Live Younger Longer with these Eleven Keys

Fifty years ago my Dad said, "Now that I'm a grandfather, I'm getting old"-not an unusual belief back then. Today we say, "You're only as old as you feel." So the secret to feeling young is to feel good-physically, spiritually and emotionally.

This book shows you how to accomplish the goal of feeling young, whatever your age. It guides you though Eleven Keys to maximize your healthspan and longevity-to help you "Live Younger Longer." The good news is that it is never too late to start.

How healthy are you? Make a quick guess. On a scale of 1 (poor health) to 10 (very healthy), give an estimate of how healthy you feel at this moment. Now think of 2 things that you could quite easily do to feel healthier. Does just listing those 2 ideas make you feel more optimistic about your ability to improve your health?

By answering "Yes" to this quick test you are on your way to living younger longer because you have made yourself aware and open to change. It illustrates how thinking affects our health, an important point made in this book.

Here are the Eleven Keys and some examples of how they have helped the authors.

Key #1 Enjoy a Powerful Diet. I (Peggy) wrote: One example of how this Key has helped me shows in my hands. Some years ago they looked old because of brown spots. This discoloration results from free radical damage. While writing this book I followed my own suggestions. I started using flaxseed oil on my salads, cooking with olive oil and increasing my antioxidant intake. Now fewer brown spots are appearing. My hands have improved in appearance.

You may think this is a minor benefit, but I believe that the change in my hands is an outward sign of gradual improvement in many inner tissues, including protecting my brain from deterioration.

Key #2 Use Supplements as Insurance. Barbara wrote: I rarely get sick, but this past winter, during a round of holiday parties, the flu got me. I was flat in bed for a week. I doubled up on nutritional supplements, took lots of vitamin C, put grapefruit extract into our home-pressed juices and swallowed numerous garlic capsules. I was not sure these measures really helped me until later when friends told me their "flu stories." In a number of cases, their flu turned into pneumonia. I give those extra supplements credit for protecting me from pneumonia.

Comment: One of the basic causes of aging and ill health is the damage done to our cells by free radical action. These appear in our food, in the air we breathe and the water we drink. Antioxidants help to control and prevent this free radical damage. Two ways to increase antioxidants include improving the quality of the food we eat and using nutritional supplementation.

Two chapters reveal where and how we encounter free radicals and how to outwit them by increasing our antioxidant intake. For instance, if we do not have a sufficient supply of a particular antioxidant, alpha lipoic acid (a versatile antioxidant) can step in and take its place. We suggest that adding this supplement is wise health insurance. You will find many other tips throughout Live Younger Longer.

Eleven chapters provide specific nutritional help, including a diagram of the Longevity Power Pyramid, an easy-to-use guide to excellent nutrition. The fruits and vegetables chapter ends with a checklist to help you increase the variety of foods you eat. In addition, vitamin and mineral tables supply easy reference material.

Pleasurable exercise is the basis of two chapters representing Key # 3: Keep Moving. The authors believe the secret of maintaining good body dynamics is including a variety of pleasing activities, making choices from walking, dancing, swimming, tennis or whatever you enjoy. Many health authorities consider exercise the most important anti-aging technique. Running is not necessary. It is hard on the body. Walking briskly works well and is safer.

One chapter, Deepen Your Spirituality, presents Key #4. Five suggestions help the reader acknowledge, stimulate and strengthen spirituality. Research shows that contact with a Higher Power contributes to peace, harmony and trust-basic components of healthy longevity.

Keys #5 - 11 concern psychological aspects of living younger longer. For instance, Accentuate the Positive, Key # 5, reminds us that a positive attitude helps us feel, appear and sound younger. In addition, positive feelings about our lives are potent messages to our bodies to stay healthy. Stop and think about the friends you most enjoy. In general, aren't they more optimistic, more upbeat about life, than the others?

Psychologist David Viscott wrote, "Your attitude shapes your world." This chapter suggests five ways you can spruce up the shape of your personal world.

Key #6, Appreciate Yourself, lists four aspects. One, self acceptance and acceptance by others, fills two of our basic lifetime needs. Another benefit is the self-confidence that keeps us enthusiastic about life. Barbara wrote: "I have found the greatest confidence builder is feeling the fear and doing it anyway." She joined Toastmasters, learned to give speeches comfortably thus increasing her self-value. This powerful chapter helps you increase your self-esteem.

Key #7 shows you how to strengthen your longevity through companionship. How many people do you talk to in a week? Do you have a "safe" friend, someone you can confide in comfortably? We need friends to prove to ourselves that that we matter, that we make a difference. Knowing this strengthens our will to take care of ourselves, to live and to enjoy life moment by moment.

The remaining Keys cover the subjects of reducing stress, how to cultivate humor for health and enjoyment, ways to add zest to life and, lastly, suggestions for living the age you would like to be.

This book includes three appendixes filled with addresses, product descriptions, self-tests and other resources. It concludes with a complete and handy index.

Welcome to Live Younger Longer with these Eleven Keys.