One of the largest determining factors in aging is not your genes, but the quality of your lifestyle. A recent study in the British Medical Journal demonstrated that you can cut your risk of having a stroke in half by doing four things: Engage in exercise and physical activity, eat five daily servings of fruit and vegetables, avoid cigarettes and limit excessive amounts of alcohol.
Living to 100 may not be as hard as previously thought. You may not have family members that have reached that age but the good news is that improved lifestyle factors will bring you closer. We can choose our lifestyles and determine if our actions are in alignment with the goal of living a long, successful, healthy life. The goal of living longer should not only be to live longer; it’s to create a legacy in your family, in your work and in your community.
It is very difficult to achieve greatness in any aspect in your life if you are unhealthy. When we choose to ignore important lifestyle factors, we get sick and can miss our opportunity to impact our communities at the highest level possible. Our goal is to provide you and others with the action steps to achieve your very best health.
1. Get Adjusted
The power of the chiropractic adjustment is not properly publicized. The brain, spinal cord and nerves make up the master control system of the body; they control every function. Every organ and muscle is controlled by messages from your spinal column. The spinal column is moveable and one’s daily activities impact the integrity and strength of the spine and nerves.
There are countless studies on the effectiveness for back pain and even blood pressure, but those findings are not the most important. (1, 2,) Overall health, healing and prevention of disease is dependent on the health of your nerves. It is very common for someone to understand the importance of taking care of one’s heart, lungs, or liver; but completely forget about the nervous system that controls those organs in the first place. The importance of an adjustment was recently featured on the Dr. Oz Show. (3)
2. Have a Plan.
Centenarians are people that have lived past 100 years of age. Research has found that they tend to live by a series of healthy routines. They have been found to eat similar diets and physical activities their whole lives. It is common for them to go to bed and wake up at the same time each day. (4) They also understand that a fluctuation in their life plan will throw havoc on their health and their overall happiness.
Creating a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly “war plan” is an absolute necessity to get organized. This new plan will help you plan meals, get that work out in, ensure quality family time and even your next day off. The “war plan” is simply a plan of what you would like to achieve and how to do it.
3. Consume Real Food.
When you eat real food, you get real nutrients. It has been found that people that have real food in their diet have higher levels of selenium, beta-carotene, vitamin C and E. These nutrients have been found to slow the aging process and prevent cognitive decline. If you simply supplement these nutrients, it is common not to find the same results. Supplements are meant to supplement, not replace the consumption of real food.
Eating not-real food has the exact opposite effects. It causes you to age quicker and have accelerated cognitive loss. Foods that are highly processed and found in a box or a can have high amounts of white sugars and flour that have no nutritional value and should be avoided.
4. Movement is Life
Exercise is the one of the ways to maintain your health and avoid disease. The type of exercise is important however. The classic low intensity, long duration exercise has been found to have aging effects, versus anti-aging. Classic exercises include aerobics, running and biking for more than 30 minutes in duration.
The “new aerobics” has the opposite effects of the classic exercises. Research has found the intensity of the exercise to be the most important component factor in generating the ideal hormonal response. This hormonal response causes you to lose or maintain a healthy weight, improve lean muscle mass and improve cognitive brain function. This “new aerobics” is right for any age group, since it challenges you where you are. Do not compare yourself to others.
5. Never Retire
Strong evidence shows that societies that retire have higher rates of obesity and chronic disease. The secret is staying active. When you stay active, you engage in life. You keep your cognitive brain function high and you also find yourself having more regular sleep. It is common for individuals that retire to sleep sporadically, suffer from depression and die younger.
6. Turn off Technology
To live a long, happy life, you need to value what you have. Broadcast media commonly produces more depression versus happiness. The constant need to stay connected to the world usually prevents you from taking care of your personal responsibilities. Schedule down time where there is no technology; just you, your family or other things you desire to have quality time doing.
7. Sleep or Die Younger
Many people do not get enough sleep, but there are others that get too much sleep. Your physical activity level and overall health status is the best gauge. Sleep is needed to help regulate and heal your body. The poorer your lifestyle, the more sleep you need. The solution is to improve your lifestyle, get less sleep and accomplish more things that you value.
Some people like to sleep, but find themselves more tired than before. Everyone’s bodies are different and require a different amount of sleep. The common range quoted is between six to eight hours of quality sleep per night.
8. Live Naturally
Living naturally means no smoking, alcohol abuse, or overindulging in sweets. Stick to a real food diet that is based on fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts and lean meats. Get plenty of exercise and focus on family and community. Another part of living naturally is controlling your mindset. If you allow the world to control your mindset, you will get what the world has to offer; a short life.
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(1) http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/news/20070316/chir...
(2) http://www.webmd.com/back-pain/chiropractic-pain-relief
(3) http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/back-pain-relievers
(4) http://longevity.about.com/od/healthyagingandlongevity/a/live_to_100_how...
Cory Couillard has owned two private practices and has been the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Brand Officer for the largest privately owned clinic. He is active in professional development, mass education programs and implementation of healthcare delivery systems.
Cory is currently a professional healthcare speaker and writer for newspapers, magazines, websites and other publications. He is also involved with the development of two international television health programs.
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