You can slow down your aging process and help stave off heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. U.S. News & World Report offers some tips on how to do it:

1. Free radicals. Free radicals are chemically unstable molecules that attack your cells and damage your DNA. You can limit your exposure to them by avoiding cigarettes, trans fats, charred meats, and other sources.

Organic fruits and vegetables will also limit your exposure to pesticides and herbicides, which contain the harmful molecules.

1. Inflammation. Inflammation is a major player in many diseases of aging, including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s. One way to avoid it is to follow a Mediterranean-style diet.

Other great anti-inflammatory foods include turmeric, dark chocolate, and the anti-aging chemical resveratrol. Exercise is another great way to lower inflammation.

1. Glycation. Glycation is what happens when sugar mixes with proteins and fats to form molecules that promote aging. Advanced glycation end products, or AGEs, are thought to accelerate your aging process by churning out free radicals and promoting inflammation. One way to avoid ingesting AGEs is to turn down the heat when you cook. The browning effect of high-heat cooking causes these molecules to form. Limiting your intake of sugar-filled foods in general will also help.
2. Stress. Stress initiates the release of a variety of hormones that make your pulse race and cause your blood pressure to rise. The hormone cortisol, released to lessen these effects, also creates problems when it remains chronically elevated. Try practicing relaxation techniques to help manage stress, and get enough sleep every night.

Sources:

U.S. News & World Report July 29, 2010

The Guardian August 1, 2010

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

Death is surely inevitable, but I do believe you can live far longer than the average life expectancy, which, in the US, is around 78. Genetics may play a role, but is NOT the final determining factor for whether you’ll live a long healthy life.

Barring an accident, your lifestyle has everything to do with your longevity. It’s already been established that diet can override genetic predispositions for disease, for example, so don’t fall into the trap of believing your health and longevity is somehow the inevitable result of what’s in your gene pool.

Please understand that the list in the summary above is from US News and World Report and it is THEIR concept of what contributes to aging. Of course you don’t get the newsletter for their views so I am going to use their list as a springboard to provide you with my thoughts on the topic.

The Leading Cause of Premature Ageing and Premature Death

Increased insulin and leptin receptor sensitivity has clearly become the leading candidate for premature death. This results from two primary conditions: too much sugar and processed foods, combined with insufficient exercise.

Interestingly, controlling these two factors could likely eliminate more than 90 percent of:

• High blood pressure
• Obesity
• Diabetes
• High cholesterol

Of all the molecules capable of inflicting damage in your body, probably the most damaging of all are sugar molecules. Fructose in particular is an extremely potent pro-inflammatory agent that speeds up the aging process.

This is mostly an artefact of the post-industrial agricultural revolution that we live in as over thirty years ago scientists learned how to cheaply produce sugar from corn and now it is loaded in nearly all processed foods and has become the number one source of calories in most all developed countries.

Fructose is a major contributor to:

• Insulin resistance and obesity
• Elevated blood pressure
• Elevated triglycerides and elevated LDL
• Cardiovascular disease, liver disease, cancer, arthritis and even gout

How does it do all this?

Fructose adversely affects your body in a number of ways, but one of the mechanisms that causes significant damage is glycation; a process in which the sugar bonds with proteins and form so-called advanced glycation end products, or AGEs. It’s a fitting acronym because – along with oxidation – it’s one of the major molecular mechanisms whereby damage accrues in your body, which leads to disease, aging, and eventually, death.

When sugar glycates it creates inflammation, which activates your immune system in a defensive manoeuvre. Macrophages are scavenger cells that are part of your immune defence system, and as such they have special receptors for AGEs, aptly called RAGEs (think: raging inflammation). These RAGEs bind to the AGEs and get rid of them.

Unfortunately, this process can leave its fair share of battle scars. Inside your arteries, for example, the scar tissue created from this process is called plaque. This also explains why there’s such a strong connection between diabetes and heart disease.

As a standard recommendation, I strongly advise keeping your TOTAL fructose consumption below 25 grams per day.

However, most people would be wise to limit their fructose to 15 grams or less, particularly if you have elevated uric acid levels, which can be used as a predictor for fructose toxicity. (For more information on this, please see this recent article.)

This includes keeping track of your fructose intake from whole fruits. For a helpful chart showing the fructose content of many common fruits, please see this link.

I recommend this lower level simply because if you consume processed foods or sweet beverages at all, you’re virtually guaranteed to consume “hidden” sources of fructose.

How to Prevent Free-Radical Damage

The most widely accepted idea for life extension is the free-radical theory, which says that as you age, you begin to “self destruct,” courtesy of free radicals – aggressive chemical compounds created as a by-product of your natural metabolism that damage your DNA.

Lifestyle choices such as smoking, consuming processed foods laden with trans fats and other harmful chemical additives, along with pesticide- and other chemical exposures further add to your body’s free radical burden.

With time, your DNA eventually becomes damaged beyond your body’s ability to repair, and once your biological processed fail, you die.

Antioxidants continually combat these free radicals – which is why a diet high in natural antioxidants is so important for your health and longevity. Antioxidants are abundant in a number of foods, and your BEST bet to get high quality antioxidants is to consume raw fresh organic vegetables and fruits.

Supplementation can also be useful and resveratrol appears to be particularly potent and is often referred to as a “fountain of youth” that can extend lifespan. It is unique among antioxidants because it can cross the blood-brain barrier to help protect your brain and nervous system.

Another important but often overlooked antioxidant is coenzyme Q-10, but more specifically the reduced version, called ubiquinol..

Your liver produces CoQ10 and it is actually an essential nutrient for health and longevity because it provides energy to every single cell in your body. Unfortunately, after age 25, your natural levels of this critical compound begin to decline, which is why I personally take the reduced form, ubiquinol, every day.

CoQ10 is also an absolute necessity if you’re on statin drugs as they can quickly deplete your body of coQ10. This is in part why statins are so harmful to your heart.

Glutathione (GSH) is another important and underutilized antioxidant. This is one antioxidant though I believe you can optimize with proper diet and if you are leading a healthy lifestyle it is probably unnecessary to supplement. However if you are sick and disabled and recovering, you certainly could consider supplementation.

Interestingly, increased glutathione levels may actually play a role in stopping telomere shortening, which is one of the most exciting anti-aging discoveries in recent years.

Now, I’m not a fan of taking fistfuls of supplements in lieu of altering your diet to get the nutrients you need, and I have reservations against using glutathione supplements in particular. When it comes to glutathione, one of your best sources is high quality whey protein. Other food sources include free range animal foods and eggs.

Just remember that there are vast differences between whey products. You’ll want to make sure your whey protein is derived from grass-fed cows and very carefully processed to preserve the fragile amino acid precursors. Many whey proteins on the market are highly processed and may also contain undesirable additives.

I am so convinced by the research on telomeres and glutathione that I take Miracle Whey protein every morning, and a second dose before my twice weekly strength training days.

Learning from Those Who’ve Lived the Longest

Longevity researchers have long searched for the magic common denominators that might explain the extended life spans of centenarians. What they found is that the people who’ve lived the longest tend to eat a natural, plant-based diet and live in areas that promote regular physical activity, such as daily walking.

They also tend to have effective strategies for coping with the inevitable stresses of life, such as prayer, meditation, and having strong social networks. In fact, being able to effectively cope with stress, it turns out, is one of the MAJOR common denominators for those who live long, healthy lives.

One of the proposed reasons for this strong link is that stress, just like fructose, promotes inflammation in your body.

Indeed, most of the research indicates that longevity hinges on preventing chronic inflammation, and avoiding sugar/fructose while consuming an antioxidant-rich diet of whole, fresh foods, along with physical exercise and effective stress reduction methods work hand-in-hand to do just that.

The Anti-Aging Lifestyle

Going back to where I started, of all the healthy lifestyle strategies I know of that can have a significant impact on your longevity, normalizing your insulin and leptin levels is probably the most important.

There is no question that optimizing your insulin levels is an absolute necessity if you want to slow down your aging process, and that means modifying your diet to avoid excessive amounts of fructose, grains, and other pro-inflammatory ingredients like trans fats.

Here are the rest of my top “anti-aging” recommendations:

• Learn how to effectively cope with stress – As discussed earlier, stress has a direct impact on inflammation, which in turn underlies many of the chronic diseases that kill people prematurely every day, so developing effective coping mechanisms is a major longevity-promoting factor.

Meditation, prayer, physical activity and exercise are all viable options that can help you maintain emotional and mental equilibrium. I also strongly believe in using energy psychology tools such as the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) to address deeper, oftentimes hidden emotional problems.

• Eat a healthy diet based on your nutritional type – The Metabolic Typing nutrition plan, based on natural whole foods, is your first step toward increasing your chances of living a longer, healthier life. This is so important; Fit for You now offer the full nutritional typing program for only £100.
• Optimize Your Vitamin D Levels. This is another very powerful and inexpensive intervention that can have profound benefits on your health. In the summer you can do this for free by careful and safe sun exposure but even in the winter a therapeutic level of oral vitamin D (typically 5-10,000 units of vitamin D3 for most adults)
• Animal based omega-3 fats – Correcting the ratio of omega-3 to healthful omega-6 fats is a strong factor in helping people live longer. This typically means increasing your intake of animal based omega-3 fats, such as krill oil, while decreasing your intake of damaged omega-6 fats (think trans fats).

I do not, however, recommend the new prescription strength fish oil medication, sold under the name Lovaza. Don’t be fooled by their “all-natural” PR campaign. This is actually a drug to treat very high triglyceride levels.

However, as with most other drugs, Lovaza comes with potentially dangerous side effects that you would not experience with a natural fish oil or krill oil supplement. Side effects include flu-like symptoms, infections, back pain, skin rashes, upset stomach, taste changes, digestive issues, chest pain, migraines and respiratory problems!

Additionally, new research strongly suggests that 500 mg of krill oil is more potent and far less expensive.

• Get your antioxidants from foods –Good sources include blueberries, cranberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, beans, and artichokes.
• Use coconut oil – Another excellent anti-aging food is coconut oil, known to reduce your risk of heart disease and lower your cholesterol, among other things. In fact, it’s doubly beneficial because it can be both eaten and applied directly to your skin. Coconut oil can be used in place of other oils, margarine, butter, or shortening, and can be used for all your cooking needs.
• Get your resveratrol naturally – Resveratrol is one of the forerunners in the anti-aging pill race, but more than likely, by the time they’ve manipulated it into a synthetic pill (like the fish oil discussed above), it won’t be healthy for you.

Although resveratrol is the antioxidant found in red wine, I can’t recommend drinking wine in the hopes of extending your life because alcohol is a neurotoxin that can poison your brain and harm your body’s delicate hormonal balance. Instead, get your resveratrol from natural sources, such as whole grape skins and seeds, raspberries, mulberries, and peanuts.

• Exercise regularly, and correctly– Studies repeatedly show that regular, moderate-to-vigorous exercise can help prevent or delay your onset of hypertension, obesity, heart disease, osteoporosis, and the falls that lead to hip fracture. Although a lifetime of regular exercise is ideal, it’s never too late to start. It’s been shown that even individuals in their 70′s can substantially increase both strength and endurance with exercise.

I’m also excited about the research showing how high-intensity, interval training can increase longevity as this specific style of training promotes human growth hormone production – yet another aspect of the longevity puzzle.

• Avoid as many chemicals, toxins, and pollutants as possible – This includes tossing out your toxic household cleaners, soaps, personal hygiene products, air fresheners, bug sprays, lawn pesticides, and insecticides, just to name a few, and replacing them with non-toxic alternatives.
• Avoid pharmaceutical drugs – Pharmaceutical drugs kill thousands of people prematurely every year – as an expected side effect of the action of the drug. And, if you adhere to a healthy lifestyle, you most likely will never need any of them in the first place.

Incorporating these healthy lifestyle guidelines will help set you squarely on the path to optimal health and give you the best shot at living a much longer life. For even more anti-ageing information, please feel free to browse our articles.

Natural (Total) Yoghurt, Chopped Apple & Chopped Walnuts.

This is what we are talking about when we ask our clients to eat healthily.

To adjust to your specific Metabolic Type, you would just alter the proportions. In the picture you have approx 50% Protein and 50% carbohydrate.

For the Slow Oxidiser you would need to increase your carbohydrate amount whilst lowering the protein percentage.

For the Fast Oxidiser increasing the protein amount and lowering the carbohydrate percentage.

What could be simpler?

Cancer Vaccines?

CANCER VACCINES

(A comment by Dr Mercola)

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just get a shot, or in the future just eat a plant that is reengineered to contain a vaccine that would rid of us cancer? Of course it would.

Unfortunately that is not the way our bodies were designed. Cancer prevention is not as simplistic as taking a cancer vaccination. Maintaining a high level of immune integrity is the key, and this is done through the basics of emotional balancing, optimized nutrition, avoidance of toxins, proper sleep, exercise and hydration. At Fit for You we advise on these areas and recommend Metabolic Typing.

This research is clearly another deceptive ploy by Merck to generate revenue for their vaccine division in exchange for the delusional hope that a vaccine will reduce the risk of cancer.

Nicholas Regush writes an excellent review on this topic, which he is quite familiar with as a result of his review of the literature on HHV6 for his worthwhile book The Virus Within.

The Price Pottenger Story
A short video to explain the beginnings of Metabolic Typing, and you can improve your health through correct food!

A healthy Prostate Meal

from – www.wddty.com 27 May 2009

Men with prostate cancer  find a prostate treatment that may be able to slow tumour growth by following a low-carbohydrate diet, such as the Atkins, GI and Montignac methods.
Researchers have discovered that insulin – which is released to control the level of glucose, created when we eat carbohydrates – can feed tumours, and speed their growth.
Mice that were fed a high fat/no carbohydrate diet prolonged their lives by 50 per cent compared with those fed either a high or a moderate carbohydrate diet.
A trial with humans is expected to begin in the next few weeks.
Although carbohydrates are a vital source of energy, the Montignac and GI diets bar complex carbohydrates as refined starches, as found in white bread, biscuits and pastries, and simple carbohydrates as refined sugars in biscuits, cakes, soft drinks, and sweets and fast foods. Both these increase the production of insulin.
(Source: Cancer Prevention Research, May 26, 2009: doi: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-08-0188).

Healthy Eating to lose Bodyfat

I thought this paragraph from www.ppnf.org newsletter might be of interest;

Health Tip
If you want to lose weight, eat only 3 meals a day with plenty of quality animal fat and protein.
No snacking or eating starches or sugars! Non-starchy vegetables are good. If you must eat fruit, limit it to 1 or 2 fresh, organic whole fruit per day (no juices). You should be satisfied until the next meal. If not, analyze your previous meal. You may not have eaten enough fat and/or protein. Be sure the animal fat and protein is from healthy animals. The less it’s cooked the more nutrients you will receive. As an added bonus, emotional well-being is gained by ingesting omega-3 fatty acids. These can be obtained from various animal proteins (ex: wild caught, fresh salmon), but when eating beef or lamb, it can only be obtained from grass-fed animals.
Source: Healthy Weight Loss CD
by David J. Getoff, CTN, CCN, FAAIM

Red Meat, is it such a danger?

The Sun published this article Tues March 24th.
‘PERILS’ OF RED MEAT

Eating red meats increases the risk of dying from heart disease and cancer – but chicken reduces the danger, a huge study has found.
Half-a-million Americans had their diet logged over ten years by the US National Cancer Institute.
Risk of early death rose by 13 per cent in those who ate 160g a day of red and processed meat.

Fit for You comment

It seems that every article is telling you something is good or bad, without actually defiining the reasons why. In the western society we tend to overcook meat, red or white. When we over cook protein it is less easily digested by our system and can sit for longer in the bodys process, this could be one of the main reasons why our society has been prone more illness. Both Francis Pottenger & Weston A Price, have produced evidence from extensive studies in the early 1900′s on the effect of processed foods, and the relation to human illness, these studies are part of the foundation of Metabolic Typing, which is; a nutritional assessment and program, for people to eat to to their specific requirements, and is available today.

It can be frustrating to hear a comment in the paper being taken as read, when there are so many basic things we can do to prevent illness, and greatly improve our health and longevity.

If you’d like to know more about how you can have the Metabolic Typing test, please contact Fit for You