Preserving Factors Integral to an Active Lifestyle
Chris D. Meletis, ND (with permission from cpmedical.net, access pin: 587556)
A majority of the American population seems to equate old age with being inactive and unhealthy. The assumption is generally made that once we surpass a certain age we will not be as active as we once were, that the choice to remain healthy has been taken away from us by Father Time.
However, the research does not support this conclusion. Rather, the medical literature shows that we have the ability to age in a healthy, active manner. In fact, evidence supports the fact that how we age is not a predetermined conclusion but rather a choice that we make based on lifestyle and nutritional factors such as the amount of vegetables we consume and the amount of exercise we receive.1-2
Studies suggest that making the right health choices in middle age can play an important part in maintaining an active lifestyle later. One group of researchers investigated which factors are associated with overall survival and exceptional survival (free of a set of major diseases and impairments to ages 75, 80, 85, or 90 without incidence of six major chronic diseases and without physical and cognitive impairment) in 5,820 Japanese American middle-aged men living in Honolulu. The men were followed for up to 40 years.3