of alcohol as a health tonic is embedded in the public imagination, citing the “French paradox” as one example. The French paradox is the idea that red wine consumption offsets the rich, fatty diet of the French and explains their relatively low rates of heart disease.

The reality, he says, is that moderate drinking likely does not extend people’s lives and in fact can be hazardous to our health.

“There is simply no completely ‘safe’ level of drinking,” Stockwell says.

But what about the resveratrol in red wine?

The reason red wine often got a pass was because it contains resveratrol, the plant compound plentiful in the skins of red grapes responsible for launching decades of longevity and anti-aging research.

So if you have to give up that nightly glass of red wine, how else can you get resveratrol? Try a high-quality supplement or consume plenty of these other foods that contain it:

• Red grapes
• Dark chocolate (but tread lightly due to heavy metal content)
• Peanuts
• Pistachios
• Blueberries
• Cranberries

There are other nutrients that tied to longevity research, like nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN). NMN, a metabolite formed when our bodies process niacin (vitamin B3), can be found in abundant quantities in broccoli. Since NMN is derived from niacin, it’s important to get plenty of niacin-rich foods in your diet, including:

• Liver
• Salmon
• Turkey and white meat chicken
• Peanuts
• Avocado
• Brown rice
• Whole wheat products
• Mushrooms
• Fortified and enriched cereals and bread

Then there is pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ), a powerful antioxidant considered a “longevity” nutrient because it lowers the risk of age-related disease. It does so by improving the function of the mitochondria, the so-called powerhouses of the body. PQQ can be found in supplements and the following foods:

• Kiwi
• Green peppers
• Parsley
• Papaya
• Spinach
• Celery
• Tofu
• Organ meats like kidney and liver

Sources:

The research was wrong: study shows moderate drinking won’t lengthen your life — EurekAlert!

Why Do Only Some Cohort Studies Find Health Benefits From Low-Volume Alcohol Use? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Study Characteristics That May Bias Mortality Risk Estimates — Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

The post Alcohol and longevity: Does it help or hurt your lifespan appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

I’m not a big meat eater, but I know I’d find it hard to walk away from yogurt, eggs and cheese.

But if I could do it for a few months and add a few years to my life on the other end? Now THAT’S something I’d consider.

A recent study tells me that this is entirely possible, with just a few changes to my diet for a short period of time…

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A vegan diet reduced biological age

Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have been able to show just how quickly a change of diet can slow aging… and who doesn’t want that?

They worked with 21 pairs of identical twins, assigning one twin in each pair to a vegan diet, while the other ate an omnivore diet — which includes both plant and animal-based foods.

Over just eight weeks, the twins on the vegan diet showed improvements in epigenetic markers associated with aging.

Think of these markers like clocks hidden in your genes: you might be forty years old (your chronological age), but the way your body “reads” your genes can affect your health risks and make your body younger than its years.

In fact, less biological aging was observed in the heart and liver, as well as in tissues making up the hormonal, inflammatory and metabolic systems.

That means these twins, if they encounter heart trouble, blood sugar problems, liver or metabolic disorders — it should be at a much later age than the twins who followed a regular diet.

The researchers concluded that “a short-term vegan diet is positively associated with epigenetic age benefits and reduced calorie intake”, and suggest it has potential for personalized nutrition strategies for healthy aging.

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Worth it for 8 weeks

A study I reported on last year only confirms these results…

In that study, which involved twins as well, the twins who followed the vegan diet ended up with significantly lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels, insulin and body weight — all of which are associated with improved cardiovascular health.

That being said, some downsides have been reported that can be typical of long-term vegan dieting including…

• Trouble gaining lean muscle
• Low intake of protein and vitamin B12
• Risks for other deficiencies include: Vitamin D, zinc, choline, and omega-3 fatty acids
• And lower satisfaction with diet choice

That makes the idea of an 8-week vegan diet all that much easier to handle…

U.S. News and World Report, which rates diets every year, offers a complete beginner’s guide to the vegan diet.

Of course, the easiest place to start is simply avoiding anything that comes from an animal — which includes dairy and eggs.

You should be filling up mainly on fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Some of the best choices are:

• Brown rice
• Oatmeal
• Sweet potatoes and potatoes
• Corn
• Whole wheat pasta
• Dried apricots, prunes and figs
• Berries
• Pears
• Apples
• Cauliflower
• Kale
• Spinach
• Brussels sprouts
• Zucchini

There are lots of dairy-substitute options available as well, including:

• Soy milk
• Almond milk
• Coconut milk
• Yogurt made with one of the above

A word of caution: many processed vegan foods are just as unhealthy as regular ultra-processed foods, so that’s a pitfall to be avoided.

After an 8-week stint on the vegan diet if you’d like to add back the animal products but continue on a healthier path, eschewing red and processed meats for fish and chicken and keeping dairy down to a couple of servings a day, while eating more fruits, vegetables and whole grains, will get you closer to the Mediterranean diet — a diet that can take down weight, blood pressure and blood sugar but rates much higher on the satisfaction scale.

Sources:

Making One Diet Change For 8 Weeks Could Turn Back The Clock on Aging — Science Alert

Unveiling the epigenetic impact of vegan vs. omnivorous diets on aging: insights from the Twins Nutrition Study (TwiNS) — BMC Medicine

DNA Methylation: Can Your Diet Reduce Your Risk of Disease? — Healthline

Vegan Diet Can Improve Heart Health in Just 8 Weeks, Study Reveals — Science Alert

Cardiometabolic Effects of Omnivorous vs Vegan Diets in Identical TwinsA Randomized Clinical Trial — JAMA Network Open

This Daily Meal Plan Could Help Us Sustain 10 Billion People by Mid-Century — Science Alert

Vegan Food List: Over 100 Healthy Options For Your Next Grocery Haul — Trifecta

The post The 8-week diet proven to slow aging appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Other times, the research just adds to the pile of proof that already exists about something.

This one is the latter.

Over the years I’ve read and written about the dangers of sugar. Research has revealed that sugar…

• increases the risk of dying with heart disease, per Harvard
• makes tumors more aggressive
• encourages your body to produce kidney stones

… just to name a few.

So it didn’t surprise me in the least to hear that cutting out sugar helps slow your body’s aging process.

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Biological vs chronological age: what’s the difference?

We have our actual age — the number of years we’ve been alive — and then we have our biological age, which in simple terms is the wear and tear on cells and organs.

Your healthspan is more than just how many years you live. It’s the length of time you get to live a healthy, disease-free, productive life.

And it shouldn’t come as a surprise by now that eating sugar shortens your healthy years on this earth.

Now we know one way that does that is interfering with how your body ages…

Sugars impact on your body’s rate of aging

“We knew that high levels of added sugars are linked to worsened metabolic health and early disease, possibly more than any other dietary factor,” says UC San Francisco professor Dr. Elissa Epel. 

“Now we know that accelerated epigenetic aging is underlying this relationship, and this is likely one of many ways that excessive sugar intake limits healthy longevity.” 

In other words, sugars cause diseases, but the real cause of those diseases is sugar’s impact on the body’s rate of aging.

The researchers scored the diets of 342 women, both Black and white, against a measure they created called the “Epigenetic Nutrient Index (ENI)”, which is based on nutrients (not foods) that have been linked to anti-oxidative or anti-inflammatory processes and DNA maintenance and repair.

These include Vitamins A, C, B12 and E, folate, selenium, magnesium, dietary fiber and isoflavones.  

They also scored their diets to see how they compared to a Mediterranean-style diet rich in anti-inflammatory and antioxidant foods and then to a diet linked to lower risk for chronic disease.  

Sticking to any of these diets was significantly associated with lower epigenetic age — the degree of aging based on patterns of DNA methylation (a biological process that helps determine how quickly the aging process moves along).

But the addition of sugar sped everything up…

This study found that eating foods with added sugar was associated with accelerated biological aging — even when someone ate an otherwise healthy diet.

In other words, eating too much sugar can undo the benefits of sticking to an otherwise healthy diet, sabotaging all your efforts toward a long healthy life.

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Cutting down on sugar: where to start

Added sugars are just that. They are added to increase the sweetness of foods or drinks, usually at very high amounts, and almost always in processed foods. That’s why eating fruits or vegetables that are on the naturally sweet side doesn’t have the deleterious effects that added sugars do.

Obviously, reducing sugary treats, like ice cream, cake and cookies is the easiest place to start.

But there are plenty of sneaky sources of sugar that could have you making all those other sacrifices and still getting too much. Here are some of the sneakiest according to the National Kidney Foundation:

Condiments: Ketchup, sweet pickle relish and barbeque sauce may have as much as 4-5 grams of sugar per each 1 tablespoon serving.

Breakfast cereals: Most cereals can contain as much as 32-40 grams of sugar in just a ½ cup serving! Some healthier options may take that down to 4-10 grams per serving.

White bread: Not only is white bread stripped of whole wheat grain and almost all of its fiber and nutritional value, it contains high levels of sugar that spike glucose levels.

High Fructose Syrup: Because it’s so cheap, processed food manufacturers love it. You’ll find it in baked goods, but even in less obvious places, including pizza, bread, salad dressing and one you’d think is healthy — yogurt. One tablespoon of HFCS contains over 14 grams of sugar.

Soft drinks: Yes, you already know they are full of sugar, but giving up this one thing can make a huge dent in your sugar consumption. One soft drink has about seven teaspoons of sugar! That’s probably why a 30-year study recently named sodas and processed meat as the 2 worst ultraprocessed foods for our health.

Milk: You can drink about 12 grams of sugar in a glass of dairy whole milk. Some brands of whole milk that are ultraprocessed and ultrafiltered contain half that amount — and more protein.

Lean towards fresh fruits and vegetables (sweet potatoes are one of my favorites). They will be sweet but have the fiber your body needs to process the natural sugars.

But whatever you do, avoid artificial sweeteners and alternative sweeteners, like xylitol and erythritol that have been linked to blood clots.

Sources:

Healthy diet with less sugar is linked to younger biological age — Eureka Alert

Essential Nutrients, Added Sugar Intake, and Epigenetic Age in Midlife Black and White Women: NIMHD Social Epigenomics Program — JAMA Network

5 Sneaky Sources of Sugar — National Kidney Foundation

Here are the ultraprocessed foods you most need to avoid, according to a 30-year study — CNN

The post Accelerated aging: the downside of sugar you can slow appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

After all, who wouldn’t want to live longer, healthier and just plain better?

However, it turns out that all this time, we may have been looking for the secret to longevity in the wrong place.

That’s because according to groundbreaking research at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the fountain of youth may have been inside our own bodies all this time.

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Tweaking T cells to turn back time

So what is the real fountain of youth?

According to the researchers, our very own T cells.

T cells are a type of white blood cells that play a central role in our immune system. And it turns out that they can be turned into what scientists call a “living drug” to halt the ravages of time.

Here’s how it works…

T cells are taken from a patient’s own blood and are then altered in the lab by adding a gene for a receptor (called a chimeric antigen receptor or CAR).

The new CAR T cells are then injected into the body, where they go to work eliminating senescent cells.

Those are cells that have stopped replicating and instead build up in the body causing harmful inflammation that destroys immune health and speeds up aging. In fact, senescent cells are thought to be responsible for many of the diseases we grapple with later in life.

The Cold Spring Harbor researchers found that when CAR T cells were injected into mice, they not only gobbled up senescent cells like Pac-Man, they allowed the mice to live healthier lives.

Mice that were given the altered T cells:

• Maintained a lower body weight
• Benefitted from an improved metabolism
• Had a higher glucose tolerance
• Stayed more active

And all of those benefits came without any of the tissue damage or toxicity you would find with traditional drugs.

“If we give it to aged mice, they rejuvenate. If we give it to young mice, they age slower. No other therapy right now can do this,” said lead researcher, Corina Amor Vegas.

And the researchers say that just a single dose of CAR T cells can have lifelong effects, protecting against issues that come with aging like diabetes and obesity, since the cells are able to persist in the body for long periods.

So it seems as if the fountain of youth might truly be within our reach — at least it could be if the treatment receives FDA approval.

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Send senescent cells packing

Of course, you don’t have to wait for that to happen to start turning back the clock toward a longer, healthier life.

There are ways to support the mechanisms in your body tied to healthier aging — instead of just leaving it to chance — that can make it harder for those senescent cells to steal your youth and vitality, including:

• PQQ – Known as the ‘longevity nutrient’, PQQ lowers the risk of age-related ailments by improving the function of the mitochondria.
• CoQ10 – Without adequate CoQ10, mitochondria can’t function as they should, and aging accelerates. Research has shown CoQ10 is capable of reviving ailing mitochondria to restore lost function and slow aging. Be aware this is the nutrient statins can lower.
• Resveratrol – Found in the skin of grapes and dark chocolate, resveratrol helps rejuvenate senescent cells, turning back the clock so they behave like youthful cells again.
• Grape seed extract – A polyphenol in grape seeds known as procyanidin C1, or PCC1, has been shown to significantly extend both the healthspan and lifespan of old mice by promoting the death of senescent cells.
• Fisetin – This compound found in fruits like strawberries and apples is a senotherapeutic agent. This means fisetin is capable of specifically targeting only the senescent cells in the damaged tissue to help rein in the damage and slow aging.

Sources:

The fountain of youth is … a T cell? – EurekAlert!

The post This ‘living drug’ could be the real fountain of youth appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

I need to be a little more careful in the shower. Walking on uneven ground also demands a little more attention.

Apparently, I’m right on schedule…

It seems that balance is something that tends to be better preserved as we get older — at least in comparison to things like aerobic fitness and muscle strength and flexibility.

That is until we hit our sixth decade of life.

Then, our ability to maintain balance starts to take a nosedive.

That really concerns me, especially after reading some recent research that talks about a simple balance test.

If you fail this test, the study shows, you may be headed for an early grave…

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Poor balance signals a shorter lifespan

The study was published in June in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Its purpose was to find out whether a balance test might be a reliable indicator of a person’s risk of death within the next decade.

If so, the researchers reasoned, a simple balance test ought to be included in routine health checks for older adults.

They examined results from 1,702 participants ages 51 to 75 who had taken part in a cohort study (a long-term observational study) between February 2009 to December 2020. The cohort study examined various measures of ill health or poor fitness and their associations with early death.

As part of the study, participants had been asked to stand on one foot for ten seconds. They were given specific instructions on how to position their bodies so that the assessment could be more standardized and comparisons could be made.

The proportion of those unable to stand on one leg for ten seconds was around five percent among 51- to 55-year-olds and eight percent among 56- to 60- year-olds.

Just under 18 percent of 61- to 65-year-olds were unable to pass the test. Among 66- to 70-year-olds, that percentage more than doubled to 37 percent.

Around 54 percent of those aged 71 to 75 failed the test.

That means that people in their 70s were ten times more likely to fail this balance test than people just twenty years their junior.

After accounting for age, sex, and underlying conditions, an inability to stand on one leg for ten seconds was associated with an 84 percent higher risk of death from any cause within the next decade.

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Don’t let poor balance sell you short

Of course, no causal connection was made here between poor balance and early death. In other words, poor balance itself isn’t what causes a shorter life.

But the numbers don’t lie. Because an active lifestyle contributes to longevity, poor balance is likely an indication of not living up to that potential to keep a strong and nimble body.

If you’re in your 50s or younger, now is the time to work on improving and preserving your balance.

And if you’re in your 60s and beyond, it’s definitely not too late to engage in exercises and activities that will improve your sense of balance and keep you steady as you get older.

Yoga is an age-old practice that will improve your balance. There are yoga classes in almost every town and city across the country and plenty of how-to videos online, including simple exercises you can do using a chair to help steady yourself until you can do them without support.

The slow, controlled movements of tai chi can also teach your body balance and control.

If any of that seems a little challenging to start out with, there are You can find those 14 exercises to help seniors improve strength and balance here.

Sources:

Can’t Complete This Balance Test? Study Finds It Predicts an Earlier Grave — Science Alert

Successful 10-second one-legged stance performance predicts survival in middle-aged and older individuals — British Journal of Sports Medicine

Inability to stand on one leg in mid to later life linked to higher risk of death — University of Bristol 

The post Why poor balance is a sure sign of a shorter life appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

On the one hand, research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that people who run have a 27 percent lower risk of dying from all causes than people who don’t run.

Yet on the other, it’s been found that a high proportion of all exercise-induced cardiac events occur during marathons, especially in men 35 years of age and older.

So how are you to decide if running is a health boost or a health danger for your?

Research that looked at the lifespans of elite-level runners just might have the answer…

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Proof going all out has benefits

The analysis delved into the public health data of the first 200 people to run a mile in under four minutes during the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

The findings might just make you want to lace up your running shoes.

The research showed that these elite-level runners, known for pushing their respiratory, cardiovascular, metabolic, and musculoskeletal systems to the max, lived almost five years longer than the general population.

And five years is nothing to sneeze at!

What’s more, this isn’t the first time endurance athletes have been shown to have an edge when it comes to living longer…

In fact, a 2018 study demonstrated that the first 20 runners to run a mile in under four minutes lived an average of 12 years beyond the general life expectancy.

And in 2022 Harvard scientists showed that people who push themselves past the limit, exercising above and beyond the recommended levels, benefit from a 30 percent lower risk of death. This is a 10 percent lower risk of death than seen in those who only exercise enough to meet activity guidelines.

Additionally, studies of Tour de France cyclists, Olympic athletes and rowers have backed up the idea that elite athletes enjoy longer lifespans than the general population.

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Why running is good for your health

Of course, you’re probably wondering how putting in the time to run long distances could add years to your life.

Here’s the answer from University of Alberta cardiologist Stephen Foulkes and his colleagues:

“While we could not determine the cause of death for the majority of runners, studies reporting on Tour de France cyclists and cohorts of Olympians (that include middle to long-distance runners) suggest the longevity effects are primarily mediated by decreased rates of cardiovascular and cancer-related mortality.”

In other words, what most of us consider to be ‘extreme exercise’ could be exactly what’s needed to help us live longer.

Build up slowly

But despite these benefits, it’s important to remember to not dive right into mile-long runs or longer.

Instead, you should work your way up slowly.

Good rules of thumb to exercise more safely include:

• Increase your running time and distance slowly – You can start with as little as five to 10 minutes of exercise before building up.
• Don’t forget to warm up – At the beginning of each run, start by taking it slow by walking or jogging to get your heart rate up.
• Take time to cool down – Just like your warm-up, cooling down is all about your heart. However, instead of ramping things up, a cool down lets your heart rate return to normal.

While running could be the key to living a longer life, give your body time to adapt to your exercise program and you’ll find it easier to stick with.

Sources:

Elite Runners Live Years Longer Than The Average Person, Scientists Find – Science Alert

The post The longevity debate: To run or not to run appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

If you’ve inherited a genetic predisposition to a shortened lifespan, it can be hard to shake the feeling that the cards dealt are just not in your favor.

You might think “game over” because there’s nothing left to do.

But research is proving that no matter what your genes say, you have the power to change how they impact your health and longevity…

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Genetics versus lifestyle: A side-by-side comparison

Plenty of studies have looked at how a healthy lifestyle can improve longevity. Many have also examined the effects of being dealt bad genetic “cards.”

But they haven’t compared the two side-by-side — until now.

A collaborative t study from universities in China and the University of Edinburgh in the UK looked at both genetic risk and lifestyle simultaneously to analyze their effect on longevity.

Study participants were a group of more than 350,000 adults who had participated in the UK  Biobank study between 2006 and 2010. 

The participants were asked about their diet, physical activity, smoking, alcohol intake, body shape, and sleep duration, and grouped into three tiers based on their responses.

Then they were also split into three groups based on their polygenic risk score, a statistical calculation based on the presence or absence of multiple genomic variants, without taking environmental or other factors into account.

The study followed these people for an average of thirteen years — and the findings were clear…

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Healthy living beats genetics more than half the time

The researchers found that genetics alone can raise the risk of early death by 21 percent, but…

• An An unhealthy lifestyle featuring poor sleep, lack of exercise, processed foods, cigarettes and alcohol was also linked to a 78 percent greater risk of dying early — regardless of someone’s genetic
• People with both an unhealthy lifestyle and a genetic predisposition to a shorter lifespan were twice as likely to die during the study as those with a lower genetic risk but better lifestyle habits.

But here’s the real kicker…

Those who chose a healthier lifestyle — not smoking, exercising regularly, eating well and getting enough sleep — were able to offset their genetic risk for a shorter lifespan by 62 percent.

In other words, a healthy lifestyle beats genetics way more than half the time.

Lifestyle choices that add years to your life

So the choice is clear: practice healthy lifestyle habits or face the consequences. It’s easier than you might think…

These eight healthy practices can not only rewrite your genetic destiny as far as heart disease (still the number one killer in the U.S.) but also slow biological aging to add as much as 6 years to your life.

You can probably guess what some of them are: not smoking, sleeping enough, and eating a diet high in fruits, vegetables and whole grains and low in processed foods (the Mediterranean diet is your best choice).

The exercise part is often what holds people back. I always advise walking as a great way to ease into fitness. In fact, it doesn’t take that many steps to live longer. And you can get them in short bursts throughout your day.

And if you’re looking to avoid many of the pitfalls of aging that can shorten lifespan, watch out for nutritional deficiencies, particularly vitamin D, found to have a significant impact on brain health and longevity, and vitamin K2 which fights a common contributor of unhealthy aging.

Sources:

A Healthy Lifestyle Could Offset Genetic Risk For Early Death by a Hopeful 62% — Science Alert

Genetic predisposition, modifiable lifestyles, and their joint effects on human lifespan: evidence from multiple cohort studies — BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine

Years of life lost — National Institutes of Health

The post How to stack the odds against bad genes by 62% appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

I used to be that person who’d wait and wait and wait for a slow elevator to make it to the ground floor before I’d walk a single flight of stairs.

Not anymore…

In the long run, it may take me longer to climb three flights than hitch a ride, but once I learned how quickly I could increase my longevity by improving just about all of the factors that team up for metabolic syndrome, everything changed…

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Stair climbing can help you live longer

A few years ago, I wrote about how stair climbing blows all your “exercise excuses” out of the water:

• Stairs are already installed in many homes, or outside, ready and waiting.
• You don’t need any special workout gear.
• You don’t need to go outside in the heat, cold or rain.
• You can even work this exercise routine into your busy daily schedule.

Now, a large-scale meta-analysis (review of past research) has confirmed everything I said back then — and then some.

British researchers looked at study data from about 480,000 participants, ranging in age from mid-30s to mid-80s, about half of whom were women.  

They analyzed participants’ risk of heart disease based on factors that included blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking history, and family and genetic risk factors. Participants also reported on their lifestyle and exercise habits, including stair climbing, via questionnaire.

Over the course of 12 years, those who reported climbing stairs regularly had about a 39 percent lower likelihood of death from heart disease, compared to those who didn’t take the stairs. They also had a lower risk of heart attacks and strokes.

And, it’s important to note that people who stopped climbing stairs during this time saw their risk of heart disease rise — a reminder that consistency is crucial if you’re going to benefit from exercise.

How much stair climbing is enough? Two studies in the meta-analysis pointed to the ideal number of flights a day: one found that climbing six to ten flights a day was linked to a reduced risk of premature death; the other found that climbing more than five flights a day lowered the risk of cardiovascular disease by 20 percent.

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Stair climbing’s benefits happen fast

The last thing you should know is that the benefits of stair climbing can kick in pretty quickly. A recent review found that your cardiometabolic risk can improve in as little as four to eight weeks.

This same study found that stair climbing can improve body composition, blood pressure, and insulin sensitivity — all factors that if left to progress can result in metabolic syndrome.

Climbing stairs is classified as “moderate physical activity,” right along with playing tennis or badminton, walking at 4 miles per hour, or biking at 10 miles per hour.

But a really cool thing about stair climbing is that it’s a mix of aerobic exercise and resistance training — and that means it can build muscle.

According to Dr. Carlin Long, a cardiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, “You are building up those leg muscles by having to pull your weight up to the next stair.” 

This is a key benefit given that only 24 percent of adults in the U.S. meet the recommended targets for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening exercise.

So why not get started now? Put on some music and start climbing!

Sources:

Elevator or stairs? Your choice could boost longevity, study finds —  NPR/Maine Public

Stair climbing and mortality: a prospective cohort study from the UK Biobank — Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle

Daily stair climbing, disease susceptibility, and risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: A prospective cohort study —  Atherosclerosis

Stair-climbing interventions on cardio-metabolic outcomes in adults: A scoping review —  Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences

The post The fast health benefits of taking the stairs appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But we also have a biological age that’s based on the health and condition of the cells that make up our body

The two don’t always match. Sometimes your body — and even individual organs — can be a lot older than your birth date.

We have no control over the passage of time. But we do have a lot of control over our physiological age.

That means we have a lot of say over how healthy — or infirm — we may be as we age.

In fact, if you’re already taking care of your heart health by practicing some known lifestyle factors, you may have already slowed down the aging of your body.

Sounds like magic, I know, but it isn’t…

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Your heart drives the aging process

Methylation is a chemical reaction in the body in which a small molecule called a methyl group gets added to DNA.

DNA methylation is a normal and necessary process that controls gene expression. But when there’s too much of it going on, bad things can happen.

Conditions as diverse as cancer, chronic fatigue, and systemic inflammation are a direct result of poor methylation.

And then there’s heart disease.

Poor methylation can cause increased levels of the amino acid homocysteine. There is a strong relationship between high homocysteine levels and artery damage that can lead to atherosclerosis, which can age you before you know you have it, and heart disease.

And according to recent research, heart disease is the main driver of premature aging.

A heart-healthy lifestyle can slow aging

A study published by the American Heart Association shows that following a heart-healthy lifestyle may slow down the process of DNA methylation in our cells, and by doing so slow down how fast we age.

Using the AHA’s Life’s Essential 8 tool, researchers obtained scores on cardiovascular health for 5,682 adults drawn from the Framingham Heart Study, which for over 40 years has been a source of data on risk factors for heart disease.

Participants were scored from 0 to 100, as well as rated using four tools that assess biological age using DNA methylation, and a fifth tool that assesses a person’s genetic tendency towards accelerated biological aging.

Participants were followed for up to 14 years for new-onset cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular death, or death from any cause.

The takeaways:

• For each 13-point increase in a person’s Life’s Essential 8 score, the risk of developing cardiovascular disease for the first time was reduced by about 35%, death from cardiovascular disease was reduced by 36% and death from any cause was reduced by 29%.
• DNA methylation accounted for 39%, 39%, and 78% reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular death and all-cause death, respectively, regardless of genetic predisposition to accelerated aging.

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How to live longer and healthier

“Our study findings tell us that no matter what your actual age is, better heart-healthy behaviors and managing heart disease risk factors were associated with a younger biological age and a lower risk of heart disease and stroke, death from heart disease and stroke and death from any cause,” said Jiantao Ma, Ph.D., senior study author and an assistant professor in the division of nutrition epidemiology and data science at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston.

Are you ready to get started?

The eight factors in Life’s Essential 8 shouldn’t surprise you:

• Eat better
• Be more active
• Quit tobacco
• Get healthy sleep
• Manage weight
• Control cholesterol
• Manage blood sugar
• Manage blood pressure

Whether it’s working with your doctor, joining a support group to quit smoking, or getting out and walking with friends, everything you do now to get a handle on these eight factors will buy you more years — more healthy years — to enjoy life.

Sources:

Heart healthy behaviors may help reverse rapid cell aging — Eureka Alert

Epigenetic Age Mediates the Association of Life’s Essential 8 With Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality — Journal of the America Heart Association

Life’s Essential 8 — American Heart Association

The post Perk of a heart-healthy lifestyle: Slower aging appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

I’m nearly 68 and finally getting started with a consistent exercise routine.

I only wish I’d started sooner — because the newest research says that if you adopt an active lifestyle at mid-age, you can still “turn back the clock” and make all the difference in your senior years…

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The difference physical activity makes

First, let’s do a quick review.

Study after study in the last decade or so points directly to non-sedentary behavior as the ticket to a longer life.

Longer, and healthier. I mean, what’s the point of living until 90 if you’re sick and unable to enjoy it?

Not too long ago, I reported about all the diseases you can avoid simply by sitting less, including diabetes, dementia, and heart disease. And my colleagues have reported on the number of diseases that can be avoided just by counting your steps.

Maybe you haven’t taken that advice to heart — but it may not be too late….

The most recent research says you still have time to “catch up” and reap these benefits — especially if you’re a woman.

How to reverse years of inactivity

A study that tracked more than 11,000 women in Australia has found that even if you didn’t exercise in your younger years, you can make up for it so your 70s and beyond are even better.

But there’s a catch…

“Our findings suggest that to maintain good physical health-related quality of life at around age 70, one may be able to “make up” for not being active earlier by becoming active in the mid-50s,” write the research team, led by scientists at the University of Sydney.

“This finding supports public health initiatives for messaging around “turning back the clock” in midlife through lifestyle changes such as physical activity.”

The researchers followed a sample of women aged 47 to 52 who were part of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH). They tracked the women from 1998 to 2019, with mental and physical health check-ups every three years.

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The women who consistently stuck to at least 150 minutes a week of physical activity over 15 years scored three points higher for physical health on measurements used in the ALSWH.

Now, three points may not seem like a lot. But the researchers are quick to put this into perspective…

“Physical functioning is critical for maintaining independent functional ability, which is a predictor of various health outcomes including disability, hospitalization, and mortality.”

In other words, the less functionally independent an older woman becomes, the more likely she is to die sooner rather than later, or succumb to frailty and become disabled or hospitalized.

One important note: women in the study who waited until their 60s to start exercising consistently did not see the same benefits as those who started in their 50s.

Start with an exercise “snack“

But how to get started, especially if you’ve led an inactive life up until now?

It’s not as hard as you might think.

You don’t have to sweat and groan. Short workouts are the best way to start if you haven’t exercised in a while.

Exercise “snacking” can help maintain the strength of the 600+ muscles in your body, allowing you to do things like squat to pick up a grandchild or lift a bag of groceries onto the counter.

(And by the way, your heart is a muscle, so anything you do that builds muscle strength probably protects your heart, too!).

Find some 12-minute tasks — gardening, for example — that help you break a sweat.

Other ways to “snack” on exercise:

• Turn on the radio and dance around the house (yes, alone!) until you break a sweat
• Play frisbee
• Climb some stairs (a great place to start since leg strength can keep you out of a nursing home!)
• Take a brisk walk around the block
• Learn to play golf – you’d be surprised at the health benefits it can offer!

Even if you’re past 60, don’t feel like you can’t benefit from getting active. In another study, adults 60 and over reduced their risk of premature death by getting in 6,000 to 8,000 steps a day.

Sources:

Exercising in Midlife May ‘Reverse’ Years of Inactivity, Large Study Finds — Science Alert

Physical activity across midlife and health-related quality of life in Australian women: A target trial emulation using a longitudinal cohort — PLOS Medicine

Sedentary behaviour and life expectancy in the USA: a cause-deleted life table analysis — BMJ

The post What catching up on exercise before 60 can do for your 70s appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Unhealthy gums have been linked to weight gain, lung infections, heart failure, brain shrinkage and prostate trouble.

And this one may shock you: Poor oral health is one of the ten leading causes of loss of healthy longevity!

Luckily, there’s a new hero on the horizon to put a stop to those risks, by pulling the plug on the bacteria responsible for the disease in the first place — and it already has an impressive reputation as an anti-aging superfood…

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Green tea on steroids

The hero is matcha — a supercharged green tea made from the raw leaves of the Camellia sinensis green tea plant.

In fact, much of the amazing benefits of matcha come from the fact that it has 137 times more antioxidants than regular green tea.

That means 137 times more free-radical scavenging, inflammation-fighting and anti-aging power — in one little cup!

And that could be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to matcha especially when you consider that simple green tea extract can stop the growth of dangerous germs like E. coli.

It’s even been shown to keep P. gingivalis (the bacteria responsible for gum disease) from growing and reduce its adherence to the epithelial cells in the mouth.

Matcha versus gum disease

Researchers in Japan decided to put matcha to the test against P. gingivalis in a two-step test to determine the winner.

First, they pitted a matcha solution against 16 oral bacterial species, including three strains of P. gingivalis.

The matcha mouthwash showed little activity against healthy strains of oral bacteria. This is good news because regular mouthwash, like what you get at the drugstore, damages the oral microbiome by killing good bacteria in your mouth responsible for health-promoting processes.

But within 2 hours, nearly all the cultured P. gingivalis cells had been killed. After four hours of exposure, all the gum disease-causing germs were dead.

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Next, the researchers recruited 45 people with chronic periodontitis, randomly assigning them to three groups.

One group used barley tea mouthwash, the second was given a mouthwash made from matcha extract and the third went with a prescription mouthwash for inflammation.

And after analysis, the matcha mouthwash users were the clear winners…

The analysis revealed that patients in the group that used matcha mouthwash showed a significant reduction in the level of P. gingivalis compared to the two other groups.

Raise a cup for a healthy mouth

So if you’re ready to fight off gum disease, consider ditching your traditional mouthwash and trying matcha instead.

You could make it a habit to sip a cup or two during your day, or even allow it to cool and swish it around your teeth and gums.

Matcha is easy to find both online and in grocery stores. It’s typically a powdered tea you whisk into hot water.

It’s definitely worth a try. Some holistic dentists even say, that according to studies, it may protect teeth from erosion and reverse tooth decay.

In addition to adding matcha to your oral care routine, follow these 6 steps to reduce your risk for gum disease naturally.

Sources:

Matcha mouthwash inhibits bacteria that causes periodontitis — EurekAlert!

Green Tea and Your Teeth: How Matcha Improves Oral Health — Rejuvenation Health

The post The tea that takes down gum disease-causing bacteria appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

And it’s no wonder. Not only is it chock full of bioactive compounds, but recently researchers found many of those nutrients can, incredibly, cross the blood-brain barrier.

But if one food is the centerpiece of this disease-fighting buffet, it would have to be olive oil.

Not only is it a powerhouse on its own, packed with polyphenols, omega-3 and 6 fatty acids and oleic acid (also known as omega-9 fatty acid), but it enhances the extraction of nutrients from other foods.

Previous research shows olive oil fights aging, heart disease and osteoporosis, supports healthy arteries, heals intestinal injury and reduces risks for diabetes and depression. It’s also been linked to reduced mortality from four major health threats.

But it’s the brain benefits that just keep stacking up…

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Olive oil lowers death risk from dementia

Scientists at Harvard University observed more than 92,000 adults over 28 years who were 56 years of age on average at the start of the study. The researchers assessed their diets every four years using a questionnaire and the Alternative Healthy Eating Index, which assigns ratings to foods and nutrients that can predict chronic disease outcomes.

Overall, they found that consuming at least 7 grams of olive oil every day was associated with a 28 percent lower risk of dementia-related death when compared with those who never or rarely ate olive oil. That’s a bit over half a tablespoon of olive oil.

Replacing around 1.2 teaspoons of margarine or mayonnaise with olive oil daily was linked with an 8 to 14 percent lower risk of death from dementia. No significant changes were found when substituting with other vegetable oils or butter.

Participants who had the APOEe4 gene, notorious for raising Alzheimer’s disease risk, were five to nine times more likely than noncarriers to die from dementia. Still, the findings regarding olive oil remained the same even after taking this factor into account.

Another interesting aspect of the study is that these findings stood regardless of the diet quality of the participants, although it could be that those who consume olive oil have healthier lifestyles in general.

The researchers say substituting fats like margarine and mayonnaise with olive oil could potentially improve dementia-free longevity.

“Beyond heart health, the findings extend the current dietary recommendations of choosing olive oil and other vegetable oils for cognitive-related health,” the researchers wrote in the study. They did caution, however, that the findings were observational and did not demonstrate a causal relationship.

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Tips on getting the most from olive oil

Olive oil has many uses. You can cook with it, of course, but it’s delicious when used in a meat marinade, salad dressing, vinaigrette or pesto. You can even drizzle it on sandwiches or mix some up with fresh or dried herbs to make a dip for bread.

When shopping for olive oil, the first thing to look for is whether it’s the extra-virgin variety. Unlike regular olive oil, extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) contains more than 200 antioxidant plant compounds, including polyphenols. This gives EVOO an edge in terms of health benefits.

You’ll also want to buy the freshest EVOO you can find, so look for a brand with the harvest date marked on it. The closer to the purchase date, the fresher the oil is and the more of its aroma, flavor and health benefits it retains.

You don’t need to look for terms like “cold-pressed.” EVOO always comes from the first pressing of the olives, and it must be made with no added heat.

Try to find an EVOO that’s stored in a dark glass bottle or (even better) metal tin. If the EVOO is stored in a clear glass bottle, it will have been exposed to light and lost most of its aroma and flavor.

Once you bring it home, store your EVOO in a cool, dark environment, well away from your stove. Exposure to heat over long periods of time will shorten the shelf life of your EVOO.

Editor’s Note: You’re invited to join a tiny handful of Americans who enjoy rare, fresh-pressed olive oil all year long. Take my word for it, there’s a difference in taste, quality and benefit! Click here to learn more…

Sources:

Mediterranean staple may lower your risk of death from dementia, study finds — CNN

Consumption of Olive Oil and Diet Quality and Risk of Dementia-Related Death — JAMA Network Open

The post Dementia-free longevity in half a tablespoon a day appeared first on Easy Health Options®.