How to Enjoy Youth, Health, and Vitality for Many Decades to Come

Most of what we consider to be the “normal” aspects of aging are not normal at all. How well you age is determined primarily by your lifestyle and diet ... not the number of years you’ve been alive. Here are five things you should be doing to match your health span to your lifespan:

1. Eat a moderate amount of calories that provide a high level of nutrition. Over a thousand studies have shown that caloric restriction dramatically increases longevity. But you don’t have to starve yourself. Simply replace foods that are high in calories and low in nutrients.

2. Avoid sugar and refined carbohydrates. Some people over 100 smoke and drink. Some have high cholesterol, some low. Some exercise, some are inactive. But there is one common denominator - all long-lived people have relatively low insulin levels.

3. Balance your omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. Maintaining the right omega-6/omega-3 ratio is not only necessary for a healthy heart and brain, it also helps keep your skin supple and youthful.

4. Exercise. Exercise helps you stay lean, strong, and healthy - and there is a direct correlation between muscle mass and immunity. So don’t forget your strength training.

5. Get plenty of sunlight. Optimal vitamin D levels are associated with a reduction in the risk of every degenerative disease. Vitamin D also helps you maintain strong, healthy bones well into your later years.

- Jon Herring
Early to Rise
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2004

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