The Growing Epidemic Among Older Women

Osteoporosis, by definition, is a skeletal disorder affecting the bone strength and predisposing it to increased risk of fracture. When the bone tissue degenerates, the person becomes more fragile and susceptible to fractures.

The skeleton is an important part of our system. It is the framework that holds our body upright. The two main components of our bone are collagen protein and calcium phosphate. These two things work hand in hand so that the bone remains hard and strong. Before the age of 30, there is a balance of degeneration and repair. As we get older, we lose the ability to repair. Sadly, the victims of osteoporosis are women.

The female victims are mostly those who have gone through the menopausal stage. At present, millions of women are suffering from this malady. The figures are rising yearly, and more women have to be vigilant about taking care of their health, particularly their bones. There are several known triggers for this ailment. The number one on the list, of course, is the effects of menopause combined with age. Women going through this difficult period experience hormonal imbalance, which in turn, is felt by the bones. Another trigger is genetics. Women who have a family history of osteoporosis are more likely to suffer from it in their old age.

Of course, once osteoporosis sets in, this can’t be easily cured. There are ways to avoid it, and the way to do this is to be conscious of your bones’ health while you are still young. You can significantly lessen your chances of acquiring this debilitating disease when you do the following:

1.    Avoid smoking and drinking.
2.    Eat healthy.
3.    Drink milk regularly.
4.    Regular calcium intake.
5.    Exercise.
6.    Regular checkup.
7.    Avoid junk food when you can.

When you begin experiencing neck pain and lower back ache, have yourself checked by the doctor. Osteoporosis, when left untreated, can deform the curve of your spine. The things you once were able to do will no longer be possible because you can now easily break your bones.  As it is always said, prevention is much better than cure. Undertaking certain precautions even before the signs reveal themselves can be your best bet. Thus, a good amount of calcium products should be consumed while you are still young. If you are a parent, teach your children to enjoy milk. It not only gives them the nutrients they need, it also readies their bones when they grow older. There is an abundance of calcium products out there in the market. Among which are yogurt, milk, cheese, ice cream, green and leafy vegetables, fish like salmon and sardines, dry fruits like almonds, juices and squash. As a woman, you should be conscious of your health. You are more prone to several diseases simply because it is a part of your DNA. Train your bones to take in stress through exercise. The stronger you are, the harder it becomes for certain ailments and diseases to attack your system.

Anti-Aging Techniques

Ever since man has roamed the earth, everyone has been in constant search for the fountain of youth. It is natural to want to stop the process of aging, and though we’ve come a long way, no one has perfected the art quite yet. Is it possible to look and feel young at any age? People have spent thousands or even millions of dollars just so they retain that youthful look.

Products that make promises of restored youth flood the market. People are teeming just to get their hands on them in hopes of removing years from their faces and adding years to their lives. There are many products that promise a long life and even make claims that they’ve finally discovered the secret to staying young.
Consumers have bought into their promises and are spending their hard-earned cash on various products just to calm their fears of growing old. Many say that these products are making empty promises and that there’s no semblance of truth behind the propaganda. However, there are some that do work, but only to a certain extent. They are able to somehow slow down aging and make the person feel as healthy and attractive as they were in their younger days.

Scientists have discovered that there is actually no single identifiable gene in our body that is programmed to age us. In fact, if we were to compare the lifespan of people from the previous century, we actually have the longer end of the rope. However, there are also some recent experiments on ancient human skeletons that show humans living way over a hundred years old. The data gathered, however, isn’t as conclusive as what they’ve hoped.

What is the average lifespan? Is it 80 to 100 years old? There are people, who in their 30’s, already feel like they belong to the body of an old person. On the flipside, there are also older individuals who feel like they are still at their prime.

Recent findings have shown that the following products actually help make us feel younger than our actual age.

The human growth hormone (HGH). This is an endocrine hormone produced by the pituitary gland. This may be the one of the most used supplements to combat premature aging. By nature, the release of HGH in our body declines as we age. By the time we reach the age of 65, our pituitary gland is only releasing 15% to 20% of it. Moreover, the 2-AEP is a biological component found in our cell wall that builds new nerve paths. The full weapon against aging combines both the 2-AEP and HGH Releaser.

Vitamins and Minerals. Basically, these things keep our body healthy. When we have something that protects us against diseases, we will not experience problems as we age. We feel younger when we know that we still can do the things we did when we were younger.

When we live a life filled with laughter and joy, we are able to accept things as they come. Happiness, when combined with the abovementioned components, make the best tools to stay younger and live longer. In the end, it’s how we truly feel deep down that helps us grow old gracefully.

Anti-Aging Info and Advice to Keep You Looking Young

We are living longer and longer these days so the idea of anti-aging products and treatments is very popular. The information in this article will tell you why premature aging happens and how to stay young.

About 75% of the skin damage that leads to skin aging is from too much sun exposure. Obviously, we need to take this seriously and consider reducing our sun exposure if we want to slow down our aging and remain youthful. It makes sense if you think about it. If something burns, it gets wrinkly and shriveled. The same thing applies to your skin when it is burned. Exposing your skin to the sun for years and years will result in wrinkles as the sun damage is compounded over time. If you like relaxing in the sun and enjoy just basking in the sun and getting a great tan, you really need to use the right sunscreen. You have to put the sunscreen on frequently according to the directions and if you begin to burn, you need to get out of the sun for awhile.

Another good anti-aging tip is to get plenty of sleep. If you sleep less than 6 or so hours a day, you are going to be less youthful than those who get 8 or more hours of sleep a day. This makes sense if you think about how you feel and look when you have not had the sleep you need and how the bags show up under your eyes. When you have slept well and are feeling rested, you feel energized and look good when you wake up. If you are tired and have bags under your eyes, you should use a good anti-aging eye cream and try gently massaging the area around your eyes.

If you smoke, you are going to notice that you appear to be aging quickly. It is hard to stop smoking but if you want to start the anti-aging process, you need to kick the habit. You should also consider quitting smoking because of how bad it is for your overall health.

You may have heard someone say that a person looks like his life has been hard. That usually means that the person does not look his age; he looks older instead. He appears to have not taken care of himself or not had a happy, stress free life.

Having a stressful life can cause you to look older than you are. A good anti-aging technique is to try to get rid of the stress in your life when you can. Sure, that is easy to say but not that easy to do. You need to learn to have a positive attitude and to be proactive. If you are happy with yourself and feel good about what you have accomplished, you will be less stressed and you will notice yourself looking much younger than your age as a result.

How Anti Aging Supplements Can Keep You Looking Young?

There is scientific evidence that getting enough antioxidants in your skin care routine will help you look younger. A French study concluded that women who consumed vitamins C and E, and betacarotine were almost 25% less likely to get new wrinkles and lose almost 10% of the wrinkles they had. Antioxidants are known to protect the collagen and elastin in the skin from damages caused by free radicals.

You can get antioxidants from foods that are high in oxygen radical absorbence capacity (ORAC). Such foods include blueberries, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cranberries, kale, plums, prunes, raisins, raspberries, and spinach. You also need to make sue you get enough vitamin A. If you are low on vitamin A, your skin care routine will not work as well. Vitamin A helps your skin grow and renew skin cells. The skin cells are replaced constantly and the old ones come off revealing the new skin cells. Vitamin A has antioxidant properties and also improves the health of the layer of fat below the skin. Vitamin A improves the condition of your skin and prevents damage to the skin.

You may not have enough Vitamin A if your skin is dry and rough, your skin is breaking out, your skin is very delicate and prone to getting wrinkles, your skin texture is not good, and your fingernails are weak and break easily. The key thing about vitamin A anti aging supplements is you should only take in the amount that is recommended per day or else too much will build up in the body. About 10000 IU of vitamin A each day is what is recommended.

Another of the important anti aging supplements is vitamin C. Vitamin C improves skin condition by increasing collagen. If you don’t have enough vitamin C, your skin will age faster and possibly have UV damage. The recommended daily amount of vitamin C is between 500mg to 2000mg.

ALA or alpha lipoic acid is another one of the important anti aging supplements that works very well when taken with vitamins C and E, and co-enzyme Q10. ALA is not actually an antioxidant but it helps with recycling other antioxidants you take in. ALA also helps reduce inflammation in the body and increases resistance to insulin. Resisting insulin is important for preventing obesity and heart disease. Having enough ALA in the body means glucose is taken out of the blood faster. ALA is also helpful for stopping fibers from cross linking and that slows down the aging process and reduces wrinkles.

The body does produce ALA but not very much. The ALA that our body makes helps create energy in the cells. The only way to get the antioxidant benefits of ALA is to have more in the body than is needed by our cells to work normally. As you get older, your body produces less and less ALA. A benefit of having enough anti aging supplements like ALA is that it is fat- and water-soluble. That allows it to help your entire body. The majority of antioxidants are not soluble in both fat and water. Vitamin A is one of the anti aging supplements that is fat soluble while vitamin C is water soluble. You need about 50mg to 100mg of ALA anti aging supplements per day but you should talk to your doctor before taking ALA if you are pregnant or nursing.

How to Spot Anti-Aging Scams

It’s sad but true that a vulnerable person is very likely to have someone just looking to make money take advantage of him. No matter what aspect of life you consider, that statement is true. It can also apply to the anti-aging fad so many of us are caught up in.

Everyone is crazy about anti-aging products and treatments. People 30 and over are very worried about looking their age so they are anxious to try any kind of anti-aging product that may help them stay youthful. There are good products and then there are anti-aging scams — these are products that do nothing but cost a lot of money. If you know what you should look for, you will be able to tell anti-aging scams from real anti-aging products that can help you look and feel good.

Many people running anti-aging scams will get information on their products out through the media without any proof that the products really work. Any claims made by people selling anti-aging products need to be verified by people who are not involved with the company. Anyone who says that scientists don’t want their product to be out on the market is probably part of the many anti-aging scams out there. These people are just after your money. Watch out for products that claim to be a “breakthrough” or say they have a “secret ingredient”.

Any product advertised with a lot of testimonials or personal stories may be one of the anti-aging scams. You can’t trust everything you see on TV or read online. Don’t trust testimonials unless you are familiar with the person. Just because a product is claimed to be good based on it being used for centuries in a specific culture does not mean it is a good product. Many things that are not good have been around a long time.

All anti-aging scams will usually say that the products have no side effects and their claims will be unbelievable. Another way anti-aging scams trick people is by using small print that you can’t read the details about their product.

The information above will help you learn to spot anti-aging scams. Don’t buy any anti-aging products unless you are sure they are going to do what they say. If you buy a product that requires you to use it every day for years and years, that may also be one of the anti-aging scams because you may never see results.

Top Ten Anti Aging Spices!

Many herbs and spices are rich in antioxidants, and they are also very effective at combating tissue damage and inflammation caused by high levels of blood sugar.

A recent study covered in the Journal of Medicinal Foods June 2008; 11(2):275-81 had researchers test extracts from 24 common herbs and spices. They discovered a direct correlation between the content of antioxidant phenol and the ability to block the formation of substances that contribute to damage from aging and diabetes.

It found that spices such as cloves and cinnamon have phenol levels that are 30 percent and 18 percent of dry weight, while herbs such as oregano and sage are 8 and 6 percent phenol respectively. In comparison blueberries, a highly praised antioxidant source, contain roughly 5 percent phenol.

The top 10 most potent herbs and spices are:

Cloves (ground)
Cinnamon (ground)
Jamaican allspice (ground)
Apple pie spice (mixture)
Oregano (ground)
Pumpkin pie spice (mixture)
Marjoram
Sage
Thyme
Gourmet Italian spice

So it’s time to spice up your life safe in the knowledge that you are doing yourself good.

How and Why Do We Age?

We have Ponce De Leon to thank for the name and focus of this blog and web site.

For centuries, ever since the legendary Ponce went searching for the elusive Fountain of Youth, people have been looking for ways to slow down the aging process. Medical science has made great strides in keeping people alive longer by preventing and curing disease, and helping people to live healthier lives. Average life expectancy keeps increasing, and most of us can look forward to the chance to live much longer lives than our ancestors.

Many researchers think that the key to our own personal Fountains of Youth resides in our hormones and endocrine system. These are the various organs and glands that make hormones in our bodies.

Yet we are all aging constantly. The unpleasant fact is that every single one of us begins aging the moment we are out of the womb. (At least it beats the alternative.) If you’re living, you’re aging; you can’t avoid it. But there are a number of things that you can do to keep yourself healthy and active, and to eliminate or at least slow down many of the factors that contribute to aging.

The good news is that - Yes, it is possible to turn back the clock. Your body was actually designed with the inbuilt ability to fix itself, as long as you take care of it properly. Your body is made up of something like 100 trillion (100,000,000,000,000) living cells, which keep themselves strong and healthy with the proper food.

Each and every one of those trillions of cells dies off and is replaced with a new cell at regular intervals. Your entire body is literally completely replaced every few years – you really aren’t the same person you used to be!

What happens with your cells is the key to anti-aging. When a cell dies, one of three possible things must happen:

If the cell has not been receiving proper nutrition, its replacement will be a weaker version of the cell. In this scenario, your body is degenerating.

The replacement cell may have the same strength as its predecessor. In this case, your body essentially remains in the same place.

The third possibility is that the new cell is stronger than the previous one. Now you’re actually regenerating the body, and reversing the aging process. This can only happen if you give your cells plenty of the right kind of food energy to work with.