Natural Way Health Blog

Ageing – Biomarkers

In our last entry on the website we began talking about the 10 accepted biomarkers of ageing. We began to question whether we could delay the process of ageing and thereby life longer and more productive and enjoyable lives. Here are the 10 biomarkers again.

• Biomarker 1: Your Muscle Mass
• Biomarker 2: Your Strength
• Biomarker 3: Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
• Biomarker 4: Your Body Fat Percentage
• Biomarker 5: Your Aerobic Capacity
• Biomarker 6 Your Body’s Blood-Sugar Tolerance
• Biomarker 7: Your Cholesterol/HDL Ratio
• Biomarker 8: Your Blood Pressure
• Biomarker 9: Your Bone Density
• Biomarker 10:Your Body’s Ability to Regulate Its Internal Temperature

If we make some assumptions and conclude that we’ll live relatively free from illness until the age of 65 years and from that point we begin to experience a growing level of disability due to ageing and illness. We may experience 20 years or more of life after the age of 65 years and we’ll  spend 20 years of our lives in the disability zone.

What happens today for most people is that they begin to rely more and more heavily on pharmaceutical drugs to manage the symptoms of physical dysfunction or illness as they get older.What would happen if instead of reliance on pharmaceuticals we focussed on these 10 biomarkers of ageing and sought to improve them. The evidence from around the world is becoming clearer every day. The earlier we begin to address these biomarkers with natural food, exercise and water (and supplementation where required) there is every probability that we can extend the point at which we enter the disability zone by many years.

A recent study published in the Public Library of Medical Science (January 2008) found that basic healthy habits can add up to 14 years to your life – delaying the entrance into the disability zone by many years. Their focus was on cessation of smoking, eating 5 servings of fruit and vegetables, moderate exercise and moderate alcohol consumption. It was nothing extreme.

10 Things To Protect Your Health

There are so many ideas and products touted to improve your health that the whole picture is confused. So I started thinking what are the top 10 free things you can do to protect or improve your health?

1. breathe clean air -
2. drink clean water
3. eat food closest to the way nature made it – avoid processing at all costs
4. walk a mile every day
5. grow your own food
6. get 8 hours of sleep a night
7. take at least one day a week off from work
8. avoid pharmaceutical drugs unless absolutely essential
9. spend time with someone you love – even your pet
10. try and do something beneficial for someone else every day

OK – all those things are either free or very low cost and all contribute to your health – everything else is a bonus or an add-on.

Health Care – Free Sickness

As an advocate of healthy living I’ve been saying this for years – we have a health care system that is focussed on caring for people once they get sick. What would it be like if we focussed on keeping people healthy to start with and only resorted to pharmaceutical drugs once everything else had failed.

This article from an influential US senator shows that people in high places are beginning to listen – at last. Wonder if the UK government is listening – would like to think so.

Shifting America from sick care to genuine wellness
Thu Jun 25, 3:21 am ET

By Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)
Washington, DC — With the Senate health committee convening daily to craft a comprehensive health reform bill, the basic outline of this landmark legislation is now clear.  Yes, it will ensure access to affordable, quality care for every American.  But, just as important, it will hold down health care costs by creating a sharp new emphasis on disease prevention and public health. Continue Reading…