Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
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[00:01:36] Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the Whole Health Revolution podcast. Thank you for joining me. Now tonight I want to talk about something that is going to affect each and every one of us and that is how we age. We're all going to age, we're all going to die. That's a.
[00:01:53] So we wanna make sure that we get there in the best possible shape. We wanna be strong and vibrant and we wanna be healthy for the next 20, 30, 40 plus years.
[00:02:02] And some of us might think that aging automatically means that we lose muscle or we get that brain fog, our bones get brittle, we have sore joints and maybe we're not able to move as well as we used to. But really I'm here to say that that really is outdated thinking. Aging is not passive, it's a daily decision.
[00:02:21] I spoke to somebody today, it wasn't a client, but I somebody about health as I always do. And she'd said that she'd been told by a GP that the condition that she has, which is diverticulitis, is something that occurs when we age. This lady was in her 60s, late 60s, and pretty much they weren't going to do any more testing, they weren't going to do anything for her. She's just got to live with it because that's what happens. And so this sort of made me think, okay, we need to shift this mindset, because there is always something we can do to reduce inflammation to make life easier for ourselves.
[00:02:56] We shouldn't have to just sit back and accept these things. And the trouble is, if we have this kind of mindset, we might even tend to age a lot faster than we want to, as we know that thoughts are real things. And how we perceive the world has a huge bearing on our overall health and wellbeing. So let's talk about this today. But first of all, I want to ask you a question.
[00:03:19] When you think about your future self, let's say you're 70 or 80 years old, how do you picture yourself? Have you even thought about this?
[00:03:26] Are you hiking? Are you dancing? Are you playing with your grandchildren or even your great grandchildren? Are you struggling to get around or lift yourself out of the chair?
[00:03:35] Really think about that, feel it, and really see it, because it's very powerful to have those thoughts. So let's talk about a little bit about what happens physiologically as a woman. Okay? It's a fact that after 40 women naturally lose about 1% of their muscle mass per year unless we fight back. So that unless we're actually actively in the gym or at home doing some form of resistance type exercise, that's going to slow that down. Because after menopause, that rate then accelerates even more. So we really need to be doing something. Even if you have never done anything before, now is the time in your 40s. And beyond that, we really should be looking at strength training. So when we look at muscle, it's not just for strength. It's also a key metabolic organization. The more muscle we have equals better insulin resistance, sorry, insulin sensitivity, which equals better blood sugar balance and less fat storage. So we really want to keep hold of that muscle. And if we're starting to lose it, we can start working on that now. It's never too late. We also see that bone density also declines. So most women don't realize that bones respond to impact and resistance. Not necessarily those calcium tablets that the doctor often puts you on. If the bone isn't loaded, it's not going to build. It has no reason reason to build. Same as a muscle. If you're not going to overload the muscle, it has no reason to get stronger or bigger. And what about our brain health? Our brain shrinks faster if we lose muscle, if we stop moving, or if we have high blood sugar. We're seeing now that Alzheimer's is sometimes called type 3 diabetes. You'll see that term coined a lot these days because insulin resistance affects our memory and our learning and it is definitely correlated with diabetes. And so as with type 2 diabetes, which is a lifestyle led disease, it's a good thing, right? Because we have a lot of control over how well we're going to age and we can prevent these things from happening.
[00:05:36] So if you think about it, if you don't build muscle now while you can, you might be forced to slow down later when you really don't want to. So let's talk about first of all, what ages us faster than what we really want to, okay? Because we, we, even if we feel healthy, we can be aging on the inside. It's just about genetics. It's our daily habits that can either speed up or slow down that biological clock. And here's a few of the biggest accelerators of aging, and these are all backed by research too. So number one is chronic stress and high cortisol. We know that this isn't good for us. We know that stress is a killer.
[00:06:12] So we really need to get our stress levels in check. And if we can't, we need to deal with the stress that's happening in our lives.
[00:06:18] So being in that constant fight or flight mode breaks down our muscle, it disrupts our hormones, it can increase belly fat, and it will also impair your memory. And so people who never truly switch off may just age faster. At a cellular level, you might not feel it on the outside, but inside these changes are happening. It's called oxidative stress.
[00:06:41] And how about ultra processed foods and high sugar intake? We're looking at refined carbs, those nasty seed oils, they really lead to inflammation and insulin resistance. And that oxidative damage.
[00:06:54] When we're looking at disease or the state of ill health, oxidative damage and inflammation are the underlying factors of most chronic diseases, if not all chronic diseases. So we really need to pay attention to these and flip the switch and say, okay, we need to work on anti inflammatory and reduce the oxidative damage.
[00:07:14] We look at sugar. Sugar attaches to collagen in the skin and muscles through glycation. And this makes tissues stiff and wrinkled from the inside out. So if that's happening on the inside, it is certainly going to have an impact on the outside as well.
[00:07:29] And another thing is sedentary living. There is something called the sitting disease. If we're sitting for eight plus hours a day, it reduces blood flow to the brain and our muscles. Even if you exercise once a day, it's still not Enough, we're made to be moving more constantly than that.
[00:07:45] And that one hour a day might not just be cutting it. It raises the risk of dementia, diabetes and heart disease, and also some cancers as well as another factor is poor sleep quality. And I know if you can't sleep, if you've got insomnia, you have real trouble with sleep. It can be so frustrating. But there is a lot that we can do to help with that sleep. And if there is an issue for you, please do reach out to me because I would love to help you.
[00:08:12] Because sleep is so important. I mean, without it, we die.
[00:08:16] So it is one of those most important pillars of health. And if we're getting less than seven hours a night of good quality sleep, that can equal faster cognitive decline. It can worsen our blood sugar levels because we become insulin resistant. Even if it's just temporary, it increases our appetite. And that's when we eat more. And we usually head for those foods that aren't the healthiest options, such as high carbs or processed foods, because we want that instant energy.
[00:08:44] And so what we're looking at is deep sleep is so important because that is when our brain detoxes and that is when our body repairs. So it's so important and a big, huge piece of the puzzle when it comes to longevity.
[00:08:58] Another factor is loneliness. Now they've done multiple studies on loneliness and disconnection, and research shows that social isolation is as harmful, they say, as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. I don't know how they get these numbers, but you know, it just shows you that it is really harmful to the health. And you wouldn't really think about this. So if you are on your own, maybe joining a club, maybe going to a walking group or the gym or what have you, you know, joining some sort of club, going to the libraries, to events can really be beneficial for your long term health. Mixing with people, having that social connection, something that you've got in common with something somebody else. We know that depression and anxiety increase inflammation and cortisol and accelerates aging.
[00:09:44] So we often think about aging as wrinkles and gray hair. But internally it's really about inflammation, stress, inactivity and that disconnection. Okay, it's all doom and gloom from there, isn't it? But no, the good news is every single one of us can change these things.
[00:10:02] So studies show that people in their 60s, 70s, and even 80s can gain muscle. They can increase bone density and sharpen cognitive function through lifestyle alone, lifestyle and nutrition. So it's very important to think okay, when you get to your 60s, it's. You don't have to give up there. We can still do things. I've even seen people, I've even seen people in powerlifting competitions in their late 70s lift, do deadlifts and what have you. And it's wonderful to see because you know that that person has been in the gym each week and they're working hard and it's kept them young.
[00:10:38] So let's look at three pillars of healthy aging. So pillar one is about movement, because this signals our body to stay strong and particularly resistance training. So now is the time. If you've never done any kind of resistance tr. And that's lifting or pushing heavy things, heavier than what you're used to is really important because we want to maintain that muscle mass. And we need to be doing some form of resistance training at least two to three times a week. Now, it doesn't mean that you're in the gym lifting massive weights. You can if you want to, but this could mean body weight. This could mean some dumbbells. It could be resistance bands, a medicine ball, Swiss ball, anything like that is going to work. It can be in a swimming pool doing aqua aero aerobics. If you've got some form of resistance on your muscles where you're having to work a bit harder than you usually would, then that is going to help to build your muscle and keep you strong.
[00:11:34] That then is going to impact your bone health because the more muscle we have, the stronger the bones are. So walking is great, but if you can include some hills or some stairs, or if your knees are okay, even some gentle sort of jumping can help those bones and muscles stay strong without that, without too much pressure. Looking at exercise, we also look at neat movement. That's non exercise activity. Thermogenesis. I get activity wrong and I can say thermogenesis, go figure. I talk about that a bit more in episode 16 where I talk more about that neat movement. And it's really about incremental movement that we do over the day. So that's certain things, such as stretching, squatting instead of bending, or walking after a meal, fidgeting even. So if you're a fidgeter, that's good news. It might be because you're stressed, but the good news is that you are actually using those muscles a lot more than somebody that's just sitting there doing nothing. And so those micro movements reduce inflammation and they can also help with blood sugar control. In fact, I had another conversation with one of my clients this week who is a type 2 diabetic. And he said that the things that are really keeping his blood sugars in check are wearing a continuous blood glucose monitor because he can see what's happening. But the thing that he was most surprised about and he's still doing today is moving for 10 minutes after his dinner. It's just bringing that blood sugar down so fast. And this is so important in the aging process because if our blood sugar is out of control, it is going to increase inflammation, it's an inflammatory state and it will increase aging. So we really want to keep those blood sugars in check.
[00:13:13] And hardly a week goes by where I don't talk about blood sugar. So it's obviously that important.
[00:13:19] So pillar two is focusing on protein and nutrition because it rebuilds us. And after 40, we actually need more protein, not less. You might have seen that we don't need as much, maybe we don't need as much food or calories overall, but we do need more protein. So we want to aim for about 25 to 30 grams of protein per meal. And you can tell that by getting an app such as myfitnesspal or you can contact me and let me know what you're eating. We can go through what your food plan is, what your food diary is, and I can look and see. Okay. I'll be able to tell from that whether you're getting enough protein or not. So include protein in every main meal, including breakfast. Breakfast is often one that we don't have protein in, especially if we're having cereals.
[00:14:05] We want color and healthy fats because these also help with the anti inflammatory and they help with that longevity as well. Well, collagen, gelatine, bone broth, good old chicken soup. I've just been making lots of that for hubby with his ruptured Achilles. And so we've had a couple of nights where we've had chicken soup. I love it. But getting all that gelatine, the collagen, the bone broth from. From the bones. I have the whole carcass in there as well. It's really good for the skin, the joints and the gut lining. But you can also get that obviously in a supplement as well. If you're not going to eat that every day, which is probably not realistic, but you can get great collagen powders.
[00:14:44] Just make sure there's some vitamin C with it as well because that helps with the absorption and the creation of collagen too.
[00:14:52] Anti inflammatory foods such as berries and olive oil, avocado, leafy greens, spices Such as turmeric and cinnamon. Those oily fish are all highly anti inflammatory.
[00:15:04] So including those in your week, which you will be anyway if you're following the food plan.
[00:15:09] And so my question to you is, are you eating like someone trying to get smaller? Because we've got several people on the program that want to lose weight or are you eating like somebody who wants to get stronger? And it just changes that paradigm. It really does. Because that shouldn't be the only aim, just to lose weight because you can be skinny and very unhealthy. So getting stronger, being as fit and healthy as you can be, should be the ultimate goal.
[00:15:36] So pillar three is looking at supplements. Yes, there's lots of supplements on the market.
[00:15:44] The first one I want to talk about is creatine. Now I used to take creatine when I was bodybuilding and powerlifting because it helped with recovery.
[00:15:52] It helped to fill the muscles out as well. So it helped in the appearance of muscle, but it helped with muscle building and recovery. Mainly that was my main use for using it and my husband has used it for many, many years as well. But it's not just for athletes. Now it's proven to support, yes, that muscle strength, but it's also proven to support the brain as we age.
[00:16:13] So this is new, really new research. Back in the day, we didn't think about brain health or cognition or, you know, having a healthy, aging brain. But we know now that creatine can be very, very beneficial for a very healthy brain. So taking 3 to 5 grams a day might just be an easy way to look after your brain.
[00:16:34] The next one is magnesium. And I always say either a glycinate or citrate are some of the best tolerated forms that's going to help with your sleep. So sleep is an issue then definitely magnesium. If stress is an issue, you'll be depleted of magnesium and it's also involved obviously in your muscles and your brain health.
[00:16:54] Another supplement that's very good is going to be highly anti inflammatory and that's omega 3. So that's fish oil or algae if you're plant based.
[00:17:03] It's brain protective, anti inflammatory. It helps with a whole host of things. I take Omega 3 every day because I don't eat fatty fish as often as I would like. It's very expensive here in New Zealand, our salmon.
[00:17:17] But yeah, if you don't eat fatty fish at least twice a week, then I would suggest taking a supplement.
[00:17:23] Other supplements you can take is vitamin D and K2 because that helps with our bone strength. And our immune immunity as well. And obviously, the one that I spoke about before is your collagen or bone broth powder. And you can get those in capsules now.
[00:17:36] And if you've got the powders, you can add it to the collagen, you can add to your coffee in the morning, you can add the bone broth powder to any kind of soups, stews, sauces.
[00:17:47] So it's quite versatile and you don't even know it's in the diet.
[00:17:50] And just a little bonus sort of insight as well. I don't think I can talk about aging without talking about the Blue zones. I love reading the Blue Zones, and I've seen the documentary on Netflix. It's really, really interesting. And so the Blue zones are regions of the world where people live the longest and they're healthy. And they often reach 90 to 100 years old and with very little disease. So they're not dying of diabetes or cancer, dementia, heart disease or obesity. These people are the fittest, healthiest people on the planet. They die of old age, which is what we should be doing. And so we kind of think it's acceptable that when we get old, we're on a whole host of pills and potions and we're going to die of some sort of disease. We're not supposed to do that. So some of these regions in the world are Okinawa in Japan, Sardinia in Italy, Icaria in Greece, Nicoya in Costa Rica, and Loma Linda in California, which is an interesting one.
[00:18:49] So they differ.
[00:18:51] When you look at all these different places, their diets differ quite considerably, but the principles are quite similar.
[00:18:58] So what these people all have in common. Now, this was researched by a man called Dan Buettner. So you can buy the book or hire the book.
[00:19:07] But also Netflix did a fantastic series. And Dan Buettner is. He visits each of these countries. And this is after a lot of research that he's done.
[00:19:17] And it's also in combination with the National Geographic, so you can imagine it's really visually pleasing to watch as well. So if you haven't seen it, I do recommend it.
[00:19:28] And some of the things that he found that these. These different countries or the people that living in these countries have in common are one, they move naturally all day. They're not exercising, not going to the gym for an exercise session. They're moving. People in Japan are.
[00:19:42] They do many, many, many squats a day because they sit down on the ground. So they're going to the ground and standing up all day. And they actually say that That's a good sign of whether you're of your aging is if you can stand up without touching the floor, if you can stand up just using your legs.
[00:19:59] They walk constantly, so they're visiting friends, they're going to the shops, they're doing their gardening, they're walking. Especially in Italy, very, very hilly. And you'll see that in the show that there's stairs and hills absolutely everywhere. It's really steep. So used to that. That's their normal daily life.
[00:20:17] They squat like the. Like I said in Japan, they bend, they lift, they carry. All these functional movements keep the joints and muscles young.
[00:20:26] They also eat mostly homegrown food. Now, the diets differed considerably. Some of them had a very high carbohydrate diet. Some of them were eating mainly vegetables or legumes. So the diets were very different.
[00:20:41] But the main thing that they had in common was that it was real food and it was locally sourced. This is what these people were used to eating. The meals were simple and they were repetitive. No fad diets, none of that rubbish. You know, they were repetitive.
[00:20:56] And often they, as I say, they were built around plants, protein, and those healthy fats. So none of that processed foods. They really didn't factor into the piece. And also a lot of the foods that they prepared for took time to prepare sometimes in some countries, they're preparing these foods all day long. So there's a lot of elbow grease going into the preparation of these foods.
[00:21:18] In Japan, for example, they stop eating before they're full.
[00:21:23] So they have this saying, and I can't remember what the saying is now, but it's, they eat until they're 80% full. And so. And I often encourage this on the program as well. Eating until you're satisfied and not full, very, very important.
[00:21:37] They also prioritize connection and have strong social circles. So they're involved in their community.
[00:21:43] They've got grandparents living with their children, and they're helping to bring up the grandchildren. There's a lot of social activity going on. They dance, they do a lot together, they eat together.
[00:21:56] So these daily rituals are really, really good for them. They manage stress. In fact, one of them, I can't remember which country it was, but they said, what's stressful?
[00:22:05] And isn't that nice? If you can ask that question, how wonderful is that?
[00:22:09] So the pace of living is slow. It's not constantly rushing or multitasking. They take their time, they're busy, they do things all day, but they get the job done. And there's no sort of impending timeframes.
[00:22:21] So it's a really interesting show. So please do watch it because it really gives us a big insight as to how we can live and we can live to 100 and be very healthy as well.
[00:22:35] So when we talk about longevity, it's not just about what we're doing in the gym or what we're eating in one meal, it's how we live consistently. That word is such a boring word. I know, but consistently is the key to everything.
[00:22:49] So if I was to ask you which of the blue zone principles you could start weaving into your week, even in the smallest way, which one would it be? In closing, if your goal is to lose weight, maybe try thinking differently about it. How about aiming to get stronger and live the. The best life you can live for the next 20, 50 plus years? We're not trying to be younger, we're trying to be more capable, more mobile, more confident and more alive in our bodies.
[00:23:16] So now I want to take you back to that question that I asked you at the beginning of the show. Imagine your future self now at 70 or 80, looking back at you today.
[00:23:25] Imagine what you're doing and what does he or she. Thank you for starting now. What. What can you start now that is going to impact the rest of your life?
[00:23:35] So, leaving you with that question, it's been lovely having you with me. I look forward to seeing you again next week. Have a wonderful week. If you've got any comments about this week's episode or any questions, please do reach out. I always love to hear from you.
[00:23:49] Have a great week. Bye. Bye.
