Health Information Blog

Imagine that you were told you that the fountain of youth was discovered and all you have to do is put up forty bucks and you can have a jar of it to swallow. I’m sure you wouldn’t fall for that obvious line of baloney but you hear time and time again. And many believing people do fall for this sort of stuff. Many people act like goldfish. Not that they have fins and swim around in a fish tank or something like that, but because goldfish have an attention span of a measly three seconds. That’s right, only a measly 3 little seconds!

This means that fish are slow learners. After all, what can possibly be learned in just three seconds? So if they eat a small disgusting worm that makes them sick, three minutes later they will eat another one and get sick again. Yes they will eat another little slimy worm and get sick all over again. So what happens after they give the salesman forty dollars for that fountain of youth in a jar and it doesn’t work? They forget all about the first sale and in a few seconds just like the goldfish that at ate the worm they give another forty dollars to the next salesman claiming the exact same thing. So to understand this, even though there is no fountain of youth in a jar, there are three important things to take into consideration that can make you live up to twenty percent longer and look years younger.

The first is to have a positive mental attitude. A positive mental attitude actually makes you live longer. In fact, a study performed at the Mayo Clinic revealed that optimists lived twenty percent longer than pessimists! Imagine that looking on the bright side and cracking a smile every so often may add ten to fifteen years to your life. There’s another interesting side note to optimists that they are already probably aware of. They have many more friends!

The second thing to consider is exercise. Of course you’re aware that everyone is always talking about how good exercise is. You work hard at the gym and you run circles around the race track and maybe you live an extra year from doing this. Of course it may be the last year when you’re too old to care about it anyway. Well, it gives me great pleasure to tell you just how wrong you are when considering this. A groundbreaking study published in JAMA in 1994 showed that the bodies of forty postmenopausal women became fifteen to twenty years more youthful after the women lifted weights twice a week for a year.

Lifting weights twice weekly certainly is not slaving away in the gym. This is something you have to understand to get the full grasp of it. That’s something anyone can do to look years younger and feel great. I know it’s not quite as intriguing as the fountain of youth and may take a little more time but it really does work.

Here’s another interesting exercise fact. Exercise can even overcome bad genes! In a study of 16,000 sets of healthy twins, researchers kept track of the twins’ lifestyles for nearly 20 years. At the end of the study, they discovered that those who exercised moderately at 30 minutes of walking twice a week cut their risk of dying almost in half when compared to their sedentary sibling.

This brings us to the third and final reason. It is reducing free radicals to avoid damage. Although most experts disagree about exactly what causes our bodies to become damaged and age quicker than others, one of the leading theories attributes it to damage caused by free radicals. These dangerous molecules that are missing an electron, bind with healthy cells in our body and wreak havoc on those cells’ ability to function. According to this theory, the most optimal approach to slowing the aging process is to provide the body with plenty of ammunition against free radicals. You can do this by increasing your intake of antioxidants and other healthy nutrients. Our bodies produce many antioxidants to counteract the damage, but if there is not a large enough supply in our body, cellular damage may not be repaired and sooner or later, we become very ill.

Now let’s forget about carbohydrates, protein and fat. Instead focus on food as a source of antioxidants to prevent damage in our body. Focus on your health. The most powerful food sources of these all-important nutrients are vegetables and fruits. These should be the greatest portion of items on your plate. Round out each meal with whole grains, like brown rice, whole wheat bread, cereal and pasta. In addition include low-fat dairy products and lean meats. Sugar and fat should be the smallest category in this entire group.

One study done by the National Cancer Institute shows how powerful a diet of this kind can be the key to great health. Researchers examined the eating habits of more than forty five thousand women and found that those who ate a diet high in fruits, vegetables, grains, low-fat dairy and lean meats cut their risk of dying from any cause by thirty percent! That’s a phenomenal finding!

So you have a number of ways to really drink from the fountain of youth! Maintaining a positive mental attitude, exercising, and eating well can keep you happy and healthy as you become older and wiser! And hopefully you will enjoy the process of growing older with all life has to offer.

Want to find out more about thefountain of youth, then read more stories by Dr. Michael Pritsker on how to live healthy pain free with chiropractic care.