Press Room

With little cost and no side effects (other than positive ones), some subtle changes can have a great impact on how you age and how you feel. With exercise, diet, relaxation and detoxification, you can get on the fast track to better health and easier aging.

Exercise:
You hear it all the time; from many sources… exercise and regular workouts are powerful weapons in the fight against aging. Exercise is the cheapest and most effective way to regulate your hormones. You can reduce cortisol and insulin levels and increase amounts of growth hormone, DHEA and testosterone simply by exercising.  Exercise maintains muscle and bone mass and helps to detoxify the body since the skin is the largest detoxifying organ in your body. A good regimen: At least three to five days a week, aim for a combination of 15 minutes or more of cardio exercise with interval training (in which you raise and lower your heart rate by working at different intensities); 30 minutes of weight training; and five minutes of stretching. Ladies, don’t think just because you use resistance training you will get bulky or gain so much mass you won’t look like a woman. The fact is with just cardio training you will loose weight, however you aren’t toning the supporting muscles that give you your shape. You shrink a pear you get a smaller pear, same goes for the apples and every other body shape out there. Resistance interval training will tone the muscles that lift the buttocks, reshape the legs, and strengthen the core muscles for better posture. The list goes on and on; just don’t be afraid to use weights.

Diet:
A whole foods approach to eating – full of fresh produce and other plant-based fare, and lean, organic meat and dairy products – is by far your best bet for supporting an anti-aging regimen. Some may still think that diet soda will save them; you would be hard pressed to find any nutritional value to any food or drink that has ingredients you can’t pronounce. Most chemical additives in foods and drinks have a tendency to try and trick the body into accepting the additive as the actual ingredient (sugar, salt, or fats). Problem is, your body needs these elements to perform normal functions. You cut out the sugars, fats, and salts in your diet and your body will crave more, it’s a survival mechanism in your brain, you can’t beat it, you can’t trick it. That is why fad diets don’t work permanently; some call it the yo-yo effect. Think of it this way, if you have something that you normally use for muscle growth (protein), or energy (sugars); and that element is replaced by a chemical compound that doesn’t build muscle or allow your body to use as energy, what do you think happens to those compounds in your body? Your body can’t use them so it stores them, your system can’t even pass them because it’s not a natural compound that the body can break down. That storage is adipose tissue, one of the hardest substances for your body to get rid of. It can’t be used for muscle development, or as a viable energy source.

So your “diet” shouldn’t be of the foods you “can’t” eat, it should consist of 5 small meals a day with three of them containing a full serving of proteins, carb’s, and vegetables. Watch the serving sizes, your normal restaurant servings are usually double portions. No special tools needed to size things out either. Use your hand to figure it out; a serving of protein–size of the palm of your hand and about one inch thick, serving of carb’s–should fit in a tightly cupped hand, serving of vegetables–should fit in a loose cupped hand. The other meals can be healthy snacks, keeping those serving sizes. As always water is essential, keep an eye out for hidden calories (get your dressing on the side) yes you can still have dressing. A healthy diet isn’t what you can’t have; it’s what you can have if you take control over what you put into your body.

Relaxation:
Stress is the No. 1 factor affecting how well we age (or don’t). The sense that everything has to be done now is the chief reason our lives are so filled with tension. As a society we focus on the past or the future and lose the ability to focus on the moment. This stimulates a conditioned response that was originally designed to keep us safe from harm – the fight-or-flight response. One thing that is taught to people when they feel overwhelmed is to focus on their breathing. When you slow down and pay attention to your breathing for just five or six breaths, you break the state of constant mind chatter and cut your stress response immediately. Dr. Khalsa suggests, “Create some peace in your life with yoga, Tai Chi or meditation – they all lower levels of cortisol, which is horrible for your brain, immune system and skin. More than 100 studies show that those with a spiritual life live longer.” The challenge is making the time to reconnect with yourself and find peace – what is believed to be the single most important thing anyone can do to slow the aging process.

Taking the time to tend to your personal relationships is also a part of relaxation: Research shows that feeling connected to those you love isn’t only a good way to beat stress; it actually fights disease. A study at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, found that women at high risk for heart disease (owing to their family history) reduced their risk if they had a strong network of support, and women who ranked high on hostility and low on social support had increased odds of heart trouble, even when other unhealthy habits were taken into account.

Detoxification:
Relaxation can be hard to come by, especially if you depend on nicotine and caffeine to keep you revved during the day and use alcohol to unwind in the evening. These toxins present an added burden to your body and draw energy away from the processes that keep it running smoothly.  A detoxification program, which can range from simply giving up caffeine, nicotine and other stimulants to a multiday “cleanse,” can help relieve some of that burden, allowing your body to get on with business as usual, namely keeping you healthy, energized and feeling younger.

Various modalities of body cleansing are currently employed, ranging from physical treatments (e.g. colon cleansing), to dietary restrictions (e.g. avoiding foods) or dietary supplements. Some variants involve the use of herbs and supplements that purportedly speed or increase the effectiveness of the process of cleansing. Several naturopathic and homeopathic remedies are also promoted for cleansing; such products are often marketed as targeting specific organs, such as fiber for the colon or juices for the kidneys. If you think you may want to try a cleansing and detoxification program, be sure to talk to your doctor about the risks that may be associated with this program, especially if you are currently taking medication on a regular basis. You should also prepare your body by reducing the amount of fatty foods and sugars you consume a few days before you begin your detox.