If you think about it behavior choices didn’t have much to do with health a hundred years ago. Infectious diseases such as influenza and tuberculosis were the top killers. Today more people die from heart disease, cancer and stroke which can all be prevented.

One of the things you can do to increase your odds for a longer life is to get a good night’s sleep. Sleep just happens to be an important factor for behavior change and lack of sleep interferes with your ability to focus, to remember and learn. When you are not sleeping well you are more likely to make poor decisions.

Managing stress is another major factor for healthy aging. I’ve been having Internet connection problems for the last 3 weeks and it’s not my computer or something the people I work with can’t fix. It’s Comcast, the only Internet source available to us. It is very, very stressful because there is nothing I can do. It takes a while to have that thought settle in and once it does I work around the considerable inconvenience as much as I can so that something is accomplished.

If you have support from family and friends while you take steps to change your behavior consider yourself very fortunate. Or it may be that you would rather not rely on your family and could use another source for help. You can ask your doctor if she can refer you to a dietician or a counselor.  You may want to join the community center and participate in their health programs. Maybe you and a good friend can share a personal trainer for an hour.

Keep in mind that there is nothing easy about changing unhealthy habits. Few of us are perfect so prepare yourself for lapses. A step backwards on occasion isn’t a horrible thing. It’s what you do next and most of the time that will make the difference in living a healthy lifestyle.

To your success at healthy aging,

Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky
Information Products

Business Writer & Copywriter

Torn ligaments and twisted ankles and overuse injuries do not just happen in warm weather. The winter activities you do, from shoveling snow to walking on a slippery sidewalk  to black ice on your driveway can cause strains and sprains.  Here are some ways you can avoid injuries with good common sense.

Wrist Injuries
There are two common wrist injuries which are sprains. The first usually results when you fall and use your hand to break your fall. The second is from carpal tunnel syndrome when the ligaments connecting bones are stretched.

To protect your wrists take extra caution when walking on slippery or uneven surfaces. Stepping off the curb also demands your attention. When your wrist feels uncomfortable limit the time you spend on activities that involve your wrist and take frequent breaks especially when you are using your computer or cell phone.

Twisted Ankles
Here’s a number to remember: about 25,000 people sprain their ankle daily whether they are on the golf course tripping over a shoe lace. To protect your ankles wear shoes with soles that have good traction. It also helps when you pay attention to where you are walking. In the winter keep your driveway shoveled and use salt if necessary. If you play sports and you are tired, you are more likely to roll your ankles or injure yourself some way.

Knee Injuries
To avoid ligament and tendon injuries, meniscus tears and bursitis, choose shoes that fit well and are appropriate for what you are doing. Wearing running shoes to play golf, for example, will cause problems because running shoes protect your ankle from rolling over and you need to have more foot mobility in golf. If you were active when you were younger in sports such as tennis or hockey or basketball, it is likely that there will be some residual effects that show up as you get older.

Tennis Elbow
You can have tennis elbow without ever picking up a tennis racket. You usually get it after doing repetitive motions such as painting or typing or even sewing. You can prevent tennis elbow with exercises that strengthen your forearm and wrist. It is also a good idea to warm up before you begin the activity. Although it seems sort of silly to warm up before you begin knitting, the end results may be well worth it so don’t worry about how silly you may look.

Hope these reminders prevent you from getting injured. The trick is to be cautious without overdoing it.  Sometimes stuff just happens.

To your success at an injury free year,
Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky
Health & Business Writer
Information Products Producer

Healthy aging for me is living as long as possible with the highest quality of life as possible. That is my personal philosophy.

I don’t know anyone who wants to live to be 110 or even 90 if they don’t have some independence in caring for themselves. Granted, getting older results in daily living changes. For instance, chances are very good they won’t be driving. They may also live in an apartment complex for seniors where simple maintenance chores such as using a ladder to change a light bulb are provided as a service. If they’re more fortunate they may live close to their children who visit them two or three times a week and they change the light bulbs.

Each of us has a different story and sometimes our lives take a direction over which we have no control. A Vietnamese veteran who lost both legs in the war is going to have a tougher time maintaining a quality of life while he ages because his physical well being has already been negatively impacted. Your neighbor who was born with diabetes (diabetes I) will have a tougher time maintaining a quality life as she ages because of the insidious nature of diabetes and how it impacts the organs.

Then there are the rest of us with our stories, rolling out with inherited DNA that often comes as a surprise when we age especially when we turn 62 and find out that our dad had a neurological problem and now you and your sister have the same problem.

Healthy aging strategies and tactics can’t stop the results from that DNA, at least not yet. However, healthy aging techniques can help to slow the process of the negative and maintain the areas where you are healthy and in good shape.

Anti-aging medicine states that it can change and stop some of these aging processes. The newly organized non-profit American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M) is training and certifying physicians in this area. They are the bastion of anti-aging medicine other than the skin care producers.  (If you search for “anti-aging” you will find pages and pages of skin-care products.)

When A4M was first formed in the late 90s and early 2000s I was very skeptical. I am not the only one.  There are controversies regarding their techniques, regarding the certification, and regarding the two men who founded the organization. I was skeptical of their credentials back then and today I believe they are not real. (See  Wikipedia for more details.)

I’m not a physician but with my post masters in gerontology it was obvious to me that these are clever entrepreneurs, latching on to a niche market that attaches itself to the passionate efforts of Americans and others to stay young. Their techniques and products are very old and well worn. Ask anyone who sells supplements and products that claim to stop the aging process. I also believe some of their methods with hormones are harmful just based on the research I’ve read and the information you find about steroids.

I want to get old. I am NOT AGAINST GETTING OLD. I’d like to be alert and active as I age and my plan is to get there applying healthy aging strategies.

OK I’m off the soapbox. Your thoughts? Please type them in Comments.

To your healthy aging success,

Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky
Health and Business Writer
Copywriter & Content Marketer

It’s true that most of bone building takes place when you’re younger. However, it is important to understand that it’s never too late to improve your bone health. Good nutrition, healthy supplementation and exercise are the 3 most powerful ways to alleviate bone loss.

Nutritional supplement support to good nutrition is one of the simplest and most cost efficient ways to eliminate and even reverse bone loss and reduce hip fractures.

The first thing you should be thinking about is your calcium intake. It is recommended that adults over the age of 50 should be consuming 1,200 mg of calcium daily.  I personally think the number should be higher and make it my business to consume about 2,000 mg of calcium daily. I don’t always achieve that number but I try.

The problem is most Americans only consume about 600 mg of calcium daily which will likely mean more bone loss. The right amount of calcium intake slows the rate of bone loss and does reduce the risk of fractures in most bones for those of us over 50. It doesn’t matter if you get your calcium from food, a supplement, or the other foods that are fortified with calcium.

The combination of calcium and vitamin D can reduce the risk of fractures by as much as 40 percent.

On the other hand, it’s important not to exceed and take too much calcium. This is especially for men, because higher dosages are linked to cancer for men. I’m not sure studies have confirmed those reported results, but why take a chance? On the other hand, some studies do show that people over 51 who did take the minimal recommended amount of calcium and vitamin D made were less likely to lose their teeth.

The accepted fact is that people do need vitamin D.

In 2010, the Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) of the Institute of Medicine set a Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) based on the amount of vitamin D needed for bone health. While the recommended intake was increased from the adequate intake level (AI) set in 1997, some experts fell that this level was still too low to result in sufficient  D levels. The American Academy of Pediatrics currently recommends 400 IU/day of vitamin D for all infants, children, and adolescents.  For adults 19-50 years the recommended dosage is 600 IU and for those over 70 it’s 800 IU.

Today the thinking is more that before age 60, vitamin D intake should be at least 1000-2000 IU/daily and after age 60 vitamin D intake should be at least 2000 IU/day.  Some women may need more, as much as 4000 IU day to bring levels up to where they can halt or even reverse further bone loss.  I personally take about 3000 IU’s daily and that number was recommended by my physician who believes the recommended dosages of vitamin D is too small.

Vitamin D is necessary for the healthy absorption of calcium and it also produces muscle strength. The problem is that as we get older we become less efficient at generating enough vitamin D through sun exposure. That means our intestines can’t absorb calcium from what we eat as well when we don’t have enough vitamin D so the body draws more calcium from the bones.

During these winter months I’m thinking of raising it to 4000 IU myself. I haven’t seen much of the sun these past weeks. Getting enough vitamin D is just as much trouble during the summer months because of all the sun screen I use – all the time. Thank goodness there is supplementation.

To your healthy aging and good bones,

Ruthan Brodsky

Ruthan Brodsky
Health & Business Writer
Copywriter and Content Marketer

Centenarians, people who live to be 100, are more likely to have a relative that lived a long time than the average person. Even so, the degree for which genetics plays a major roll in being active in your 80s and 90s isn’t as important as the lifestyle you keep and maintained throughout the years.

Dr. Nir Barzilai, a geneticist at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, agrees that a healthy lifestyle is the dominant factor in a healthy old age. It also appears that people who live well in their 80s and 90s are better at coping with the whatevers that happen to them in live.

In a recently published book, Treat Me, Not My Age, Dr. Mark Lachs discusses two major areas that influence how well older people are able to function.

The first he calls physiologic reserve which is the excess capacity in organs and biological systems we’re born with which decreases over time. As we get older the excess is lost at different rates.

When we get older and most of the excess is gone we usually experience little change. The trick is to slow down the loss of this physiologic reserve. For example, we’re born with billions of brain cells we never use and many of them can be lost or diseased before we experience cognitive loss.

The second area is muscle strength declining with age. Most of us achieve peak muscle strength when we’re between 20 and 30. After that strength slowly declines and we’re more likely to fall or it becomes more difficult to do daily activities like getting out of an SUV. Thankfully, most of us don’t notice it until we’re 80 or 90.

Here too the age of loss of mobility can be modified especially by making the right lifestyle choices in midlife. For instance, if you begin a daily exercise or walking program at the age of 45 you could delay immobility to 90 and beyond. On the other hand, if you become a couch potato at 45 you may become immobile at age 60.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this out. A study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association in 2004 showed that elderly people who recovered from a hip fracture and began strengthening exercises were able to increase their walking speed, balance and muscle strength and reduce their risk of falls and fractures.

I realize these guidelines apply to relatively healthy people. Those who have chronic illnesses such as diabetes or arthritis or heart and circulatory problems are going to find it more difficult to reach those goals. However, they too can modify their longevity with lifestyle changes also by not using their health problems as an excuse for not exercising to some degree and certainly for not eating well.

I haven’t written anything new and I’m probably preaching to the choir if you’re subscribing to this blog in the first place! If so, take the information as I am, as a confirmation to stay with those goals of exercise for mobility and healthy eating.

To your healthy aging,

Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky
Health & Business Writer
Content Marketer & Copywriter
http://ruthanbrodsky.com
http://fromretirementtocareerchange.com

These are super foods that probably never reach the inside of your shopping cart. I know there are a couple on this list that I’ve never seen. In my last post I wrote about what you needed to do to stay healthy as you got older. Basically it was eating right and staying active.

In this post I want to describe several super foods that will help you with good nutrition.

Beets. They are first on my list because I am seeing more ‘roasted beet’ salads on restaurant  menus.  I happen to like beats and that’s a good thing because they are outstanding sources of folate and betaine. These two nutrients work together to lower your blood levels of homocysteine, an inflammatory compound that can damage your arteries and increase your risk of heart disease.  I have never eaten the stems and leaves but others say they are good in salads or you can cook them as you cook spinach.

Purslane. This food has never been in my shopping cart either. I’m told you can find it at some Farmer’s Market and at some Whole Food stores. Interestingly, the FDA classifies purslane as a broad-leaved week but it’s a popular vegetable and herb in China, Mexico and Greece. It has the highest amount of omega-3 fats of any plant and has 10 to 20 times more melatonin, an antioxidant that may inhibit cancer growth, than any other. It’s eaten as a salad green.

Swiss chard.  I see this in my food market. It is slightly bitter and salty and native to the Mediterranean. It’s cooked as spinach. Cooked Swiss chard provides a huge amount of lutein and zeazanthin which are carotenoids. Carotenoids protect your retina from the damage of aging.

Cinnamon. I started taking cinnamon supplements about a year ago after I figured out I couldn’t get enough from graham crackers. Cinnamon helps control blood sugar which helps you maintain a healthy heart. There is also some conversation that cinnamon helps to reduce blood sugar levels in type-2 diabetes patients.

Dried plums or prunes. Restaurants serve them for breakfast. They are very sweet and usually linked to growing old and bathroom habits. I happen to really like them as I do enjoy almost all dried fruits. Prunes are especially healthy because they are very effective at combating a particular free radical that can damage to your cells. I like to eat them out of the bag or box but they are sticky so don’t drive while you eat them. Your steering wheel will be a mess.

More super foods for your healthy aging in my next post. In the meantime put these five on your shopping list.

Let me know if you have any good recipes for these. Write a note in the comments and I’ll email you for the recipe and share it with our readers.

To your healthy aging.
Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky
Health & Business Writer
Content Marketer
http://ruthanbrodsky.com
http://fromretirementtocareerchange.com

There is always one or two people and at least one couple who are walking their dog when I walk – regardless of the time or day or even the weather. It was raining this week-end and I still saw people and dogs walking. Mind you, it wasn’t storming but everyone was getting wet. (I was walking with an umbrella.)

Owners of dogs, cats, horses and probably other pets although I can’t imagine what they may be, have proclaimed for years that their pet has this magical ability to make them feel better. No matter how bad the day at the office or even how much the pain, the comfort of petting a purring cat or scratching a dog’s tummy brings a smile and sense of comfort.

It’s official now. The term companion animals and therapy dog are designated to those pets who help heal people with heart disease, get through to children with autism, and even benefit couples in marriage counseling. These companion animals have demonstrated their unique ability to calm, revitalize and brighten moods. There are dozens of published reports in peer review journals of Alzheimer’s patients in nursing homes becoming more responsive and cooperative when they’re visited by the home mascot. There are case studies of autistic kids exhibiting more social behaviors around dogs.

Just in case you’re not convinced here are some other research findings:
·  Seniors with pets visit the doctor 20 percent fewer times
·  Heart-attack patients with pets have a better chance of their first year survival following a heart attack.
·  Pet owners have lower cholesterol and triglycerides
·  Owners who walk their dogs are in better shape
·  Children wit pets are more active in sports and hobbies and tend to have a higher cognitive ability.
·  Infants raised with pets have fewer cases of adult asthma
·  Families with pets report their life is happier.

What’s even better is that many pet owners are convinced that their pets read their moods and demonstrate empathy.

What is important to me is the concrete evidence that pets not only help maintain our physical health but they can sooth our mood, engage our minds and left our spirits. What more could you ask for in your quest for healthy aging?

I’d love to read your special pet stories. You can send them to me in the comment box and I’ll reply or include as many as I can in the next posts. Share your stories! Who doesn’t like a miracle?

To your successful aging.

Ruthan Brodsky
Health & Business Writer
Copywriter

http://ruthanbrodsky

Heel pain can be very uncomfortable and make it hard to walk. The pain can feel sharp like a knife sticking in the bottom of your foot. The pain gets worse when you stand and after a while it feels like a dull ache. This type of heel pain causes soreness and tenderness only on the bottom of your foot, not in the back of your heel or along your sole.

Resting your foot or trying anti-inflammatories may work. You may want to eventually consider an insert or an insole made to fit your foot by a podiatrist. This can give your foot some support, reduce pressure and help relieve the pain.  Some doctors suggest s injections of corticosteroid drugs if the pain continues but there isn’t much research to show that they work.

Another option is shock wave therapy which uses high energy ultrasound waves to hammer the injured area and stimulate your body’s healing response. Shock wave therapy can be painful and sometimes does cause side effects. Moreover, keep in mind that most insurance companies don’t cover this treatment and there have been conflicting results. They don’t cover laser treatment either.

Surgery is a last resort of most people. Most people do get better without surgery. There isn’t enough data to report whether having an operation to cut away part of your plantar fascia, which is called a fasciotomy, can stop the heel pain. There are also complication risks from the surgery such as more pain, nerve damage or infection.

You can find more self treatments and prevention approaches in this digital book, Plantar Fasciitis Pain Relief Guide. It’s worth checking out.

Some years back, the New York Times published an interesting study on plantar fasciitis stating that it was the major cause of heel pain for many of the elderly. In this study, the Times indicated risk factors that our increase your chance for this condition. Interestingly, it wasn’t athletes that were most at risk but your age.

The cause for that is your feet actually widen and flatten as you age putting more stress on the fascia. The fat padding also becomes thinner so more stress is put on the heel bone. When you put into the mix that the skin on older people’s feet often becomes dry and uncomfortable, and that the elderly have more circulatory problems, it is obvious that as we get older we need to take care of our feet better and have more professional care.

The best advice is to always wear comfortable shoes that support your arch and provide some cushioning. If your job involves standing on a hard surface in one sport for a long time, place a padded rug on the floor to cushion your feet, and take a walk periodically.

If you have remedies that work let us know. Type them in the comment box and we’ll share them with our readers.

To your healthy aging.

Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky
Health and Business Writer and Content Marketer

http://secretstohealthandaging.com

http://fromretirementtocareerchange.com

There was a study published in the British Medical Journal of 20,000 British folks which showed that you can cut your risk of having a stroke in half by being active for 30 minutes a day, eating 5 daily servings of fruit and vegetables and avoiding cigarettes and excess alcohol.

You know, those are all good things to do but I for one believe there’s a lot more. For instance, I read somewhere that in societies where people retire and stop working, the population becomes obese and the amount of chronic disease skyrockets after retirement. I’ve also read that the best thing you can do to prevent dying at an early age is to buckle your seat belt when driving.  These are all good things to know too but I still think there is more.

I am one of those people who feel strongly that rather than focus on your problems as you get older, you have a better chance of a quality life if you make changes, find meaning in your life, and focus on the opportunities life has to offer.

If you are 40 or 75 you still need to ponder your current life and your life dreams and figure out who is it that you want to be in your near future. Granted, introspection is a challenge, regardless of age. But assessing who you are and where you are can allow you, can permit you to make changes along your passage.

Let me ask you, what is the next step you’ll take to gain clarity about what you plan to do after you retire? How are you going to make effective transitions from one stage of your life to your next?

Aging well is more critical than ever in the U. S. or anywhere for that matter, as the world gets older. The longer you can hold off any disabilities and maintain your health the more you will enjoy your life.  There’s a big difference between aging well and growing frail and less independent.

That’s not to say your body doesn’t change. It does – not matter what you do. The brain processes information more slowly. Social isolation and depression are common as we age. On the other hand taking care of your gums will help you keep your teeth. At age 40 your ability to see close declines. Cataracts and glaucoma are more common when you’re 60.  And so many people start losing their ability to hear especially the high sounds. The list goes on but researchers are learning that the aging process, that is how well you live as you age, can be manipulated at least in animals.  They don’t know how well it will work in humans.

Actually, you too can manipulate the quality of your aging: staying active, eating less, and stimulating yourself mentally. Keep in mind that aging is not a disease. However, postponing aging would certainly put us all at a lower risk for disease.

So what do you think? Is it positive thinking or organic foods that keep us alive and healthy as we get older? Love to hear what you have to say on this topic.

To your healthy aging success,

Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky
Copywriter & Content Marketer

I mentioned in my previous post that there are 40 different nutrients you require for your good health. No matter how much a particular food could be in vogue no one food is going to supply all your energy, to help build your muscles and bones, to maintain good teeth  and to keep all your body functions working.

Here are a few tips:

• Eat a variety of nutrient rich foods daily.

• Plan your meals for plenty of whole grains, and fresh fruits and vegetables. Five servings daily are known to help prevent cancer, obesity and heart disease.

• Maintain a healthy body weight. Work with your doctor or dietician for a weight management program

• Eat moderate portions especially when dining out.

• Eat regular meals. Skipping meals can lead to overeating the next time.

• Reduce, but don’t eliminate, foods that are high in fat, salt and sugar.

• Balance food choices over time. If you miss out on a food group for one day, make up for that group on the next day.

• Keep a food diary to help you track your nutrition in take.

• Make diet changes gradually and set realistic goals.

• Take a multivitamin

Your body needs vitamins to function properly. A multivitamin tablet or capsule is a safe way to start with supplements because there won’t be any massive amount for any one vitamin. On the other hand, vitamin tables are not a substitute for a healthy, well balance diet. It does make sure you receive the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamins and minerals.

Take your multivitamin with food so your body absorbs it more effectively.
And if you’re over 65, extra supplements of vitamin D and B 12 may be helpful.

Some of these tips may require making changes in your lifestyle. One of the best ways to find support for activating those goals is to tell another person about them. The commitment just about doubles. If for some reason you can’t find  or don’t want to find another person to let them know about the dietary changes you’re making, then tell us.  I will give you an anonymous name and make up a location. Then I will write about you as a center figure in this blog and let the world know your trials and victories.

If this sounds like fun, type your name and email address in the Comment window and we’ll have an email conversation about your dietary plans.

Much success for your healthy aging,

Ruthan Brodsky
www.ruthanbrodsky.com