Close your eyes and ask yourself: how old do I feel? Most of us feel a bit older than we should. I bet that will change in the next few years. Time-to-time I will review the latest science on stem cell technology. My conclusion: that perhaps humans could live to two hundred… if we also practiced the right things! Science may soon become advanced enough to help us make living through two-century’s a reality, along of course, with our sincere efforts in following some proven age defying habits. I do wonder however, if we do see that day, what in heavens name will the potency of Viagra have to be?!
Women outlive us men, and its high time we put our competitive nature to the test and see if we can catch up. The iconic male pumps iron, eat his wheaties, wishes TV technology would spew real blood when wrestling matches air, and considers beer a staple his diet. It is perhaps due to this God-given testosterone dominance that we don’t make time to care for ourselves enough to get in to see the doctor for the necessary annual physical. Among other things, living to two-hundred will probably require at least a monthly stem cell injection. When it usually takes a woman to remind us that our head is falling off, let alone seek treatment for an ailment, I wonder if we’re up to task. But, if we want to live a really long time, we must practice the “right things”.
Before I share a list of those right things may be, let’s consider what aging really means. Biologically, aging is the accumulation of random damage to the building blocks of life – especially to our DNA and to certain proteins, carbohydrates and fats that reside in our organs and tissues. Damage begins early in life and eventually with old age exceeds the body’s self-repair capabilities. Later comes the characteristic manifestations of aging: loss of muscle and bone mass, a decline in reaction time, compromised hearing and vision, graying of the hair, and a reduced elasticity of the skin. Many of us judge the degree and speed of the aging process by this wrinkling effect. Although it is in fact one of the most observable consequences of the inevitable aging process, it has little to do with our expiry date. Wrinkling may be, however, what motivates a guy in mid life to consider the cherry red convertible sports car! It is unquestionably what sells topical creams loaded with miracle anti-aging effects that are supposed to make you look twenty again.
Let me let you in on a secret. At the end of the day, free radicals are what age us. But they do most of their damage from the inside out. Free radicals come from, stress, a poor diet, toxins, lack of exercise, and pollution (among other things), and are the very reason you should take your daily vitamins and antioxidants. In order to live to two hundred, you’re going to need to practice effective ways to neutralize these elusive free radicals.
Age-related conditions like heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and cancer, are caused by free radical accumulation over time. Disease seems an inevitable a part of the aging process, but it doesn’t have to be. Science may some day cure these leading killers in the aged, but free radicals will always exist. Eventually different maladies will take the place of those previously cured while a direct link to free radicals and aging will remain. The aging process guarantees that one crucial organ or another – the heart, for example – will eventually experience a catastrophic failure whether at seventy-eight or two-hundred. It is an inescapable biological reality that once the engine of life switches on, the body begins to sow the seeds of its own destruction. So, although living to two-hundred is possible but unlikely I suggest that the best way to get there, other than growing your own stem cells, is to implement the following:

1. Stop smoking.
2. Drink one glass of red wine daily.
3. Brush and floss your teeth daily.
4. Lose the fat and add muscle mass.
5. Eat slightly less than your caloric daily requirements.
6. Ensure that your diet is full of foods that are nutrient dense.
7. Practice optimism and daily positive visualization about future events.
8. Find ways to de-stress – most easily accomplished by deep breathing techniques.
9. Consider an attitude overhaul if necessary.
10. Most importantly supplement with essential fatty acids at 2 grams twice daily and the following antioxidants in order to neutralize free radicals:

• High potency Multi Vitamin
• R+ Alpha Lipoic Acid 200mg
• Co-enzyme Q10 100mg
• Selenium 200 mcg’s

REFERENCES:

1. You: Staying Young: The Owner’s Manual for Extending Your Warranty, Michael F.
   Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz
2. Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Guide to Your Physical and Spiritual Well-Being, Andrew
   Weil
3. The Perricone Prescription, Nicholas Perricone