Embracing Aging

 

All of us age. And we are going to continue to age, until we don't. In 2020, about 17% of the US population was over 65 years old and by 2050 that is expected to increase to about 1 in 4 Americans. The negative perceptions of aging are many and so it is no surprise that a $40B (2020) "anti-aging" market has emerged and is projected to reach over $80B by 2030.

But here is the thing..... you can have facelifts until your navel is on your chin but you are still going to age. Your body is going to change and there is not a lot you can do about that other than die. But the news is not all bad. While there is no way to "turn off the clock" (let alone to turn it back), it absolutely is possible to age better, healthier and happier than ever before. There is a lot that you can do to ensure that your seventies, eighties and even more are vital, active, healthy and happy years.

September is Healthy Aging Month. Now in its second decade, Healthy Aging Month provides focus, inspiration and practical ideas for adults to improve their physical, mental, social and financial well-being. “Use September as the motivation to take stock of where you’ve been, what you really would like to do if money was no object,” says Carolyn Worthington, editor-in-chief of Healthy Aging^® Magazine. “And try it! Who says you have to do something related to what you studied in school? Who says, you can’t start your own home business later in life, test you’re your physical prowess, or do something wildly different from anything you’ve done before? Only that person you see in the mirror! It’s never too late to find a new career, a new sport, passion or hobby.”

Since I turned 70 in January, healthy aging is of more than academic interest to me. So I will be using September to explore a range of topics of interest to us old codgers. Hope you will be here and please do contribute your own ideas and experiences.

Making Lifespan = Healthspan

When we think about living a long life, we picture ourselves in good health, mobile, active, spending time with family and friends and doing the things that we enjoy. In other words, we picture ourselves healthy, not simply alive. For most of us though, that is not how it is going to work out. We spend the first half of our lives sacrificing our health for money, and then spend the second half spending our money trying to restore our health. "We need to adjust our thinking and aim for 'healthspan'," says Prof. Michael Thorner, an endocrinologist at the University of Virginia. "Improving how long we have a robust and functional life."

In the United States in 2022, the average lifespan is 79 years (a bit higher for women and a bit lower for men, but not a lot). This is up from 66 years in 1960, quite an impressive improvement. But after age 60, 1 in 4 of us is diabetic and 60% of us have hypertension. At age 65, 41% of us will have cancer - 21% fatally. Our Lifespan is exceeding our Healthspan by 25 - 30 years! This is fantastic news if you are a healthcare provider or a pharmaceutical company. For the rest of us, no so much.

In the United States, we talk a lot about healthcare but what we are really talking about is sickcare. The entire system is focused on treating illness and disease after we have it. For Americans, medical expenses are the number one cause of personal bankruptcy. Yes, insurance is a big part of this problem. But a bigger part of it is that too many of us are just too sick in our senior years. Despite the fact that every one of us is going to get older and older until we die, there is little attention being paid to how we can age in a healthy way. 

There is a lot that you can do to make your lifespan equal your healthspan. Healthy Aging is completely possible. So what is it going to be? A long, infirm life? Or a long, healthy life? Lets explore that together.

Safer Supplements

 

What do Magnum XXL 9800, Jaguar Power and Kangaroo Intense Alpha all have in common? They are all dietary supplements that supposedly enhance male sexual performance. But they have something else in common too. Despite the fact that they were all sold as supplements on various websites, such as Walmart.com, and retail stores, the FDA has issued public warnings they they illegally contained sildenafil, the active ingredient in viagra. By law, supplements cannot contain drugs, so how could this happen?

Unfortunately it happens often for two main reasons. 

First, supplement products are not strictly regulated like drugs are. The FDA regulates dietary supplements under a completely different set of regulations than those covering "conventional" foods and drug products. Under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements and dietary ingredients are prohibited from marketing products that are adulterated or misbranded. That means that the firms manufacturers are responsible for evaluating the safety and labeling of their products before marketing to ensure that they meet all the requirements of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act as amended by DSHEA and FDA regulations. In other words, it is on the honor system. The FDA has the authority to take action against any adulterated or misbranded dietary supplement product but only after after it reaches the market and has caused harm. 

Second, many supplement products are manufactured in countries like China or India with even less oversight and regulation than in the USA. Since companies buy these foreign-made supplements and then "rebrand" them as their own products it can be difficult or impossible to learn where they originated.

So what can you do to protect yourself?

1. Take a look at your diet before adding supplements. As their name indicates, they are meant to “supplement” a healthy diet. If you are looking to decrease inflammation in the body that may be leading to pain while eating a diet high in fried foods and processed sugar, which both cause inflammation, you should start with your food choices. Often times food and drink changes can give the results that are expected from a supplement. 

2. Look for domestically produced products. Buy from companies that manufacture their own products in the US or buy from companies that do. These will almost never be your cheapest choice.

3. Have realistic expectations. Supplements can be a part of a healthy diet and lifestyle but don't expect miracles from them, despite what their marketing may claim. If it sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is.

A number of consumer advocacy organizations are pressing Congress to update the law and allow better regulation of supplement products. Until they succeed, you are on your own.

 

Your Brain On Sugar

 

Here is an informative, non-preachy article on how excess sugar consumption affects your brain. Its a pretty short read. I say "excess" sugar because your brain needs a certain amount of sugar to function. Your brain needs it because sugar is actually its main fuel. Our brains run on glucose just like every other cell in our bodies. But while glucose is imperative for normal, healthy brain and body functions, the relationship between sugar and a healthy brain is one that depends on moderation.

Sugar is a unique food in that consumption is characterized by the release of dopamine, which makes you feel good, but also causes a craving for more sugar. Other foods can produce this same result initially but with continued consumption the effect disappears. However sugar does so every time you consume it. This can lead to an addiction that’s hard to break. Sugary foods also cause inflammation in the body, leading to weight gain and other health problems like diabetes or heart disease.

Because sugar is ubiquitous (aka everywhere) in soft drinks, fast and processed foods it can be hard to avoid eating too much of it. Worse, most of the sugar in such foods is added sugar, that is, it is added to the food during processing. Natural sugar is sugar that is naturally occurring in food.  Added sugar is sugar that has been added to food items during processing to sweeten or enhance the flavor. Sources of natural sugar like fruits and dairy typically come from nutritious foods that contain a variety of other nutrients. Added sugar is simply calories. A diet containing foods with natural sugars will provide all the glucose your brain needs without any added sugars.

The easiest way to avoid added sugars is to limit the foods commonly made with them. These include:

• Regular, non-diet soda
• Baked goods
• Candies
• Sweet sauces (such as barbecue sauce and ketchup)
• Low-fat foods
• Some ready-made meals (read the labels)

Now that added sugar is listed separately it's important to read the ingredients list on food packaging. Remember, an estimated 74 percent of packaged foods contain added sugar, and added sugar can be found under 61 different names.

 

Five Ways to Hold Down Food Cost

Its no secret that we are paying a lot more money for a lot less food lately. Between inflation driving prices up and "shrinkflation" providing less product for the same price, a lot of people are feeling squeezed every time they have to walk into a grocery store. Here are five strategies you can use to help you fight back against the rising cost of food.

1. Have a plan. Never, and I mean NEVER, walk into a grocery store without a shopping list that you drew up before you left home and based on what you actually need to buy. Once you are in the store, if it is not on your list, don't buy it. I keep a pad on my refrigerator door and make my list day by day so I don't forget anything. However you want to do it is fine, but do it. On average, households throw away about 30% of the food they buy. That means they are actually spending almost 50% more than they think they are on those items. Having a few recipes written down and then shopping for those ingredients is a great strategy to help you save money at the store.

2. Shop your pantry. You probably already have more on hand to eat in your house than you realize. Turning to what you have in your pantry or freezer before you make a list and shop can help you save money, since you’re not buying what you’ve already got. Taking an occasional inventory also helps you use up foods before they spoil.

3. Compare Unit Prices. If you don’t know what a unit price is, you should. It’s located on the shelf next to the price for the item and allows you to better compare different sizes and different brands. Unit prices show you the cost based on weight, and smaller sizes cost more. It might make sense to buy the bigger box, which will cost more at the time but is going to be cheaper per pound than the smaller box.

4. Be creative with produce.

Choosing frozen, canned or dried fruits and vegetables is a great way to save money and still get vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants into your diet. Look for options that are lower in added sugars and salt. Consider swapping out a more expensive fruit or vegetable with a cheaper one. Turn cabbage into a slaw, instead of a mixed green salad to save. Use onions instead of shallots in a soup recipe, or try frozen berries instead of fresh in a smoothie. Also, make sure you actually eat what you buy. That’s another reason frozen and canned produce are great staples, but use up your delicate produce first so you don’t end up throwing money away. 

5. Rethink convenience. You pay a premium for convenience, like pre-cut produce, bagged salads or sauces that are already made and ready for you to use. Sometimes those convenience items pay off, and it means you’re eating a home-cooked meal instead of getting takeout or letting items in your fridge go to waste. Just be mindful of prices to see what the premium you pay is and also know that you can find convenience without paying more by buying items like frozen vegetables.

When it comes to food costs, we often do not have a lot of choice. We have to keep our family fed. But with a few tweaks to our buying and cooking habits, we can at last reduce the impact of higher costs.

Artificial Sweeteners: Pros and Cons

Artificial sweeteners (sugar substitutes) are used in an enormous variety of different products such as sodas, yogurts, bread and processed foods. Despite their popularity, these sugar alternatives have been under scrutiny in recent years, with supporting and opposing groups expressing their take on the benefits and draw backs of using them. So are artificial sweeteners a good alternative to sugar, especially to help with weight loss?

The smart use of artificial sweeteners could help you reduce added sugars in your diet, thereby lowering the number of empty calories that you eat. Reducing calories could help you attain and maintain a healthy body weight. In fact, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and American Heart Association (AHA) have given a cautious nod to the use of artificial sweeteners in place of sugar to combat obesity and diabetes.

The FDA has approved six artificial sweeteners: saccharin, acesulfame, aspartame, neotame, sucralose and advantame. It has also approved one natural low-calorie sweetener, stevia. Research into the potential health effects of artificial sweeteners has produced mixed results. Some studies have actually linked these products to higher rates of weight gain and diabetes. But others have found an association with weight loss and lower body mass index, and no adverse health effects.

Artificial sweeteners are extremely sweet – hundreds to thousands of times sweeter than table sugar. So people who habitually consume them may end up desensitized to sweetness. Healthful, satiating foods that are less sweet, such as fruits and vegetables, may become unappetizing by comparison. As a result, the overall quality of your diet may decline. The calories removed from the diet by the sugar-for-sweetener swap may sneak back in, in the form of refined carbohydrates and low-quality fats. In other words, use of artificial sweeteners can make you shun healthy, filling, and highly nutritious foods while consuming more artificially flavored foods with less nutritional value.

On the plus side, they can be helpful in losing weight when used judiciously, they are better than sugar for diabetics and they may help promote better oral health. Here is a good summary of the pros and cons of using artificial sweeteners. 

In the meantime, if you choose to incorporate sugar substitutes into your diet, why not stick with natural ones? Stevia (PureVia) is a good choice and comes in liquid, granulated and powdered form.

Easy Rule of Thumb for Limiting Sodium

 

It is no big secret to anyone that processed foods come loaded with sodium (among other problematic ingredients). But short of monitoring your total sodium intake every day, how can you know how much is too much?

Here is a simple to remember rule of thumb from Barry Franklin, director of Preventive Cardiology and Cardiac Rehabilitation at Beaumont Health in Royal Oak, Michigan.

Check the product's required nutrition label and compare the milligrams (mg) of sodium with the number of calories in one serving. There should be about the same number or fewer mg of sodium than there are calories. If there are more mg of sodium per serving than there are calories, put it back on the shelf and look for another option.