There is no rule that says getting older means getting sick, being weak and frail, and not having your wits about you. The fact is we are living longer than ever because of advances in medicine and technology. Even so, it still takes some effort on our part to make choices about how we live, what we eat, and what we do to be productive and meaningful and live with good health as we age.

I’ve written these 18 best tips to healthy aging for 2009 because I am participating in a group writing project, “2009 in Review” for Daniel Scocco at http://DailyBlogTips.com and will post them for his project.

1.    Choose a produce rainbow because brightly colored fruits and vegetables contain more nutrients than paler ones.  I suggest dark-colored spinach for a salad rather than iceberg lettuce. Read the rest of this entry

I know  many people who consume artificial sweeteners from their lo-cal candy, diet soft drinks, and sugar free gum without giving it a second thought. They may not be getting the calories but they may be getting more than  expected. It may not seem like much but because you absorb less of the nutrients from your food as you age, getting the right amount of nutrients is important and you’re not going to get them from artificial sweeteners. Read the rest of this entry

I have seen these labels before, when I purchased the product and sometimes when I first opened the jar or the can or the lotion. This time when I look at them I am seeing the ingredients with new thinking.

I understand that many people have been on the do not tolerate food additives for years and actively advocate their belief that this stuff is killing us. I am not there!. Right now I am in the exploring stage and my thesis about food additives is evolving.  The first part of this thesis is that my options for products would be very small if I eliminated all the food additives that are suggested to delete.  Secondly, I suspect it’s another one of that risk versus reward decisions. For example, is the risk of ingesting the food additive worse than the can of tomato sauce going rancid?

At this point I don’t know and I suspect my answer would be: it depends.  It depends on whether:

• I’m the population that would be at greatest risk?

• How frequently I use that brand of tomato sauce?

• Maybe it won’t get rancid for 2 weeks so I should purchase a can with no additives?

• If I were raising young children again would I think differently?

My thinking about food additives is moving where so much of my deliberating travels: the answer isn’t black or white. There may not be, there probably isn’t a yes or no. It all depends.

I am sure you have thought about food additives more than once. What is your take on the topic? It certainly fits in with the go green movement and seasonal fruits and vegetables and organically fed meats and poultry. How far do you go with food additives?   Type your comments and let’s share some of our thinking.

To your successful healthy aging,

Ruthan

I was in the drugstore this morning to purchase a facial cleansing cream that my dermatologist recommended. I looked at the ingredients and I was dumbfounded. I don’t think I want to put half of those ingredients on my skin. Read the rest of this entry