Global average life expectancy is just under 70 years.
Life expectancy for Americans is under 80 years.
I plan to live until 120. What about you? How long do you plan to live?
When you think about aging, what comes to mind?
Living longer doesn't have to mean Rx, wheel chair, and slowing down; and it doesn't have to look like wrinkles and sagging skin.
To unlock your longevity, to look and feel more alive, it starts with your daily habits, including what's on your plate, and what surrounds your plate.
Practically speaking, health, vitality and longevity comprise of three (3) core pillars:
Intuitive Nourishment (Nutrition),
Intuitive Movement (Physical Activity), and
Intuitive Flow (Life-Work balance).
These are the core pillars of your wellbeing; they're the core pillars of my signature Nourished Alive framework.
In this blog I will cover intuitive nourishment pillar. For additional resources on intuitive movement and intuitive flow, see Nourished Alive Blog section.
Here are some practical ways to unlocking your longevity, while looking and feeling alive.
Nourish Your Brain Health for Longevity - Attention, Clarity, and Focus
How many times have you walked into a room and forgot why you were there, or what was that thing you were going to do or say? You may thinking that's a 'normal' part of aging.
While cognitive decline may be an expected part of aging, it doesn't have to be 'normal' for you.
You can grow your IQ and EQ, gain more clarity and focus as you age vs letting cognitive decline take place. Here's how to do it.
The brain requires two main things to keep working: nourishment and protection.
How to nourish your brain to function optimally as you age?
You brain is a powerhouse, and needs fuel to stay powered.
The brain uses about 20% of daily energy, while the majority of brain's fuel comes from glucose, sugar and carbs. This can explain why you crave carbs when focused on an important tasks. I'm always craving carbs during my most productive, intensive focus times, unless I'm fasting.
The brain also uses ketones to stay powered, which is it's preferred nourishment source as we age.
This research study showed that women undergoing endocrinological aging, such as perimenopause, undergo immune and metabolic shifts, that can alter trajectory of Alzheimer's risk in late life. The way to offset the risk of cognitive decline and nourish your brain as you age, is to switch from burning carbs to burning fat (ketones).
When both sources of energy are available, glucose and ketones, brain prefers ketones for sustained attention, mental clarity and deep focus.
Try Intermittent Fasting - Prolonged fasts, beyond intermittent fasting, can effectively induce ketone production. As you fast, the body is able to eliminate waste products and free radicals, that have built up which can lead to inflammation and other chronic conditions. Even a 12hr fast, at minimum done daily, will optimize your health to another level vs eating at all waking hours.
If you're new to fasting, in this masterclass I explain how to get started and implement Intuitive Intermittent Fasting to unlock longevity.
Eat the rainbow- Try something new each time you visit a grocery store. Load up your plate with seasonal, locally grown, diverse and 'weird' foods. The darker the better. Darker foods are loaded with polyphenols which produce Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) - protects and helps you build new brain cells.
Decline in BDNF levels are associated with neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and Huntington's disease, so load up on those dark veggies and try something new to protect your brain.
Eat an orange a day, load up on antioxidant rich foods. My latest favorite is the camu camu berry, which I can't get fresh, but I do get the camu camu powder and add it to my smoothies, simple and nutrient dense.
How to protect your brain as you age?
Beyond nourishment on your plate, assess what surrounds your plate. Your daily habits, shape how you look and feel. Most of you will want to skip past this part.
The simple and intuitive is what actually works and creates lasting daily health habits that unlock longevity.
The idea of slowing down, almost sounds impractical, but if you're willing to consider foods that nourish you off plate, I recommend giving one of these 10 tips to try. Start with one - no need to do them all at once, which I know most of you'll want to do! Remember, less is more - remember!
Get Sleep - Sleep is the core pillar of health, it's fundamental to unlocking your longevity. If your sleep is lacking, then your foundation is cracked. No amount of organic foods, high quality supplements, or bio-hacks will work, they will fall through the cracks of the foundation. Quality Sleep allows the brain to process inputs from the day, filter out unneeded information, store and organize the rest. Restful night sleep will help nourish your brain and protect it for years to come. Wake up more alert, clear headed, and focused to perform at your best each day after a restful night's sleep.
How to Look and Feel Alive as you age?
To age and look good doesn't mean you're vain.
The way we look is also how we feel.
Glowing skin, shiny hair, youthful appearance are symbols of health and vitality. Dull skin indicates decrease of estrogen and collagen production, some of which can be blamed on aging but here are some ways to boost your look and how you feel naturally.
Hormones, Vitamins, Copper peptide creams, cryotherapy, micro needling - there are more options out there but these are good to start with if looking and feeling alive as you age is one of your goals.
Hormones are like traffic signals directing everything including collagen production, so before you add creams, supplements, hire an esthetician, etc. consider these as part of your daily healthy habits that can help you look and feel alive as you age.
Sex hormone, estrogen, production decreases with age, especially after 40s as ovaries begin to shut down with reproductive years winding down. Decrease in estrogen may present as dry skin (dry mouth, dry eye, vaginal dryness, etc.), and joint pain, moodiness, low libido, making you feel less alive as you age.
Some ways to offset low estrogen as you age, include addition of herbs like maca root, and chasterberry, phytoestrogen rich foods, and supplements like CoQ10, Vit C and Vitamin E, etc.
If you're working with a functional medicine provider, or near a wellness center that provides peptides, ask about GHK-Cu creams/serums. As we age, we make less of our own GHK-Cu, which keeps the skin stretchy and plump by stimulating collagen and elastin production. GHK-Cu creams are available as copper peptides, these are essentially the same thing, and can be applied topically to promote tissue repair by stimulating blood vessel and nerve growth. While GHK-Cu can be used topically to enhance the overall skin appearance, it's also used for other connective tissues repair, including bone and even stomach lining. Very cool!
Cryotherapy, or better known as cold therapy, has been used to enhance collagen production, and block enzymes and hormones that destroy the collagen we do have. It also helps boost your body's own detoxification pathways, which keep the skin from clogging up and unable to release the toxins that have build up over time. Short exposures to cold temperatures, allow liver and immune system to release antioxidants, like glutathione which is essential for flushing out the toxins via digestive track, vs through the pores.
Micro needling - you can buy a micro needling roller for less than $30 that uses tiny needles to prick invisible holes in the top layer of your skin. This disrupts collagen and stimulates the body to form new, youthful collagen fibers. This stuff is really powerful, one study showed that 80% of patients with deep facial scars showed significant improvement after just 3 sessions. Basically what's happening is that your skin cells realize there are needles pricking top layer, so they toughen up and get younger and stronger while weak or damaged skin cells are killed off. If you choose to try it, make sure that the roller is sterilized and free of contaminants each time you use it, or ask your esthetician for this treatment next time you get a facial.
Summary
Aging is part genetics - you see people who age, but don't look it - right? This means it has something to do with their genes. While there is more emerging science every day, for me getting to 120 year of age, entails aging healthy and independently functioning. How about you, what's most important to you as you age? Looks, and how you feel are likely part of it, but may not paint a full picture.
Research on centenarians is showing correlations between nourishment off our plates, which means relationships, communities, and connection and healthy aging. This shows that food on your plate is where it starts, but also the food that surrounds your plate is vital to unlocking longevity.
While we can't control for everything on our plates and even less, what surrounds our plates, there is a lot we can do on a daily basis that shapes how we feel and look today and for years to come. Your daily habits determine how you'll age, we are aging from the day we're born. That's a fact. And we can do a lot about it, that's a fact too!
How about you? How long do you wish to live and how do you want to look and feel as you age?
Ready to make your health a priority, an invest in your longevity bucket, Book a Health and Nutrition Coaching Session to receive 1-3 personalized recommendations to get you one step closer to looking and feeling younger.
What you do today, impacts your tomorrow and either takes away or adds to your longevity. It's never too late to prioritize your greatest wealth, YOUR HEALTH.
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