There are five different factors that determine the rate at which we age.
The first is the one that we have little control over. This is your genetic makeup. However,one can use the information from this to help reduce its influence. For example, if cardiovascular disease is prominent in your family, you may both reduce the risk factors that increase cardiovascular damage and help to protect the system with proper nutritional support and dietary management.
The other four factors are more easily altered and augmented by lifestyle modification and proper nutrition. These include changes in our neuroendocrine system, our energy system or metabolism, our biomechanics, and finally, our general lifestyle and the environment in which we live and work.
The first system is a complex network called the neuroendocrine axis, composed of neurotransmitters made in our brain and other organs. These agents relay messages from different parts of our brain to other brain areas and to the body in general. The major neurotransmitters are:
Acetylcholine – produced from choline and, in the brain, is responsible for memory. Alzheimer’s disease is a condition where this is greatly reduced. Stimulation of your mind is one of the major factors in reducing this condition. Trauma has been shown to slowly adversely affect your ability to make this neurotransmitter.
Dopamine – Norepinephrine and Epinephrine are our responses to stress. They are part of our “fight or flight” mechanism. Chronic stress dramatically reduces your ability to make these neurotransmitters. Drug abuse and chemical exposure are some of the other major causes of a decline in the ability to create these agents.
Seratonin and Melatonin – both helping to control mental stability, sleep, appetite and behavior. Seratonin is produced during the day and melatonin is produced at night.
These neurotransmitters are derived from amino acids, the small sub-units of protein, and in the case of acetylcholine from choline, is a substance found in the yolk of an egg and in soy. What can we do to influence these changes?
First, we must consider nutrition. Like any manufacturing plant, we need raw materials to produce the end product. These neurotransmitters are all related to proteins. More specifically, to the sub-units of proteins called amino acids.
Our brains take these small sub-units of proteins and, with the help of vitamins, especially the B-complex, convert them into these “messengers,” the neurotransmitters. Increasing Bcomplex intake in the diet in the form of foods or as a supplement at least two to three times a day ensures that these catalysts are available. The next problem is what and how much we eat. As is always the case, you can eat too little or eat too much. Another problem then arises.
As we age, we begin to lose our ability to digest food and our diets gravitate towards high carbohydrate/ high fat foods. This is because they are easier to digest (carbohydrates) and are more flavorful (fats). The following may signal poor digestion: a history of alcohol abuse, feelingsugars, a low level of energy, slow healing, tiring easily, difficulty thinking clearly, indigestion, intestinal cramps, excessive flatulence, greasy stools, chronic diarrhea, frequent constipation, or just feeling tired after a meal.
Our digestion is a process of producing enzymes that are activated by pH changes in our digestive tract. There are two major limiting factors. First, the need to produce enough of these enzymes. And second, having the correct pH levels so that these inactive enzymes may become activated and break down ingested foods.
Digestion begins in the mouth when food is mixed with saliva. Here, an enzyme begins the digestion of starches and sugars. At the same time, another important process is taking place. Our body is analyzing what is being chewed so that the proper digestive enzymes can be prepared for release in your stomach and small intestine. If you don’t chew, you cannot produce the proper mixture of enzymes to digest your food.
In our stomachs, the digestion of proteins begins. It is in the small intestine that the greatest amount of digestion occurs as the pancreatic enzymes breakdown proteins, starches and fats into their subunits. Largely, the process of aging begins with a breakdown of our digestive tract. We cannot fully digest what we eat and thus, end up with decreased levels of the building blocks to repair and renew ourselves. This hampers the abilityof our brain to communicate with the rest of our body.
Many times, this is why just taking a multivitamin/mineral doesn’t work as well as it should. Vitamins are like matches. They light the fire, allowing a chemical reaction to occur. Without the basic raw ingredients, the reactions cannot take place. With age, the stomach begins to under produce hydrochloric acid. Additionally, the pancreas can experience diminished production of digestive enzymes anytime from our teenage years onwards. Age also slows the motility of the intestines, increasing the time it takes food to transit through our systems until it is eliminated.
If the symptoms above sound familiar to you, talk to us about your digestion. Depending upon your symptoms, there are various ways to improve your ability to get all you can out of the foods that you eat. Maintaining the best diet does little good if you cannot digest and assimilate the food throughout the body. When you swallow your food, it is still outside the body until it has been digested fully and absorbed through the lining of the intestines.
After eating properly, digesting properly and having the correct levels of cofactors such as the B-complex, the next action step is to stimulate the brain. Old theories of brain aging have been replaced by studies that show “if you don’t use it, you lose it.” Your brain, like your muscles, must be exercised. You need to challenge your brain cells to work throughout your whole life. Read, study something new, join a discussion group, but do something everyday. As a Chinese proverb states: “Live and learn as though you will live to be 100, and you will.”
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