How does it feel to be turning 70 you may ask? The truth is the aging process is so gradual that it really doesn’t feel any different than it’s felt in recent memory. You think, “I must have made an error with the math, I’m not really 70, right?” Wrong!
You’re reaching that age where more sand has fallen than remains.
You’re officially ‘Old’
Like the frog in the boiling pot, age creeps up on us and we hardly know it. We feel great on the inside, that is, until we look at a mirror, yuck!
Those of you men that still have hair, it’s fully grey and there are many thin spots. Don’t bother to comb it over, just forgetaboutit! And what is it about skin? Why is it so saggy? Knees look like they belong on an elephant. Oh well, it’s payment for all those youthful hours on the beach with only baby oil between us and the sun, it’s now taking its toll. There’s just no hiding it.
As boomers we were once the darlings, young and beautiful flower children. That’s all in the rear view now. Like it or not America still loves youth, so we’re out. Actors, athletes, even Silicon Valley millionaires are all youthful. We’re Rodney Dangerfield, other than our kids, and converse to the culture of Okinawa, we elders “don’t get any respect”. Except for the occasional young person that holds the door open for us. Hey, was that respect or pity?
The only ones that will truly appreciate you and your advanced age are your peers. Sadly, some of them will pass away in the years to come, you may even lose your life’s partner. It’s vitally important to keep culturing new relationships. Loneliness is not only depressing, but it’s an early killer.
O.K. enough negativity, is there any good stuff? Well first, we need a total attitude pivot. “Yeah, I’m 70 you young brat, and proud of it!” Oh, and by the way, I’ve made it, and you have a long, long way to go.
Let’s see, mental function appears to be, eh, O.K. Admittedly recalling the exact word you want to use to convey a point in a conversation may take a few more seconds. Don’t you just hate when people finish your sentences for you?
The interesting question is how far over the horizon do you dare peer now that you’re 70? That is, do you make a 10-year plan? How much longer do you really feel you’ll be on this planet?
That’s where it gets murky. Today, you may feel healthy and even strong and feel you can keep going at this pace for a long time. But then intelligence sets in and reminds you of probabilities. Cancer and heart disease can spring up totally unexpectedly and turn your world upside down.
Your last physical was just fine so just stay in the present, head forward full steam ahead, damn the torpedoes. You will deal with it when it happens. Don’t be stupid, have the contingency plans is place: proper health insurance, life insurance for your spouse, cash reserves for emergencies, etc.
Should you have a goal to make it to age 80? Although it’s totally out of your control just like saying you intend for it not to rain on a date 3 months from now. But, go ahead and start planning.
Find Your New purpose
Like most seventy-year-olds, you’re most likely either retired or semi-retired, so work no longer takes up all your attention and focus. As a newly minted retiree, you probably enjoy leaving the rat race, that horrible commute to work, the office politics, bosses, etc. Just doing nothing sure sounds good…at first.
Turning 70 is a new beginning to and an opportunity to set a course on a totally new purpose.
But then, after the novelty wears off, there’s that sense of “what now?” Emptiness sets in. Doing nothing just doesn’t do it.
What’s vitally important at this stage is to find your “Ikigai”. Ikigai is an Okinawan expression for “a reason to get up in the morning”. There was a famous Blue Zone study which identified specific areas on the planet where people lived the longest, healthiest and happiest. The Okinawans practice this philosophy and many lived to age 100! Their Ikigai may be to care for their grandchildren, or even great grandchildren, whatever, they’re focused on a higher purpose. And the universe responds to help them get there.
So, at age 70, discover your Ikigai? Here’s your chance to reinvent yourself. It could be writing that book, volunteering, starting a business, assisting others less fortunate, whatever.
Volunteerism can be top candidate Ikigai. So, you own a home, a retirement fund, maybe even a vacation home…nice. What about those less fortunate around you, or those still striving to get there. Volunteering is a good way to give back. No recognition needed, just volunteer because you have abundance and boy does it feel good.
It’s all about “Successful Aging”
Drop any phrase that says Anti-Aging. Nobody can stop biology, but, like a fine wine, you can improve with age. A truer yet empowering phrase is “successful aging”. It’s not about extending lifespan as it is extending wellness into the later years as possible, more juice.
You can stay fit and active and add “juice” to your seventies.
Successful aging, then, is a matter of adjusting our mental expectations to our physical limitations with grace. And remembering you can still live an abundant life right here, right now. “Old men [and women] ought to be explorers,” proclaimed T.S. Eliot.
No Longer have to sweat the finances
Those 50 years of hard work hopefully got you to a good spot financially. Let’s see…home paid off, check…IRA built up, check…All debts paid off, check. A nice asset base for your remaining years.
You’ve maxed out on my social security, and now it’s take it or lose it. You know, when you don’t need it, when you’ve architected your life around what you can afford from your own labors, you suddenly receive a “windfall”. If it didn’t come in, you would still survive but there it is, totally disposable income. Time to have some fun.
Do it now Mantra
What is definitely different about the 70th milestone than all previous ones is that there is little sand left in the hourglass. So, whatever you’ve been putting off had best be undertaken now.
It’s time to attack the bucket list with a vengeance, the meter is running. Remember when you were younger and wanted to climb Machu Picchu? Well, what are you waiting for?
It’s time to get your house in order. Remember all those home projects you knew should be completed some day? Well the piper has just arrived.
After you kick the bucket, don’t leave your surviving spouse with a house that needs a ton of work before it can sell. Not that they will sell it, but just in case. Tackle those projects that will make the potential sale go quicker:
Don’t want to keep doing all those home projects? Perhaps downsizing is for you. Many seventy-year-olds are opting to sell that big house they raised their families in and buy a smaller, single level house, with a small manageable lot that’s walkable to everything. That gives them even more freedom of time.
It’s also time to declutter. When we were young, we were rampant consumers. And now we own a lifetime of stuff, most of which we will never use again. It will weigh you down. If it has high value, sell it on eBay to the highest bidder and be done with it. If it has marginal value give it to Goodwill. If no value, just toss it. Don’t you feel lighter already?
Ink is indelible. If you were a journal writer your entire adult life, think about forwarding it to your adult children. Especially if you recorded your thoughts about them when they were growing up. It’s incredibly personal to their lives and totally priceless – what a gift.
Free at Last
In this period without a full-time job or boss, you’ll now have another layer of calendar freedom. When was the last time you really thought deeply about egghead stuff like the origin of the universe, or how our homo sapien species got to where we are, and pondered where mankind is going. Yes, in the past you could regurgitate snippets of what you’ve read in headlines, but now you can really get under the covers and think deeply about a whole myriad of things.
Read more good stuff
Like many, up until now you probably only read self-help and/or non-fiction books. Topics that could help your career or investments, or just plain cope with life. Now you can read books that don’t have to help your career but will give you insight to matters that are just plain interesting and pleasurable; no payback required.
You now have the time to read interesting and diverse topics.
And, guess what, you have the time now to listen to an entire unabridged audio book. Practically every popular book these days has an audio version, take your pick, put the headphones on and soak it all up.
You can also ratchet your reading up by joining a local book club, it would be really enlightening to get other’s interpretation on the same material. Did the author really mean that? And the social camaraderie will bring a new dimension to your life.
Learn new things
There are theories that learning new things helps to stave off Alzheimer’s. Hopefully it’s true, but learning new stuff is its own reward. You can try: Painting, play an instrument, cooking, gardening, golf, tennis, yoga, investing.
How about buying a boat and learning how to sail? Or, a plane and learn how to fly?
If you really want to go ‘all in’ you can learn a new language or take college level philosophy. Here’s to satisfying a curiosity and keeping a sharp mind.
Travel
Probably the biggest dividend at this stage of life is having the time and money to travel. To enjoy new worldly experiences that enhance the soul. Air travel is so affordable and we now live in a world of Airbnb. The entire world is waiting for your arrival.
Travel is its own reward, get out there.
Or, how about buying an RV and travel across North America? You could set off in a general direction and vagabond the rest of the way.
Just Play
Play for yourself is probably something you didn’t do much of when the kids arrived. Gotta work, pay the mortgage, put money aside for college and the boss wants me to work this weekend. Yeah, you may have golfed once in while, but was your mind truly free?
How about just rolling up your pant cuffs and splashing along a beach? Fly a kite. It’s endless what you can do, just take more time to do it.
In Parting
With the extra freedom of time coupled with that extra money from Uncle Sam, and hopefully in good health, you can undertake a myriad of new, unexplored, activities with passion — Die empty!
Increasing physical activity and maintaining a healthy weight are powerful tools in managing blood pressure, and so is following the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan.
The DASH diet is combines the right kinds and combinations of foods and nutrients to lower your blood pressure and keep it under control.
The DASH diet has nothing to do with sprinting!
“DASH = Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension”
Hypertension is elevated blood pressure and if unchecked can lead to heart disease, it’s often called the silent killer. Do not let this go unchecked. But before it gets so bad you’ll be on drugs the rest of your life, consider this simple dietary plan.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute developed the DASH plan to reduce blood pressure, finding that blood pressure went down after only two weeks of being on the diet. Since the initial studies, researchers have found the DASH plan may offer other health benefits, too, such as protection against osteoporosis, cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
The DASH plan is especially effective in reducing blood pressure in older adults. In addition, if adopted early, the DASH plan can prevent hypertension.
The DASH Plan: What to Eat
The DASH eating plan is rich in grains, fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products. It also includes fish, poultry and legumes. Red meat, sweets and fats are included in smaller amounts. This variety means the DASH plan is low in saturated fat, cholesterol and total fat, while rich in protein, fiber and healthy nutrients, particularly magnesium, potassium and calcium.
A Crash Course in Electrolyte Balance
The DASH plan now has two versions, the standard DASH plan and the lower sodium DASH plan. The low-sodium DASH plan encourages a further reduction in sodium consumption, which can help to reduce blood pressure even more than can the standard DASH plan.
The basic components of the DASH plan are not too different from the typical heart-healthy diet that most health organizations and doctors prescribe,. The DASH plan is different in its mix of nutrients due to its emphasis on such foods as fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products.
These foods provide potassium, calcium and magnesium, which together have a potent effect on blood pressure. Also, some research suggests that substituting some carbohydrates with protein, mostly from plant sources, further lowers blood pressure.
Nutrient Mix
Reducing sodium and increasing potassium, calcium and magnesium has a particularly potent effect on blood pressure. This mix of nutrients acts as a diuretic, helping the body excrete salt.
mineral
how it works
where it’s found
potassium
balances the amount of sodium in your cells
many fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, dairy products.
calcium
not proved to prevent high blood pressure, but eating too little is linked with high blood pressure
dairy products, green leafy vegetables, fish with edible bones, calcium-fortified foods.
magnesium
deficiency linked with higher blood pressure
legumes, green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds, whole grains, lean meats.
DASH Components
Here are the food groups in the DASH eating plan and tips on incorporating them into your meals:
food group
servings
grains
7 to 8 a day
fruits and vegetables
8 to 10 a day
dairy
2 to 3 a day
meats, poultry and fish
2 or fewer a day
nuts, seeds and beans
4 to 5 a week
fats and oils
2 to 3 a day
sweets
5 a week
sodium
1,500 to 2,400 milligrams a day (the lower the sodium intake,
the greater the blood pressure lowering effect)
Grains
These include breads, cereals, rice and pasta. They’re a good source of energy and fiber.
To get more fiber and nutrients, such as magnesium, choose whole grains rather than refined grains. For instance, use brown rice instead of white rice, whole-wheat pasta instead of regular pasta and whole-grain bread instead of white bread. Look for products made with 100% whole grain or 100% whole wheat.
Grains are naturally low in fat, so don’t sabotage them by adding lots of butter or cream and cheese sauces.
Vegetables and fruits
Tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, sweet potatoes and other vegetables are chock-full of fiber, vitamins and such minerals as potassium and magnesium. And remember, don’t think of them as mere side dishes – a hearty blend of vegetables can serve as the main dish for a meal.
Avocados are high in both potassium and magnesium and should be a staple in your diet. Don’t overdue because they’re also a fat.
Fresh or frozen vegetables are both good choices. For maximum benefit from canned vegetables, make sure they don’t have added salt.
To increase the number of daily servings, be creative. In a stir-fry, for instance, cut the amount of chicken in half and double up on the vegetables.
Fresh or dried, many fruits need little preparation to become a healthy part of a meal or an on-the-go snack. Like vegetables, they’re packed with fiber, potassium and magnesium and are almost always low in fat – coconut is one exception.
Add a glass of orange juice to breakfast to start the day off with fruit. Have a piece of fruit at lunch and one as a snack, then round out your day with a dessert of fresh fruits topped with a splash of low-fat yogurt. Remember that grapefruit juice can interact with certain medications, so check with your doctor before drinking it.
Leave on edible peels whenever possible. The peels of apples, pears and most fruits with pits add interesting texture to recipes and contain added nutrients and fiber.
Dairy
Milk, yogurt, cheese and other dairy products are major sources of calcium, vitamin D and protein. But the key is to make sure they’re low-fat or fat-free, since dairy products can also be a major source of fat.
Trouble digesting dairy products? Don’t think that means the end of the DASH diet for you. You may benefit from over-the-counter products that contain the enzyme lactase, which can reduce or prevent the symptoms of lactose intolerance. Or choose lactose-free products. Even people who have trouble tolerating milk can generally tolerate yogurt. Some people tolerate milk in small portions, 4 ounces at a time or less.
Low-fat or fat-free frozen yogurt can help you boost your intake of dairy products while offering a sweet treat. Add fruit for a healthy twist.
Meats, poultry and fish
These foods are rich sources of protein, B vitamins, iron and zinc. But because even lean varieties contain fat and cholesterol, try to limit intake of animal-based foods.
The DASH plan suggests that meals not be centered around meats. Cut back typical meat portions by one-third or one-half and pile on the vegetables instead.
Trim away skin and fat before cooking, then broil, grill, roast or poach instead of frying.
Nuts, seeds and beans
Almonds, sunflower seeds, kidney beans, lentils and other foods in this family are good sources of magnesium, potassium and protein. They’re also full of fiber and phytochemicals, plant compounds that may protect against some cancers and cardiovascular disease.
Nuts may have gotten a bad rap over their fat content, but they contain a good type of fat – monounsaturated fat. They are high in calories, however, so they should be consumed in moderation. Try adding them to stir-fries or salads.
Soybean-based products, such as tofu and tempeh, can be a good alternative to meat because they contain all of the amino acids your body needs to make a complete protein, just like meat. They also contain isoflavones, a type of natural plant compound (phytochemical) that has been shown to have some health benefits.
Fats and oils
Fat has the important task of aiding in the absorption of essential vitamins and assisting your body’s immune system. But too much fat increases your risk of heart disease, diabetes and obesity. The DASH plan strives for a healthy balance by providing about 27% of daily calories from fat, with a focus on the healthier unsaturated fats.
Become a savvy consumer and read food labels on margarines and salad dressings so that you can choose those that are lowest in saturated fat and trans fat.
Saturated fat and trans fat are the main dietary culprits in raising your blood cholesterol and increasing your risk of coronary artery disease. Keep your daily intake of saturated fat to no more than 10 percent of your total calories by limiting use of meat, butter, cheese, whole milk, cream and eggs in your diet, along with foods made from lard, solid shortenings, and palm and coconut oils. Intake of trans fats – a type of fat found mainly in processed foods such as crackers, baked goods and fried items – should be kept as low as possible.
Sweets
Even on the DASH eating plan, you can have sweets in small amounts.
The sweets in the DASH plan should be fat-free, for example, sorbets or fruit ices, jelly beans or hard candy, or low in fat, such as graham crackers and low-fat cookies.
Stay away from artificial sweeteners, recent research has shown it may have a negative effect on your microbiome (the good bacteria in your gut).
Cutting Back on Sodium
The fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products that have center stage in the DASH plan are naturally low in sodium. That means it’ll take less effort to reduce the sodium and salt in your diet.
Of course, sodium is added to food for more than just preservation – it’s there for taste, too. And some people may find it unpalatable to abruptly cut back to the recommended 1,500 mg a day. If you have trouble cutting back on sodium and table salt, do it gradually. That’ll give your palate time to adjust.
“It takes six weeks or more for your taste buds to get used to less salty foods,” says Sheldon Sheps, M.D. of the Mayo Clinic, “But if you can get through those first couple of months and get used to the foods, you have some sources for good meals.”
It’s important to Read Food Labels
When you read food labels, you may be surprised at just how much sodium some processed foods contain. Even low-fat soups, canned vegetables, ready-to-eat cereals and sliced turkey from the local deli – all foods you may have considered healthy – can have loads of sodium. Choose low-sodium varieties, and you may find you don’t even notice the difference.
Here are some ways to reduce the sodium and salt in your diet without sending your taste buds into panic:
Add spices or flavorings to your food instead of salt. Season broccoli with lemon juice or oregano and popcorn with curry or garlic powder, for instance. Try salt-free seasoning blends.
Don’t add salt when cooking rice, pasta or hot cereal.
Rinse canned foods, such as tuna, to remove some sodium. Buy foods labeled “sodium-free,” “low sodium” or “very low sodium.”
Lower the Alcohol
Excessive alcohol intake can increase blood pressure. The DASH plan recommends limiting alcohol to two or fewer drinks a day in men, and one drink a day for women.
Putting it all Together
The DASH plan is based on a diet of 2,000 calories a day. If you’re trying to lose weight, though, you may want to consume fewer calories, say 1,600 a day.
The DASH plan is not designed to promote weight loss, but it can be used as part of an overall weight-loss strategy. Weight loss has been shown to reduce blood pressure. You may need to adjust your serving goals based on your health or individual circumstances – something your health care team can help you decide.
Use the DASH food group guidelines and the guide to recommended daily servings to get started with your own menu planning. And build on these sample menus to create your own healthy meals and snacks. Talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian if you need more help creating menus.
If you haven’t given fruits and vegetables much more than a passing nod, consider these strategies for adopting the DASH eating plan:
Change gradually.
People seeking healthier lifestyles often try to change too much at once. Instead, change one or two things at a time. If you now eat only one or two servings of fruits or vegetables a day, for instance, add a serving at lunch and one at dinner. Rather than switching to all whole grains, start by making one or two of your grain servings whole grains. Increasing fruit and vegetable intake gradually will also help prevent bloating or diarrhea that may occur in some people who aren’t used to eating a diet with lots of high-fiber grains, fruits and vegetables. You can also try over-the-counter products to help reduce the gas from beans and gas-forming vegetables.
Forgive yourself if you backslide
Everyone slips, especially when learning something new. Remember that changing your lifestyle is a long-term process. Find out what triggered your setback and then just pick up where you left off with the DASH plan.
Reward successes
Reward yourself with a nonfood treat for your accomplishments.
Add physical activity.
To boost your blood pressure lowering efforts even more, consider increasing your physical activity in addition to following the DASH plan. These two interventions together are more successful at lowering blood pressure than either alone. And, a recent study shows motivated individuals can successfully reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease by sustained adherence to lifestyle changes, including following the DASH diet and increasing physical activity.
Remember, healthy eating isn’t an all-or-nothing proposition. What’s most important is that, on average, you eat healthier foods with plenty of variety – both to keep your diet nutritious and to avoid boredom or extremes. Packed with low-sodium, nutrient-dense foods, the DASH eating plan can help control your blood pressure and become a mainstay of an overall healthier lifestyle.
A borrowed expression: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”.
Although apples are a good source of low caloric micronutrients, there is a super-food that goes one step better, the lowly mushroom in that it is also a cancer preventative.
Mushrooms are not even a fruit but a fungus. However, for centuries many Asian societies have relished this delicacy for its flavor and have gotten a health benefit to boot.
Mushrooms are low in calories and high in micronutrients. They are a good source of B vitamins, such as riboflavin, niacin and pantothenic acid, and the essential minerals, selenium, copper and potassium.
Mushrooms are also an Angiogenesis inhibitor which means they inhibit the formation of additional blood vessels. The body typically forms new blood vessels to feed growing fat cells and cancer grows blood vessels to feed itself. If you inhibit the blood cell growth, you inhibit the growth of theses unwanted conditions.
Finally mushrooms will boost your immune system and help to fight cancers.
Back in the 1980’s some doctors have included shiitake mushrooms in a special cancer fighting mixture. Studies out Arizona State University found that mushrooms dramatically boost the overall immune system. Simple white button mushrooms were every bit as potent as the exotic varieties in their study.
However, there are other theories that favor the edible wild mushrooms out of Asia such as Shiitake, Cordyceps, Maitake, or Reishi. They contain powerful polysaccharides that have a more powerful effect on immunity.
So, pick your favorite mushroom variety and enjoy. You don’t need much, as little as one mushroom per day will provide a health benefit. Bon Appétit.
Many people are choosing to avoid gluten, , even though they are not gluten sensitive.
Gluten is a family of proteins found in grains like wheat, rye, spelt and barley.
To our digestive system, gluten is as hard as a rock and usurps our body’s resources just to digest it. Your stomach acids can dissolve meat proteins in minutes but gluten passes through the stomach unscathed to your upper intestines where it can cause havoc.
6% of the U.S. population is gluten sensitive and most don’t even know it. Full blown celiac disease is often misdiagnosed as lactose intolerance, or worse yet, not diagnosed properly until their later years.
At the very worst gluten causes an autoimmune reaction such as celiac or gluten sensitivity. But in all cases, it draws resources from your body in order to digest it. That is why elite athletes, that aren’t necessarily gluten sensitive are omitting gluten from their diet to help build their endurance. They don’t want blood traveling from their extremities to their intestines just to digest gluten and sap them of their endurance.
When we evolved as cave people to the diet which to our body is most optimal, there was no wheat in our diet. Then about 10,000 years ago when we started to grow food and consume more grains, most notably wheat. And it has stayed with us as a food source ever since, although our body was never programmed for it.
If you’re gluten sensitive you have to avoid it; but even if you just want to physically perform better, lay off gluten products such as wheat, barley and rye, and substitute bananas, rice, polenta and sweet potatoes.
You know your birthdate right? Now, do you know your future death date? Nobody does. Not to get overly morbid, but it’s the not knowing when you’ll draw your last breath that causes a major dilemma in retirement investing. If you could know the exact date of your pending death you could spend your money down until it’s zero on your death day – oh pray tell, no such luck, it’s a lottery.
The dilemma is, with a long life and over spending, you could potentially outlive your money and be destitute in old age, or, worse, a burden to your children.
Have too much money remaining in your retirement account when you die it’s all left on the table when you visit St. Peter. Oh well, at least your heirs will enjoy the French Riviera.
“It’s a Question of Balance”
So, how can you manage your retirement money with this big unknown? As the Moody Blues said, “it’s a question of balance”.
If you’re like most people you’ll have no pension coming in, so, it’s all on you to build and preserve your IRA. You’re probably already receiving a lot of calls from “financial advisors” or “wealth managers” in your area that are very willing to manage your money for you. Be advised that today’s financial advisors are yesterday’s stock brokers that are merely retooled.
Unless they are bona fide fiduciaries, they are a for-profit business. That financial advisor makes a hefty commission and guess where it comes from? It comes out of your portfolio and into his or her pocket. And although they have very arcane formulas to mitigate risks, they cannot guaranty portfolio growth but they will take their fees, most likely between 1% to 2% annually.
To minimize these fees, should you go it alone and manage your own IRA? If you decide to self-manage, you’ll need to adhere to one critical principle, that of proper “asset allocation” in a balanced portfolio. Even if you give all your money to a financial advisor, it will behoove you to know the basics of sound asset allocation.
Asset Allocation: The Basics
There are two basic buckets you can place your retirement money: growth or safety. Growth generally means investing in in more speculative asset classes such as common stocks or stock mutual funds. These are risky in that, over time, they can grow, but they occasionally tank for a substantial period.
Safety generally means investment in more stable assets that are less volatile like bonds, treasuries, or money markets. In the case of U.S. Treasuries, your money is 100% safe (but could be susceptible to inflation devaluation).
Living a long life is a good thing. To finance it you will want to grow your IRA continuously. This becomes even more important after you retire, when you’re no longer earning a salary and depositing to your IRA – the growth now has to come 100% organically from the investments.
Unless you just fell off the cabbage truck, you realize there are inherent risks to the stock market. You probably witnessed the drop in value of your IRA in 2008 caused by the great recession. That nasty bubble pop took 6 years to get back to its original valuation.
So, why not put it all in safety and avoid another 2008. Well, this particular year, 2017, safe investment in treasuries and CDs are yielding only 2.5%, in contrast to the S&P 500 index fund which is running at 16%. That means on each $100,000 investment, The S&P 500 index fund earned $13,500 more a year – difficult to ignore.
The answer is you need a portion of your portfolio to be in growth and another portion to be in safety. If the stock market tanks again, you’ll have a substantial portion of your portfolio protected. Conversely if the market continues to grow, that part of your portfolio will also grow.
The Proper Allocation
How much to allocate to the safety bucket vs the growth bucket is determined by two factors: (1) your age and (2) your risk tolerance.
Why your age? Take two extremes, the fifty-year-old and the eighty-year-old. The fifty-year-old has a good 15 years or more of earnings before retirement. He or she can sustain another stock market calamity. Conversely, the eighty-year-old may not live the six years for the market to come back.
Risk tolerance varies from person to person. Some are queasy and anxious when the market dips, they get beside themselves. Others want to bet big for a bigger return, albeit also willing to take a bigger loss.
A Simple Formula
For those of you with low tolerance for risk, use 100 less your age to determine the portion of your portfolio to allocate to growth (and therefore more risky).
For those of you with high tolerance for risk, use 120 less your age to determine the portion of your portfolio to allocate to growth.
So, the example of a sixty-year-old would be:
Low risk = 100 -60 = 40% allocated to growth (therefore 60% would be safe)
High risk: 120 – 60 = 60% allocated to growth (therefore 40% would be safe)
Another example of a seventy-five-year-old would be:
Low risk = 100 -75 = 25% allocated to growth (therefore 60% would be safe)
High risk: 120 – 75= 45% allocated to growth (therefore 40% would be safe)
Rebalance
O.K., so you set up your IRA with the proper asset allocation for your age and risk tolerance, do you now just ignore it? No, the magic lies in the rebalancing after the situation changes.
Let’s take the year 2016 as a low risk tolerant fifty-year-old, if you had a total of $200,000 in your portfolio, you would place $100,000 (50%) in stock funds, and $100,000 (the other 50%) in something safe like treasuries or bonds. That’s what it looks like on January 1, but one year later, the picture has changed, that stock fund went up 18%.
So, now the picture looks like this:
Growth: $118,000 — now 54% of the portfolio
Safety: $102,500 — now 46% of the portfolio
If you do nothing, you’re over exposed in stocks (54% when it should be 50%) and now need to take some chips off the table and place into safety.
So, to properly rebalance, you would sell off $7,750 of your growth bucket and place into it into the safety bucket to make them again 50% / 50%.
“Buy Low, Sell High”
Here’s the magic: buy low, sell high.
Stocks don’t go up forever, eventually they top off and decline, but even the most prescient soothsayer cannot predict the exact top, so what you’re doing is moving money away from high risk to protection. You’re selling high!
If the reverse occurred, and stocks declined by 18%, you would actually sell the roughly $7,750 in bonds and buy more stocks. You’re buying low!
Conclusion
The world is fraught with risk, think Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un, a lot of things are out of your control, so you need an investment strategy that meets your risk tolerance and takes into account how many years you’ll have on this planet. Allocate properly and rebalance once per year and you won’t go too far wrong. In a future post we’ll address a formula for withdrawals so you can enjoy your retirement and not run out of money.
Bonus material: when you incorporate these habits you get disease prevention as well.
You’ve worked hard your whole life, you may have even financed your kids’ upbringing and education. Who doesn’t want a few more vibrant years on this planet? There are some simple habits to slow down the effects of aging, we asked researcher Knut Holt to offer some, and here is what he offered.
The aging process is, for the greater part, not a mystery anymore. Aging consists for a great part of daily damages done on the microscopic, tissue, cellular and genetic levels. These add up as the years are passing. These damages have specific causes like oxidizing agents, the sun’s rays, mechanical wear and tear, psychological stress, lack of some nutritional components and too much of others, like fat.
Another component of aging is the reduction of the telomere chains at the chromosome ends, as each cell division occurs. However, the body has means to repair these ends again, with an enzyme called telomerase. The rapidity of the aging process depends on lack of efficiency in this repair process. The above mention aging causes also slow down this repair process.
The sun’s UV rays will definitely age your skin, it’s best to stay out of the sun during mid-day hours, and always use sunscreen.
The factors causing aging, also causes other diseases like cancer and heart disease. Both aging and these age related diseases can, to a great extent, be mitigated with the knowledge possessed today.
The Components to Slow the Aging Process:
High Micronutrient Foods
Adequate daily food containing whole cereals, peas, beans, vegetables, fruit, fish, mushrooms, fouls and seafood. Limit the amount of red meat. The concept here is to absorb high levels of micronutrients at low caloric levels with minimal insulin spike.
Substitute Bad Fats with Good Fats
Moderate amount of good fat from sources like olives, fish, nuts, sunflower seeds, etc. Then you will get a good balance between monounsaturated fat (e.g. olives), polyunsaturated fat of the omega-3-type (e.g. fish) and polyunsaturated fat of the omega-6-type. The two queen bees of good fats are olive oil and avocados.
Conversely try to eliminate butter and corn oil. A high consumption of these fat sources gives you too much saturated fat and polyunsaturated omega-6-fat.
Avoid the Five Ugly Whites
Try to narrow uses of, or eliminate altogether: white rice, salt, pasteurized cow’s milk, refined sugar, white flour.
Balanced Exercise
In addition to cardio, add exercises that gives both a muscular resistance load, work up your condition, and stretches out your body. Strength training need not take more than 30 minutes a session, twice per week. For flexibility, yoga is ideal.
If you can swing it, add sprinting to your exercise routine, it’s been recognized to stimulate the natural production of human growth hormone (HGH) which is a powerful youth hormone.
The fountain of youth is human growth hormone (HGH) and it can be stimulated in the body by sprinting. It’s not aerobic but anaerobic, you need to run intensely enough to lose your breath.
Recovery
Adequate rest and stress-reduction. Daily meditation is a method of achieving this. Natural relaxing agents or specific tools for meditation or relaxation may also be useful.
Avoid Sun’s Damaging Rays
Try to stay out of the sun during mid-day and make use of UV protection against excessive sun exposure.
The amount one needs of nutritional supplements, like vitamins and minerals, differs very much according to a person`s health condition, work load and exposure to environmental stress. A person having a poor digestion, doing high performance sport or being exposed to a high amount of environmental stress, may need more than a person in an average situation.
About Knut Holt
Knut Holt is an internet consultant and marketer focusing on health items, a Norwegian citizen, living in the Caribbean, he has a mixed university degree with a combination of the subjects chemistry, physics, biology and informatics.
A lot of attention is given to men and heart attacks because they’re so sudden and dramatic. The health attention given to women by the media is usually in the area of breast and cervical cancers. We want to turn up the volume on women’s heart health awareness. This is not to scare you but to show you ways to prevent heart disease so you can enjoy your golden years.
Facts You Probably Never Knew About Women and Heart Disease
Heart disease kills more women than men each year in the U.S.
Heart disease kills ten times more women per year than breast cancer in the U.S.
Most women don’t even realize they’re having a heart attack, the symptoms are much more subtle than men’s
Sadly, many medical professionals don’t properly diagnose heart attacks in women
Heart disease does not have to be an inevitable part of aging
As Dr. Miriam Nelson explained in our 2007 interview below, the first step is learn, then take control and then challenge medical authority when they ignore your symptoms.
“I am woman, hear me roar In numbers too big to ignore And I know too much to go back an’ pretend ’cause I’ve heard it all before And I’ve been down there on the floor No one’s ever gonna keep me down again”
— Helen Reddy
In recent years, heart disease has claimed the lives of more women than men. Yet it remain a little known fact, why? Mostly because perpetuated myths about women and heart disease still stand in the way of prompt, effective diagnosis and treatment. Sad but true.
Heart attacks are the Number 1 killer of women. 10 times as many women die of heart disease as of breast cancer.
According to Miriam Nelson, Ph.D., and Alice Lichtenstein, D.Sc., the way to change the perception that heart disease is a “man’s problem” is by empowering women to take charge of their own heart health. The two women teamed up to write Strong Women, Strong Hearts a groundbreaking guide that every woman should read.
Backed by cutting edge research, the book combines diet and exercise guidelines, stress reduction techniques, and more practical advice in a workable, effective life plan. Its proven strategies help women assess their risk for heart disease, choose foods wisely, lose weight sensibly, and nurture their emotional health.
Here is that 2007 conversation with Miriam Nelson…
FitCommerce: What’s the biggest misconception about heart disease with respect to women?
Dr. Nelson: The biggest misconception is that heart disease is mainly a man’s problem. Not true. Almost 500,000 women die from heart disease each year. Another 8 million women are living with heart disease.
FitCommerce: More women than men die from heart disease, a statistic that seems to be a well-kept secret. Why? And why has that fact stayed under wraps for so long?
Dr. Nelson: One reason is that historically, women have been under-represented in studies. Also, a lot of the spotlight has been on breast cancer rather than heart disease, at least in part because breast cancer tends to strike women at a younger age. But 10 times as many women die of heart disease as of breast cancer. It’s not that breast cancer isn’t a devastating disease. But you can’t deny the numbers. Still, knowledge often lags behind perception. Shifting the knowledge in the culture takes a while.
For whatever reason, the media wasn’t picking up on heart disease prevalence in women, so the facts have stayed largely under wraps. Also, women’s diagnoses are often delayed, so the presence of heart disease is not always clear.
“I believe all women can be what I call ‘agents of change’ for other women.”
FitCommerce: How are women’s symptoms different from a man’s?
Dr. Nelson: When a man is having a heart attack/it’s typically as though a Mack truck is
Women experience different heart attack symptoms then men. courtesy of the Washington Post.
running over his chest. Women’s symptoms are often much more subtle – mild indigestion-like feelings, sometimes some jaw pain, fatigue, feeling winded. Also, men often have no symptoms before the heart attack; it just strikes.
Women often feel lousy up to a month before – fatigued, indigestion, etc. That’s a silver lining. If a woman doesn’t feel great, she can get to the doctor, get intervention, and avoid the heart attack.
FitCommerce: What are the emotional factors that elevate the risk of heart disease, particularly for women?
Dr. Nelson: While type A personality appears to be a risk factor for men, it’s women who repress anger, etc., too much that appear to be at increased risk. That is, women who bottle up their negative emotions too much might be at increased risk.
FitCommerce: What’s the most misinterpreted sign of heart disease in women? What signs should women be on the alert for?
Dr. Nelson: Women should be on the alert for feeling more fatigued than usual in the course of their daily activities. They might also feel that tasks requiring exertion, such as carrying a suitcase or doing yard work, are more difficult than they used to be.
There can perhaps tie some jaw pain, too, along with a persistent feeling of mild indigestion. Finally, there might be a general feeling lousy, but it doesn’t go away the way a cold does. It just keeps lasting. None of these symptoms automatically mean you’re having a heart attack, but it does mean you should get to the doctor.
FitCommerce: What tests should every woman have to assess her risk?
Dr. Nelson: Blood tests should be done to check for total cholesterol, “good” HDL-cholesterol, and “bad” LDL-cholesterol, along with testing for blood pressure and blood sugar. Body mass index (a measure of weight for height) should be determined, too, as well as waist circumference. If any of these numbers are outside the healthy range, the doctor will probably order further tests.
FitCommerce: What about a treadmill test?
Dr. Nelson: A treadmill test is rarely called for, but still, women do not get them often enough. Ironically, recent research has found that treadmill testing is more predictive for women’s heart disease risk than men’s. It appears women’s fitness, as measured on a treadmill test, is much more a part of the equation than has been realized.
FitCommerce: It seems that every week the prevailing opinion on certain foods changes. Fish is healthy/fish is contaminated. Fat-free is best/fat-free is bad. Abstain from alcohol/drink in moderation. How can women make sense of all the conflicting nutrition information out there?
Dr. Nelson: A woman should think more about food patterns than this or that food. There is an ever- growing body of research that gives a much clearer picture than ever of what that pattern should look like- plenty of vegetables and fruits and whole grains; low- or nonfat dairy every single day; fish at least twice a week; modest portions of other protein-rich foods like meat, poultry, beans, and soy; use of the right types of oils; sweets and other treats now and then; and of course, calorie control. Look at the big picture.
FitCommerce: What advice would you give someone who’s been sedentary for years?
Dr. Nelson: Someone who has been sedentary for years should start out very gradually with what I call decreasing sedentary living rather than plunge into a structured exercise program. Really do take the stairs rather than the escalator, really do park away from the supermarket entrance, and really do walk two bus stops and then get on.
These little steps will acclimate you to moving your body. After a couple of weeks, you will feel ready to walk 15 minutes at a time just for exercise’s sake, etc. But before that, simply fold more activity into your life here and there wherever you can find places to tuck it in. It won’t feel so onerous then. It’ll get you started at the right pace on a step-wise, lifelong activity pattern.
“What’s best, though, is eating better and becoming physically active at the same time. They work synergistically.”
FitCommerce: Why is it important to include strength training in your program?
Dr. Nelson: Strength training does four things to reduce heart disease risk:
It increases muscle strength, which allows you to do aerobics better (a good thing because aerobics directly target the heart and the rest of the cardiovascular system to get stronger). But strength straining also has independent effects.
It decreases high blood pressure.
It decreases fat around the abdomen.
It keeps down blood sugar.
Nutrition and cardio exercise should be supplemented with strength training for prevention of heart disease.
FitCommerce: We once thought that hormone replacement therapy protected women’s hearts. Now it seems that it increases your risk of heart attack. Would you demystify the research?
Dr. Nelson: A very large, rigorously controlled study that came out just a couple of years ago showed that, contrary to previous research, HRT increases a woman’s risk for heart disease within the very first year of use. The risk is small but significant. It doesn’t mean that if a woman’s hot flashes are intolerable, she should not take low-dose HRT for a very short time to help her over the hump. But it does mean that no women should take HRT for the purpose of reducing heart disease risk. That thinking is over.
FitCommerce: Why isn’t diet alone is not enough to reduce your risk of heart disease?
Dr. Nelson: There’s evidence that diet alone can reduce your risk of heart disease, and there’s evidence that being physically fit also reduces risk. What’s best, though, is eating better and becoming physically active at the same time. They work synergistically.
Dr. Nelson practices what she preaches, she is very active. Here she is running the Boston Marathon.
FitCommerce: If you could distill a heart healthy lifestyle down to 2 or 3 principles, what would you say?
Dr. Nelson:
Maintain or move toward a healthy body weight.
Follow a dietary pattern that’s low in saturated and trans fatty acids and high in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
Be physically active most days of the week.
Be good to yourself – take time to nurture yourself every day, even for just 15 minutes, make medical appointments even if your life feels rushed, say “no” when you need to, etc.
FitCommerce: It seems that the health care delivery system needs more training on treating women with respect to heart disease. Is there anything women can do or should do to spread the word about this important issue?
Dr. Nelson: I believe all women can be what I call “agents of change” for other women. The more women speak up about this – take care of themselves, urge their women friends and family and colleagues to take care of THEMselves, the more the word will spread. If a woman speaks up at the doctor’s office, the hospital, and to all her healthcare providers, the more inclined those providers will to pay attention to the heart of the next woman who walks through the door.
About Miriam Nelson:
Dr. Miriam Nelson
Dr. Miriam E. Nelson is currently the University of New Hampshire deputy chief sustainability officer and director of the Sustainability Institute.
Nelson is the author of 10 books, including the New York Times bestselling “Strong Women Stay Young” and eight others in the “Strong Women” series.
In August 2001, Dr. Nelson appeared in her own PBS special entitled Strong Women Live Well, which focused on the benefits of exercise and nutrition for women’s health. She has been featured on many television and radio shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, Fresh Air, and the Discovery Channel.
Dr. Nicholas Perricone, MD is a board certified clinical and research dermatologist and is regarded as the Father of the Inflammation Theory of Aging. Amazingly, he is the author of 3 New York Times #1 Best Sellers: The Perricone Promise,The Perricone Prescription, and the Wrinkle Cure. Here is our 2004 original interview which is still apropos to those wishing to feel and look younger.
FitCommerce:Good afternoon, Dr. Perricone. You are noted for your leading work in anti-aging and advanced skin care, what events in your career prompted you to zero in on this particular field?
Dr. Nicholas Perricone: I had just been discharged from the army, I felt kind of fatigued, so I went to see a physician and he said, “You’re in perfectly good health”, and I thought, “Gee, I don’t feel that great”.
So I started reading some nutrition books, such as [those] by Adele Davis, and I started following some of her programs and I felt terrific. So, I continued reading more about nutrition. By the time I went to medical school, I actually had a good solid nutrition background.
Whenever I would observe a disease process, I would ask, “How would altering the nutritional status work in this case in addition to traditional medications?”
Then I discovered the inflammation-aging-disease theory, which means that inflammation is at the basis of aging and a lot of diseases. I knew that I could actually decrease inflammation through nutrition.
So, utilizing all of that in my practice for close to 12 years, I had a lot of information about overall health and wellness and how it affects the skin. The skin is a perfect reflection of what’s going on inside of us: it’s a barometer.
Since my patients were doing so well, I thought I should start telling others about it. The first book I wrote, The Wrinkle Cure, discusses how beauty is really from the inside out.
FC: In your books you’ve gone into detailed explanation about the harmful effects of “free radicals” as forming chain reactions in cell damage. Where do free radicals come from and how can we combat them?
NP: First of all, free radicals are generated by many things; one of the ways is by metabolizing our food for energy. Free radicals are also generated by smoking, alcohol consumption, stress, sunlight and a number of other things.
Free radicals are very reactive, and they tend to react with other chemicals, they can also react with our cells in our bodies and cause damage. Free radicals only exist for only a short period of time, for a nanosecond, but they trigger a cascade of inflammation that goes on for hours or days.
So, I like to interfere with the process of inflammation. Because trying to hit a bullet with another bullet is difficult for a fraction of a second. But the results of free radicals can actually be treated. So, we look at inflammation here. One of the best ways to decrease inflammation in the body is through what we eat.
We can eat foods that are pro-inflammatory like sugar or things that are converted to sugar, or we can eat foods that are anti-inflammatory, which is a diet consisting of a lot of fresh fish, fruits and vegetables, and so on.
“Our skin is a reflection of what’s going on inside of us.”
If we cut out the pro-inflammatory foods and add the anti-inflammatory foods, there will be a tremendous impact on our health and well-being. It will decrease the risk of all of the age related diseases like cancer, heart disease, diabetes and all the rest. At the same time, it also improves our appearance, remember, our skin is a reflection of what’s going on inside of us.
I can show people that within 3 days of eating an anti-inflammatory diet, they can look entirely different. They can walk into a room and people will be astounded by how well they look.
FC:You just mentioned how you would like to prescribe good nutrition with classic medicine. Also, you were one of the first to associate disease being caused by inflammation instead of necessarily vice versa. Do you recall when you had that epiphany about the connection between inflammation and disease?
NP: When I was in medical school. I took a course where I looked at everything under a microscope. Students had to study all disease processes by how they looked to the naked eye, then you had to look at the disease process under the microscope.
It’s called histopathology; you’d have a full course just looking at microscopic slides of heart disease, of cancers. I was looking that these cancer cells and they were surrounded by inflammation. I thought that was rather intriguing. I was taught that cancers existed because they avoided immune systems.
So, I went to my professor and asked, “Is it possible that this cancer is somehow mediated by inflammation rather than just being a side effect of the cancer.” My professor said, “No, it’s just the immune system being activated”.
But then I went on to look at sections of arteries of people with heart disease and there was inflammation there. I was looking at sections of the pancreas of people with diabetes and there was inflammation there. It just went on and on.
“If skin was aging, it had inflammation in it. If it wasn’t aging, it had no inflammation.”
I really felt that inflammation was at the basis of a number of disease processes. Then when I started my dermatology residency, we did the same thing, we looked at every skin disease, including aging skin, under the microscope. If skin was aging, it had inflammation in it. If it wasn’t aging, it had no inflammation.
So, I put together this inflammation-aging-disease theory. I was convinced from medical school and from my residency that inflammation is the bad guy, that we should be treating it. So, I started looking at ways to decrease inflammation and found that nutrition was huge; the right foods can actually decrease inflammation.
We can take nutritional supplements in the form of capsules that also have anti-inflammation activity. And as a dermatologist, I was doing extensive research in applying things to the skin to try and stop the aging process and try to improve aging skin and found that anti-inflammatories had a tremendous benefit to the appearance of skin.
“All anti-oxidants have anti-inflammatory activity.”
So, this is really a 3-tiered program. There’s the anti-inflammatory diet, as the first and most important portion. The second tier is taking nutritional supplements, usually anti-oxidants, that have anti-inflammatory activity. (All anti-oxidants have anti-inflammatory activity). The third tier was putting anti-inflammatories directly on the skin, once again, natural substances found in foods and things like that.
“All fat cells produce inflammation chemicals.”
Fat cells produce inflammation chemicals which can also prematurely age us.
This is my 3-tiered program. It’s what I write about. My approach to beauty and wellness is definitely a holistic approach. We also know that a bad lifestyle creates inflammation, [things] like not drinking enough water, not getting enough sleep, and emotional stress causes tremendous inflammation in the body. Also being overweight, because all fat cells produce inflammation chemicals.
FC:Our readers understand that there’s a connection between regular exercise and general health, but is there also a connection between fitness and better health, successful aging and healthy skin?
NP: First of all, my approach to everything is moderation. The diet is moderate, the lifestyle is moderate, and I think exercise should be moderate. I certainly see the health benefit to regular exercise.
I recommend 3 kinds of exercise. I recommend an aerobic cardiovascular type of workout, some weight resistance, we need to have extra muscle mass, it helps to decalcify bones. I believe in some flexibility exercises. These are all important because exercise reduces stress, decreases body fat, improves circulation, all those things are anti-inflammatory. However, I do have a problem when people exercise too much because that becomes a pro-inflammatory process.
“I believe you can improve your [sports] performance with extended exercise, but not necessarily improve your health.”
When we exercise for over an hour, our endogenous anti-oxidants get used up, and the metabolites produce inflammation in the body. So, once again, look to moderation.
So, if you’re doing some cardiovascular activity, I’m recommending 20-30 minutes 3-4 times a week. I’d recommend some weight resistance training, 20-30 minutes maybe 2-3 times per week, and some flexibility training, maybe 4-5 times per week. And that’s it.
Certainly there are marathoners out there. I believe you can improve your performance with extended exercise, but not necessarily improve your health.
FC:You’ve also spoken in the past how exercise stimulates the formation of HGH (“human growth hormone”) and that HGH is beneficial to other parts of the body, can you please expand on this?Another topic of interest to the boomer generation is this whole notion that HGH helps to foster youthfulness and weight control, etc. Obviously taking HGH injections could carry some risk, however, there are some theories that some forms of exercise can elevate the natural HGH. If that were possible, would that have a positive effect on successful aging?
NP: Yes, I think certainly we want to maintain youthful levels of hormones, but we also know that hormone supplementation hasn’t worked out for us in many cases. We know for a fact that exercise on a regular basis gives you elevated levels of growth hormone. That’s good, because growth hormone will increase your muscle mass, will increase bone density, increase skin thickness, boost your immune system, maintain the normal size of your organs, your heart, your kidneys, liver, all that.
So, we want to maintain youthful levels of growth hormones as best we can, and certainly exercise is one of the strategies. Another strategy is getting enough sleep. Reducing stress, and even eating the right foods can actually enhance growth hormone production. When cortisol is high, growth hormone production goes down, so we want to lower cortisol by lowering our stress.
FC:Just a follow up question to exercise, clearly exercise helps to build muscle which is good, but there are also facial muscles, just kind of a wild question here, if one could build the muscles in their face, would that be a good thing for better appearance?
NP: That’s a great question because I’ve spent years on this particular problem, and I actually have a device in front of the FDA specifically to exercise facial muscles. Now my experience has been the following: when I started seeing superstars, super-models, actors, and actresses, as patients, they’re genetically gifted because they’re extremely beautiful. I thought that beauty was coming from perfect bone symmetry.
And looking at them, they didn’t necessarily have perfect bone symmetry; they did have a lot of soft tissue symmetry, and a lot more soft tissue in the face – that is more musculature.
So, if you look at a young Michael Douglas, or Michelle Pfeiffer, you’ll see the extra musculature in the cheekbones, in the jaw line, in the chin with the cleft, it’s all musculature with a good amount of subcutaneous fat there.
”Anything that accelerates muscle loss is a disaster and that’s why I think Botox is dangerous. “
So, let’s take a picture of Michelle Pfeiffer 20 years ago, and put her picture up now. What you’re going to see, is that she’s going to go from a lot more musculature, from round to a little flatter. So, that loss of convexity is interpreted as aging. So, the best strategy for the face would be to increase muscle mass and increase subcutaneous fat.
So, the worst thing we could do for a face would be anything that would decrease muscle mass, like Botox injections which atrophy muscles because they’re paralyzed.
When you look at a person, you’re processing the convexities, not the wrinkles. I have 25-year-old patients, blond hair, blue eyed, with a lot of wrinkles, but they still look 25 because they have convexities. Those people that atrophy their facial muscles look older and you’re interpreting them as older. I don’t care if they don’t have a line or a wrinkle; you’re going to say “old”.
FC: What about good nutrition for good health, beauty and successful aging?
“That’s the key, once we control blood sugar and insulin, then we control inflammation, and if we control inflammation, we control the onset of disease and the onset of aging.”
NP: I know that the key to maintaining low levels of inflammation in the body by carefully controlling blood sugar and insulin. If you’re eating a lot of starches, your blood sugar and insulin are going to be elevated, that’s a fact.
Now I certainly don’t believe in no carbs. That’s disastrous because what you do is produce ketosis, and ketosis produces inflammation. People should have balance. A red flag should go up when people say ‘no carbohydrates’, or ‘low fats’, anything that isn’t balanced should be a red flag to the consumer.
Proper nutrition can reduce inflammation and keep you youthful looking, but everything in moderation.
But your carbohydrates should come from fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes – and it should be balanced. That’s the key, once we control blood sugar and insulin, then we control inflammation, and if we control inflammation, we control the onset of disease and the onset of aging. It’s a simple formula and the formula is always based on moderation.
FC: Can you expand a little bit on why there are “good fats” and “bad fats”.
NP: Sure, first of all, the bad fats are fats that are not natural. [In] trans fatty acids, the hydrogen bonds are kind of reversed, so our body can’t deal very well with them and they can actually cause a rapid increase in body weight, [and] inflammation within the arterial walls. [They] also make the cell membranes stiff so that the receptors don’t work as well. So, we get increased insulin insensitivity by having a lot of bad fats in our diet.
Good fats are the essential fats, certainly the omega 3’s and the omega 6’s, we’re aware of the omega 9’s, those are ‘essential.’ I even believe you should have some saturated fats in your diet, because it helps to strengthen the cell membrane.
Fats serve many functions. You need fat to burn fat, you need fat to maintain a supple cell membrane, you need fats for storage of energy, and you need fats for a health immune system and for beautiful skin.
Low fat/no fat diets are disastrous. The brain is extremely sensitive to not having good fat, when you have trans fatty acids, cell membranes become stiff, you’re not going to think as clearly, you’re going to age more rapidly. The brain is 70% fat by weight; if you starve those brain cells of fat, it’s a set up for mental depression.
“…The point is that low fat, no fat is disastrous, it’s bad for our immune system, bad for our skin, bad for our brain”
I don’t think it’s any coincidence that in the late eighties and early nineties, when the no fat, low fat diet took off, that we had the onset of a lot of mental depression and therefore the development of products like Prozac and all the others.
In fact, there’s an interesting study that was done in Massachusetts. A group of patients who had clinical mental depression were evaluated by a group of psychiatrists and they were given a numerical score based on depression. The group was broken in half, half was given the traditional SSRI (Serotonin Specific Reuptake Inhibitor) like Prozac and Paxil, the other half was given salmon every day or fish oil supplements or both.
And the end of 8 weeks with the evaluation, those people in the group eating salmon or taking fish oil capsules had greater elevation of depression than those taking the SSRIs.
So the point is that low fat, no fat is disastrous, it’s bad for our immune system, bad for our skin, bad for our brain, and therefore we have to be very careful, we have to have enough fats.
Now, you can get some saturated fats as long as they’re not trans fats, because saturated fats strengthen the cell wall. If you have too much essential fat, like omega 3s and omega 6s, you end up with the cell wall being too supple and not being strong enough. Again, it’s just moderation.
FC: In addition to our good nutrition taken by foods that we eat, etc., a lot of older people are big on supplementation. From a general health and good skin standpoint, is supplementation important even if we’re eating a healthy diet?
NP: Yes, I’m a great believer in supplements because, remember the battle is against inflammation, and many supplements provide an extra layer of protection against inflammation or extra ability to decrease inflammation in the body.
Let’s face it, we don’t have a perfect lifestyle. We don’t get enough sleep, we’re stressed by a number of things, both psychological and chemical, toxins in the environment, we go through the long list. So I think supplements are important to bring down inflammation and detoxify our bodies.
“The most important step here is a good diet”
I also believe that as people get older, they should probably take some supplements like branch chain amino acids, because we’re not as efficient in terms of metabolizing our protein. So, if you look at a range of supplements, I think they all help with the battle, but I want to emphasize to everybody I talk to that the most important step here is a good diet. I still recommend, as a second level of protection, supplements, and the third level would be the topical anti-inflammatories and topical neuropeptides.
But the whole approach here once again is holistic. Beauty is released from the inside out and we have to understand that, and know what the most important steps are. However, I can say that when people do all three steps and add lifestyle changes, they get the most benefit of anybody.
FC:O.K. So if a patient were on a tight budget and had a balanced diet, what would be the 2 or 3 ‘must take’ supplements?
NP: I would suggest they take fish oil capsules, alpha lipoic acid, and Coenzyme Q10. And then a multiple vitamin, which is very affordable, along with that.
FC:And the fish oil, is that for the omega 3s?
NP: Yes, the omega 3s, DHEA and EPA have tremendously powerful anti-inflammatory effects. CoQ10 is a tremendously powerful anti-inflammatory, as well as alpha lipoic acid. Because inflammation, once again, is the key here, I want to recommend those 3 along with a multiple [vitamin].
But certainly everybody has a budget. I want to emphasize one thing, I believe that you can have a good diet, a good healthy diet and it’s cheaper than having a junk food diet. I wish it wasn’t as expensive eating fish and fresh fruits and vegetables. And you know what? I’m pretty sure I can challenge anybody to have a really good diet, look at what they spend on a fast food meal, and what they spend on other processed foods in the supermarket, and show them that they will actually save money while at the same time saving their health and their beauty.
FC:And not to mention, perhaps over a lifetime, the medical costs related to that junk food diet.
NP: Of course, we can’t even begin to calculate the difference in having a healthy life where you’re independent and you’re going to accomplish your mission in life.
FC: As you peer over the horizon, what do you see coming out as products or what have you observed that can affect our successful aging and beauty?
NP: I think we’re going to get more sophisticated in terms of nutrition and supplements, we’re going to understand that a lot better. I thing we’re also going to perhaps start having administered to us, hormone supplementation in a safe way.
I also believe that we’ve done enough work now with the genetic map that, hopefully, that maybe not in the next half decade, but maybe in a decade, we’ll have some gene therapy to slow the aging process down and regenerate our major organs.
About Nicholas Perricone, M.D.
Dr. Nicholas Perricone
Nicholas Perricone, MD, FACN, is a board-certified clinical and research dermatologist. He completed his internship in Pediatrics at Yale Medical School and his Dermatology Residency at Ford Medical Center. Dr. Perricone is regarded as the Father of the Inflammation Theory of Aging. He is the author of the three New York Times Best Sellers, The Perricone Promise (Warner Books 2004), The Perricone Prescription (HarperCollins 2002), and The Wrinkle Cure (Warner Books 1998).
There’s a lot of anecdotal-based advice out there on how we should or should not eat, how to exercise, etc. But we really want good advice to be evidence-based, founded by sound scientific methods. So, we asked an expert researcher on female health, Dr. Miriam E. Nelson for her insights.
Dr. Nelson is currently the University of New Hampshire deputy chief sustainability officer and director of the Sustainability Institute. But while previously at Tufts University she was the Director of the John Hancock Center for Physical Activity and Nutrition. She’s written several books on the theme of “Strong Women”. These books and the work she performed at Tufts have helped women to shed the shackles that aging has to be a normal process of physical decline, osteoporosis and other forms of mental and physical deterioration. With proper exercise and nutrition, some of the deteriorating processes of aging can be mitigated or even reversed.
Leading by example, Dr. Nelson is the quintessential strong woman. In addition to rigorous research; book writing; speaking engagements, appearing on TV shows such as Oprah, The Today Show, and Good Morning America ; she is an avid mountain climber, and mother of 3 children, and a marathon runner.
We originally interviewed her back in 2004, but those pearls or wisdom are as true today as they were then, here are excerpts from that original interview.
“…we’re all going to age, but let’s do it in positive way.”
FitCommerce: Dr. Nelson, you have distinguished yourself in the field of exercise and nutrition, especially as it pertains to women, of all the career choices out there, how did you happen onto this one in the early days?
Woman Lifting Weights
Dr. Nelson: My interest in the general filed of physical activity and good nutrition were fostered at a very early age, I was always interested in health and physical activity, I was physically active myself and I had parents that fostered it. I also always loved good food.
There was a freshman undergraduate nutrition course at the University of Vermont where I attended that was everything. It was science, health, and real world and extremely interesting and that was what got me going.
As for specific work with women, strength training and the like, that was fostered through the graduate work that I started at Tufts University. A lot of it was serendipity with some early projects where my mentor suggested that nobody has really looked at exercise, bone and women. All of that got me going in a new field. I’ve been very fortunate.
The title of several of your books include the words “Strong Women”, the central theme is strong, which implies physical strength, was there an epiphany in your professional life where you observed a correlation between strength and better women’s health?
I’m not sure it was an epiphany as much as it is good, solid scientific thinking, and building upon previous studies, looking at the literature, taking some risks in doing some research in an area that no one had thought about before with women that are 50-70 doing high intensity strength training. So, the epiphany came when the results bore out what we had thought. That is, women can get very physically strong, get much healthier, gain muscle, lose body fat, and gain bone, through a simple intervention. The epiphany came with the results, I’d say.
You’ve focused on both physical fitness and nutrition, the diode. This implies an important connection between the two, are there observable synergies between physical fitness and nutrition?
Very much so, they really go hand in hand, one without the other makes the glass half empty instead of being completely full. If you eat well, but you’re a total slug, totally sedentary and not fit, you’re going to be at risk for many of the chronic conditions that are out there. Mind you, you’re going to be better off than if you ate poorly and you’re a slug.
Proper nutrition is equally as important as exercise for women’s optimal health.
If you also exercise and eat really poorly, you’re not going to be maximizing the impact of the hard work that you are doing. When you add the two together, they both mutually feed off of each other. A body that’s exercising needs to be well nourished and a body that’s well nourished can exercise well, and then you’re going to be so much healthier.
“So, we have gathered more information about the importance, especially as you grow older, of strength training for older adults.”
When you looked at nutrition, how did you select what food groups to look at? Did you make assumptions about their health benefits and seek corroborative evidence? Or was it purely serendipitous?
The work we did was more large scale population work, so we’re not dealing with food groups or individual nutrients, it’s more, we wanted to know how can we, within a community, or a town, or a state, actually get people to change their eating habits, their behaviors, so that they’re eating more fruits and vegetables, more whole grains, and less processed foods, so it’s more at the macro level.
Dr. Nelson, we were hoping you could weigh in on fad diets that have become so popular in the U.S., are they beneficial or harmful?
Where these general diets are helpful is that they really bring up the fact that a lot of the carbohydrates that people are eating right now are poor. They’re highly palatable, really cheap, and very caloric. We’re talking about juices, drinks, and snack foods, pretzels, chips, cookies, and convenience foods and highly processed grains.
We, in the nutrition community, have known that these foods are really contributing to the increase in caloric intake. The plethora of these foods that have been produced, have never been there before. These popular diets have rightfully brought that up.
However, they have vilified all carbohydrates — whereby fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are really good for you. People now are very confused to the point where they don’t know what a carbohydrate is. They don’t realize that oranges and broccoli are carbohydrates. So, there’s a good part about elucidating the problems with refined carbohydrates, but they throw the ‘baby out with the bath water’ and that’s problematic.
There needs to be a better understanding so people realize for long term health, like cancer prevention, heart disease, eye health, you need fruits and vegetables. You cut those out and, yes, you may lose weight and even you cholesterol might go down, your Triglyceride level definitely will go down, but, it’s at the point where, long term, if you don’t have the fruits and vegetables, and whole grains, you may be increasing your risk of colon cancer, breast cancer, and many others.
Did Tufts do any research in regard to successful aging?
Yes, in fact that’s what most of the research was about. Whether you call it “successful”, or “optimal”, or other terms with the exception of “anti-aging”. That term is just awful, we’re all going to age, but let’s do it in positive way. Both exercise and nutrition play a large role.
Your department at Tufts has made positive statements about the value of exercise and in particular, resistance training, can you expand on the benefits you’ve observed?
We’re one piece of the research that’s been done in the field of aging. So, it’s just one piece of the puzzle. Where we have contributed, not just myself but other colleagues, is that we have been the first to show the real importance of muscles as we grow older and it seems so obvious now, in the early 1980’s there wasn’t a lot of focus on muscles as we grow older.
“Both cardiovascular and strength are critical because heart disease is the number one killer of women, so we want to be working their heart as well as their muscles.”
It really came about by colleagues in our lab doing work in long term care facilities and realizing that these people were frail and weak and that’s one of the reasons they were so dependent on others’ care. When you start thinking about frailty and weakness, you then start thinking about combating that which leads you to start thinking about resistance training and strength training. Through a series of research studies, we’ve looked at the effects of strength training on body composition, muscle, bone, strength, frailty, function, type II diabetes, depression, sleep, osteoporosis, congestive heart failure, and arthritis.
So, we have gathered more information about the importance, especially as you grow older, of strength training for older adults.
Resistance training takes many forms, there is gravity-created, such as free weights and selectorized machines, and there are stretch bands, and there are pneumatic and hydraulic resistance machines. From your view of the data, does it really matter what type of resistance one gets to derive benefit?
I think it doesn’t really matter in the end. By far the greatest impact is just doing it regularly and having a good program and then also making sure that you’re targeting most of the major muscles groups, and that you’re doing at an intensity that is high enough so that you get benefits and that you’re doing it in proper form.
There are a lot of machines out there which older adults, because of range limiting issues, because of initial weakness, they have difficulty on some machines, not all. The better machines within any category are really fine.
“Both cardiovascular and strength are critical because heart disease is the number one killer of women, so we want to be working their heart as well as their muscles.”
Dr. Nelson, if you had a deconditioned, sedentary women that was only willing to commit a few minutes each day to improve her health, what are the top 2 or 3 must do exercises you would have her do?
I would first want to know what her goals are and expectations that she is willing to commit to. Then I would try to get her, at least twice a week, maybe 20 minutes of strength training, to get at perhaps 5 different muscle groups: core, arms, and legs.
Then I would try to get her to do some brisk walking so she gets cardiovascular. Both cardiovascular and strength are critical because heart disease is the number one killer of women, so we want to be working their heart as well as their muscles.
We’ve talked a lot about women, does any of your research spill over to men’s health?
They’re completely applicable to both men and women. It’s just that men have a larger base of muscles and strength to begin with, so it’s not as critical for men as it is with women. It becomes critical for men 10-15 years later than it does for women. Issues around bone, frailty, falls, are issues that affect more women than men. 20% of men are going to get osteoporosis compared to 50% of women. It’s important to both groups, it’s a matter of relativity.
About Miriam Nelson:
Dr. Miriam Nelson
Dr. Miriam E. Nelson is currently the University of New Hampshire deputy chief sustainability officer and director of the Sustainability Institute.
Nelson is the author of 10 books, including the New York Times bestselling “Strong Women Stay Young” and eight others in the “Strong Women” series.
In August 2001, Dr. Nelson appeared in her own PBS special entitled Strong Women Live Well, which focused on the benefits of exercise and nutrition for women’s health. She has been featured on many television and radio shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, Fresh Air, and the Discovery Channel.
Did you just grunt getting out of that chair? Probably. Can you really bend over and pick up that pin off the floor? No, you had to stoop down, right?
As we age, our body’s water content in connective tissue, such as ligaments and tendons, decreases, resulting in reduced elasticity and flexibility. In other words, we move around like old people.
Not to worry, these are early signs of natural rigidity setting into our joints but with dedicated routines, they can be reversed and you can be flexible and supple deep into your older years for added juice in your life.
Why Flexibility is Important as we age
Today, middle-age to senior people are aware of the importance of aerobic exercise, they may even incorporate regular strength training. But most people are unaware of the incredible importance of flexibility training, especially as we age.
If one does absolutely nothing in regard to flexibility they will lose over 30% of their range of motion by the age of 60. So What? Well, this leads directly to poor posture, more pulled muscles, and loss of balance. Plus you want to be able to squeeze into that tiny sports car, right?
Stretching reduces the risk of falling
The risk of falling is a major concern for older adults. Each year one out of three older adults will fall and need treatment in emergency facility. Research as show that regular sessions of stretching are critical to balance and stability helping prevent against such falls.
When to Stretch
Don’t have the time to incorporate stretching into your day? Then, how about the time you may spend lying flat in bed with a back spasm? Didn’t plan on that, right? It’s all about the ounce of prevention.
Make stretching a daily habit but break it up into chunks. Upon waking in the morning make a big yawn and stretch. Build in triggers in your day to remind you to stretch. We recommend doing about 4-5 stretch poses just before your morning meditation, what a way to jump start your mind-body connection.
Simple Stretches
First, we recommend highly that you visit a gym or YMCA and enroll in a formal class to get proper stretching techniques down. Perhaps you can ask them to test your current range of motion so you have goals to strive for.
With that said, you can started right now with these simple to use stretches that cover the important muscles and joints:
Down Dog: good spine, gravity will move your lymph fluids, keep your heels down to stretch those Achilles.Quad stretch – this is a 2-for-1 in that you will stretch your quadriceps and practice balancing on one foot.
Spinal twist – outstanding for your lower back lateral motion.Overhead shoulder – don’t overlook this one, as we age, tendonitis can set into the shoulders and be quite painful, keep it supple with this regular routine.
Groin Stretch – This exercise will prevent groin injuries which can be quite painful plus it opens up your hip joints.
Additional Exercises
While regular stretching is a great way to help manage low back pain and arthritis, improve posture, reduce falls, and increase energy levels, there are additional exercises that will aid in healthy aging.
The 500 lb. gorilla of healthy flexibility is yoga. This remarkable form of fitness not only incorporates full body flexibility, but it also directly improves strength, balance, breathing, and calmness of the mind, it doesn’t get any better than this.
In addition you can advance your flexibility with other classes:
Tai chi
Pilates
Lotte Berk Method
Water Therapy
In conclusion, don’t delay, get started on your stretching program today to maintain vigor as you age.
