We all want to age well but things happen. After all the years of working to stay well and helping others do the same, I do know that there are some things we really need to do consistently if we want to increase our chances of living a long healthy life. They don’t guarantee a positive outcome, but they sure increase the odds.
What Are They?
I’ll start with appreciating your body and all it does for you.
Do you ever think about that? The other day I was going through some old medical reports of mine, and I came upon a couple of EKG’s from 2004 and 2006. I looked at my heart rhythm and was struck by how that single heart of mine has been pumping every day, waking and sleeping, for over seventy years! And it pushes blood through my whole body, nourishing muscles, tendons, tissues and organs every moment of my life. And while all that’s going on, trillions of cells are doing their jobs, allowing the old ones to flush out to make room for new ones to present themselves. It’s true for all of us. Our immune system is constantly on the lookout for intruders and will flush them out through various channels, including a sneeze or a cough. Pretty amazing, huh, considering we are hardly even conscious of these goings-on…
Next, how does the body get the fuel to do all it does?
When I studied traditional Chinese medicine in Shiatsu School, I learned there are two ways in which we get our energy that fuels all the body’s functions: nutrition and the breath. Imagine for a moment the tremendous difference you can make when you eat fresh nutritious foods and drink clean water MOST of the time vs. highly processed manufactured food that comes in packages and could be months old. And think how much more oxygen your brain and body will have if you make those estimated 17000+ daily breaths deep and slow vs. quick, stressed and shallow.
Then, how about movement?
When you view a photo of a skeleton it’s clear the human body has many joints that require reqular movement to stay functional. And the muscles and ligaments that surround those bones need extension and contraction to stay strong and supple. Sitting is called the new smoking because too much of it will weaken your structure and lead to accelerated aging.
How many zzz’s do you catch on average?
Sleep is an important time for repairing your body and resting your mind from conscious thought. Going to bed with your last meal fully digested and your mind relaxed from the pressure of the day or anticipation of tomorrow’s challenges will give your body time to repair itself. Sleep really matters.
How do you handle stress?
Did you know unmanaged stress is a factor in up to 90% of our ailments? Headaches, backaches, irritability, insomnia, difficulty concentrating, anxiety and more can all be related to unmanaged stress. The pandemic further increased the sense of lack of control over our lives. It is especially important to notice when you are feeling stress and to find techniques that work for you to modify your response to stressful situations. If you look at the preceding 3 categories, you can see that nourishing foods, movement, and sleep all better prepare you for dealing with stressful events.
And finally, Connection
We need one another. More and more people are living isolated lives. Lack of connection with people you value and who value you is directly related to illness and shorter life span. It will take time to recover from the lack of direct connection with others that was an outcome of the pandemic. Loneliness is a documented health risk as great as smoking and obesity.
What is Holistic Nutrition?
It’s what I do. When helping someone improve their chance for a long healthy life, I learned in my training that all of the factors matter. If you are overly stressed you cannot digest well, even if you are choosing relatively good foods. If you are eating poorly, you won’t have energy. If you don’t get quality sleep, you won’t have the energy to exercise your body. Holistic nutrition is an approach that understands you cannot put nutrition in a box and not look at how life is being lived. You can’t count calories and expect everything to get better if those calories are made up of highly processed foods and diet soda.
You can learn more about the many ways we can work together here.