Lead a Healthy Life!!

There are no second thoughts on this, the moment we’re born the process of aging begins. Steady exposure to the environment variables like, the things we eat and drink and stresses from both inside and outside our bodies all cause us to age over time. Aging is highly complex process, but scientists are starting to understand what happens at the molecular and cellular levels. For eg., healthy cells are damaged over a period of time when our immune systems shift from reacting to short-term problems like injuries and infections to gradually producing chronic inflammation throughout the body. Time also gradually shortens the telomeres that acts as protective caps for our DNA-containing chromosomes.

These and other changes make our bodies less and less able to deal with stress from outside as well as inside of our body. So, when damage reaches a critical level, our cells, tissues, and organs may no longer perform normally, and our health starts to decline.

The changes associated with aging start to happen on some level at day one. We start to experience their effects early in our life. For eg., we lose the ability to hear certain high-frequency sounds during our teenage, our cognition and memory slowly decline after they peak in our mid-20s, the strength of our bones starts to decrease in our 30’s, female fertility sharply declines after 35, age-related near-sightedness begins in our mid-40s, and our hair starts to grey and thin as early as in our 30s and 40s. After the age of 50, the changes of aging become evident and because aging is the biggest risk factor for most of the diseases that affects us as adults, the older we get, the higher our risk of chronic disease are.

A lot of studies have been done but scientist have not yet found a way to stop these processes of aging, they are learning more and more about how to maintain health throughout our lives. Some aspects of aging are out of our control, like our genetics and our family history. But every individual can educate themselves about moderate risk factors and do our best to reduce them through healthy lifestyle and diet choices. This is inevitable, at least with the current modern scientific advancements, but still most of us can be healthy and active well into our later years. If we take care of ourselves. It’s no surprise that regular physical activity can help maintain a healthy weight, improve moods and sleep habits, and boost overall vitality. It’s clear that a well-balanced diet full of nutritious foods, is critical to good health. But when it comes to understanding which foods are the best choices, much nutrition researchers have focused on how certain foods or nutrients may have a negative effect on health, or even play a role in disease development. More recently, studies  have begun to explore and understand how nutrition may play a role in promoting healthy aging throughout of all life’s stages.

We are quickly learning about what foods and nutrients should be incorporated in our daily diets, and how they can enhance our health. Diets full of fruits and veggies, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and lean meats, have proven health benefits like lowering blood pressure, improving glucose control in diabetes, weight loss, improving arthritis, and reducing the risk of cancer and cardiovascular events, to name a few. We are also, learning more about the specific nutrients that can impact health. For example, plant pigments found in bright orange and red fruits and vegetables may prevent and slow the progression of eye diseases. Calcium helps to keep bones strong. Vitamin B play a role in maintaining brain health. And flavanoids from many plants may improve the health of our cardiovascular systems.

The bottom line is that YOU have the power to maintain and improve your health, add vitality to your years, and reduce your risk of chronic non-hereditary disease. And it’s never too late to make a change. To learn more about the nutrients that are critical to your health, and how to safely turn to supplements read through our other blogs in the Health section.