The Stuff Of Life

Growing older in optimal health without aging

[growingyounger]

How can a man be born when he is old?

Look back to when you were young.  If you are like most people, you did not have any significant diseases, no chronic pain, your thoughts were simple, more innocent and with less baggage than your life today.  Yes, we got sick from time-to-time, possibly sprained an ankle or scraped a knee.   But, all things considered, when we talk about anti-aging, this is the standard we need to shoot for -- a place where problems, when they do occur (and they invariably do), do not take long to repair and do not cause long term permanent damage -- physically and psychologically.

Reversing aging means that we need to solve not only looking and feeling younger, we need to address the formation of diseases, reverse long-term injuries and, most of all, clear our heads and hearts of the clutter that has accumulated there with years of misuse, abuse, and overall lack of active maintenance.

In order for me to understand how to look at aging and what to do about it, I need to understand what are the outcomes I am trying to avoid and reverse.  So let’s list some of the key points that everyone talks about as we age:

1. Skin health: Wrinkles, sagging skin, spotting, cellulite

2. Heart Health: arterial blockage, poor heart action, leading to being winded easily.

3. Mental Health: Alzheimer’s, forgetfulness, difficulty with short-term to long-term memory, brain fog

4. Bone Health: arthritis, osteoporosis

5. Blood sugar control: pancreas, liver, kidney damage

6. Cancer concern: due to aging and due to lifestyle choices

7. Muscular Health: muscle wasting, inflexibility, ease of injury

8. Vital Organ Health: reduce or loss of functionality

9. Chronic Injuries: covers the whole body and includes scarring.

10. Chronic Pain: back, joints, head, really, everywhere you can think of

11. Loss of Faith: disbelief in God, disbelief in ourselves

12. Metabolism Health: weight gain, panic attacks,

13. Eye and Ear Health: glaucoma, macular degeneration, hearing loss

14. Connective tissue health: joint inflexibility, damage, pain

15. Dental Health: loss of teeth and gums

16. Hormonal Health: decline in growth and gender hormones

I am sure I have missed a dozen other aging concerns but you get my point.  In addition to these points, we need to add our list, the twists and turns that our mental and emotional selves have taken.  We stated life with a sense of newness and hope,  We literally started life with the eyes of a new-born.  We took things at face value and had a sense of emotional openness and flexibility that we have lost as adults.

To truly address the issue of aging, we need to be born again.  Keep the knowledge we have gained in our lives but drop the baggage leading from the loss of innocence we all experience.

Wow.  Looking at this list, this journey seems daunting.  Is it even practical to try to grow younger?  Is it worth spending any time to do this?  Perhaps life is good enough and you do not care that much to continue down this path?  

I am not one of those people.  I am both practical and optimistic at the same time.  I believe that we need to, at the very least, attempt this journey.  I, for one, want to life the remaining days of my life with hope, openness of heart, health, pain-free, disease-free -- under God.

[growingyounger]

But all things should be done decently and in order

Organizing the Search

To understand how to get to Maximal Health, we need to list the most common health problems and list a detailed collection of health solutions.    With these two lists, we will create a table -- health issues on one axis and solutions on another axis.  We will X off all of the problem items a health solution can solve -- with as much scientific proof we can muster. This is going to be a massive table so I will need to post it up in a format that can be readable to everyone online. But first, there is alot of science to discuss. I will start with the list of potential problems for aging related and most common health issues.  How do we determine what to list?

The Elusive Root Cause

As we dig into the details, we need to get to the root cause. It is once we know the root cause, that we can understand what solutions will work and which merely mask a deeper problem. Often the root cause is hidden behind other heath issues that we think are the root causes. 

Without getting to the root of the problem, we are only addressing some secondary or tertiary issues.  Root causes often lead to more than one secondary problem so the better we understand the underlying issue the better we can address a variety of concerns all in one shot.  In fact, by not addressing the root problem, you have not yet eliminated the driver of the symptoms or health problems you are experiencing.  It is like hitting the brakes of a car while you still have your foot on the accelerator.  Sure, you may slow down or even stop but eventually your brakes will fail and the car will keep moving forward into greater health problems for you in the future.

Diabetes Example

For example, let’s take diabetes mellitus (type 2 diabetes) as a health concern in our discussion.  Diabetes shows itself as uncontrolled, and most often, elevated levels of glucose (sugar).  Some would say it is a root cause of so many of our health problems.  The secondary effect is that it creates havoc on the kidneys, eyes, heart -- every organ in the body.  Damage to kidneys shows itself as reduced ability and eventual inability to filter your waste in your blood stream --  kidneys are our body’s 2 garbage collectors so their breakdown without any treatment will result in various organs failing (the 3rd level of effect) and eventual death. We will go into much more detail about various diseases like diabetes but you can read more about diabetes and its effect in kidneys: click here.

But is diabetes truly the root cause?  I can assure you that diabetes mellitus is not a root cause in itself.  What causes diabetes?  This is a very long discussion but the simplistic answer for now, is that it is failure of the pancreas to produce the appropriate amount of insulin, a polypeptide hormone that body uses to convert the sugar you have eaten and processed into fat or energy.  We won’t go into the necessary discussion about the liver here but it will be an import part of the on-going diabetes discussion.

Reference: news-medical.net

But what causes the pancreas to fail?  We need to understand why diabetes happens, not just the indications of the disease.  There is a root cause behind it and we need to find it.  It can get confusing and very involved but I will lead you through it all -- as much as I know. I am not convinced about the root-root cause but as I go deeper --- as we get deeper, we will continue to find greater clarity.

So this begs the question, If diabetes is not the root cause, how effective are the medications prescribed by doctors?  

Most of the time -- very effective -- do not listen to the bad advice above. If you are on these medication, do not stop taking them -- At least not until you can prove to yourself and your doctor that you have your diabetes under control!!  

However, relative to Maximal Health, taking your mediation only addresses the immediate health issue and likely does little to address the underlying problem that is driving the diabetes.  Is not a good long term solution to the underlying root problem because you are only be addressing a secondary or tertiary problem and not the root cause.  

Why does this matter?  If you are not addressing the root problem, the underlying problem, you will likely need to get on stronger diabetes medications as you get older (hitting the car accelerator and brakes at the same time will lead to the brakes wearing out -- the car will move forward again, this time, without the ability to use those brakes)..  In addition, if the underlying issue is causing other health problems, just taking diabetes medication will not solve that problem.

In our journey, getting as close to the root cause will be a driving initiative for us.  It will help us create a table that it will reveal information to us that will point us in the direction of the Fountain of Youth.

[growingyounger]

Your faith might not be in the wisdom of men

Thoughts from Einstein

2/28/2016 Einstein was a brilliant thinker.  His ideas and discoveries changed how we perceive the world.  For one, he developed the Special Theory of Relativity that, in its simplest terms says that how we perceive space, time and matter are relative to our point of view -- our frame of reference.  Let me give you an example.  It has been proven that as the velocity (speed) of an object approaches the speed of light, someone that is standing still will perceive the object to be growing in mass (heavier) and to become shorter in the direction of its travel.  

If the near-light speed object is a space craft with a man inside, he will not, from his frame of reference, see his own mass growing and will not see himself getting thinner — he is stationary relative to the spaceship so he sees no change.  His friend on earth perceives a thinner, but heavier ship!

If you think that is weird, get this: The spaceman decides to loop back at nearly the speed of light to earth to pickup his friend who he had left behind and take him along for a ride on his ship.  Say it takes him 10 minutes from the time he took off to return back to earth (from the spaceman frame of reference).   Unfortunately, his friend on Earth will have been dead for many decades or hundreds of years or even longer.  How can this be?  Because time slows down as an object approaches the speed of light — so much so that his friend on earth will perceive a very different time scale versus the spaceman.  Both have a valid point of view but they each experience very different realities because they have different frames of reference... If you are hearing this for the first time, this is a very tough nut to swallow but this theory has been experimentally well-proven.

Why am I talking about Einstein? All of the confusion about health is nothing more than the principle of relativity at work... in health.  People hear the same advice but each, from their own frame of reference, will perceive it differently.  Adding to the complication, all the advice we hear has its own frame of reference, provided to solve some underlying heath issue that is often not highlighted in the advice. The confusion happens because the advice focuses on WHAT to do but not the context of WHY we need to do it and in what CONTEXT we need to do it -- eat apples, go Paleo, try spinning, how about green tea, etc, etc, etc, the list is endless now-a-days.

Though there is a reason for all the advice that is given, what is the underlying problem they are proposing to solve and how does this advice fit contextually to our overall health?  How do the puzzle pieces fit?  Without knowing this, we, as individuals are often hopelessly lost in a sea of health information with no way of knowing which way to swim.  What is the science behind this or are we just hearing another opinion couched as expert advice?  We have no easy way of knowing how the information fits into our lives and if it is even relevant to us unless we know the science behind the WHY.  The science is the crucible (strict test) upon which we can make a valid and logical judgement and ferret out the truth.  We need to connect the dots somehow... we need to unify the frames of reference so the puzzle can make sense.

The Search for the Fountain of Youth

My journey, and this journal sets out to prevent the effects of aging while being maximally healthy -- mind body and soul.  This journal is not exclusively written for one disease or another.  It is not just about a ‘proper’ diet or being healthier than the average person.  I am shooting for the holy grail — the fountain of youth and with that youth comes full health.  I am not proposing to find a way to live forever; I am just proposing that we honor the gift of life God has given us by maximizing its value -- maximal health for a maximum period of time for each of us to provide maximum value to humanity.  Can we get there together?  We will go in the right general direction, but if we want to achieve that goal, or at least get close, we have to start somewhere and take steps that we know to be true so that we are confident that the change we need to make is worth making.  

[growingyounger]

...unless you are born-again

Powerful Human Need

Valentine’s Day 2016. One of the strongest motivators that we have as human beings is the desire to live in agreement with our view of the world.  We are so tied to validating and being in agreement with our world view that we will try to keep the status quo - even if it is irrational to do so.  We do what we think is comfortable and familiar to us -- what we have always done, not what we know to be right.  You may find this hard to accept or believe but this is the space that most of us live in, including myself!

Why does this dysfunction happen?  Because we must live in agreement with our world-view -- what we have always done, we are prone to repeating because it is this stuff that, up til the present, has made us who we are today.  Thus this is the stuff that make us most comfortable.  I propose a myriad of rationales that keep us in our comfort zone: 

1. Lack of imagination: ‘I am fine.  If I cannot see it or feel it, I must be fine. I have a track record of being fine my whole life despite the occasional injury or sickness so why is this case any different? I’ll keep doing what I am doing.’  

2. Hubris (self-pride): I can solve this problem myself.  ‘Sure, I’ll take the doctors advice under advisement but its really pretty simple, right?  I’m a smart person so I’ve got it covered. I’ll keep doing what I am doing’

3. Denial: ‘I don’t have a problem.  I refuse to accept that I have any illness. I’ll keep doing what I am doing.’

4. Acceptance: ‘What can I do?  Everyone gets old and dies so why am I any different?  I’ll just accept getting old gracefully. I’ll keep doing what I am doing.’ What is so graceful about not being able to bend down to tie your own shoe laces or not seeing so clearly or losing a leg? I say fight.  Fight til your last God-given breath. Life is God’s greatest gift to you.  Honor it with a will to live strong and healthy lives.

5. Pursuit of happiness: ‘What is the point of living if I cannot enjoy how I live?  This (stuff of death) food tastes great so I have to incorporate it into my diet. I’ll keep doing what I am doing.’

Of course, this thought process will inevitably lead to you adding a host of other food items that will slowly kill you.  Can you substitute the happiness derived from food with other ways you can enjoy yourself and still be optimally healthy? Fly a kite?  Enjoy a hobby like singing?  Learn to love more deeply (yes, it is a choice and will be a future topic)?

6. Lack of time: ‘Don’t have the time to get optimally healthy between my work, kids and other obligations.  I don’t have time for the gym or even time to breath.  Maybe in a few weeks when my work project has died down some. I’ll keep doing what I am doing.’

7. Procrastination: ‘Yeah, I know, I know I have to do something about my weight.  I’ll start next week’... and you will hear the same excuse next week.

8. Lack of knowledge: ‘Don’t even know where to begin, should I do the Mediterranean diet or should I focus on Atkins?  I do have to lose a few pounds...  Why is so much of the advice conflicting?  There is a lot of advice and I am confused about what works and what doesn’t. I’m sure I’ll find an answer one day.  I’ll keep doing what I am doing.’

9. Tradition: I’ve got a wife, kids, family that comes over to our place regularly and we eat. It is what families do together on a regular basis to bond -- share lives through food.  Everyone else is used to eating a ‘normal’ diet so I can’t just eat separately.  

Besides, what do I eat when I am going to a business dinner, a tradeshow or my friend’s house?  I can’t ask them to make a special happy meal for me... I’ll keep doing what I am doing.’  This is a tough one.  Without your family support, it will be very hard to break away completely from your existing diet and life patterns.  Take it slowly a little here and a little there and next thing you know, everyone is getting into it.  But you must lead.  It will be your roll in leading your family to a new life.

The One-legged Man

To give you an example of what I am talking about and the lengths people go to validate how they live their lives, take this gentleman pictured below.  I had known him for years because he was my neighbor.  He has had severe type II diabetes for years and did not do anything about it.  He knew what to do, how to change his diet.  In fact, I pleaded with him to make a change but he wanted to keep eating the same diet that constantly elevated his blood sugar. 

Please note that by the time I was speak to him, my blood sugar had dropped from a 9.8 A1C (dangerously high) down to 6.5 (at last check I was at 5.8 -- same as a normal person).  What is A1C?  It is a 2-3 month blood sugar average (blood test taken at the doctor’s office) that shows how well you have controlled your diabetes. This is very different from the ’snap-shot’ blood sugar test that we do at home (pricking our finger) after eating or fasting to see how much our immediate blood sugar has risen or is in control.  A1C is a more accurate long term indicator of blood sugar control.  More info here: http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/treatment-and-care/blood-glucose-control/a1c/

A Needless Amputation

Back to the point: I was speaking with authority regarding what I did to reduce my blood sugar and what he could do to emulate my success.  But he made an irrational decision for the immediate comfort of his palate and ongoing lifestyle.  A few months later, the doctors amputated his leg because it was getting infected due to the diabetes and causing the rest of his body to be in constant sickness and pain.   He had to give up that limb for the sake of the rest of his body.  I am grateful to him for allowing me to take this picture 2 weeks after his surgery.

How Far Will You Risk Your Health For Your Comfort?

In my humble opinion, it is not rational to risk your health to the point of amputation when you know what you need to do to prevent this. Of course, he did not think this would happen to him.  This may be a dramatic example and you may not think this has anything to do with you but it does.  

His short term comfort overwhelmed his good sense and, besides, from his point of view, what is the point of living if you can’t enjoy life?  Well, is he enjoying life now?  What trade-offs are you willing to make?  What issues are you facing now or might you face in the future?  Are you willing to prevent or significantly delay the natural flow of aging that will lead to your eventual death?

The one-legged gentleman tried to substitute science, his doctor’s advice and evidence right in front of his eyes (my success) with excuses and his version of rational personal “insights” about what he should do about his diabetes.  This is the problem we have as humans --  most of us do not often have the foresight to make rational decisions about our health because there is such emotion and history that is ingrained in our heads about ignoring evidence and living with the status quo -- we do whatever we are used to doing and makes us comfortable.  In this case, this gentleman was fooling himself -- thinking he knew better... and he paid the price for his stubbornness with a lesser, more handicapped life. Sorry dude, was it worth it?

Leaving the Past Behind

Getting to an optimally healthy life will almost certainly require that you break from your current beliefs -- that ones that you think are true and comfortable -- the ones you think are the pillars of your existence... and have been for as long as you can remember.   You have to up-end the ship that kept you afloat your whole lives.  Left will become right and right will become left.   It means that you will have to reject many of the things that you believed to be true.

Think about it.  If someone tells you what can make you healthy -- and shows you evidence - proof - empirical or otherwise, will you do it or will you defer that decision to another day when things are only going to get worse? 

However hard it is to change, you can and you must.  My advise to you:

1. Make a commitment to yourself that you want to live a life of optimal health and, over the long term, will work to achieve this result.

2. Start slowly but be consistent with your efforts.  Do not stop or it will be difficult to gather that momentum back.  You will find that in a short period of time -- months -- you will have gathered some good momentum.  If you try to do everything immediately, it will be harder to stick to the plan because of all the lifestyle changes you will need to make.

3. From time to time, play a little exercise with yourself.  Envision yourself 20 years from now.  Think about your wrinkles, issues and all.  Now see yourself as you looked when you were 25 (assuming you are older than 25) -- it is my goal and I am getting there.  Now see what you need to do to get there. The knowledge to do this, I will share with you -- as much as I know -- but whenever you fall off the wagon, keep visualizing your 25 year old self and the path you need to stick to in order to get to that 25 year old self.

An Inconvenient Truth

We are not invincible.   We will eventually get sick in one fashion or another, frail with old age, with permanent bodily injuries and that is not something we can come back from so easily... unless we start to do something about it now.  We will die eventually and that is not something we can come back from in the natural.   The health problems that happen to you can happen to me.  The problems that happen to this one-legged guy can happen to you!  We are all the same -- we are all human -- we all get old, get sick and then we die.   Yes, under normal circumstances, our bodies naturally heal our injuries and sicknesses given some time but when it comes to maximizing our long term health TIME IS NOT ON OUR SIDE!    NONE OF US ARE ABOVE GOD’S LAW, THE LAW OF NATURE.  Once we understand and emotionally absorb this raw truth, we can do something about it.

See with the eyes of a new-born baby

As our eyes are opened and as we are born again to a new life, we have to clean out the old ruthlessly -- without mercy. We must reject many of the likes and wants and ways that were easy and normal before but are actually the Stuff of Death.  The bible teaches us that when we are born again, we are required to follow the word of God -- for example, to not lie or be unfaithful to our spouses -- no exceptions, no loopholes -- it is to become a way of life moving forward wholeheartedly without any doubt or worry.  in the same way, you must see the world with the eyes of a new born baby with no past preferences or prejudices.  It is only when you drop your past that you can accept the future.

Stay with me,  I will not ask you to accept what I am saying on faith.  I will show you and, in the best case, prove to you that certain ways of living lead to greater heath and are the stuff of life.  Once you accept this, you must leave the past behind.

[growingyounger]

...and I shall be healed

2/6/16 We are optimally healthy when we have the maximum capacity to heal the immediate and long-term stresses to our mind, body and spirit.

As humans, we have a tremendous ability to heal ourselves.  The younger we are, the more capacity we have.  A normal child can scrape their knee or break a bone or get the chicken pox and within days and weeks, they are as good as new.  A senior citizen with chicken pox?  Well, that is a different story that often leads to hospitalization and occasionally even death...

Ladies and gentlemen, the goal for us, as we age, is to create a way of life that leads to a more youthful person living in a chronologically older mind and body.  It does not eliminate accidents or disease but significantly reduces their chances and lessens their impact when they do occur.

It might sound counter-intuitive but, when it comes to healing, time is on our side -- for both the mind and the body -- time heals all wounds.  The more time that passes, the more time the body has to heal itself.  We have a wonderful, God given self-healing biological system that, as long as we take care of it, will maximally heal most of our injuries.

However, as we get older, our bodies gradually lose much of this healing capacity and sometimes our injuries become risky to our overall health, take too long to heal or become chronic.  To fight this, we need to:

1. Help the body heal itself short term for specific diseases or injuries

2. Help the body grow younger so that it naturally heals itself better

3. Reverse long-term injuries or diseases (more about this below)

As we get older, we damage our bodies through just living life -- enough so that our bodies cannot heal themselves -- perhaps it is a bone that did not set properly, causing pain on a rainy day or perhaps it is cholesterol and plaque deposits that have slowly (or not so slowly) built up in our arteries threatening the heart and all organs that are fed by our arterial blood supply or perhaps it is multiple sclerosis lesions that have scarred brain tissue and are causing tingling in the fingers or, perhaps it is damage to our kidneys caused by an oversupply of sugar in our blood stream... the list is truly endless. 

These are “permanent” damages done to our bodies that not only harm our lifestyle but also cascade into secondary problems for our other organs -- indeed a nasty and downwards spiral for our health!

Sounds both depressing and daunting but can we reverse these issues?  Can we find long terms solutions to these problems -- not just a treatment, but a cure or a long-term reversal to normal function?  In some cases yes, in other cases... I’m not sure.  I never want to say no because every month and every year we are learning more about ourselves and I am refining my health map to connect the dots better and better. 

However, in my current health map, it is still not clear to me that if we were able to tread water with our health, meaning we were doing everything to keep our natural bodily healing systems operating normally, would we still be in decline due to the constant barrage of external irritants like oxygen that we must use for living?  Not sure, but I am on the hunt for an answer to this question because if the answer is yes, it means that not only do we need to tread water, we need to also augment our bodily systems with external props, supports, in order to be at the same (or younger) age.  This is a topic that deserves its own post so I will stop for now.

As a general rule, though, when it comes to making personal health goals, let’s be optimistic -- shoot for the moon.  People around you may say ‘no’.  People around you (likely) won’t care about your health as much as you will about yourself.  So, let us say YES to ourselves... and keep looking -- don’t give up.  The moon is not as far as you think if you have the right rocket to take you there.  Godspeed!

[growingyounger]

In the beginning...

2/1/16 Let’s start with a background of who I am.

I am a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) alum, highly technical and believe in working out problems through logic.  Yet, I also have a good sense of intuition, especially in putting the pieces of a puzzle together with many pieces missing.  I am a man who grew up in NYC loving and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on white bread (Skippy, Smucker’s, Home Pride -- yum!) everyday for lunch in school.

I went to Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, had pizza almost every day and played arcade games for lunch.  Since childhood, I have always been fighting my weight.  I am an entrepreneur, an optimist and a pragmatist all rolled up into one.  I won’t reveal my age yet because at some point, I want you to tell me how old I am once you see my pics later in the journal.

I Needed a Push

Before I begin, I have to state for the record that I was an unwilling participant in this journey.  I was forced down a path -- by God -- which led me from one significant event to another.  Next thing I knew, I was barreling down an uncharted path, adding to my knowledge on a regular basis.  I was not looking or expecting to find an answer for aging or cancer or any type of healthy living but this is exactly what I found.  My eyes were opened as a by-product of new and existing research combined with a fair amount of connecting the dots. 

I believe that it is at the end of one’s rope that true change often happens -- it is when we lose what matters to us the most, that we find clarity in what we need the most, who loves us the most...  I have a few physical maladies (more on some of these later) but it was one in particular that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.  I was at the end of my rope...

The Start of the Journey - Heart Disease

The journey begins with my sister imploring me to see my cardiologist because I was having chest pains after I walked but a few steps.  My cardiologist from MGH (Massachusetts General Hospital) is a good friend and he said, upon examining my symptoms, that I should get a full stress test done.  The stress test led to an angiogram which found 3 major blockages in my arteries.  The doctors said I was a walking time bomb and could have a heart attack any time so they did not let me leave the hospital.  The next day, I had a CABG procedure, more commonly knows as a by-pass of three of my arteries -- a triple-bypass.

I was a relatively young man to have needed this procedure performed but thanks be to God that I did -- before I had a heart attack -- preserving my healthy heart.  I had to rely on my family -- my mom, my wife, my sister, my cousin -- and friends to take care of me as my heart healed from the surgery and my breastplate bone healed from being cut in half for the procedure.  I could not open a door for weeks, lest my bone did not heal properly or, even worse, did not heal at all (which would lead to another surgery).  I was only allowed to sleep on my back since my bones needed to fuse together.  It was challenge to get out of bed for the same reason.

I cannot begin to tell you the feeling of helplessness and humbleness I felt as I slowly got back on my feet.  It is the little things that you take for granted that were almost insurmountable hurdles to overcome.  They don’t tell you this before the surgery but even going to the bathroom -- #1 and #2 both required mind blowing effort at first after the surgery.  Want to go for a walk?  Sorry, only a few steps around the recovery floor nurses desk.    Food?  Not hungry with all those narcotic pain killers and various blood pressure medications, water pills (to lose that 20lb of water weight from surgery).

Snowballing Downhill, Becoming Bigger and Faster

The surgery changed my life forever.  It set off a chain of events that have led me to where I am today.  If I am predisposed to heart disease at a relatively young age, what does that say about my life expectancy and the quality of my life going forward?  I was told that it would not be unusual to be under the knife again in 10 years - more of the same but with more difficulty since I will be a decade older.  Ugh! I decided, viscerally, that I never wanted to be in this place again.  Ever.  It pushed me towards super-health and now that I have gathered momentum, I do not want to ever stop. I started seeing the world from the point of view of full health and not just good-enough health.  I continue to climb this endless mountain of knowledge and discipline to achieve my end goals.  Til next time...

[growingyounger]

“I was blind but now I can see”-John 9:25

1/28/16 Growing older does not mean that we have to grow old.  We can grow younger, be in full heath, be fit and full of vitality all the days of our lives.  Imagine no diabetes, hypertension, heart disease -- in fact no disease of most types.  All the while, your body, from your eyes to your brain, your heart, your organs, bones, skin - all down to the cellular level -- grow younger.  I was indeed blind to this but now I can see, and I want to share this good news with you. 

This journey is about a holistic approach to the problem of aging and of obtaining optimal health.  I will lead you down a path that will involve a lot of science, some intuition and very occasionally a leap of faith. There is no magic bullet.  If you want an easy trick, a simple solution, this journey and this journal is not for you.  The problem is a multi-variable equation that needs to be solved one variable at a time.  It is a complex problem with variables that we didn’t know existed, cropping up every year.  Yet, I am optimistic that we can solve this equation.  Initially, I expect it to be an approximation because we do not have all the answers yet.  However, every time we learn something new, we will build to our knowledge base and continually get more exact with our answer.

The Definition of Health

When someone says they want to get healthy, what do they mean? This is where much of the confusion happens -- Everyone has a different definition of the word “health”.  From the Merriam Webster dictionary, health is defined as:

1a:  the condition of being sound in body, mind, or spirit; especially   :  freedom from physical disease or pain. b  :  the general condition of the body <in poor health> <enjoys good health>

2a:  flourishing condition :  well-being <defending the health of the beloved oceans  — Peter Wilkinson> b  :  general condition or state <poor economic health> 

It is no wonder there is so much confusion -- the definition of health is very general, yet it is naturally applied to each individual’s specific circumstance - each one being equal correct!  Someone that has cancer will say that getting healthy is becoming free of that disease or someone that is diabetic will say that healthy is a constant state of having their blood sugar in control or someone that is relatively disease-free will say that healthy is eating more leafy greens and walking every morning to lose a couple of pounds so they can fit into those skinny jeans again.  Each is equally acceptable in its own frame of reference but this is not my definition of optimal health.

Mind, Body and Soul

I define healthy as a disease-free, pain-free, mentally-clear and spiritually liberated state of being without growing older as we age. 

Optimal health happens when we pro-actively take actions to prevent disease from cropping up and prevent our cells from growing old. It means that we have to try and reverse the injuries to our bodies that have already occurred, like reversing arteriosclerosis -- clogging of the arteries or reversing the wrinkles appearing on our faces.

I have traveled a long way on my journey but it is still very much a work in progress -- more miles ahead than behind me.  What I know, I will share, and what I don’t know, I will ask you for your input supported by science.  Let’s get going, we have miles to go before the day is done.  Til next time...