Aging

Experts do not really know why the body ages as a person gets older. Different people ‘age’ at differing rates, and the following inter-related factors seem to be involved:

• Genetics - Susceptibilities to degenerative diseases, low immune system efficiency, tendency towards overweight and similar ‘aging’ factors appear to be inherited from parents.
  
• Environmental exposure - The body is continually under attack from environmental chemicals, pathogens, free radicals from normal biochemical activity, radiation from various sources and so on, which contribute to age-related damage to metabolism and organs.
  
• Nutrition - What we eat (and what we don’t eat!) strongly influences the importance of both of the preceding factors and can also also both accelerate or slow down the aging process.
  
• Lifestyle - Exercise, sleep patterns, smoking and drinking, what we eat (above), what ‘supplements’ we take, how stressed we are, all contribute strongly to the aging process.
  

There are two major theories of aging. The ‘program’ theory suggests that aging is based on a biological timetable, while the ‘error’ theory says that aging occurs as a result of cumulative damage to the body. It is probable that the error theory is basically correct, but a genetic factor called telomere length seems to provide some support for programmed aging.

Telomeres have been compared with the plastic tips on shoelaces because they prevent chromosome ends from fraying and sticking to each other, which would scramble an organism's genetic information to cause cancer, other diseases or death. They also provide the ‘rails’ that the DNA replicating ‘machine’ runs on, to allow the copying process to reach the ends of the active DNA sequence on a chromosome.

Yet, each time a cell divides, the telomeres get shorter. When they get too short, the cell no longer can divide properly and becomes inactive or or dies, or sometimes becomes cancerous. So telomeres that shorten with each cell division could indeed constitute a sort of genetic clock that limits our potential lives.

The three leading causes of death among people in developed nations are heart disease, stroke, and cancer. Experts used to believe that chronic disease and disability were always part of aging. Now it is known that many degenerative diseases associated with aging can be prevented or controlled by adopting relatively small changes in the way we live. Living a healthy lifestyle can have a huge positive impact on aging and preventing disease.

Healthy lifestyle

While a person's genetic makeup cannot be changed, environmental and lifestyle factors including nutrition can:

• Stay active. Without exercise, muscle mass declines about 23% between the ages of 30 and 70. Exercise can prevent or reduce muscle mass decline.

• Maintain a healthy weight. People who are as little as 11 pounds over the healthy weight range for their height and build have more risk of disease. Eating fewer calories may work by preserving cells, moderating a decline in growth hormone, and keeping the immune system working well.
  
• Don't smoke and avoid being around smokers.
  
• Maintain active personal relationships. People who are married or who have healthy, supportive relationships with others live longer.
  
• Eat five servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Fruits and vegetables have naturally occurring antioxidants that prevent free radicals from damaging cells in the body.
  
• Avoid getting too much sun. Frequent, long exposures to the ultraviolet light in sunshine can age the skin and increase the risk for skin cancer.
  
• Keep fat in the diet under 30% of total calories. The type of fats eaten is also very  important. In particular, avoid transfats (chlorinated fats and re-used cooking oil) and too much grain oil.
  
• Take supplements sensibly. In particular, anti-oxidants such as selenium, Vitamin C and Vitamin E can slow aging and considerably reduce the risk of degenerative disease.
  
• Have routine physical checkups to give early warning of problems.
  
• Limit stress and practice stress-reduction techniques.
  
• Limit alcohol intake.