…by the ready, willing and able
The dharma wanderer’s clinical research training in behavioral science has provided a foundation for single case design, as well as evaluation of published peer reviewed scientific research. This foundation has been helpful for digesting current information on extending longevity and healthspan. This expanding domain includes consideration of
- advantages of various forms of exercise,
- healthy food,
- nutraceutical effects at the cellular level, and
- epigenetic effects on longevity and healthspan.
Assimilating such diverse new information into everyday behavior can be enabled by a mindset for exploration, experimentation and discovery. This mindset for considering the potential benefits of new information can be fostered by a willingness to break current routines.
Most human beings are creatures of habit. This seems especially true for what and when they eat, whether and how they exercise and what, if any, supplements they take. The rapidly accumulating longevity and healthspan research literature presents an opportunity to update current behavioral routines for diet, exercise and supplements. Updating these individual routines, however, requires a willingness to break an existing habit.
Habits are hard to break, if only because it’s so much easier to keep doing what one has been doing rather than to consider doing something new or different. Gathering information to carefully consider what changes might be helpful could itself be a new behavior.
Awareness of the possibility to extend longevity and healthspan could become the first step in a journey of discovery. That awareness could lead to focused information gathering. The high level takeaway from that information could lead to the most relevant and beneficial actions. Those new actions could become the focused chisel that breaks existing habits and routines. This self management process can guide and sustain the longevity and healthspan journey.
Readers are advised to check with a knowledgeable health care provider before embarking on any significant change related to health and exercise. This is especially true for those taking medication or under care for identified medical conditions, as well as for older individuals who may have undiagnosed health issues. Small gradual step changes are usually the safest.
It is always advisable to do your own information gathering at the National Institute of Health database of published peer reviewed scientific research. Simply reading the abstracts for author conclusions can be quite helpful. Another credible recommended source is NutritionFacts.org. A wise strategy is to make careful choices and take action to test the results for yourself, while engaging the advice of competent well trained professionals.
Paths For the Ready, Willing and Able
Diet and Healthspan
There are two overlapping approaches for diet. The first is the mediterranean diet. It is the one most often recommended by mainstream media as well as government websites. It has research support and tends to accommodate the preferences of the largest number of people. There are some downsides to this diet, however, because some versions include meat, alcohol and dairy. According to published research and expert opinion, any one of these taken to excess will likely hinder the extension of healthspan.
The second approach is a whole food plant-based diet. This diet is also recommended by a variety of experts, including the longevity and healthspan thought leaders, Michael Greger MD and David Sinclair PhD. The dharma wanderer’s previous article on this topic included a graphical picture of recommended foods that fit both of these approaches to diet:
Exercise and Healthspan
Three forms of exercise are almost universally recommended by a wide variety of experts, although it is wise to obtain a health and fitness check up first. Steady state cardio, high intensity intervals and strengthening exercises will all be helpful. It’s important to take a gradual approach for improving fitness, without overdoing it, as conditioning improves over time. Listening to the body and allowing time for recovery within and between exercise sessions is critical to avoid injury. Consider this summary overview of possible steps and practicals tips, plus helpful supplements for increased energy:
The truly impressive fact about the human body is that it benefits from movement and exercise, regardless of age. Older people can increase muscle strength as well as muscle mass if they engage in regular strengthening exercise and ingest enough dietary protein. A post workout protein kale smoothie can be helpful, along with ingesting protein at each meal.
If you exercise regularly within your current capacity, it gets easier over time because of the conditioning effect. If more vigorous intervals are included in the exercise routine, additional benefits accrue for the cardiovascular system. Insulin resistance goes down and more calories are burned. Exercise combats depression, stimulates endorphins for a more upbeat mood, and leads to a feeling of temporary accomplishment.
Combine dietary improvements with exercise and an extension to the duration of healthy living becomes vastly more probable. Letting go of current habits and routines is the first step in the journey toward becoming healthier as one ages.
Repeating an aspirational goal or carefully formulated affirmation, in rhythm with the breath, in rhythm with repetitive movement is a powerful self management method for breaking habits. This method creates focus, increases commitment and enhances detection of clues for next steps, while it stimulates the growth of new brain cells. It kick starts an unfolding process that can become transformational, step by step.
Nutraceuticals and Epigenetic Control of Longevity Genes
David Sinclair PhD, a molecular biologist at Harvard, created quite a media buzz with the publication of his book Lifespan: Why We Age and Why We Don’t Have To. He explains how anti-aging proteins called sirtuins were discovered. Sirtuins are enzymatic genes that, when triggered, can help protect the body against aging’s deterioration. They are involved in autophagy, which is the repair of DNA and regulation of gene expression.
Sirtuins perform varied important functions including enabling cell survival, modulating inflammation, supporting healthy blood flow and controlling blood sugar. Sirtuins also help create more mitochondria, the energy powerhouses of cellular activity.
Research suggests that some supplements support activation of sirtuins. The most often recommended supplements by sirtuin researchers are NAD+ precursors, but healthspan researchers also recommend polyphenols, fatty acids, caloric restriction and intermittent fasting. The amino acid leucine is recognized for its protein synthesis benefits
Gathering information about extending healthspan can lead to the dissolution of current routines that are accelerating the aging process. Carefully formulating a healthspan goal and repeating that goal in rhythm with breath in rhythm with movement will initiate a transformational process.
Multiple forms of exercise, regulating diet and the time window for eating, combined with carefully selected nutraceuticals can becone a multi-component strategy for extending healthspan. The dharma wanderer is currently applying this strategy on a daily basis. Competent professional training for physical conditioning is providing guidance. Conditioning level is improving, along with speed, strength and endurance. Energy level and muscle soreness reveal recovery requirements. The absence of adverse reactions suggest supplement safety. Longer term results are being evaluated via blood tests every six months.
It is an unfolding journey of discovery.
ib
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