May 28, 2024 • 29 mins
For Lise and Karolyn, it's not about "anti-aging," it's more about "healthy aging." On this show, they will describe healthy aging from a scientific standpoint and then provide practical strategies that can help protect your health as you age. They will also discuss how to potentially slow down the aging process. If you are interested in having more vitality as you get older, you won't want to miss this show!
Five To Thrive Live is broadcast live Tuesdays at 7PM ET and Music on W4CS Radio – The Cancer Support Network (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com).
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Five To Thrive Live is broadcast live Tuesdays at 7PM ET and Music on W4CS Radio – The Cancer Support Network (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com).
Five To Thrive Live Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Any health related information on the followingshow provides general information only. Content presented
on any show by any host orguest should not be substituted for a doctor's
advice. Always consult your physician beforebeginning any new diet, exercise, or
treatment program. Hello everyone, andwelcome to Five to Thrive Live. I'm
(00:43):
Carolyn Gazella and I'm joined by myawesome co host, doctor lese al Schuler.
Hello, Lise, how are youdoing. I'm good? How are
you, Carolyn? I'm great.I had a wonderful holiday weekend and did
you as well? I did.Yeah. I just kind of unplugged,
which was amazing. Yeah. Yeahfor me too, it was. It
was great. Yeah. So I'mexcited about our topic today. Our topic
(01:10):
is healthy aging, something that's topof mind for me now that I'm in
my sixties, and I'm excited todig in. But before we do that
least, why don't you go aheadand thank our sponsors. Sure, I'd
love too. So, beginning withAmerican Biosciences, makers of Metatrol, which
is a fermented wheatrim extract for enhancedmitochondrial function. They also are the makers
(01:32):
of empower AHCC to supercharge your immunesystem and for free samples, research and
an exclusive Thrive discount, you cango to the Harmony Company dot com forward
slash Thrive. We also think emmuse, a unique patented post biotic which gives
your immune system a key advantage.Immuse is an ingredient in many immune supporting
(01:56):
dietary supplements, so look for Ammuseon the label or go to immune is
health dot com for more information.And cognizance of tcholine nature's way of keeping
the brains energy producing centers firing inall cylinders. So if you're looking for
a way to enhance your brain functionincluding memory, focus and attention, look
for cognizant on the label or goto cognizant dot com for more information.
(02:20):
And doctor here Is Probotics best sellingprobiotic for more than thirty years. Contains
twelve probiotic strains which are shelf stableso no refrigeration is required because of a
unique three year fermentation process. Veryeffective probotic and you can learn more at
doctor Hira Probiotics dot com. Okay, Carolyn, where shall we begin when
(02:42):
it comes to healthy aging? Well, you know, when I research healthy
aging, I come across scientific termslike atophagy and telemeres and mitochondria. So
why don't you give us a verybrief scientific look at healthy aging and the
process of aging is I know,things decline and things happen inside our body
(03:04):
at the cellular level when it comesto aging. So give us a little
quick snapshot, Lise. Yeah,you know, it's interesting because this is
rather complex and we're still we meaningthe general scientific community is still unpacking what
it means to age and to agehealthfully because there's a lot of factors that
(03:24):
are at play. But one kindof fundamentally is the health of our cells.
So our cells have a certain lifespanof cell divisions associated with each cell
type, and as they near theend of their cell division life span,
some of the functions, the innerfunctions of the cell starts to degrade a
(03:46):
bit, and the chromosomes, whichis where our DNA is, you know
how's basically becomes a little bit moreunstable. And as that happens, we
experience essentially kind of the end ofour life. But along the way,
the health of our cell and theorganelles inside our cell can really determine how
(04:06):
healthily we age. So we needto maintain kind of a a healthy internal
cellular environment, which has a lotto do with mitochondrial health, the energy
sort of battery of our cells.Our cell needs to have mechanisms intact within
it to self delete when it becomessomewhat incompatible with healthy function. That's called
(04:30):
apoptosis. And then there are otherproteins that are made that stimulate a process
called autophagy, which is basically cellclean up. And we need to have
healthy autophogy in order to keep ourcells functioning well. The remaining cells functioning
well reduce inflammation, which the moreinflammation we have, the more challenge there
(04:56):
is for each cell to maintain itshealth as it's kind of nearing the of
its lifespan. Yeah, that makesa lot of sense. So when we
look at healthy aging, we needto really look at it at a very
deep cellular level, and how canwe impact those cells and keep them healthy
and keep those cellular systems healthy.So I have one more question before we
(05:17):
dig into strategies, because I knowyou and I have a lot of practical
strategies to share, but what aresome of the aspects that can negatively influence
aging? Well, I would saythat first and foremost, it's just the
accumulated genetic instability that happens over one'slifespan, but that can be accelerated when
(05:41):
we live in an environment, orwe create a bodily environment that's full of
a lot of inflammatory and what wecall oxidative stress. So the more chronic
inflammation, which itself is an oxidativelystressful event, and the more oxidative stress,
which can come from environment mental toxicexposures. It can come from simply
(06:05):
overeating, actually, because when weoverindulge we generate more oxidative stress. It
can come from not maintaining good kindof body muscle, proportional weight compared to
fat weight. All of these thingscan over time start to create a milieu
which really makes it difficult for ourselvesto thrive. So I would say the
(06:27):
first and foremost thing is inflammation,oxidative stress, and of course there are
other components that feed into that nutritionalstatus. You know, we'll get into
some of the other things I thinkwhen we talk about strategies, Yeah,
yeah, for sure. And froma lifestyle standpoint, I would add,
you know, being sedentary and socialisolation, and so this is there's a
(06:53):
lot here, and I do wantto get into how we can positively influence
aging. So at least here's whatI'd like you to do. Give us
your top three strategies, but thendo a deeper dive on your favorite of
those three. Well, you know, I think that probably my top strategy
(07:15):
would be This is a little bitof a cheat because it's not a strategy
per se, it's an outcome.But my top outcome would be to support
really kind of balanced what we callredox potential in the cell or antioxidant potential
in the cell, because that inturn will preserve mitochondrial function and help to
(07:38):
preserve the integrity of our DNA.So maintaining healthy redos or an antioxidant potential
in our cell is the most importantthing. And so then I would say,
given that, strategies that I reallythink about as underlying that would be
Number one would be to maintain physicallictastivity to the best of our ability,
(08:01):
kind of staying at the edge ofour physical fitness throughout our entire life,
because that edge will change, butwe need to always kind of be there.
Number two would be to maintain anutrient rich, antioxidant rich diet to
support that cellular MILLIU. And thenI guess my third strategy, because I
(08:24):
know you're going to say sleep isone of yours, so I'm going to
leave that to you, and I'mgoing to say instead that I think that
there really is a role for whatI call adaptagen plants. So these are
basically longevity plants. And now,of those three, gosh, my most
(08:48):
you know, the one I wantto do a deep dive on. I
mean, I don't even know whereto start. They're also important, but
let me just say this, Okay, I'll kind of just spend a minute
more on antioxidation, you know,and we think about maintaining a balanced redox
potential or the antioxic capacity within ourselves. That's an equation. So we have
to minimize the amount of oxidative stresscoming in and increase our antioxidant potential to
(09:13):
meet whatever stress we encounter. Sominimizing the oxidative stress that comes in is
one of the reasons why things likeregular exercise, eating a plant forward or
plant strong diet, maintaining adequate sleep, minimizing excessive stress, all of those
things reduce oxidative stress on a cellularlevel. And then on the other side
(09:35):
of the equation, up regulating ourantioxidant capacity is again we're eating fresh,
colorful foods full of antioxidants, perhapssupplementing with dietary supplement antioxidants, and kind
of making sure that we are doingeverything we can to preserve our antioxidant regeneration
(09:58):
over the night when we sleep.Yes, And I want to talk about
a couple of these because they arevery important. So when you're talking about
adaptogenic plants, you're talking about thoseplants because of their stress relieving or their
ability to help us cope with stresscorrect. Yes, and that's part of
what they do. They they theyoptimize or strengthen I guess, for lack
(10:22):
of a better word, the stressresponse access in our body, so that
the part of our hormonal system thatmediates or meets stressors. Adaptogenic plants keep
that system as resilient as possible,so flexible and dynamic, able to respond
to stressors without getting ourselves stuck ina kind of on position. I'm constantly
(10:46):
stressed physiologically when you have really whenyou take adaptogenic plants, your stress response
system tends to be able to respondto stressors, but then kind of get
itself back down to normal. Thatin turn supports our ability to live in
accordance with circadian with the circadian rhythmof day and night, which has now
(11:07):
been discovered to be very important tolongevity and healthy longevity. Right, and
some of those plants are like ashalGanda, Rodeola Ginsing, Right, those
would you kind of bubble to thetop of your list? Yeah, for
sure? Those are really good ones, yep. Okay. And then with
the diet, you're talking about aplant forward diet, and is that basically
(11:31):
just like the most colorful diet,lots of fruits and vegetables, meat as
a side dish, if at all, kind of that kind of diet,
right, Yeah, I'm not talkingabout having to be a vegetarian, but
exactly meat as a side dish thatyou are looking down at a pretty colorful
plate every time you eat. Thatwould be the ideal. Okay, great,
well those are good ones. Andnow it's my turn, and you're
(11:56):
right, I am going to talkabout sleep, but that's not going to
be my favorite. I actually amgoing to spend a little time on physical
activity. I would say my threewould be physical activity, sleep, and
then I'm gonna toss out one thatI'm not sure that you and I have
ever talked about. But I havewritten about skin health a lot over the
(12:20):
years, and I would like totalk about skin. So let's talk about
physical activity first. So when Iwas looking at the research associated with physical
activity, it's just amazing what canbe found about the benefits. But it's
very specific to healthy aging. Youknow, there's research showing that using aerobic
(12:43):
exercises, you know that use theselarge muscle groups repetitively, so that's walking,
swimming, riding your bike, thatdirectly protects teleomere length as we age.
So telomeres and now at least correctme if I'm wrong, if I'm
wrong, are the caps on thecells that that shrink with age. And
(13:05):
as they shrink, as they getsmaller, we age more quickly. So
the whole idea with telomeres is toprotect, to protect the length. How
did I do? Yeah, yousaid you got it all right, except
I think it dis misspoke. Thetelomeres are the protective caps on the end
of chromosomes, so they protect theDNA but otherwise on a But that I
(13:30):
mean, that just goes to showyou that when we're talking about protecting aging,
aging, healthy aging on a deepcellular level, exercise does that exercise
also helps regulate autophagy, and youalready mentioned that, you know, that's
cell clean up. I think atophogyliterally means eating or something like that,
so it helps regulate autophagy. Exerciseprotects brain function. That's a huge part
(13:56):
of healthy aging, and exercise beenshown to reduce the risk of chronic illnesses
associated with aging. So when youadd the mental health benefits, it seems
like movement should be a top healthyaging strategy. Regarding sleep, I just
want to remind our listeners. Wetalk about a sleep a lot, and
(14:16):
I think I've already admitted that I'vesleep obsessed. It's so important. We
may think that we're sleeping, butthe body is actually quite active. You
know. There's this glymphatic system inthe brain that literally sweeps away toxins,
and if you're not sleeping enough,it doesn't kick on, and those toxins
can build up. The liver isvery active when we're sleeping. So these
(14:39):
are really important functions that take place, and they only take place when we're
sleeping. So sleep is critical.So from a skin standpoint, you know,
I've been really lucky. I enteredthe natural health industry in the early
nineteen nineties, and I at thattime started using all now skin care products,
(15:01):
and I was very aware of howI treated my skin. Now as
I age, I focus on afew things. Number One, I focus
on protecting and enhancing collagen, becausecollagen decreases and collagen is what helps our
skin feel firm and decreases those finelines and wrinkles. I focus on hyaluronic
(15:24):
acid. I focus on a reallyhigh quality, all natural moisturizer. I
live in altitude, in a verydry climate. So these are the ways
that I think we can focus onour skin, because when our skin looks
young and vibrant and healthy, wefeel young and vibrant and healthy. So
(15:45):
I would add skin as one ofmy three. So what do you think?
What do you think? Les?Yeah, I think that's really good,
and I think that you know,I'm glad that you talked about exercise,
and I'm glad that you talked aboutsleep. I mean, these are
things that are very critical and fundamental, and I think sometimes people get into
(16:07):
a state of mind because it becomesmore difficult to sleep as we get older.
It's sort of natural to actually needless sleep that people sort of give
up on getting good quality sleep andcan kind of get into bad habits.
So I think it's important to rememberthat even though it is perhaps you know,
as we get older, the oldor old, we don't need that
eight nine hours of sleep at night, we still do need good quality of
(16:29):
sleep. Yes, I would agree, and I think that there's a lot
of different ways to enhance sleep,looking at sleep hydene hygiene as are very
basic, and then trying dietary supplementslike melotonin. I have tried. I
happen to live in a state wherecannabis is available, and there are gummies
(16:51):
that are specific to sleep, andsome of those gummies even contain things like
elderberry or melowtonin or natural substances.And then some of those gummys are actually
quite low in THHC. So thatarea has become a little bit more sophisticated
in terms of helping people sleep.Yeah, so I want to talk about
(17:14):
another component of healthy aging if Ican, you know, I think being
so what I want to just goback to, we're very specifically using the
word healthy aging. We're not talkingabout longevity per se. And I think
that it used to be that therewas sort of this well still among healthcare
professionals. There's a lot of thetherapies that are out there are all about
(17:37):
trying to get to an older age, and we do a lot in the
older you know, the last tentwenty years of people's lives to keep them
alive. But the quality of lifeis really what you and I are talking
about healthy longevity, and fundamental tothat is people's ability to really kind of
(18:00):
query themselves about what does it meanto be a healthy aged person? And
that requires having some sort of selfthought and perhaps conversations with others about you
know, what is it that Ifeel is meaningful enough for me to be
here to do what's worthwhile? Howdo I, as my body naturally declines
(18:23):
in its abilities, I mean Ican't, you know, as we get
older, we can't do what weused to do. So how do I
balance what I want to do inlife with what I'm able to do in
life? Where can I support myselffrom a psycho psychological kind of spiritual perspective
in my community so that I canreally develop a sense of what I want
(18:47):
as an older person. You know, and are, especially in the United
States, with so much emphasis oncareer and work. When people retire,
they're often left a little adrift,and I think that that it's really very
difficult to age healthily when people feelthose kind of things. So I just
think one perspective, when sense ofoptimism, when sense of meaning and belonging
(19:11):
are really important parts of healthy longevity, that's great. Yeah, and I
would add gratitude. And I'm gladyou brought up healthy aging because i remember
back in the dailies it was calledthis whole movement was called anti aging,
and I thought that was such amisnomer, like, how could you want
to I mean, what's the oppositeof You can't be against aging because if
(19:33):
you're against aging, you're dead,you know, I mean, So it
just doesn't seem like an appropriate term. And that's why we did go with
healthy aging. So I'm so gladthat you brought that up. All right,
well is it my turn to doanother time? Yeah, let's go.
You know, I'm going to piggybackon one thing that you mentioned because
I feel that it's so important andI really want to expand on it.
(19:55):
And it's all about reducing caloric intake. I think that the amount of food
that we eat can play a negativerole on a cellular level in the body.
You know, I use overnight fastingas a way to reduce calories.
But I think the bottom line isthat you know a lot of us are
(20:15):
just eating too much and we're notrealizing about the pressure that it puts on
the body. Not to mention thefact that if we're eating frequently or a
lot of calories, the body doesn'thave a chance to rest and reset and
reboot and do the things it needsto do if it's I mean, when
you think about eating and digesting,it's a very active thing for the body.
(20:40):
There's a lot going on there andwe just need to rest and I
think sometimes we eat out of habits, not out of hunger, and you
know, so yeah, so specifically, research shows that when we decrease our
food intake, it helps protect tellomirror length. Now that's something on a
(21:00):
cellular level. You know, we'vetalked about that as it relates to healthy
aging. You know, research alsoshows that overnight fasting, which is what
I do, and other fasting methods, which there are several, can help
regulate autophogy. But there's a cautionhere because fasting in excess does the opposite.
(21:23):
It actually encourages increased toutology, whichis what we don't want. So
it's all about balance. And Iknow, Lisa, you and I have
talked about this, I've done podcastson this subject, and I think now
the research is getting a little bitmore sophisticated in pinpointing the fact that all
you really need is maybe a twelvehour fast thirteen fourteen hours overnight fast at
(21:47):
the most to gain the healthy agingbenefits, versus studies that were previously done
were saying that you needed to fastsixteen or more hours. So a couple
cautions with fasting. It's it's certainlynot for everyone. If you have blood
sugar issues. I mean, actuallythe research shows that overnight fasting and will
(22:10):
help stabilize blood sugar issues, butnot right away, so you could have
difficulty and you should really talk toyour doctor. Another, you know,
issue is if you've ever had aneating disorder, overnight fasting is not a
good way to go. It couldbring an eating disorder back, it could
magnify any new disorder. So andthen if you're if you're frail or weak,
(22:34):
or have other health issues, Ithink before taking on any kind of
fasting, whether it be overnight fasting, or five to two fasting, or
any of the ones that are outthere. It's always best to talk to
your doctor. At least, Iknow you'll probably say a few cautions about
that. But even if fasting isnot for you, I think just being
mindful of the amount of food weare eating will help with health aging,
(23:00):
just really being careful and even ifyou are going to do fasting, focus,
So there's a feeding window and thenthere's a fasting window. The research
shows that you can eat what youwant during the feeding window, but that's
not as effective. So when you'reeating, have it be healthy Mediterranean style
diet, and then and then dothe fasting and that's going to be a
(23:22):
lot more effective than just eating whateveryou want during the feeding window. And
at least, as I said,I know you have some views on fasting,
and I'm just wondering what you thinkabout reducing calories and fasting as a
as a means to do that.Yeah, well, I think you you're
just your recent summary. I wantto say a couple of things about the
feeding window too, but the Ithink that what you said at the end
(23:45):
is really important. There's a feedingtime and a fasting time, and that
really The problem is, and accordingto some you know, pretty detailed research,
a lot of people eat during thenight, well after dinner, you
know, a snack before bed,and might even wake up and eat.
Maybe they wake up in the morning, first thing they do is eat,
and so there's the fasting window iskind of non existent for a lot of
(24:07):
folks, and that's really hard onthe body physiologically. So I think the
most important thing before people get caughtup, even with how long they're fasting
overnight, is just to really noteat at night and to try to wait
at least an hour after you wakeup before you eat your first food.
That alone will go you know,we'll take your health leaps and bounds forward
(24:32):
and then you can work on thefastening window. But I would agree,
I really don't recommend anything more thanthirteen hours now. I don't think that
the data really is strong beyond thirteenhours. You know, there's some emerging
data for certain conditions, but forthe most part, I think that's plenty
plenty of fasting. I think,going back to aging, as we get
older, our protein requirements increase quitea bit as well, because we're prone
(24:59):
to korupenia or muscle breakdown. Andwhen we break down, when our muscles
start to break down, it's aswe get older, like you know,
I'm talking in the older old category, it becomes more and more difficult to
rebuild our muscle back. So it, you know, is easy to lose,
hard to get back. So wewant to try to prevent the loss
as much as possible because when westart to lose muscle mass, we increase
(25:22):
the risk of falls, serious injury, even death from falls. Loss of
muscle mass increases the risk of developingblood sugar imbalance issues because of more insulin
resistance. There's an association between decreasedmuscle mass and poorer cognition or poor cognitive
function, so it's really important tomaintain really healthy muscle mass. So in
(25:48):
addition to activity, from a dietaryperspective, the thing that really feeds our
muscles is protein, and protein intakegets pretty high as we get older,
and it's also very important that wespread the protein out so that we're eating
about a third of our total proteinwith each meal if we eat three meals
a day, that's critical. That'sreally important for maintaining good blood sugar control
(26:11):
and just helping to support the healthof the muscles. So you know,
generally this is kind of a generalrule of thumb, but most older people
need to consume about a gram ofprotein for every kilogram of bodyweight. A
kilogram is two point two pounds ofbodyweight. So you just take your total
(26:32):
body weight and pounds and then divideit by two point two. That will
tell you how many kilograms you weigh. And then that's the amount of protein
that you need in grams on adaily basis. And then you want to
divide that into three into thirds andtry to eat a third with breakfast,
third with lunch, they'd with dinner, and that will really support good healthy
(26:52):
muscle integrity. Yeah, I'm gladthat you brought that up. Can you
remind us about healthy protein sources,because I don't want I think a lot
of people think, oh protein,I need to eat more meat, you
know, which, especially when itcomes to processed meats and red meats,
you know that will not be sucha great protein source. So remind us
(27:15):
what some good protein sources are.Yeah, so you know, meat can
be a healthy protein source, likegrass fed red meat or wild game certainly
can be helpful. Skinless chicken canbe helpful fish of course and other marine
life. And then on the plantside, we can get good amounts of
protein through legoons, which would belike soy or certain you know, beans
(27:41):
are pretty high in protein and theamino acids that make up protein. Eggs
are good sources of protein. Nutsand some seeds are good sources of protein,
and even vegetables and other grains havea good amount of protein in them
as well. So you know,it's helpful. Ieople are kind of uncertain
about where they're getting their protein.It's pretty easy nowadays to go onto a
(28:08):
computer and just search the internet orthere's lots of apps that you can use
to find out the protein content inthe foods that you're eating, and you
can also get lists of foods thatare high in protein. Perfect. That
was great, please, thank you. Yeah all right, Carolyn, So
I think we are pretty much outof time, unfortunately, but maybe you
(28:32):
could think our sponsors again. Absolutelyso, once again we'd like to thank
American Biosciences, makers of metatrol andIMpower products to supercharge your immune system,
immuse post biotic to give your immunesystem that extra boost, cognizance, Sticolon
to help enhance memory, focus,and attention and Doctor Ohio's award winning shelf
Stable Probiotic. Well, this hasbeen a great show. May you all
(28:57):
experience joy, laughter and love.It's time to thrive everyone, hap good
nights got me, a lot ofhas got me a lot of excuseab good
perses escape that Ja the city isfun. Extram love in love
Any health related information on the followingshow provides general information only. Content presented
on any show by any host orguest should not be substituted for a doctor's
advice. Always consult your physician beforebeginning any new diet, exercise, or
treatment program. Hello everyone, andwelcome to Five to Thrive Live. I'm
(00:43):
Carolyn Gazella and I'm joined by myawesome co host, doctor lese al Schuler.
Hello, Lise, how are youdoing. I'm good? How are
you, Carolyn? I'm great.I had a wonderful holiday weekend and did
you as well? I did.Yeah. I just kind of unplugged,
which was amazing. Yeah. Yeahfor me too, it was. It
was great. Yeah. So I'mexcited about our topic today. Our topic
(01:10):
is healthy aging, something that's topof mind for me now that I'm in
my sixties, and I'm excited todig in. But before we do that
least, why don't you go aheadand thank our sponsors. Sure, I'd
love too. So, beginning withAmerican Biosciences, makers of Metatrol, which
is a fermented wheatrim extract for enhancedmitochondrial function. They also are the makers
(01:32):
of empower AHCC to supercharge your immunesystem and for free samples, research and
an exclusive Thrive discount, you cango to the Harmony Company dot com forward
slash Thrive. We also think emmuse, a unique patented post biotic which gives
your immune system a key advantage.Immuse is an ingredient in many immune supporting
(01:56):
dietary supplements, so look for Ammuseon the label or go to immune is
health dot com for more information.And cognizance of tcholine nature's way of keeping
the brains energy producing centers firing inall cylinders. So if you're looking for
a way to enhance your brain functionincluding memory, focus and attention, look
for cognizant on the label or goto cognizant dot com for more information.
(02:20):
And doctor here Is Probotics best sellingprobiotic for more than thirty years. Contains
twelve probiotic strains which are shelf stableso no refrigeration is required because of a
unique three year fermentation process. Veryeffective probotic and you can learn more at
doctor Hira Probiotics dot com. Okay, Carolyn, where shall we begin when
(02:42):
it comes to healthy aging? Well, you know, when I research healthy
aging, I come across scientific termslike atophagy and telemeres and mitochondria. So
why don't you give us a verybrief scientific look at healthy aging and the
process of aging is I know,things decline and things happen inside our body
(03:04):
at the cellular level when it comesto aging. So give us a little
quick snapshot, Lise. Yeah,you know, it's interesting because this is
rather complex and we're still we meaningthe general scientific community is still unpacking what
it means to age and to agehealthfully because there's a lot of factors that
(03:24):
are at play. But one kindof fundamentally is the health of our cells.
So our cells have a certain lifespanof cell divisions associated with each cell
type, and as they near theend of their cell division life span,
some of the functions, the innerfunctions of the cell starts to degrade a
(03:46):
bit, and the chromosomes, whichis where our DNA is, you know
how's basically becomes a little bit moreunstable. And as that happens, we
experience essentially kind of the end ofour life. But along the way,
the health of our cell and theorganelles inside our cell can really determine how
(04:06):
healthily we age. So we needto maintain kind of a a healthy internal
cellular environment, which has a lotto do with mitochondrial health, the energy
sort of battery of our cells.Our cell needs to have mechanisms intact within
it to self delete when it becomessomewhat incompatible with healthy function. That's called
(04:30):
apoptosis. And then there are otherproteins that are made that stimulate a process
called autophagy, which is basically cellclean up. And we need to have
healthy autophogy in order to keep ourcells functioning well. The remaining cells functioning
well reduce inflammation, which the moreinflammation we have, the more challenge there
(04:56):
is for each cell to maintain itshealth as it's kind of nearing the of
its lifespan. Yeah, that makesa lot of sense. So when we
look at healthy aging, we needto really look at it at a very
deep cellular level, and how canwe impact those cells and keep them healthy
and keep those cellular systems healthy.So I have one more question before we
(05:17):
dig into strategies, because I knowyou and I have a lot of practical
strategies to share, but what aresome of the aspects that can negatively influence
aging? Well, I would saythat first and foremost, it's just the
accumulated genetic instability that happens over one'slifespan, but that can be accelerated when
(05:41):
we live in an environment, orwe create a bodily environment that's full of
a lot of inflammatory and what wecall oxidative stress. So the more chronic
inflammation, which itself is an oxidativelystressful event, and the more oxidative stress,
which can come from environment mental toxicexposures. It can come from simply
(06:05):
overeating, actually, because when weoverindulge we generate more oxidative stress. It
can come from not maintaining good kindof body muscle, proportional weight compared to
fat weight. All of these thingscan over time start to create a milieu
which really makes it difficult for ourselvesto thrive. So I would say the
(06:27):
first and foremost thing is inflammation,oxidative stress, and of course there are
other components that feed into that nutritionalstatus. You know, we'll get into
some of the other things I thinkwhen we talk about strategies, Yeah,
yeah, for sure. And froma lifestyle standpoint, I would add,
you know, being sedentary and socialisolation, and so this is there's a
(06:53):
lot here, and I do wantto get into how we can positively influence
aging. So at least here's whatI'd like you to do. Give us
your top three strategies, but thendo a deeper dive on your favorite of
those three. Well, you know, I think that probably my top strategy
(07:15):
would be This is a little bitof a cheat because it's not a strategy
per se, it's an outcome.But my top outcome would be to support
really kind of balanced what we callredox potential in the cell or antioxidant potential
in the cell, because that inturn will preserve mitochondrial function and help to
(07:38):
preserve the integrity of our DNA.So maintaining healthy redos or an antioxidant potential
in our cell is the most importantthing. And so then I would say,
given that, strategies that I reallythink about as underlying that would be
Number one would be to maintain physicallictastivity to the best of our ability,
(08:01):
kind of staying at the edge ofour physical fitness throughout our entire life,
because that edge will change, butwe need to always kind of be there.
Number two would be to maintain anutrient rich, antioxidant rich diet to
support that cellular MILLIU. And thenI guess my third strategy, because I
(08:24):
know you're going to say sleep isone of yours, so I'm going to
leave that to you, and I'mgoing to say instead that I think that
there really is a role for whatI call adaptagen plants. So these are
basically longevity plants. And now,of those three, gosh, my most
(08:48):
you know, the one I wantto do a deep dive on. I
mean, I don't even know whereto start. They're also important, but
let me just say this, Okay, I'll kind of just spend a minute
more on antioxidation, you know,and we think about maintaining a balanced redox
potential or the antioxic capacity within ourselves. That's an equation. So we have
to minimize the amount of oxidative stresscoming in and increase our antioxidant potential to
(09:13):
meet whatever stress we encounter. Sominimizing the oxidative stress that comes in is
one of the reasons why things likeregular exercise, eating a plant forward or
plant strong diet, maintaining adequate sleep, minimizing excessive stress, all of those
things reduce oxidative stress on a cellularlevel. And then on the other side
(09:35):
of the equation, up regulating ourantioxidant capacity is again we're eating fresh,
colorful foods full of antioxidants, perhapssupplementing with dietary supplement antioxidants, and kind
of making sure that we are doingeverything we can to preserve our antioxidant regeneration
(09:58):
over the night when we sleep.Yes, And I want to talk about
a couple of these because they arevery important. So when you're talking about
adaptogenic plants, you're talking about thoseplants because of their stress relieving or their
ability to help us cope with stresscorrect. Yes, and that's part of
what they do. They they theyoptimize or strengthen I guess, for lack
(10:22):
of a better word, the stressresponse access in our body, so that
the part of our hormonal system thatmediates or meets stressors. Adaptogenic plants keep
that system as resilient as possible,so flexible and dynamic, able to respond
to stressors without getting ourselves stuck ina kind of on position. I'm constantly
(10:46):
stressed physiologically when you have really whenyou take adaptogenic plants, your stress response
system tends to be able to respondto stressors, but then kind of get
itself back down to normal. Thatin turn supports our ability to live in
accordance with circadian with the circadian rhythmof day and night, which has now
(11:07):
been discovered to be very important tolongevity and healthy longevity. Right, and
some of those plants are like ashalGanda, Rodeola Ginsing, Right, those
would you kind of bubble to thetop of your list? Yeah, for
sure? Those are really good ones, yep. Okay. And then with
the diet, you're talking about aplant forward diet, and is that basically
(11:31):
just like the most colorful diet,lots of fruits and vegetables, meat as
a side dish, if at all, kind of that kind of diet,
right, Yeah, I'm not talkingabout having to be a vegetarian, but
exactly meat as a side dish thatyou are looking down at a pretty colorful
plate every time you eat. Thatwould be the ideal. Okay, great,
well those are good ones. Andnow it's my turn, and you're
(11:56):
right, I am going to talkabout sleep, but that's not going to
be my favorite. I actually amgoing to spend a little time on physical
activity. I would say my threewould be physical activity, sleep, and
then I'm gonna toss out one thatI'm not sure that you and I have
ever talked about. But I havewritten about skin health a lot over the
(12:20):
years, and I would like totalk about skin. So let's talk about
physical activity first. So when Iwas looking at the research associated with physical
activity, it's just amazing what canbe found about the benefits. But it's
very specific to healthy aging. Youknow, there's research showing that using aerobic
(12:43):
exercises, you know that use theselarge muscle groups repetitively, so that's walking,
swimming, riding your bike, thatdirectly protects teleomere length as we age.
So telomeres and now at least correctme if I'm wrong, if I'm
wrong, are the caps on thecells that that shrink with age. And
(13:05):
as they shrink, as they getsmaller, we age more quickly. So
the whole idea with telomeres is toprotect, to protect the length. How
did I do? Yeah, yousaid you got it all right, except
I think it dis misspoke. Thetelomeres are the protective caps on the end
of chromosomes, so they protect theDNA but otherwise on a But that I
(13:30):
mean, that just goes to showyou that when we're talking about protecting aging,
aging, healthy aging on a deepcellular level, exercise does that exercise
also helps regulate autophagy, and youalready mentioned that, you know, that's
cell clean up. I think atophogyliterally means eating or something like that,
so it helps regulate autophagy. Exerciseprotects brain function. That's a huge part
(13:56):
of healthy aging, and exercise beenshown to reduce the risk of chronic illnesses
associated with aging. So when youadd the mental health benefits, it seems
like movement should be a top healthyaging strategy. Regarding sleep, I just
want to remind our listeners. Wetalk about a sleep a lot, and
(14:16):
I think I've already admitted that I'vesleep obsessed. It's so important. We
may think that we're sleeping, butthe body is actually quite active. You
know. There's this glymphatic system inthe brain that literally sweeps away toxins,
and if you're not sleeping enough,it doesn't kick on, and those toxins
can build up. The liver isvery active when we're sleeping. So these
(14:39):
are really important functions that take place, and they only take place when we're
sleeping. So sleep is critical.So from a skin standpoint, you know,
I've been really lucky. I enteredthe natural health industry in the early
nineteen nineties, and I at thattime started using all now skin care products,
(15:01):
and I was very aware of howI treated my skin. Now as
I age, I focus on afew things. Number One, I focus
on protecting and enhancing collagen, becausecollagen decreases and collagen is what helps our
skin feel firm and decreases those finelines and wrinkles. I focus on hyaluronic
(15:24):
acid. I focus on a reallyhigh quality, all natural moisturizer. I
live in altitude, in a verydry climate. So these are the ways
that I think we can focus onour skin, because when our skin looks
young and vibrant and healthy, wefeel young and vibrant and healthy. So
(15:45):
I would add skin as one ofmy three. So what do you think?
What do you think? Les?Yeah, I think that's really good,
and I think that you know,I'm glad that you talked about exercise,
and I'm glad that you talked aboutsleep. I mean, these are
things that are very critical and fundamental, and I think sometimes people get into
(16:07):
a state of mind because it becomesmore difficult to sleep as we get older.
It's sort of natural to actually needless sleep that people sort of give
up on getting good quality sleep andcan kind of get into bad habits.
So I think it's important to rememberthat even though it is perhaps you know,
as we get older, the oldor old, we don't need that
eight nine hours of sleep at night, we still do need good quality of
(16:29):
sleep. Yes, I would agree, and I think that there's a lot
of different ways to enhance sleep,looking at sleep hydene hygiene as are very
basic, and then trying dietary supplementslike melotonin. I have tried. I
happen to live in a state wherecannabis is available, and there are gummies
(16:51):
that are specific to sleep, andsome of those gummies even contain things like
elderberry or melowtonin or natural substances.And then some of those gummys are actually
quite low in THHC. So thatarea has become a little bit more sophisticated
in terms of helping people sleep.Yeah, so I want to talk about
(17:14):
another component of healthy aging if Ican, you know, I think being
so what I want to just goback to, we're very specifically using the
word healthy aging. We're not talkingabout longevity per se. And I think
that it used to be that therewas sort of this well still among healthcare
professionals. There's a lot of thetherapies that are out there are all about
(17:37):
trying to get to an older age, and we do a lot in the
older you know, the last tentwenty years of people's lives to keep them
alive. But the quality of lifeis really what you and I are talking
about healthy longevity, and fundamental tothat is people's ability to really kind of
(18:00):
query themselves about what does it meanto be a healthy aged person? And
that requires having some sort of selfthought and perhaps conversations with others about you
know, what is it that Ifeel is meaningful enough for me to be
here to do what's worthwhile? Howdo I, as my body naturally declines
(18:23):
in its abilities, I mean Ican't, you know, as we get
older, we can't do what weused to do. So how do I
balance what I want to do inlife with what I'm able to do in
life? Where can I support myselffrom a psycho psychological kind of spiritual perspective
in my community so that I canreally develop a sense of what I want
(18:47):
as an older person. You know, and are, especially in the United
States, with so much emphasis oncareer and work. When people retire,
they're often left a little adrift,and I think that that it's really very
difficult to age healthily when people feelthose kind of things. So I just
think one perspective, when sense ofoptimism, when sense of meaning and belonging
(19:11):
are really important parts of healthy longevity, that's great. Yeah, and I
would add gratitude. And I'm gladyou brought up healthy aging because i remember
back in the dailies it was calledthis whole movement was called anti aging,
and I thought that was such amisnomer, like, how could you want
to I mean, what's the oppositeof You can't be against aging because if
(19:33):
you're against aging, you're dead,you know, I mean, So it
just doesn't seem like an appropriate term. And that's why we did go with
healthy aging. So I'm so gladthat you brought that up. All right,
well is it my turn to doanother time? Yeah, let's go.
You know, I'm going to piggybackon one thing that you mentioned because
I feel that it's so important andI really want to expand on it.
(19:55):
And it's all about reducing caloric intake. I think that the amount of food
that we eat can play a negativerole on a cellular level in the body.
You know, I use overnight fastingas a way to reduce calories.
But I think the bottom line isthat you know a lot of us are
(20:15):
just eating too much and we're notrealizing about the pressure that it puts on
the body. Not to mention thefact that if we're eating frequently or a
lot of calories, the body doesn'thave a chance to rest and reset and
reboot and do the things it needsto do if it's I mean, when
you think about eating and digesting,it's a very active thing for the body.
(20:40):
There's a lot going on there andwe just need to rest and I
think sometimes we eat out of habits, not out of hunger, and you
know, so yeah, so specifically, research shows that when we decrease our
food intake, it helps protect tellomirror length. Now that's something on a
(21:00):
cellular level. You know, we'vetalked about that as it relates to healthy
aging. You know, research alsoshows that overnight fasting, which is what
I do, and other fasting methods, which there are several, can help
regulate autophogy. But there's a cautionhere because fasting in excess does the opposite.
(21:23):
It actually encourages increased toutology, whichis what we don't want. So
it's all about balance. And Iknow, Lisa, you and I have
talked about this, I've done podcastson this subject, and I think now
the research is getting a little bitmore sophisticated in pinpointing the fact that all
you really need is maybe a twelvehour fast thirteen fourteen hours overnight fast at
(21:47):
the most to gain the healthy agingbenefits, versus studies that were previously done
were saying that you needed to fastsixteen or more hours. So a couple
cautions with fasting. It's it's certainlynot for everyone. If you have blood
sugar issues. I mean, actuallythe research shows that overnight fasting and will
(22:10):
help stabilize blood sugar issues, butnot right away, so you could have
difficulty and you should really talk toyour doctor. Another, you know,
issue is if you've ever had aneating disorder, overnight fasting is not a
good way to go. It couldbring an eating disorder back, it could
magnify any new disorder. So andthen if you're if you're frail or weak,
(22:34):
or have other health issues, Ithink before taking on any kind of
fasting, whether it be overnight fasting, or five to two fasting, or
any of the ones that are outthere. It's always best to talk to
your doctor. At least, Iknow you'll probably say a few cautions about
that. But even if fasting isnot for you, I think just being
mindful of the amount of food weare eating will help with health aging,
(23:00):
just really being careful and even ifyou are going to do fasting, focus,
So there's a feeding window and thenthere's a fasting window. The research
shows that you can eat what youwant during the feeding window, but that's
not as effective. So when you'reeating, have it be healthy Mediterranean style
diet, and then and then dothe fasting and that's going to be a
(23:22):
lot more effective than just eating whateveryou want during the feeding window. And
at least, as I said,I know you have some views on fasting,
and I'm just wondering what you thinkabout reducing calories and fasting as a
as a means to do that.Yeah, well, I think you you're
just your recent summary. I wantto say a couple of things about the
feeding window too, but the Ithink that what you said at the end
(23:45):
is really important. There's a feedingtime and a fasting time, and that
really The problem is, and accordingto some you know, pretty detailed research,
a lot of people eat during thenight, well after dinner, you
know, a snack before bed,and might even wake up and eat.
Maybe they wake up in the morning, first thing they do is eat,
and so there's the fasting window iskind of non existent for a lot of
(24:07):
folks, and that's really hard onthe body physiologically. So I think the
most important thing before people get caughtup, even with how long they're fasting
overnight, is just to really noteat at night and to try to wait
at least an hour after you wakeup before you eat your first food.
That alone will go you know,we'll take your health leaps and bounds forward
(24:32):
and then you can work on thefastening window. But I would agree,
I really don't recommend anything more thanthirteen hours now. I don't think that
the data really is strong beyond thirteenhours. You know, there's some emerging
data for certain conditions, but forthe most part, I think that's plenty
plenty of fasting. I think,going back to aging, as we get
older, our protein requirements increase quitea bit as well, because we're prone
(24:59):
to korupenia or muscle breakdown. Andwhen we break down, when our muscles
start to break down, it's aswe get older, like you know,
I'm talking in the older old category, it becomes more and more difficult to
rebuild our muscle back. So it, you know, is easy to lose,
hard to get back. So wewant to try to prevent the loss
as much as possible because when westart to lose muscle mass, we increase
(25:22):
the risk of falls, serious injury, even death from falls. Loss of
muscle mass increases the risk of developingblood sugar imbalance issues because of more insulin
resistance. There's an association between decreasedmuscle mass and poorer cognition or poor cognitive
function, so it's really important tomaintain really healthy muscle mass. So in
(25:48):
addition to activity, from a dietaryperspective, the thing that really feeds our
muscles is protein, and protein intakegets pretty high as we get older,
and it's also very important that wespread the protein out so that we're eating
about a third of our total proteinwith each meal if we eat three meals
a day, that's critical. That'sreally important for maintaining good blood sugar control
(26:11):
and just helping to support the healthof the muscles. So you know,
generally this is kind of a generalrule of thumb, but most older people
need to consume about a gram ofprotein for every kilogram of bodyweight. A
kilogram is two point two pounds ofbodyweight. So you just take your total
(26:32):
body weight and pounds and then divideit by two point two. That will
tell you how many kilograms you weigh. And then that's the amount of protein
that you need in grams on adaily basis. And then you want to
divide that into three into thirds andtry to eat a third with breakfast,
third with lunch, they'd with dinner, and that will really support good healthy
(26:52):
muscle integrity. Yeah, I'm gladthat you brought that up. Can you
remind us about healthy protein sources,because I don't want I think a lot
of people think, oh protein,I need to eat more meat, you
know, which, especially when itcomes to processed meats and red meats,
you know that will not be sucha great protein source. So remind us
(27:15):
what some good protein sources are.Yeah, so you know, meat can
be a healthy protein source, likegrass fed red meat or wild game certainly
can be helpful. Skinless chicken canbe helpful fish of course and other marine
life. And then on the plantside, we can get good amounts of
protein through legoons, which would belike soy or certain you know, beans
(27:41):
are pretty high in protein and theamino acids that make up protein. Eggs
are good sources of protein. Nutsand some seeds are good sources of protein,
and even vegetables and other grains havea good amount of protein in them
as well. So you know,it's helpful. Ieople are kind of uncertain
about where they're getting their protein.It's pretty easy nowadays to go onto a
(28:08):
computer and just search the internet orthere's lots of apps that you can use
to find out the protein content inthe foods that you're eating, and you
can also get lists of foods thatare high in protein. Perfect. That
was great, please, thank you. Yeah all right, Carolyn, So
I think we are pretty much outof time, unfortunately, but maybe you
(28:32):
could think our sponsors again. Absolutelyso, once again we'd like to thank
American Biosciences, makers of metatrol andIMpower products to supercharge your immune system,
immuse post biotic to give your immunesystem that extra boost, cognizance, Sticolon
to help enhance memory, focus,and attention and Doctor Ohio's award winning shelf
Stable Probiotic. Well, this hasbeen a great show. May you all
(28:57):
experience joy, laughter and love.It's time to thrive everyone, hap good
nights got me, a lot ofhas got me a lot of excuseab good
perses escape that Ja the city isfun. Extram love in love
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