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Living Agelessly

May 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

We wanted to pass along this essay by holistic health counselor Victoria Moran, who shares her happiness that she’s living as agelessly as she can. Her thoughts are interesting to consider alongside the Akea BluePrint for Life.

“The lifestyle typical of most Americans,” she writes, “couldn’t be more pro-aging.” True! She enumerates some lifestyle points that the BluePrint for Life is meant to counter…

  • We’re overly stressed, yet we try to portray overwork and stress as good.
  • We don’t sleep nearly enough.
  • Our lifestyle is too sedentary: “We work at desks and entertain ourselves in front of computer and TV screens,” she writes.
  • We drink unhealthy beverages, when we should be usually be choosing water, and we make unhealthy food choices.

“And yet,” she writes, “we expect, either through good genes, good luck, vitamin supplements, or cosmetic surgery, to get that full-of-life glow. It’s an illogical premise.”

She goes on to share some details of her personal approach to living agelessly…

Meditation—She equates meditation with quiet time. “You can use it for journal writing, prayer, or sitting with a cup of tea and pondering life,” she writes. However, she notes, if you want it to slow the aging process, classic transcendental meditation is ideal. She reminds readers of the study that showed people who had meditated regularly for five years or more were a whopping 12 years younger physiologically than non-meditators.

Exercise—The BluePrint for Life states this point unequivocally: Our bodies are designed to move! Inhabitants of the world’s Longevity Hot Spots spend portions of every single day <moving, LINK TO http://stevecase.akealife.com/blueprint-for-life/activity/> as part of work and play. To live as agelessly as possible, we need to make it our habit to do the same thing.

Nourishment—Nutrition, as you know, is an important aspect of the Akea lifestyle. (Are you taking your Essentials every day?) Moran makes the important additional point that we are nourished by everything we take in—”our immediate environment, the scenery, conversation, music, movies,” she says. “A chronically messy room isn’t nourishing. Neither is a hostile encounter, murder or mayhem, even on the silver screen.”

What would you add? What helps you live more agelessly? Comment here and let us know.

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Filed Under: Hot Spot Healthy Living, Longevity, Movement, Nutrition, Relaxation

Why we age and what we can do about it (Part 2)

January 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

–by Sally Beare

What can you do to slow down aging?

To age more slowly, we need to protect our soma cells and their DNA. And that happens to be just exactly what they do in the Longevity Hot Spots. So here's what they do – and what we can do, too.

Antioxidants to the rescue!

They eat lots of antioxidant-rich fruit and vegetables, which help prevent free radical damage to cells and DNA.

Not too much

They don't overeat, and thus they avoid the excess free radical damage to cells and DNA which comes from burning calories.

Avoid AGEing

They avoid sugar and refined carbohydrates, which lead to the production of Advanced Glycosylation End-products (AGEs), which cause aging to cells and DNA.

Avoid inflamm-aging

They avoid excess inflammation, which is extremely pro-aging, by getting lots of anti-inflammatory omega 6 and omega 3 essential fats from nuts, seeds, and oily fish. They also have low levels of pro-inflammatory insulin due to their low-sugar diet.

The right protein

We need around 1g of protein per kg of body weight daily. This is crucial for steadying blood sugar and for the manufacture of hormones, protein bodies, immune bodies, cell repair, and for making DNA-binding proteins. In the Longevity Hot Spots, they eat plenty of protein from a range of sources including nuts, beans, fish, eggs, and lean organic animal produce.

A glass of wine

Red wine and red grapes, as enjoyed in the Hot Spots, contain the powerful antioxidant resveratrol which has been found to increase the activity of an anti-aging gene called Sir2 in mice which is also found in humans.

Plenty of water

We need water to ferry those nutrients into the cells to protect them and to carry the toxins out, so drink plenty of it – independent needs vary, but 6-8 glasses spread through the day is a rough guide.

Rest and relax

Avoid stress if you can, since this leads to excess amounts of pro-aging cortisol.

Walk it off

Regular moderate exercise aids the circulation so that nutrients can get to cells, helps lower cortisol levels, boosts immunity, and reduces inflammation. In the Hot Spots they are active all day long, but they take moderate rather than high-stress exercise and they rest during the day too. It's an ideal combination.

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Rockfish don’t get wrinkles – why we age
and what we can do about it (Part 1)

January 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment

–by Sally Beare

Why do we age? That's not a rhetorical question. It's an actual question which can be answered. And answering it gives us the power to age more slowly if we choose to do so.

Aging more slowly means being more likely to stay sprightly into old age, with body functions as well as marbles intact. It means feeling better when we are younger and younger when we are older, just as they do in the Longevity Hot Spots.

Some species don't age. It's true! If you never want to see your cheeks start heading for your neck or your behind for your knees, you made a mistake being born a mammal. Certain reptiles and amphibians, for example, keep on breeding and growing new sets of teeth or limbs ad infinitum and only die because they outgrow their habitat or get eaten by something bigger than them. That's why most people can't tell the difference between a young adult rockfish or turtle and an old one – they all look the same.

We know that, biologically speaking at least, most of us humans are only really here to reproduce. Even those of us who find a higher purpose in life (being an opera star or the Pope, perhaps) can't deny that things start to fall apart after reproductive age – in other words, once our bodies aren't needed any more by evolution. It takes a while to fall apart completely, which means most of us get to see our kids through college or to write our magnum opus or take up several hobbies or whatever it is we choose to fill all those decades with, but the fact is that the risk of illness starts to increase sharply once we are in our 40s.

The 'we fall apart after we've reproduced' theory is backed up by the fact that our germ-line DNA, the DNA in the egg or sperm cells which combines with the DNA of someone we fancy to make a new human, is very well-protected in the cell, so that we can create nicely-made new humans who can then themselves pass on that DNA intact. In fact, our germ-line DNA hasn't changed that much since we were simple bacteria. Our soma cells and their DNA, on the other hand, which is what the rest of our bodies are made of, is much more subject to the ravages of time since it is only needed once (unless you get cloned).

Check this blog next Tuesday to see what you can do to slow down aging…

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A Long Life, Well Lived

August 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

It's tempting to talk about the benefits of a long, well-lived life only in the abstract. We make lists of the strategies, the health benefits, the social impact. We all learn what to do, and why, then do our best to live up to the goals we create. Especially at the start of a new year, the media are full of stories about resolutions and how to stick to them.

But the true benefits of long lives and wellness are best revealed in the life stories of people who actually achieve nine, ten, even eleven decades of living and loving.

At Akea, that's why we focus so strongly on the world's Longevity Hot Spots. These are real people—entire communities—who live long, fulfilled lives, and whose many generations of examples show us in the Western world how we can come closer to living so well.

We also feel inspired by true stories of Westerners who live past the age of one hundred. What were their lives like? Can they offer us any hints?

Take this tribute to Ms. Maude Griffis, who died in January aged 109 years. She grew up working (from age fifteen on) for the Payne family on their plantation in Eastern North Carolina. The families grew very close, and remained so to this day. Griffis cared cooked for five generations of the Payne family. Friends say she never complained about the hardships in her life—for example, both of her parents died before she turned six, and her husband died 37 years earlier—but fostered loving relationships at every turn.

At Akea, we see links between the BluePrint for Life and Ms. Griffis' healthy approach to living…

  • social connection through love—in this case, surrogate parenting. Ms. Griffs did not have biological children, but she helped raise many children, who loved her in turn. That kind of connection is strongly associated with long life and wellness. It's one of the pillars of the Akea BluePrint for Life. Friends say she also catalyzed hundreds of friendships.
  • a spirituality that eases stress and encourages relaxation. As the feature says, "Griffis used to say that "if somebody has done you wrong, then give it to the Lord," and she always accompanied the phrase with a finger pointed skyward. "As she got older, she would just point up," Reeves said.
  • a work ethic that makes work an active, purposeful part of every day's activity. No one can deny the strenuous work involved in helping care for five generations of a family and its household…nor the satisfaction that comes from doing well at it.
  • apparently, good nutrition consistently over her life. She had access to fresh farmed food, and the story refers to going to pick wild blackberries in the summer.

We encourage you to take a few minutes to read about Ms. Griffis' life. What lessons do you take from her 109 years? Consider, too, how well you are incorporating the BluePrint for Life.

What can you learn? What might you do differently to try to achieve a long life, well lived? Comment here and let us know!

Filed Under: BluePrint for Life, Hot Spot Healthy Living, Longevity Tagged With: , ,

How to Earn 100 Candles

June 21, 2011 By 1 Comment

Imagine this: Your next birthday cake will have 100 candles on it. As you reflect on your century—gasp!—of life and health, to what will you attribute your fortune? It looks as if Esther Tuttle, better known by her childhood nickname, Faity, will have that chance. A few months ago, she explained to the New York Times her strategy for achieving long life, health, and happiness. “I am blessed and I’ve worked on it," she told the reporter. "You’ve got to work, be cheerful, and look for something fun to do. It’s a whole attitude." Tuttle says her personal guidelines come down to three points: resolution, resourcefulness, and resilience. Here's more from the article—though we strongly recommend reading it in full.

  • Resolution and rolling with the punches. Tuttle was born into relative affluence, but she was orphaned young and grew up with relatives of limited means. As an adult, she opted to work in acting and the arts. At one point, she was raising three children in a chilly farmhouse with the barest of indoor plumbing. As this article points out, studies show having an easy life does not predict longevity. In fact, people who overcome significant challenges in life often live longer.
  • Resourcefulness helps you stay healthy. At age 99, how does Tuttle work wellness and movement into her day? She starts with an hour of yoga and other floor exercises, the goes outdoors for a walk. In the afternoon, she takes a second walk, often combined with some grocery shopping. She and a roommate share cooking and cleaning duties. Now, if she can do that at 99, what can we do today?
  • Resilience and optimism. A study of centenarians in Sardinia found they tend to be physically active, have extensive social networks, and maintain strong ties with family and friends. (Sound familiar?) The centenarians are also less likely to be depressed than the average 60-year-old. Studies do indicate optimists live longer than pessimists. For instance, Dr. Hilary A. Tindle of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center found that among 97,000 women followed for eight years, the ones described as optimistic were much less likely to die from heart disease—or any other cause—than were pessimistic women. (Dr. Tindle described those women as “cynically hostile.”)

Just…wow. Isn't it wonderful how such a simple life, so well-lived, can become an example to all of us? As you adopt the Akea lifestyle, it's helpful to seek inspiration from stories like this one. What can you learn from Tuttle's life story? Comment here and let us know what inspires you.

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Longevity in Pictures

April 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

  We'll use few words in today's post and let these beautiful pictures do the talking.

Inspirational, aren't they? A lifetime of wellness is a beautiful thing.

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