Anti Aging Stress Relief – More Important Than You Think

Welcome back!

In regards to anti aging, researchers, doctors and scientists disagree about many things – but one thing they DO agree on – stress (mental, emotional and physical) causes aging.  If we can figure out how to reduce the stress in our lives, then we have a shot at living longer, healthier lives.

And what has been shown to be one of the most successful practices for anti aging stress relief?  Meditation! Yes, the simple practice of just sitting quietly for 15-20 minutes a day, concentrating on our breath and nothing else has done more for anti aging than any of the creams, supplements and “miracle” cures combined.

Studies done in 1982 showed that people with an average age of 50 who had been practicing Transcendental Meditation for 5 years had a biological age around 12 years younger than others the same age. More studies have been done since then that also back up the anti aging benefits of meditation.

Some of the benefits of meditation include:

• Lower blood pressure
• Strengthens the immune system
• Promotes faster healing
• Sharpens the mental facilities
• Decrease anxiety

How Does It Work?

Aging is actually your body reacting to stress.  Our cells, under stress, may stop regenerating as quickly, and become more prone to disease and early cell death.

Meditation works on 3 important hormones that affect stress:

Cortisol – commonly called the “stress” hormone. Our body produces this hormone when we are stressed. High levels of cortisol are associated with anxiety and metabolic syndrome.

DHEA – also known as the “youth” hormone acts like a buffer against Cortisol, so you want high levels of DHEA in your system.

Melatonin – mostly known to aid in sleep is also an important antioxidant and helps to keep us calm.  We typically produce less melatonin as we age.

Dr. Vincent Giampapa, M.D., head of Longevity Institute International and Past-President of the American Board of Anti-Aging Medicine, plays a prominent role in some of the latest scientific research into aging. His study, using specific audio technology designed for deep meditation, revealed:

* Cortisol decreased by an average of 46.47%, with positive changes in 68% of the people
* Over 68% had increases in DHEA levels, with an average increase of 43.77%
* Melatonin levels increased an average of 97.77%, with positive changes happening in over 73% of the people

Regular meditation can benefit you in many ways, but more importantly, it activates the body’s natural anti aging capabilities.

There are many ways to meditate from simply sitting quietly and focusing on your breathing to more advanced technologies using audio sounds (as in Dr. Giampapa’s study).  I’ve tried several types of programs and one that I like that is fairly low cost is Neuro Programmer II by Transparent Corporation. But they also have a simple CD designed to aid you in achieving the altered state needed for meditation.

Audio CDs by Transparent Corp.

 

 

Sources – More Magazine, Natural News

Disclaimer: Some of the links mentioned within this post or posts it may lead to are my affiliate links and in such case I will get compensated for recommending those products.

Anti Aging Video – Quick Tips For Overall Health

Here’s a quick anti aging video I found that covers foods to eat, supplements and skin care.

You may know some of this already, but some of it may be new. Read more

Totally Off Topic – But Exciting!

Sorry, this post has nothing to do with anti aging, nutrition or health.

But how exciting is it to watch the protesting in Iran going on over the internet?

Between Twitter, Facebook and all the other online mediums (thank goodness for cell phones with internet access!), the rest of the world is kept abreast of what is going on in the streets there, despite efforts to squash it.

I feel awful for all the terrible things going on over there, but I really feel like I’m watching history in the making and the world will never be the same again.

Say what you will about the internet, but it’s not going away.

Okay, that’s the end of my “off topic” post. Thanks for listening.

Lot’s of good anti-aging stuff coming up!

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Are You Making These Health Mistakes?

Prevention Magazine recently came out with the 14 Worst Health Mistakes.  Geared toward women,  it still seems like men could benefit from these, too.  How many of these health mistakes are YOU making?

There were some of the normal health boo boos we all make sometimes such as not getting enough sleep, forgetting to floss, thinking salads are healthier than they really are, not weight lifting, not using enough sunscreen and ignoring your aches and pains.

But there were also several new ones I didn’t realize (or maybe I just didn’t think about) that I found interesting:

• Rocking out while you work out – this may not pertain quite as much to those of us over 50 that don’t routinely listen to ipods, but obviously if you’re in a crowded gym, you’d have to be cranking that thing up pretty loud to hear anything.  Anything over 85 decibels can cause hearing loss.  Take it from us old farts that went to way too many loud concerts when we were teenagers – hearing loss is not fun!

• Driving with your windows down – especially if you commute to work in a city.  Apparently, the exposure to air pollutants is quite high – a health risk to your lungs second only to smoking.

• Watch your friends health habits – if you have friends that gain weight, you are 71% more likely to gain weight too – especially if they are the same gender.  The same holds true about drinking.  Texas researchers found that people were 82% more likely to be heavy drinkers when their coworkers held liberal views about alcohol.

• If you are having surgery – check your surgeon’s track record.  An example:  heart valve—replacement patients were 44 % more likely to die when the procedures were performed by less experienced doctors. So be sure you ask a lot of questions about their experience.

You may want to catch the article to read the rest.  If nothing else, it might be a wake up call to health mistakes you may know about, but forget to do on a regular basis.

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