Longevity

I have been passionate about health and wellness for many decades, and really thought I knew it all when it came to maximizing my life span.  I’m sure you have heard all the same things:  Eat a healthy diet, exercise regularly, do not sit too long as it is the new smoking and so on.

Through research, I found that it is the microbes in our digestive tract that keep us young.

In addition, if we can prevent our telomeres, tiny caps on the ends of our chromosomes, from shrinking as we get older, a process that has been linked to many age-related diseases, we could very well slow or even reverse the aging process.

Learning about people living in blue zone areas, known for their extraordinary longevity, has been fascinating. They convey another important message:  that in the pursuit of a long, healthy life, enjoying ourselves and spending time with friends and family is as significant as eating green leafy veggies.

All of this knowledge makes facing another birthday that much easier.  Because as George Burns once said, “you can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old”.

The keys to healthy aging: Is it your genes, a daily walk or an apple a day?  What is the secret to growing old gracefully and healthfully, while having fun every step of the way?

Here, at Aging is an Option Institute, we take a look at the latest findings on living long and living strong while keeping the illness of old age, such as dementia, heart disease, and stroke from slowing you down.

Americans continue to live longer than ever, but now scientists are looking for ways we can age better, free of the diseases that make our senior years a scary time.

The advances in longevity have resulted in exploding numbers of centenarians (people who are 100 or older).  According to United Nations estimates, there will be 3.7 million centenarians around the globe by 2050.  As the baby boomers- America’s largest living generation, I am a part of, - age, we can only expect those numbers to grow.