Not only do I buy it,
I’m working on it. For example, I recently had my annual physical
exam, which included a bone density test. The test showed that, at age
69, I have the bone density of someone in their 20’s. I know this sounds
unbelievable—even my doctor had to look at the test results
twice—but it’s true.
My purpose in telling
you this is to demonstrate that it can be done; and I maintain that,
if I can do it, so can many others.
Today, there are about 80,000
centenarians in the U.S. By 2010, this number is expected to
increase by sixty percent; by 2050, there will be 1 million and,
before the end of the twenty-first century, 2.5 million.
Contrast this with the fact that, at the
beginning of the twentieth century, average life expectancy in this
country was forty-six years for men and forty-nine for women,
although some who survived the diseases of that era did make it to
age sixty-five or older, but not many.
Brother
Harry
Oleda |
As I have been known to say so often, our
aging process is controlled more by us than by our genes. To
be sure, heredity and genes play a significant part, but, according
to recent science, they have power over only 30% of how quickly we
age. Seventy percent is due to the choices we make every day
in our lifestyle and environment.
If you don’t
believe me, take a look at my brother and me. (He let me show this
picture) We have the
same mother and father, so the same genes. Harry is three years my
junior and, as you can
see, has a serious weight problem that he will tell you is due to
his lifestyle choices, which he’s working on now to change.
Are Your Physical Problems
A Result of Your Genes?
By now, you already know my opinion about
this: “It Ain’t
Necessarily So!” For
example, consider this scenario:
A
woman says she’s seriously overweight because she inherited her
mother’s metabolism, and her mother claims that she caught her
obesity from her mother’s genes. So, the woman goes through
life, dangerously overweight, thinking she can’t do anything about
it.
Well, suppose her problem has nothing to do with
her inherited metabolism.
Suppose her grandmother just loved to cook and eat, and was
physically inactive, and imparted this attitude to her daughter, the
woman’s mother, who passed this lifestyle tendency on to her.
In this scene, overweight has nothing to do with
the woman’s genes, and I believe many other physical problems fall
into this category too, like lung cancer and smoking, heart disease
and sedateness.
Changing any damaging habit at any age helps
tremendously for a longer, healthier lifespan. Researchers
say it’s never too late to start taking care of yourself.
The Reality Of Aging Has
Changed, Ask The Baby Boomers!
In the early 1900’s, a 50-year old person WAS old. Don’t tell that to today’s
Baby Boomers, who are now in their 50’s. They don’t think they’re
old, not even close, and, I’m happy to say, they’re fighting aging
all the way. My job is to help, to show, by example, that one can be
and stay much younger than we ever thought we could. We can be
healthy, feel good, be agile and, yes, even good looking, in our
oldest years. (And, if
you’re in your 20’s or 30’s, you need to pay attention, starting
now.)
The last thing I want for you and me, is to lead
a long, long life feeling old and decrepit, and looking shriveled
and feeble. No! I think today’s Baby Boomers
are the first large group who are “refusing” to become old as they age, and who are
searching for ways to add healthy, beautiful years to the second
half of their lives.
So,
How Do We Do This?
It’s not that difficult. Think in terms of a
lifetime of many small everyday choices you make. Every decision, or
road you take, leads to how every cell in your body is affected and
how healthy and long you will live. Also the way you think about
aging and what you expect of aging has a lot to do with how well you
will age. Keep this in mind as you read below our best chance to
become a healthy - look good – feel good - centenarian. The big
bonus is that you’ll have a better, more fulfilling life during the
whole journey.
| |
How I - and You,
Too – Can Ensure a Spot as a Happy, Healthy,
Good Looking, Active Centenarian.
|
1.
I get frequent medical check ups. If I sense something
changing in my body, I want to know why, so I go see my doctor and
have it checked out.
The medical profession might have lots of answers today, but
they can’t give you answers, if they don’t know the questions. This is the primary and most
important aspect of my personal health care program. It’s called, prevention.
Prevention also includes daily maintenance. For example, I clean my
teeth thoroughly twice a day.
In addition to my bones, my gums are also those of a 25 year
old, according to my dentist. (He jokes that, if he could bottle and
sell what I do to my gums he could make a fortune.) If you have a
poor diet, or do not floss or use a water pick, your gums will
recede, bleed, food will wedge under them and, eventually, your
teeth will loosen, you won’t be able to chew your food well and even
more problems will arise. It’s unbelievable how many people in their
40’s have lost their teeth. Heredity? No, it’s caused by the same
bad habits their parents had.
I talk about this at length in the Oleda Tip, “Keep Your Teeth For Life,” in our Web
site.
I have gotten a Flu shot every year for the last
25 years. Why? Flu can weaken you, keep you sick for
three weeks, which affects all the cells in the body even longer, I
believe. I also think it might leave a permanent mark
affecting our overall health forever. Talk to your doctor and see
what he/she says.
Whenever I feel my favorite jeans getting a
bit tight, I reduce my intake of calories. At 69, I’m 122 Lbs.
(5’ 8”), Overweight and obesity are primary reasons so many people
get major illnesses, especially heart disease, liver and kidney
problems, joint pain and even cancer. The medical profession
warns us about this constantly. Overweight and obesity are
very difficult to deal with for many people, but they’re
preventable. Don’t fall into a trap. Don’t rationalize by
saying it’s hereditary (it’s probably not). If you’re
overweight, don’t blame anyone else, otherwise you won’t have the
power and strength you need to “undo” the problem. (Imagine people
suing fast food companies because of what they did to
themselves.)
My diet is rich in fruits and vegetables—less
red meat—and I always eat small portions. Yes, I snack during
the day at times but, again, the amount is very small.
Some
restaurants are notorious for serving huge meals. Maybe they
do that to make people think they’re getting more for their money,
or it might really be a ruse designed to run up the bill. I
often rebel by ordering one or two appetizers, no entrée. If I
do order a main course, I’ll eat only a portion of it and at times
have the rest packed up to take home. I’m not embarrassed to
walk out of the finest restaurants in the world with my “doggie
bag.” By the way, I love desserts. Many times, I’ll ask for
the dessert menu first, and, if there’s a mouthwatering morsel on
it, I might have one appetizer and a dessert for dinner. It’s
amazing to me to see huge dishes piled with food being served, then
people feel they must eat it ALL.
I attribute my bone density
and general health in large part to the nutritional diet of foods,
vitamin supplements and hormone supplements I’ve been taking for
years. The human body is a wondrous thing. It
responds. So, it’s never too late to start. You can help
repair every cell in your body through proper nutrition. Bone
cells will take up to a year, but all other cells will respond in
much less time. We have the power to undo damage and repair
all our cells, if we keep in mind that they can be only as good as
the nutrition we feed them. Do you remember the cliché, “You
are what you eat?” It’s true!
2. If
exercise was as much fun as eating, we would all be in very good
shape! It may not be
fun, but it certainly is important. If you don’t want to do anything
else - just a fast walk for 20 minutes 3 or 4 times a week will
help. Start at your
normal speed, and then build up to as fast as is comfortable—well,
maybe just a little uncomfortable.
3. It is so important to get
your proper sleep.
Seven or 8 hours produces the best results. I suggest, when you’re in
our Web site,
www.oleda.com,
you read “Tired Of Being Tired?’.” You’ll find it under “More Oleda
Tips.”
4.
Keep your mind sharp and agile. The only way to do this is
to use it, keep it “exercised.” Try new things, and have fun doing
it. Three years ago, I
started to learn something about computers. Today, I know how much I
don’t know, but it sure helps me keep my brain stimulated.
5.
Happy people live longer. If you are unhappy and can figure out why,
maybe you can do something about it. There’s often no quick fix
to something like this.
If you feel you’re in some kind of a rut, once you recognize
it, you have a chance to change, find something new. It’s important to feel good
about yourself, to have a sense of purpose in work, even volunteer
work, or a hobby. With all I have going on, I don’t consider myself
in a rut, and I’m certainly not unhappy, but I’ve resolved to get
back into my oil painting because it gives me such satisfaction.
6.
Looking good helps us to feel good and extend
life.
-There is so much we can do to retain youthful
skin. The sun, poor
diet and cigarette smoking are the skin’s worst enemies. Maintain a personal daily
skin routine by providing as much moisture to it as possible, both
day and night. One of the best treatments available for skin
rejuvenation is an Alpha-Hydroxy Acid cream or
lotion that you can apply yourself, at home.
-We
have the power to have young, healthy looking hair all our
lives. Nutrition, scalp
massage and a good conditioner that brings shine and life to our
hair can help. If you have dry hair, use a shampoo especially for
dry hair…I do. See my
tip on this subject, called, “Thicker, Stronger Hair,"
in our Web site. My hair
at age 69 is as thick and strong as it was when I was young, and,
perhaps you’ve noticed in some of the pictures on the Web site, I
still have mostly dark roots.
Living a healthy, beautiful life in our senior
years, as we approach 100, could be the subject of a whole
book….which I might write someday. My purpose here is to start
you thinking about it, no matter what your age, to try to
demonstrate that prevention, especially through proper medical care,
nutritional diet and supplements, exercise of body and mind and
attention to our physical appearance are all intertwined to achieve
the goal of becoming a happy centenarian.
My mission is to demonstrate that, if I can look
and feel 20 years younger than my 69 years, I can help you in your
attempt to do so, too.
I urge you to start now, no matter what your age, and I offer
you this valuable group of Oleda®
products that I personally use regularly to
assist.
VEGGIES & FRUIT Concentrate;
Super AGE
ENHANCER Vitamin;
ALOE VERA CONCENTRATE CAPSULE
;
ALOE VERA HEALTH DRINK CONCENTRATE
;
CELL-abration™ FORMULA I
;
NUTRITIVE DAY CREAM
(Beauty-For-Life);
SPOTLIGHT
CONDITIONER;
HAIR HELPERS VITAMINS;
JOJOBA SHAMPOO (Concentrated) For
Dry Hair****
Wishing you a longer,
healthier, happier life than you ever dreamed you could
have.
