Depending on your lifestyle choices, you can be old at 30, or fairly young at 60. This is even more important because aging research indicates that people today will live longer than at any other time in history. But it’s not going to do any good to live these extra years if you can’t even recognize your face in a mirror, or walk around your neighborhood without stopping every five minutes to gasp for breath. We need to add life to our years, not just
years to our lives. Are you living longer, or are you just lasting longer?

Significant clinical experience and research suggests that important strategies of nutrition, exercise and emotional balance can slow down the damaging effects of aging. A vegetarian diet high in fresh fruits, vegetables, and complex starches like beans, grains, soy proteins, and
potatoes provides the best protection against degeneration and aging. This nutritional approach eliminates the dangerous excesses of animal protein, saturated fats and refined sugars (correlated with most of the chronic
diseases), while dramatically increasing the protective nutrients of fiber, phytonutrients (plant-based chemicals that give us some of the best protection against disease and aging), and antioxidants (Vitamins C and E, carotenes, selenium etc.).

The conventional American diet, plus the dangerous resurgence of high-protein fad diets, promotes excessive meat and dairy products that abnormally increase protein, fat and calories, and can promote premature aging and disease. Excessive use of protein, fats and refined sugars create surplus of acid byproducts and chemical factors that increase the risk of degenerative diseases like heart disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, diabetes, and a variety of cancers. Animal products also raise cholesterol levels, increasing the risk of stroke and heart disease – the number one killer of men and women in our society. In addition, the cooking and barbecuing of high-fat foods like meat and dairy products, cigarette smoking, pollution, pesticides, and alcohol and drug use increase the levels
of highly reactive and devastating forms of oxygen (free radicals) which can damage cells and play a major role in all disease and aging. A vegetarian diet provides the best antioxidant protection against free radical damage.

Unfortunately, sedentary behavior has become a normal part of aging for Americans. As a result, we are getting older and fatter. There is an epidemic of obesity in the United States, with 20 percent of our children are already considered overweight. As we age, our metabolism declines about a percentage point a year. We need to move more as we get older, not less. But as we age many of us feel we have earned the right to dramatically slow down and rest on our laurels – and our laurels are getting wider and wider.

Consistent aerobic exercise like walking (30 to 60 minutes, four to five times a week) decreases body fat, increases oxygen to the brain and heart, promotes the production of antioxidant enzymes in every cell of the body, and generally reduces all the negative consequences of aging.

Relentless daily stress and hectic demands have reached epic proportions. Instead of getting the rest and sleep needed to replenish our exhausted energy reserves, we often choose stimulants like chocolate, caffeine, nicotine, and refined sugar to propel us through our day. Remember, whatever goes up has to come down. All stimulants cause a rebound depression, giving you the illusion of energy while reinforcing exhaustion and depression. This exhaustion interferes with normal metabolism, decreasing nervous, endocrine, and immune systems functions, and promoting weight gain, chronic fatigue, damage and toxicity. Therefore, over time, stress, stimulant abuse and lack of sleep promote premature aging and disease. Stress management techniques such as meditation, yoga, tai chi and self-awareness of our own hectic pace can help us be more attentive to basic health needs.

By committing to these choices, we can begin to love ourselves more and dramatically modify the ravages and diseases of aging. Begin now and add life to your years.