Holistic Wellness for Life North of 50

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One of the many aspects of good holistic wellness and health is our mental well being.  As we get older, we become slower mentally and more forgetful. We become more depressed when we worry if this forgetfulness is part of some disease. Sometimes it feels we are losing our minds. Cognitive degenerative diseases initially show up as signs of simple aging. Scientists are unsure what the various causes of these diseases are. They have many theories about the different causes but nothing really substantial that they can say “this is the cause”. Therefore, research carries on.

There seems to be two major branches of causation that are being pursued; genetic and environmental/life style. Genetic research of these diseases is still a process of matching similar gene mutations and separating of aspects of these diseases. Once the particular gene or genes is determined then animal testing is required to determine if manipulating the genes has any effect or not. Each year a new anomaly is noted, a theory is developed and testing started. The various causations of the multiple forms of dementia make it unlikely a full solution will be forthcoming in even the distant future.

A much more promising solution to these problems, at least in the short term, seems to involve changes in life style. These changes are further divided into physical or mental changes. The things we can change physically are exercise and diet. Exercise, despite all its benefits, brings up negative connotations to people. Possibly because they feel they have had exercise crammed down their throats. Their parents and grandparents never exercised, so why should they. What people don’t realize is that their parents and grandparents lives were much more active than we are today. Technology which attempts to make our lives easier has also made us softer. Starting with the mass manufacturing of the automobile in the beginning of the last century, we now move and walk less and sit more. Next, through tv, video games and computers, we have let ourselves become soft and out of shape. Fortunately, this can be easily reversed by simply having a brisk walk for 50 minutes 3 times a week. Just that amount of exercise every week has been shown in studies to increase speed and sharpness of thought and the volume of brain tissue. An additional benefit of exercise, along with diet, is to reduce the risk of cognitive decline and risk of dementia in older people. Exercise can help lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels and control weight.

Diet is another physical aspect that we can control to improve our chances of avoiding dementia. Research has shown significant benefits with the “Mediterranean Diet” – a diet with lots of fruits, green leafy and cruciferous vegetables, bread, low to moderate amounts of dairy foods, fish and poultry, small amounts of red meat and frequent use of olive oil. Other dietary items are being found daily that can improve health; nuts (almonds,walnuts, peanuts), tumeric, blueberries, garlic, items high in omegas-3 fats (salmon, flax seed), very small amounts of alchohol, etc.

Making changes in our life can be very stressful and hard to do if we try to make them all at once. In fact, the way to make absolutely sure that any attempt to change will fail is to do more than one or two small changes at a time. A fellow I’ve listened to periodically, Eben Pagan, says that we need to only do one or two (at the most) small changes, but that we also need 90 days to make any of the changes effective and permanent. Changes, in his experience, take that long to overcome our active and passive resistance to change and hard wire it into our mind and our lives. So if we make one or two small changes every 90 days, in a couple of years, we can make vast improvements in our lives. Something to consider.

Another fellow I’ve read is Dean Ornish. He was one of the original doctors that posited and proved that an individual could literally reverse heart disease. Unfortunately, the regimen that he required to bring about this change was very restrictive and somewhat daunting. Although he and his patients got excellent results, quite a few patients were very unhappy with the diet. He recently wrote and published a new book, “The Spectrum,” where he acknowledges the downside of a restrictive but necessary diet. His new book outlines all the things a person can possibly do to become more healthy and reverse those “life-style” diseases (heart disease, diabetes, respiratory disease, various forms of dementia). Dr. Ornish demonstrates how to make the changes in order for a person to feel they can accomplish improvements rather than overloading them with a life style change that may feel unattainable. It’s important to remember, any change at all is an improvement.

Along with physical changes, there are mental changes we can make. The best thing you can do for your mind is to stay engaged. Stay engaged with your family. Stay engaged with your friends. Do new things. Do puzzles. Play games. Listen to the radio. Read the newspaper. Studies show that older adults who have a full social network and participate in various activities tend to have less cognitive decline and a decreased risk of dementia than those who don’t.

Will all these changes bring about a better life for you? Will you live longer and be happier? Maybe. There is no guarantee that these changes will improve your life, but there is overwhelming and increasing evidence that changes in holistic wellness will prevent your life from getting worse and if taken far enough, may actually improve your life, wellness and future.

Be Well.

What you can do.

Healthy Diet

Causes

Boost Your Brain

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