Cut Your Risk for Prostate Cancer Diagnosis In Half
Prostate cancer diagnosis can be decreased significantly by simply eating more vegetables. It's not that anyone will be surprised by this information but sometimes legitimate information specifically addressing a decrease in prostate cancer diagnosis risks is quite helpful in changing lifestyles and diets. See the following from Best Life on prostate cancer.
Decrease Prostate Cancer Diagnosis
"Eating fruits and vegetables daily can reduce the risk of being diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer - the kind that metastasizes. According to a new study from researchers at the National Cancer Institute, most of this effect is due to cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts.
Researchers tracked the diets of 29,361 men for four years and found that eating cauliflower once a week cuts the risk of prostate cancer in half. Cruciferous vegetables are rich in glucosinolates, compounds that boost the production of cancer-fighting enzymes."
This finding on prostate cancer diagnosis offers us a simple way to significantly decrease our risks as men for developing aggressive prostate cancer but it also offers a glimmer of hope for those that are not treating prostate cancer even though they have been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
If the glucosinolates boost the bodies natural production of cancer-fighting enzymes then one could easily guess that their prostate cancer would be less likely to grow or metastasize... or at least the diet could slow the process if not completely stop the progression of prostate cancer. As we all know; slowing or stopping the progression of any disease will help with human longevity even if it is just a little.
I was just over on Yahoo Answers and a question came up about what to prepare for dinner for one, light in calories, including chicken. Cutting calorie intake is widely known to promote longevity so I happily proposed the following:
A Recipe For One
I would suggest using a small breast and sauteing it in a teaspoon of olive oil. - Brown both sides and set aside.
Then saute half a small onion (diced) with a stalk of diced celery and a clove of garlic. When tender add the breast back to the pan add a splash of broth cover and simmer until chicken is done all the way through.
Meanwhile slice a carrot or two and saute in a small sauce pan with balsamic vinegar and dried parsley and prepare a quarter cup of quinoa in half a cup of broth or water in a third sauce pan. Everything shouldn't take longer than about 20-25 minutes... you're basically waiting for chicken to cook through and quinoa to soften.
celery stalk - 6 calories 1/2 onion - 14 calories 1 clove garlic - 4 calories 1 large carrot - 30 calories 1 teaspoon olive oil - 40 calories 1 tbs balsamic vinegar - 28 calories 1/4 cup quinoa - 156 calories (substitute white rice for 51 calories) 1 cup chicken broth - 17 calories 1/2 chicken breast (no skin) - 130 calories --------------- Total Calories = 425 (320 with rice instead of quinoa)
Substitute rice for quinoa and the calorie count drops even more. This is plenty of food; I ate it last night with pork chops instead of chicken. Enjoy!
My name is Brian. I am 29 years old and I have always wanted to live to be at least 100. When I was a child I told everyone I knew that I would be 100 years old one day and they should get that old too. Little did I know that I would grow up thinking the same thoughts.
Update 9/20/09: Please read my personal bio if you're interested in learning more about me specifically.
Extreme Old Age
The human life span is finite, that much is for sure, but it has been growing over the years as advances in medicine, science, and general understanding of the body has evolved. In 1900 the average life expectancy of the average American was in the mid-40’s and today it is in the upper 70’s. Some countries even have average expectancies in the lower 80’s and if those are mere averages then we can bet that many more live to much greater years.
In fact nearly half live longer and we can assume that those that do live that long were doing things right. They weren’t doing the things that lead to early decay of the body or mind and they were smart about how they lived their lives. In my opinion this means that simply doing these things purposefully should greatly increase our life expectancies barring any unforeseen accidents that might be coming our way.
The World’s Oldest People
Some people in this world end up living to extreme ages. People living past 100 are actually one of the fastest growing demographics in the world which leads one to believe that with modern science and knowledge and the safety of modernity versus that of the past we can comfortably strive for 100 and truly believe it is attainable. With a little more luck we might even be able to seek loftier goals such as 110 or even push the limits of the oldest people ever documented living into their 120’s!
About This Blog
This blog is a project of mine that I have decided to take on to chronicle all the relevant information I can come across that pertains to long life, longevity, general health and lifestyle tips. In my opinion information that is related to a healthier happier life always relates to longevity because long living people are almost universally happy and healthy people! Please bookmark this site, subscribe to the feed, comment, and share articles with your friends and on your own blogs and always feel free to contact me in the comments or via email.
Yoga might be the ticket for those that get a little too excited a little too fast in bed. For those that haven’t considered the exercise of yoga for any other reason, this finding might change your mind at least long enough for experimentation purposes:
"100 – Percentage of patients who experienced a significant reduction in premature ejaculation after participating in yoga, according to a study in The Journal of Sexual Medicine."
According to a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine that tracked 1,202 people for almost eight years, you will increase your risk for developing type-2 diabetes by 50% if you take a supplement of 200 milligrams of selenium every day.*
Brazil Nuts & Selenium
I know on face value this sounds like just anyone could take too much selenium on accident but your typical multivitamin only contains 100-200 mcg (micrograms) of selenium. Meaning you would have to take about 1000 pills a day to reach this level. Considering this I guess this finding really is fairly pointless except for filing it under the interesting yet pointless facts category. Who’s going to ingest ten 100-count bottles of selenium pills every day? Really?
As a side note however, Brazil nuts are quite rich in Selenium, around 500mcg per ounce. Doing the math I guess we could assume there are at least a few people out there with unquenchable cravings for Brazil Nuts. These people would have to eat 400 ounces of Brazil Nuts every day to reach this level… again hardly worth mentioning but still interesting.
Brazil Nuts and T-Cells? There has however been some studies that have come out that indicate that 200MCG of selenium which can easily be found in a daily serving of Brazil nuts can help with dendritic cell count and possibly with T Cell Activation. So those Brazil nuts might just be good for something other than tasty goodness after all.
If you want to try a good selenium supplement which won't put you at an increased risk for developing diabetes but may help improve your T-cell count then this Nature Made Selenium (200mcg) supplement on Amazon.com may be worth checking out.
Brazil Nuts and Diabetes?
And in case you actually are worried about Brazil nuts and diabetes and have managed to curb your habit of popping too many selenium pills and Brazil nuts you can look into eating more Brussels Sprouts as they help keep insulin levels in check. Or try going for a 15 minute sprint as doing this regularly also helps to lower insulin levels.
Source The finding was paraphrased from Best Life magazine, February 2008.
All men are interested in having higher sperm count… or at least healthy sperm so the following information might be quite interesting to the typical guy.
”Conventional wisdom says that ejaculating every day lowers your sperm count, but that could be a good thing. A recent Australian study found that although sexual droughts (defined as three days without ejaculation) can increase sperm count, they can also harm your little seedlings’ DNA from overexposure to free radicals. In fact, daily ejaculations decrease sperm DNA abnormalities by 12 percent, according to the researchers.”
Because sperm count is decreased in those who ejaculate every day it should take at least a couple days recovery to maintain higher levels of sperm however more than three days according to this study show that abnormalities start occurring at a higher rate if three days between ejaculations are breeched. It is easy to assume from these findings that the best of both worlds would be to have ejaculations every other day on average to boost count while minimizing abnormalities in sperm DNA. Those that are trying their hardest to procreate might want to consider this in their baby making regimen.
Related ...and for those having trouble getting an erection in the first place maybe try a bit of Horney Goat Weed as an herbal supplement.
Source This quote is from the February 2008 issue of Best Life magazine
Exercise May Be An Alternative Treatment For Depression
Exercise is good treatment for depression as it is for many other conditions. It is also a good way to stave off the initial symptoms of many conditions and is the basis for living a longer life. Recently studies have reinforced what we all have known about exercise and mood all along. If you are looking for an alternative treatment for depression give exercise a try.
Natural Treatment For Depression
"The only thing the doctor needs to order for depression is exercise. A new study from Duke University examined the effects of four different treatments on 202 depressed adults: home based exercise, supervised exercise, sertraline (a depression medication), and a placebo.
They found that exercise is as effective as drug therapy for treating depression. Since antidepressants don’t work for everyone – and they carry crazy side effects such as increased suicide risk, impotency, and abdominal bleeding – the Duke Doctors think exercise is a viable alternative."
If you are currently taking medication for depression you can likely be assured that the results will be better if you add light exercise into your daily routine. And for those who do not take medication for whatever reason the exercise should replicate the positive effects of the medication without any of the side effects. So go walking and feel better, try walking after eating… maybe you can even listen to a self-help book on your iPod on your route and learn a bit while you’re at it.
Depression Related
Speaking of depression it is a disease that does not just effect your mood and personal drive but it also effects your bodily systems. Simply staying positive can increase heart attack recovery times from certain conditions and could likely assist in avoiding some conditions all together. If you want to know how to live longer, exercise is a great method followed closely by thinking positive.
Source This quote is from the February 2008 issue of Best Life magazine.
A Direct Link Between Alcohol Consumption and Longevity
The following tip related to excessive alcohol consumption directly affects your longevity and is amazingly easy to manipulate.
Excessive Alcohol Consumption
"97 – Percentage more likely that you’ll reach age 85 if you keep your daily alcohol consumption to fewer than three drinks a day.
A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association analyzed nearly 6,000 patients to determine which lifestyle factors increased the odds that subjects would live to age 85. Factors such as marriage and limited alcohol consumption were major predictors of longevity."
Basically if you drink no more than three drinks a day you can double your chances of reaching 85 years of age. This coupled with eating fish regularly should easily extend life and increase your life expectancy rate.
I'd encourage you to click through to read more longevity tips and to check out some of the potential pitfalls of alcohol consumption in the following piece: Brain Size and Alcohol Consumption.
Related To Excessive Alcohol Consuption
Additionally, this finding in longevity odds seems to correlate directly with the finding that binge drinking increases your chance of stroke. Maybe those who drink a lot and die before 85 die more frequently due to stroke or stroke related complications and those who limit their drinking end up lasting longer because they are less likely to have a stroke. Hmm.
Source This quote was from the March 2009 issue of Best Life.
Here’s a quick stat for you on just how loud an iPod really is:
How An iPod is Just Loud Noise
It only takes one "hour a day of listening to your iPod at full volume to increase your risk of permanent hearing loss. Healthy volume levels should stay below 90 decibels but the iPod can reach 115 decibels and the ear buds amplify sound even more than headphones do." This makes the loud sounds of an iPod even louder which are even worse for your ears.
This should be a word of caution to the younger generation who listen through ear pods more frequently than the older demographic does. Just look at all the older folk who wear hearing aids… you’re doing that to yourself kids. Turn the volume down. :)
Source This quote was from the March 2009 issue of Best Life.
I have always had a strange fear that I would get some form of heart disease since I was a fairly young child. It’s strange I know but it was because I had sharp chest pains periodically when I was growing up so severe that we spoke with physicians about them. My doctor had me keep a journal of the chest pains and ran various tests on me but no diagnosis could ever be determined. Since then I still get them but my doctor still sees nothing abnormal about my heart or cardiovascular system and isn't concerned with arterial plaque build up.
Physically Fit with Clogged Arteries
My story however seems as if it could apply directly to the following information on arterial plaque build up and arterial hypertension published in Best Life's March 2009 issue:
"When fit guys like Jim Fixx drop dead from clogged arteries, it’s easy to dismiss the heart-healthy benefits of exercise. In fact, previous research has been unable to show any measurable link between exercise and artery thickness (a sign of plaque build up in arteries). So German researchers recently looked into the effect of exercise on a different sign of plaque build up in arteries: the roughness or arteries.
When they compared ultrasound scans of the arteries of physically active patients with those of couch potatoes, they found that the arteries of fit guys were 11 percent smoother, despite there being no difference in thickness. These findings suggest that researchers have been looking at the wrong factor when measuring the progression of plaque build up… and that is a good prescription for artery health."
Living With Plaque Build Up In Arteries
Aside from the fact that my family doesn’t have a history of heart disease and that I’m not a couch potato this makes me wonder if I should ask my doctor about artery smoothness and see if she has any opinion on the subject. I'm also reminded that just because you exercise doesn't mean you are destined to have a disease free longer life.
Though exercise does increase your chances for increased lifespan and greater longevity it is also no guarantee. Generally exercise will decrease your risk for early death but this is simply a risk statistic and it never disappears. Plaque build up is always a potential issue. No amount of prevention is totally perfect; we just do what we can and hope we live longer.
A Longer Life Invitation
If you like this post I'd encourage you to subscribe to the Live A Longer Life feed and read the many upcoming articles I have planned for the site. Thanks for visiting and for reading! ...and work on cleaning up the plaque build up in your life while you're at it.
Related
In a related subject those people that are concerned about their own heart health might consider periodic walking breaks throughout the day to minimize their chances of developing sleep apnea which could increase your risk for heart disease.
In addition to all the above, you may also find this recent blog post on treating clogged arteries handy as well. If you know you have high cholesterol and are exhibiting signs and symptoms of blocked arteries then you need to take action right away to improve your chances of living a long and healthy life.
This week saw my first submission into the Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog Carnival over at FitBuff. I started this blog only a few weeks ago because I wanted to record the many health tips that pertained to health and length of life that I could find. Tips abound around the web but many of them go unsupported by adequate references. They also often go unlinked to similar studies and tips that might support or refute other findings. For this reason I believe this blog should be a worthy resource to not only me, the author of How To Live A Longer Life but to you the casual reader.
Last week I prepared my post Eat Fish To Increase Longevity and I am thankful to FitBuff for including it in this weeks carnival with the many quality submissions of others. I thought I'd also take a moment to review a couple of the posts that I found interesting in the carnival and highlight what seems to relate to the topic of this blog.
Fraser over at Fitness and Nutrition posted 11 Tips to Raise Metabolism and highlighted a number of items that not only raise your metabolism but are considered healthy for many other reasons as well such as Building Muscle, Eating Breakfast, and Drinking Water among others. There are a couple ideas though that I have some questions regarding such as drinking Green Tea instead of Coffee. I understand that Green Tea has a lot of good things going for it but so too does coffee. Coffee drinkers can significantly drop their chances for dementia while also ingesting additional forms of antioxidants that are present in the beverage and I would also argue that the caffeine gets the metabolism going as well. Also Fraser advises you to sleep 8 hours a night... which sounds great but it should be noted that sleeping between 7-8 hours is optimal for life span maximization and that sleeping any more that 8 hours can start to decrease your life expectancy, not to mention your daily productivity, as I touched on in my post sleep and life expectancy.
Another blog post I found interesting and applicable to living long was posted by Randy at Eating-Veggies.com. He posted that a High Alkaline Diet Helps Reduce Inflammation, meaning that veggies are highly alkaline based rather than acidic based and that if you eat too much acid based food then you will be more likely to be inflamed and susceptible to disease. I argue that eating veggies is not the only solution to inflammation, eating veggies merely lowers caloric intake through the substitution of higher caloric foods such as meat with lower caloric food such as veggies. My post last week on lowering calories to reduce inflammation is just right. This tells the whole picture. It's not what you eat that is important, it's how much you eat. Just eat less and you'll accomplish the same thing proposed by Randy and you'll still get to enjoy that nice piece of Tri Tip steak for dinner every now and then. Of course I'm not saying don't eat veggies, I'm just saying that variety is still a great thing and meat is part of a complete diet so long as your veggie needs are being met as well.
Anyway, once again, I'll thank FitBuff for my inclusion into the carnival and I look forward to future carnivals and posts from other Bloggers. I hope my readers will take a look at this carnival and some of the submissions and I hope those that found my blog through this avenue will take the time to comment on my blog and subscribe to my feed. Spread the love!
Cell phone usage and brain tumors have been synonymous in the speculative association of cell users for at least the last twenty years. In that time popular wisdom has told us that we are safe however long-term scientific studies on brain tumors and cell phone usage has been lacking until recently.
Cell Phones & Brain Tumors
As reported in Best Life magazine, February 2008:
"More research has linked the microwaves emitted by cell phones with brain tumors. This study, published in the journal Occupational Environmental Medicine, was the first to analyze the effects of cell phone use over 10 years or more, and the results are sobering. Researchers found that mobile phone users are twice as likely to develop malignant, difficult to treat brain tumors called gliomas. The advice? Keep mobile phone conversations short and use a land line whenever possible."
Reduce Odds of Brian Tumors
To add my personal opinion I'll say that when cell phone usage is directed through a bluetooth earpiece the effects of the damage are likely far diminished as the phone is not touching the head. This is just an assumption but I believe it is spot on and a fair compromise in a world where cell phone usage will not be dropping any time soon. Use your earpieces!
UPDATE: 8/16/2009: I recently posted a list of the 20 lowest radiation cell phones. Using one of these phones with an earpiece will probably be your best defense to to the increased risk for brain tumors. Check it out.
Invitation
If you liked this post I'd encourage you to subscribe to the feed and read the many upcoming articles I have planned for the site. Thanks for visiting and reading!
It seems that your life expectancy is noticeably affected by the amount of sleep you get. This could be good news for some and bad new for others. Check out this interesting information that relates directly to living a longer life and a maximum life span by simply managing your sleep patterns better.
Better Sleep Patterns Improve Life Expectancy:
"A 22-year study of 21,268 adults published in the journal Sleep found that sleeping for fewer than seven hours a night is associated with a 26 percent increase in the likelihood of early death in men. Surprisingly, the sleep study also found that getting more than eight hours of sleep is dangerous for men too: It raises the same risk by 24 percent."
Longevity Related
This makes you wonder that if you were to analyze those people who sleep less than seven hours or more than nine hours, how long would they last... would the difference be a matter of months on average or years? If it's years then you could assume that those who have optimal sleep patterns, which are between 7-8 hours, live longer lives than the national average, which in America is 78 years. Sleep and life expectancy are attached at the hip. Is it possible that better sleep patterns can prevent premature aging? Maybe simply having better sleep patterns could alone increase life expectancy rates into the eighties... and coupled with eating fish or any number of other longevity tips, they might even last even longer.
I'd also like to invite you to click through for even more tips on longevity and living long or subscribe to How To Live Longer for new articles as they come available.
Source This quote is from Best Life magazine, Feb. 2008.
Sleep apnea is a mysterious condition which is associated with many ailments and conditions. In the most recent American Family Physician (5/15/09) there was a lengthy article on the problem of Hypertension that is unresponsive to treatment. The article concluded that the cause of uncontrollable arterial hypertension could very well be sleep apnea which often goes unnoticed in sufferers. In fact frequently, up to 60 percent of the time, sleep apnea affects people who appear slim and or fit. as noted in my previous post: Walking Breaks & Sleep Apnea.
Best life recently had this to say about sleep apnea,hypertension, and over-eating.
"Roughly 12 million American’s suffer from sleep apnea, a condition that causes a person to momentarily stop breathing while asleep. Previous research has linked sleep apnea [and eating] to weight gain and heart disease, and a new study from the University of Arizona College of Medicine may have found the reason for the link: binge eating.
Researchers found that those with sleep apnea ate, on average, an additional 88.16 milligrams of cholesterol a day. This suggests that sleep apnea interferes with the appetite-regulating hormones leptin and ghrelin, causing sufferers to pig out on heart-damaging high-cholesterol food. If you wake up with headaches in the morning, suffer from daytime drowsiness, and keep your [spouse] awake because of your loud snoring, go to a sleep lab for a sleep apnea test."
The Sleep Apnea Hypertension Link
This line of thinking leads me to conclude that among the many causes of hypertension, binge eating can cause hypertension and can also trigger the development of sleep apnea. Sleep apnea, however does not nessesarily have to be caused by binge eating as 60 percent of sufferers are not obese. Once sleep apnea becomes a condition regardless of it's cause, then halting binge eating (especialy in the case of a slim sufferer) may not necessarily solve the hypertension issue because the individual suffers from sleep apnea.
Sleep Apnea Symptoms
Now, I’m not a doctor or medical researcher but I do feel this is a logical assumption that might one day have to be proved or disproved. What I do know though is that if you have sleep apnea you should really get diagnosed and treated for it. Even if you don’t value the sleep you might value the effect it might have on lowering your blood pressure regardless of your waistline.
Source The quote above is from the March 2009 issue of Best Life magazine.
Even at 28 years of age I worry about glaucoma because of an accident that happened to me in college. When I was 19 years old I was playing a game of doubles tennis. At some point I was playing near the net and my partner lobbed a slow floater to the other team. They ended up slamming it back to us and more specifically directly into my right eye.
As a result I was rushed to the emergency room as my eye ball filled with blood and turned black. I was completely blind in that eye at that point. Upon testing at the hospital my doctor told me that my eye pressure was a whopping 58 mm/hg and I was in danger of losing my eye sight forever because of the high eye pressure if it stayed that high for more that a few hours. I was given an immediate dose of drugs straight into my eye and after an hour my high eye pressure began falling back to the mid 30s.
High Eye Pressure Risk & Glaucoma
After three weeks of eye pressure above 20 mm/hg and complete blindness in my right eye my vision finally came back, the blackness faded away, and my pressure returned to normal singe digits. My doctor essentially told me that my 100% recovery was basically a miracle. He would have guessed that anyone with such elevated pressure for so long would surely lose all or part of their vision permanently. I was lucky and as a result I routinely get check ups to see if there is any long-term damage cropping up.
Glaucoma & Vision Loss Research
Now there is new research which relates to my story which reiterates what my doctor told me about the dangers of high eye pressure:
”Roughly 4 million Americans have glaucoma, an eye condition in which fluid pressure builds up and damages the optic nerve, causing vision loss. Doctors often prescribe light aerobic exercise such as swimming to help keep eye pressure steady but according to new research from Australia, wearing goggles while swimming increases eye pressure by up to 13.4 mm/hg (normal eye pressure is around 4 mm/hg) and may increase the risk for glaucoma. Simply rubbing your eyes a lot can also lead to a spike in pressure and glaucoma risk. Because early symptoms of glaucoma are unnoticeable and eye damage is irreversible, it’s important to catch the disease before it leads to vision loss. Have your eyes examined every year or two.”
Elevated Eye Pressure In Your Past?
If you have elevated eye pressure or have had a history of an eye injury in the past maybe these words should speak to you as they do to me. Get checked for damage routinely before you start losing your vision. Three weeks of blindness is no fun; I can’t imagine a lifetime of vision loss.
Also Related: Though exercise is treatment for glaucoma it is also, as we all know, a great treatment for a ton of other ailments. Read on to learn more about how exercise extends life.
Source The quote above is from the March 2009 issue of Best Life magazine.
Around the web you can find numerous tips on how to live longer. Increasing human longevity is an idea that appeals to many people because no matter whom you are or how much money you have, your life is finite and you will eventually succumb to the inevitable fate that all people fall victim to: old age and death.
Because life is universally regarded as the most precious of gifts many of us feel it is worth not only appreciating but maximizing or taking full advantage of what we are given. In much the same way a person would feel that a gift was wasted if it was not used, those seeking to live as long as possible while remaining healthy and active are merely attempting to make full use of this particular gift as it is so valuable. Your diet plays a major role in your life span and eating fish appears to do wonders for your health.
The Human Life Span
The general consensus on the life span of humans is that with the proper lifestyle (and a little luck) length of life can be extended years beyond average life expectancy rate. The demographics of life expectancies can be broken down so many different ways if one were to list the possibilities the length would be exhausting. To simplify things let us look at only a few demographic factors: Gender and Country.
Currently the basic rule of thumb is that women tend to live about 5 years longer than men in developed countries and that in these countries the average age of life span tends to be above 75 years topping out at 84 years. The country with the highest average expectancy is currently Macau and the good old USA sits comfortable in 30th place at 78 years (see the entire list of countries by life expectancy). When accounting for the rule of thumb between genders add 2.5 years for women and subtract 2.5 for men and you are pretty close to the gender average expectancies.
Longevity Analysis
To very basically analyze these two areas let us identify the obvious differences. Macau is located in South China less than 100 miles from Hong Kong. It is right on the ocean. The USA is of course a bigger and more diverse area. It is full of a wide array of cultural backgrounds and has areas located inland, at sea, as well as coastal. In fact if you look at the top ten countries in life expectancy you’ll find the overwhelming majority are coastal and island communities. This of course implies a diet based more on seafood than inland communities might be accustomed to.
Additionally most of the top ten are developed countries where citizens have access to hospitals and health care. In the USA we do not have a significant socialized health care safety net so often the lower wage citizens of the country do not get adequate health care outside of emergency room coverage and local free clinics. Additionally, because a great proportion of the US is inland, the diet of the typical American is not quite as seafood dominated as other higher lifespan countries might be.
How To Live Longer - Eat Fish
Taking only these factors into consideration we could easily assume that an American diet that resembles a seafood-based diet of a coastal community would increase life expectancy just as adequate health care coverage might do the same. Let us just assume that if an American with the means to adequate health care coverage eats seafood regularly he could duplicate the typical life span of the longer living regions of the world. This assumption however is supported by science.
Eating fish regularly can help prevent dementia and stroke and it can even help prevent premature aging of the brain due to its high concentration of omega-3 fatty acids which are difficult to duplicate in other foods and diets. Maybe this alone can increase an American’s expected life span from 78 years to 80 and get them into the top ten range.
To further stack the odds in your favor you might want to take a look at some more longevity secrets that I've blogged about. The more healthy actions you take today will increasingly improve your odds of living a longer life.
Medicine 3.0, a blog run by NursingAssistantGuides.com, recently posted an article on various herbal and holistic remedies for various forms of symptoms that we all suffer from from time to time. It is widely known that healthy eating can lead to healthy bodies but science says that we don't always need modern medical engineering to achieve relieve from the aches, pains, and sicknesses life shoots our way.
Considering I believe that healthy lifestyles contribute greatly to long life it should be noted that whenever possible natural substances should be ingested as remedy for ailments rather than medicine created in a lab. I encourage you to take a look at the list and refer to it from time to time. In fact one of the items on the list I have already touched on here on this blog: Raw Crushed Garlic for a Healthy Immune System.
Treating prostate cancer is a delicate decision that your doctor is most qualified to advise you on. You may however find it odd to hear that not treating the condition is best for the time being. The reason is often due to the fact that prostate cancer is ver slow growing and sometimes treating prostate cancer is worse than letting it stew for a while.
Follow along with the findings of this study that suggest that not treating prostate cancer might be the way to go at first... and if you don't have prostate cancer you may want to read up on some handy prostate cancer prevention tips to keep you occupied in your good health.
No Prostate Treatment May Be The Best Prostate Treatment
"Prostate cancer is often a slow-growing tumor that can take years to affect the health of the patient, and the treatment can do more damage than the disease (incontinence, anyone?). That’s why Swedish researchers tracked a group of men with low-stage tumors, grades, and PSA scores, who opted to skip treatment. Four years later, 66 percent of the men continued fending off the cancer without treatment. It may seem frightening to opt out of cancer treatment, but men should consider their doctors' advice if a wait-and-see strategy is recommended."
Proste Cancer Treatment & Mood
Interestingly, not knowing you have a small tumor might be further better for you because it can keep you in good spirits. As some other studies have concluded, a healthy mood might do more good for your health than worrying about a low-stage, slow-growth tumor sitting in your abdomen for a couple extra years. Stayng positive can help with many condition including heart attack recovery times. Then again… it is a gamble to do nothing, just try to think positive no matter what you do.
Source This quote originated from the March 2009 issue of Best Life magazine.
Use Crushed Raw Garlic to Support a Healthy Immune System
In my home we do a lot of cooking and most every dish includes fresh crushed garlic and olive oil. There are countless studies suggesting the increased health benefits of including both of these ingredients in your home cooked meals, and more specifically garlic is known to support a healthy immune system.
You would expect to reap these benefits by including crushed garlic in your home cooking but Mary, over at Branches of Health informs us that our cooking techniques are likely diminishing the benefits we could be experiencing when we use garlic in our recipes.
Raw Garlic Benefits:
"When garlic is chopped or crushed, this action produces two sulfides, allicin sulfides and diallyl sulfides. These sulfides are what produce all the health benefits of garlic [a healthy immune system]. Roasted garlic has no medicinal value because it is whole and it has been cooked to a high temperature. Diallyl sulfides will survive cooking, but its medicinal value is not as high as the allicin sulfides. Cooking chopped garlic will degrade the allicin, and microwaving it will destroy it all together.
To get the best health benefits from garlic,chop the garlic or press it into some olive oil and leave it for about 15 minutes. Add it to the meal at the very end of cooking, or even to the plate once its been served. The smaller the pieces of garlic, the more sulfides produced and the more medicinal value it will have. Also, organic garlic bulbs will have a stronger taste, which means more sulfur content resulting in more medicinal value."
Knee pain is common in people who have arthritis. The knee is a heavily used joint and carrys a lot of weight. If you have kneee pain and want to find kneww pain relief some studies are now showing that simple working them out with weights may help.
On Knee Pain Relief:
"Hit the leg press machine to relieve knee pain. Mayo Clinic researchers tested the quad strength of 265 people with arthritis of the knee over 30 months and found that those with the strongest quads had the least amount of knee pain and 60 percent less risk of losing knee cartilage."
Related to Knee Pain
Considering arthritis not only affects the kneee but rather affects so many different joints and so many different people the assumption that strength training should help arthritis of any kind is easy to make... not to mention their are an innumerable positive associations with exercise including extending life.
Source
This quote originated from the May 2009 issue of Best Life magazine.
Walking Breaks Can Decrease Your Risk of Sleep Apnea
Do you suffer from sleep apnea and various sleep apnea symptoms? Maybe you should get off your butt a little more often. Studies are beginning to show that taking walking breaks at work and or taking walks around the block at home with Fido can have a great impact on your sleep apnea if you indeed suffer from it.
Benefits of Walking Breaks
"Add sleep apnea to the list of health issues that can result from too much sitting. (Other problems include neck pain, back pain, and varicose veins.) Canadian researchers determined that sitting for long periods increases apnea risk among non-obese men, which helps explain why 60 percent of sufferers are normal weight.
The study revealed that sitting increases the volume of fluid in the legs, and this fluid is shifted to the neck overnight, obstructing airways. Contracting your muscles during the day can help prevent fluid buildup, so make an effort to take a walk around your office every hour. Sleep apnea can increase your risk for high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke."
Walking breaks also help to lower blood pressure and help to lower postpartum depression in women who routinely go for short walks after pregnancy. Basically taking an extra walking break here and there is just plain good for you.
Mild cognitive impairment is a condition where you have trouble connecting the dots if you will. Preventing cognitive impairment is not necessarily the same thing as preventing dementia or Alzheimer's but it is similar.
According to the studies referenced below you can reduce your risks of mild cognitive impairment by drinking more coffee and decrease your risks of other physical impairments by drinking light to moderately.
Cognitive Impairment Studies
Moderate alcohol consumption in your fifties will help reduce the likelihood of suffering from a disability as you age. Research published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that light to moderate drinkers had 25 percent lower odds of physical impairments that would prevent them from carrying out daily activities such as household chores compared with abstainers.
Chase your cocktail with a shot of espresso to get extra brain protection: A Finnish study found that drinking three to five cups of coffee a day reduces the risk of cognitive impairment by 65 percent.
Related
There are additional studies which show that drinking moderately can also increase Omega-3 levels... the key in both cases is to drink routinely but keep the volume moderate to low. Also remember that mild cognitive impairment is not the same as sever development issues such as Rett Syndrome or other related developmental issues. These cannot be influenced with something as simple as your diet. Lastly, I encourage you to read up on this potential cause of Alzheimer's disease.
Source This quote originated from the May 2009 issue of Best Life magazine:
Have you ever heard of MRSA? Not a lot of people have but for those who have MRSA and are currently treating MRSA this finding may be very interesting. It seems a potential treatment for MRSA without using antibiotics is potentially on its way.
"MRSA, the skin infection that is spreading in locker rooms across the country, is notoriously resistant to antibiotics, so infections can be deadly. But researchers from the New York Institute of Technology were able to kill the bacteria by zapping them with a wavelength of blue light. The treatment destroyed 90.4 percent of the bacteria colonies in the lab, and researchers expect similar results in patients. This is good news, considering that 32 percent of Americans harbor the bug that causes MRSA, leading to 94,000 infections a year."
MRSA Infection and Longevity
Of course this information cannot directly help you live a longer life but it does give hope to those few that get infected with these bacteria every year. If this treatment is successful in patients then more people will have the opportunity to live long and fruitful lives. And for related information I suggest reading up on some of the many skin care anti aging creams available for healthy skin free of MRSA.
Source
This quote originated from the May 2009 issue of Best Life magazine:
Inflammatory disease and various forms of inflammatory response is primarily responsible for a wide array of symptoms and conditions. Working with your diet by eating anti-inflammatory foods can help to improve many inflammatory diseases and conditions. More specifically it’s been shown that the reduction in systemic inflammation by following a low calorie anti inflammatory diet or a CRON diet can help improve memory. Read on for more info.
German researchers report that cutting calories can improve memory and brain function. The researchers speculate that consuming fewer calories helps reduce levels of inflammation, a known risk factor for cognitive decline. Study participants cut 30 percent of their daily calories, which is 750 calories (about five and a half cans of cola) if you are consuming 2,500 calories a day.
More Inflammation Reduction Ideas
You can also combat inflammation and increase brain function by flossing your teeth more often. Additionally, eating more fish also has the ability to help prevent dementia and stroke similar to reducing inflammation.
The calorie restriction diet on the other hand requires a bit more of a rethinking of one’s lifestyle however it can be argued that eating fewer calories is additionally a great all around approach to living a longer healthier life.
Source
This quote originated from the May 2009 issue of Best Life magazine:
Increased insulin levels are closely associated with type-2 diabetes. This happens because the body begins to resist insulin and as a result blood sugar levels increase. As the body adjusts to normally high levels of insulin it begins requiring high levels of insulin to keep glucose in a normal blood sugar range.
Thus the mere existence of high insulin is something which all people should want to avoid... and those people who have abnormally high levels of insulin (but do not not yet have diabetes) should also take steps to reduce insulin levels quickly as high insulin is a primary cause of the onset of diabetes. If not monitored and managed carefully type-2 diabetes could result and increased insulin would then be required to manage the disease. It's incredibly important to stop or reverse pre-diabetes before it gets to advanced. This post on reversing type-2 diabetes naturally may be something worth checking out.
How To Lower Insulin Levels Naturally
Because insulin levels are central to managing the symptoms of diabetes it is very important to manage your insulin levels especially when they are getting elevated. Poor sleep habits and insulin resistance for instance go hand in hand. Techniques such as managing your diet to help reverse insulin resistance are also important to keep in mind.
Alternatively there is a recent study showing how to reduce insulin levels naturally and how to lower insulin levels with exercise. The study shows that exercise can have an immediate effect on insulin levels and can even reduce insulin levels in as little as 15 minutes a day.
Reduce Insulin Levels with Exercise Sprints
"[Only] 15 minutes of high-intensity exercise is needed to reduce blood-sugar levels and risk of diabetes.
When researchers had 16 men do 15 minutes of cycling sprints three days a week, they found that the men’s insulin levels dropped 37 percent within two weeks."
This is a clear indication that exercising helps with lowering insulin levels naturally and suggests that you do not always need medication to reduce insulin levels... although meds do help if you need them bad enough.
Obviously this is a small sampling of men but a 37% drop is significant in lowering a high insulin level in such a short period of time. This essentially means that you can reduce insulin levels enough to diminish the risks associated with diabetes by sprinting or stressing the cardio system merely 6 times in 14 days for a combined total of 90 minutes. That doesn't seem like too much to ask.
Other Ways to Manage Insulin Levels
Now, if you are on meds and you are exercising thoroughly and still asking the question, how do I lower my insulin levels even more, then you're not out of luck. If you combine this practice of sprinting or exercising vigorously with eating dairy to help prevent metabolic syndrome and by consuming vitamin K on a daily basis to reduce insulin levels, you should have significantly lowered your risk factors for diabetes and increased your probability of living a longer life.
Update 7/13/09 - Want more tips? I've recently compiled a lengthy post of 11 ways to reduce insulin resistance to further help you learn how to reduce insulin levels without the use of medication. I'd encourage you to take a look. You don't want to succumb to a lifetime of insulin injections. If you take the steps now and change your bad habits you may not have to...
You may also want to see our summary of a popular guide to reversing pre-diabetes by dropping your email in the box below.
There are of course numerous additional ways to help reverse insulin resistance and lower insulin levels. If you want more structured guidance on how to reverse the early stages of diabetes, this guide on increasing insulin production and reversing insulin resistance may be something that you may want to consider paying for. The sales page linked to above has a ton of info on the program so give it some time to read through it all.
If you liked this post I'd like to invite you to subscribe to my feed and get updates on related topics on health and longevity findings and research.
50 percent less likely to develop dementia if you are calm and outgoing, and have an active social life.
Related
Additionally, you can further take strides to prevent dementia due to age-based brain damage by eating more fish. So what does this tell us? We should all invite the neighbors over for Salmon. :)
Good news for the 18 million American men who suffer from erectile dysfunction: There’s a natural alternative to Viagra. Studies and clinical trials show that most prescription ED drugs can cause side effects such as headache, facial flushing, upset stomach, vision problems, and priapism (an erection that won’t go away). But a new study in the Journal of Natural Products found that horny goat weed targets an enzyme that controls blood flow to the penis more precisely than Viagra does.
Source
This quote originated from the April 2009 issue of Best Life magazine:
Click through for more information on Horny Goat Weed and maybe you should disregard this alternative if you have kidney or liver problems...
Omega-3 fatty acids are contained in olive oil, fish oil, and a number of greens such as purslane. Omega-3 levels which are higher are well known to encourage heart health and longevity. You should do just about anything to increase your omega-3 levels.
Findings on Omega-3 Levels
Recent research reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reveals that there are other ways to increase your omega-3 levels without downing more fish-oil pills or loading up on sardines. The study, known as IMMIDIET, was founded by the European Union and tracked the diets and health of 1,600 people from Italy, Belgium, and the UK.
The researchers found that people who drink moderate amounts of alcohol (i.e., two drinks a day for men) have higher concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids in their blood, independent of their fish consumption. The mechanism isn’t clear, but the researchers did find that the association is strongest for wine drinkers, so the antioxidant properties of wine’s polyphenols might have something to do with it.
Increase Your Omega-3 Levels
Considering higher Omega-3 levels might have a positive effect on staving age related brain damage and might help prevent dementia and stroke you might be able to do one better by sipping on a glass or two of wine every day to increase your omega-3 levels in the blood… just don’t drink too much as you can reduce chances of stroke by avoiding binge drinking. In effect, binge drinking will cancel out the effects of your higher omega-3 levels and you will not likely live a longer life.
Source
This quote originated from the April 2009 issue of Best Life magazine:
The following study found a very easy way to increase brain function.
"People with gum disease have worse mental functioning than those whose gums are healthy according to a UK study. The researchers had 6,693 adults in their twenties through seventies take cognitive performance tests. They found that, regardless of age, those with bleeding gums or tooth problems caused by inflamed gums scored worse. This finding suggests that system-wide inflammation due to gum disease causes damage to white matter in the brain, resulting in deficits in mental function. Flossing every day will help keep your gums healthy and your mind sharp."
UPDATE 8/28/09: How about more reasons to floss; inflammation of the gums is also associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer. Source
This quote originated from the April 2009 issue of Best Life magazine:
Oftentimes, brain damage manifests itself in the form of slurred speech or memory loss, but sometimes there are no symptoms. Doctors call this silent brain damage. Possibly caused by migraines, head trauma, or anemia, these tiny areas of dead brain tissue can lead to stroke or dementia over time.
A recent study published in the journal Neurology found that people who eat at least three servings of tuna or other fish a week have a 26 percent lower risk of these dangerous infarcts than those who don’t eat fish at all. Those who eat fish once or twice a week experience a 13 percent decreased risk. The exception: Eating fried fish does not produce any added health benefit. The study authors recommended eating fish that are high in omega-3 fatty acids to reap the most benefits. Try tuna, salmon, or mackerel.
To Prevent an Increased Risk for Metabolic Syndrome Eat More Dairy
56 - Percentage increase in your risk of metabolic syndrome (a collection of symptoms that puts you at greater risk for diabetes and heart disease) if you eat less than two servings of dairy a day, according to a study of 5,000 people reported in the American Journal of Health Promotion.
Additional findings suggest that the trans fat Vaccenic Acid found in dairy and beef might be the cause of this link to Metabolic Syndrome... and in a strange turn of events it appears new mothers can help prevent metabolic syndrome by breastfeeding their children. Check it out.
Source
This quote originated from the April 2009 issue of Best Life magazine:
Alcohol is actually quite good for you in moderation but binge drinking will increase your chances of stroke. From Best Life:
56 - Percentage increase in your risk of stroke if you binge drink (consume six or more drinks in one session), according to new research reported in the journal Stroke.
UPDATE 6/16/09 - Because of a link between longevity and alcohol consumption you are almost twice as likely to live to the age of 85 if you limit your alcohol intake to no more than two drinks a day... maybe this is because your not as likely to have strokes. :)
Source This quote originated from the April 2009 issue of Best Life magazine:
Hay-fever symptoms can be very annoying and can interfere with your day to day life. However, a little known way to reduce hay-fever symptoms is available every day at your local acupuncturist.
50 - Percentage reduction in hay-fever symptoms if you are treated with acupuncture, according to a new study published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology.
Source
This quote originated from the April 2009 issue of Best Life magazine:
Blood insulin levels should remain fairly consistent day to day. The levels should never get too high as this can cause complications down the road. Luckily you can maintain safe insulin levels and even lower insulin levels that are too high if you simply make a few changes to your diet.
In fact there are a number of things (in addition to maintaining a healthy weight) that you can do to make sure you keep your insulin levels in check and reduce insulin resistance. Consuming more vitamin K is one of them.
Manage Insulin Levels from Best Life:
One of the keys to a long life is having good insulin sensitivity(meaning your body doesn't produce wild swings in blood sugar after you eat, a condition that leads to diabetes). New research from Tufts University found that Vitamin K - a nutrient found in Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and dark leafy greens - helps keep insulin levels in check. The researchers recommend eating five or more servings of these vegetables a week.
Best Vitamin K Supplements
As always I recommend making changes to your diet first in any attempt to become more healthy or prevent any potential health problems but the simple fact is that sometimes its hard to plan your meals appropriately at all times. You should always have a supplement backup for those important nutrients for times when your meals are lacking.
This Vitamin K supplement by Jarrow is an excellent source of Vitamin K in that it is designed to improve it's bioavailablitiy in your system. It can be found on Amazon as can many other alternative supplements.
Update 6/16/2009: Do you want to know another way how to reduce insulin levels? Another dietary method of reducing insulin levels and decreasing your risk for Diabetes is to get as much Selenium as you possibly can. Unfortunately it's tough to get enough of it even with nutritional supplements so you have to make sure you get it through your diet.
You can also check out this handy how-to list for more ways to reduce insulin levels naturally and generally maintain good health.
Source
This quote originated from the April 2009 issue of Best Life magazine.
Heart Disease is easily the leading cause of death in America. One of the major contributors to heart disease is cholesterol. See the following posts for more on lowering your risk for heart disease:
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