This is all my personal opinion of course, but if you are interested in what I think, here it is.

Manage Stress

Read Andrew Bernstein’s fabulous book The Myth of Stress: Where Stress Really Comes From and How to Live a Happier and Healthier Life.

Child Raising

Stop hovering and helicoptering around your children.  Give them a break.  Give them a chance to relax and participate in unstructured activities – to be kids in other words.  Giving them more unstructured free time and fewer adult-run activities and lessons will result in a more capable child and future adult.  Leave them alone if you want them to grow up to be self-reliant, resilient, and well adjusted adults.

Freedom

If you cannot spend at least several hours every day doing something for no other reason than you want to do it, then I consider that slavery.  Drop commitments like they are poison.  Avoid spending yourself into slavery (see below).  Absolutely do your own thing and not what anyone else thinks you should do, whether that anyone is society, your family, or your partner.

Spending

Avoid the Golden Handcuffs.  One of the biggest threats to your future freedom is to lock yourself into a lifestyle that forces you to stick with a job you would rather not have.  If you want an eye opening view into how little somebody can live on read John Robbins’ (of Baskin Robbins fame) book: The New Good Life: Living Better Than Ever in an Age of Less.  I wouldn’t recommend following his approach totally, but a happy medium seems very appealing to me.  Would you rather experience a free life or live in a big house and drive an expensive car so you be enslaved to the corporate world to pay for them?

Free Yourself From Manipulative Relationships

Time does not run backwards.  You do not get a do-over.  When you are lying on your deathbed, it is highly unlikely you will say “Boy I’m so glad I wasted my precious life putting up with all the drama and crap in my relationships.”  Read more…

Spend Time With Other People

Even if you tend to be introverted like me, maintaining and active social life is critical to long-term well-being.  This factor is showing up repeatedly in study after study.

Exercise

Strength training once a week for maintaining function as you age.  High intensity interval training for maximum heart and lung capacity about 20 minutes three times a week.  I highly recommend the Pace Program.  Cardio and Pulmonary maximum capacity is correlated to mortality rates and it is not gained by sustained aerobics.

Nutrition

Avoid what comes in a box.  Eat as natural food as possible with plenty of fruits and vegetables.  Critical enzymes are destroyed by heating, so eat plenty of raw food.  Limit your calories and give yourself permission to eat something sinful on occasion.

Limit Time With Doctors

A great many treatments simply don’t work and it is easy to get caught up in a prescription domino effect; take it from someone who has experienced it.  Get medical treatment for serious issues but consider non-drug, non-traditional approaches if they are available.  This is an area where balance and judgment is critical.  Just don’t overdo the doctor thing.

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

The books of Richard Carlson are great.

“Rule number one is, don’t sweat the small stuff. Rule number two is, it’s all small stuff.” — Robert Elliot

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Imagine the same diet; the same calories, fat grams, etc.  In one group of mice, a high fat meal is consumed early in the day and a high carbohydrate meal later in the day.  In the other group of mice, the a high carbohydrate meal is consumed early in the day and a high fat meal later in the day.  Most of us tend to eat more fat later in the day at the big meals, so we are like the early-carb / late-fat mice.

But the mice with high-fat breakfasts had “significantly lower body weights and body fat composition” than their counterparts who ate high-fat dinners, according to their study published this week in the International Journal of Obesity.

Those weren’t the only differences. The mice that began the day with more carbs developed insulin resistance, a condition that increases the risk for Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. They also wound up with more insulin, leptin and triglycerides circulating in their blood, which are also associated with diabetes and heart disease. –- LA Times

So at least in mice and most likely in humans too, the timing of daily fat intake may be very important in setting your daily metabolic cycle.

I have the perfect solution for you.  In order to make sure you get fat early in the day, try Udo’s Choice Oil Blend (see below) with breakfast.  You get a boost to a good metabolic cycle and an ideal fatty acid balance. My bottle says one serving is 14 grams of fat, but it is good fat.  It says you can put it in drinks or food, but it tastes fine and I just take it straight.

Udo’s Choice Perfected (Ultimate) 3, 6, 9 Oil Blend is a certified organic blend of guaranteed GMO-free, unrefined edible oils. This unique blend delivers a reliable source of the n-3 and n-6 essential fatty acids that are essential to life. Based on 15 years of practical experience with fats and oils, this formula is a 2:1:1 ratio of n-3: n-6: n-9, a combination most therapeutic for the n-3-deficient, n-6-rich diets, as well as ‘low’ and ‘no’ fat diets, common today. The Perfected Oil Blend includes oils from fresh flax, sesame and sunflower seeds, as well as oils from evening primrose, rice germ and oat germ.

Note: I have no financial interest nor get any commission or anything else from you buying Udo’s Choice.  I just recommend it because I think it is excellent.  I find it at most vitamin stores, health-food stores, and some supermarkets.  It is widely available.

What do YOU think?  Leave a comment and join the conversation.

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Surveys show most people do, but only a little bit longer.  75% do not wish to live to 100 and very few want to live to 120 even if that were possible.  I am among the minority who want to live as long as is possible.

I think the key is where the emphasis lies; whether it is on the word live or on the word longer.  People are concerned about quality of life in old age; things like losing their health, losing their mind, and losing their ability to live independently.  I don’t want to live like that either.  Those humans who live to a very advanced age, like the current record holder Jeanne Calmet who died in 1997 at the age of 122, don’t just live longer; they age slower.  They stay healthy, vibrant, alert, and independent into advanced ages.  Jeanne was still riding her bicycle at 100,  a good 20 years after the average woman has already died.

Researchers are beginning to understand the mechanisms of aging and this makes it very likely they will uncover ways to slow it down; anti-aging drugs for example.  At the end of this article I will list some natural substances that may affect gene expression and offer promising possibilities while research continues.

The Naked Mole Rat

The naked mole rat is an interesting creature when it comes to aging.  First of all, they are very long-lived for animals of their type and size.  But even more interesting, is that they don’t seem to show signs of aging.  They live healthy and active lives into their third decade and then often just drop dead with no obvious cause.  That is the way I want to do it. That’s the kind of aging that I think most people want, and while it is not likely we will be able to achieve it exactly, I certainly believe we can age much more gracefully than we do now.

Genes

Experts currently believe that the way we age is about 1/3 genetic and about 2/3 lifestyle.  Jeanne Calmet obviously was dealt a very good genetic hand and that is likely the case for about all people who get past 100.  About twenty years ago I told my doctor that I was concerned about my low body temperature and that maybe it was the sign of some metabolic problem.  He told me the only thing I had to worry about was a long life because low body temperature was found in many long-lived men.  I have since learned the other common biomarker is low insulin levels.

There is a known correlation between versions of the APoE gene and longevity.  Various alleles are also known to be positively or negatively correlated with heart disease and neurological disease like Alzheimer’s.  There are a set of genes called SIRT that are likely involved in aging.  Given the complexity of human disease and aging there are likely many, many genes involved.

Lifestyle

Regardless of your genetic makeup, most people can significantly impact the way they age through lifestyle choices.  Most of the major disease of aging like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and bone loss are significantly impacted by lifestyle.  Just as importantly it also appears that loss of physical and mental function are just as sensitive to lifestyle choices as disease.

In a nutshell for physical health:

• Eat a low calorie diet
• Eat natural foods rather than man-made or processed foods
• Get most of your carbohydrates from low-glycemic fruits and vegetables
• Raw is better than cooked, because cooking destroys enzymes
• Get plenty of protein but try to avoid too much grain-fed meat; grass-fed and free-range are best
• Eat nuts and berries which are loaded with phyto-nutrients and antioxidants
• Eat plenty of the good fats from small fish, olive, coconut, and canola oils, nuts, and seeds
• Restrict sodium intake
• Supplement with non-contaminated fish oils, potassium (you don’t get enough), vitamin D (if you don’t get sunshine), selenium, and a good all-around vitamin and mineral mix.  I recommend Life Extension Mix as I think it is unparalleled and is much cheaper than all the ingredients separately.
• Move, don’t sit.  The human body is made to walk and move so walk and move as much as you can.
• Strengthen your muscles as muscular atrophy is the main reason for loss of physical function as you age
• Increase your maximum heart and lung capacity by short bursts of intense activity followed by rest.  This is something like interval training but it consists of very intense intervals.  Maximum heart and lung capacity are correlated with mortality.  Constant aerobic activity does not increase maximum capacities and is less beneficial.

In a nutshell for brain health:

• Do everything listed in physical health because your brain is part of your physical body.
• It appears in the case of brain health, sustained aerobic activity increases nerve growth and reduces age-related loss of brain matter.
• All forms of exercise, including strength training, seem to protect brain health
• Be socially active.  For whatever reason, it appears that maintaining an active social life (friends and family), confers a strong protective effect on the brain function.
• Cognitive exercise unambiguously reduces the risk and amount of cognitive decline associated with aging.  Combining cognitive activities in a social setting seems particularly helpful (playing bridge with friends for example).

Calorie Restriction

If there is any universally agreed upon way to extend life-span and enjoy healthy aging, it is calorie restriction.  Calorie restriction is a semi-starvation diet that amounts to eating 30% fewer calories than you would normally eat to maintain weight.  There is recent evidence that an alternate day calorie restricted diet in which every other day you eat 50% fewer calories may also provide the same benefit.  There is a lot of research going on right now to uncover what genes or other processes are being activated in calorie restriction.  Some genes known as SIRT are prime candidates.  The goal is to come up with a way to mimic the effects of calorie restriction without having to half-starve yourself.

Anti-Aging Nutrients

Resveratrol

Resveratrol may be a miracle molecule.  It is found in grapes and peanuts.  There are indications it has anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-viral, neuro-protective, and cardio-protective effects.  It can reduce both insulin and blood glucose, which are both markers for improved health and longevity.  It seems to dramatically increase physical endurance if given in high enough doses.  It is believed to be an activator of the SIRT longevity genes.

How much humans need to trigger these effects is disputed as is almost anything new.  It may be more potent in sub-lingual form so it can be absorbed into the blood stream without being metabolized.  Twinlab vitamins has just introduced a sub-lingual version.  I am not waiting for further studies to get more evidence and judging from the shelves at vitamin shops neither are a lot of other people.  It appears to be perfectly safe in massive doses far exceeding what anyone takes.

Quercetin

Quercetin has gotten a lot less attention, but it may also be another potent activator of the SIRT genes.  There are many promising indications of various benefits in initial studies of this substance.  It is found any many plants that are good for you like tea, green leafy vegetables, cruciferous vegetables, onions, and apples.

Fisetin

Fisetin is another activator of the SIRT genes and is found in strawberries.  Some studies have shown it to be synergistic with resveratrol.

CR Mimetic Longevity Formula contains all three of these nutrients and more.

What do YOU think?  Leave a comment and join the conversation.

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This is Part II.  The other parts can be found here:

How to Live Longer Part I

As I described in Part I, these are from the book 50 Simple Ways to Live a Longer Life: Everyday Techniques from the Forefront of Science Here are the next 9 simple ways to live longer (I thought the 10th was kind of stupid).  I’m supplying them right out of the book.  After part V, I’ll give you some of my own ideas.

1. Tea Party

   The polyphenols in tea do all kinds of wonderful things from reducing the risk of heart attack, stroke, and cancer to boosting the immune system’s ability to fight bacteria and viruses. White, green, and black teas are all good but for a certain kind of antioxidant, white and then green are best.  Something you might not know is that your bloodstream will only carry about one cup worth of tea polyphenols and only for about one hour.  So it doesn’t do much good to just drink a cup or two in the morning.  You should drink 5 to 10 cups sipped throughout the day for maximum benefit.  Secondly you need to drink it within an hour or two of brewing or else the polyphenols disappear.

2. Stress Reduction

   That’s a shocker!  Anyway to anyone who hasn’t been living in a cave, you should already know stress kills.  You might not know it actually can kill brain cells.  The best stress reducers are social connections (good ones obviously), exercise, belly breathing, and meditation.

3. Exercise

   Another shocker.  Besides eating well (and less), exercise is the best anti-aging drug you can take.  Walking is great, but you really need to bump it up into more intense aerobic exercising for maximum benefit.  Three to five workouts a week at 30 to 60 minutes are recommended.  Strength conditioning is just as important if not more important so see the next one.

4. Lift Weights

   Actually, as you age, lifting weights may be more important than aerobic exercise.  It delivers the same basic health benefits as aerobic exercise.  But in addition, the loss of function in aging is primarily a result of muscle and bone atrophy.  That can be delayed, reversed, and almost eliminated by strength conditioning.  If you want to be active when you are old, then lift weights.  It also prompts your body to produce growth-hormone and testosterone.  These are powerful anti-aging hormones.  Even nursing home residents can start lifting weights!

5. Unclog Your Pipes

   Your artery health is critical to a long and healthy life.  They need to be elastic and free of plaque.  Best methods for keeping your pipes healthy?  Exercise and a diet high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and nuts.  Reduce animal protein, especially grain feed beef, take fish oil supplements or eat fish like salmon, and yes consider aspirin.

6. Lower Your Blood Pressure

   Do everything listed under Unclog Your Pipes, but also make sure you stay trim and get plenty of potassium.  Potassium lowers blood pressure so reduce salt and increase potassium.  The ratio is critical – lots more potassium than salt.  Calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D are also important.  Long life is definitely correlated with low blood pressure.

7. Avoid Diabetes

   Type II diabetes will knock 12 years off your life on average and make the years you have a lot more miserable.  The single best way to avoid it?  Get thin and then stay thin.  Any movement towards thin helps.  After that aerobic and anaerobic exercise both reduce the risk.  Eat the diet listed under unclog your pipes and avoid high GI carbohydrates like they are poison – because they are.  A high-fiber diet slows glucose absorption.

8. Prevent Colon Cancer

   Early detection through colonoscopy is critical.  For all you supplement avoiders out there, listen up.  Selenium supplementation is highly correlated with reductions in colon cancer.  Folic acid supplementation may be even more important in avoiding it.  Vitamin D and calcium are also correlated with lower rates of colon cancer.  Selenium is so powerful in so many ways, you have to be crazy to not take it.  That’s my opinion anyway.  Keep your food moving through your system with plenty of fiber.

9. Prevent Prostate Cancer

   If you are a man and you live long enough you’ll get it.  Almost all 80+ men have it, but they may not know it because it grows slow.  Prostate cancer is highly correlated to lifestyle such as excessive consumption of red meat.  So reduce red meat, increase fish and/or take fish oil supplements, drink white or green tea, drink red wine, and eat soy.  Remember I said something about selenium supplements above?  Well guess what?  Selenium supplementation reduces prostate cancer 62%.  That’s selenium supplements.  Take a lycopene supplement or eat a lot of tomato paste products like pizza sauce!  Saw palmetto is a superior prostate health supplement and if you are a man over 30, then take it.  All this supplement advice is backed by a lot of research so ignore it at your own risk.

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I’ve got a fabulous little book 50 Simple Ways to Live a Longer Life: Everyday Techniques from the Forefront of Science, and I recommend you get it and read it.  But in the meantime I know most of you won’t, so here are the first 10 simple ways to live longer.  Some of the ways the book listed these don’t make sense to me so I’m making a few modifications.  Other than that, I’m supplying them right out of the book.  After part V, I’ll give you some of my own ideas.

This is Part II.  The other parts can be found here:

How to Live Longer Part II

1. Visualize a long and healthy life

   Your non-conscious mind will then drive you to to do things that you know contribute to a long and healthy life.

2. Calorie Restriction

   This is one thing on which virtually all aging experts agree.  Calorie restriction increases life span.  Basically a 40% reduction in calories below what you need to maintain will increase your lifespan 40%.  Your body adjusts.  Calorie restriction doesn’t just increase lifespan, it gives you a vital and vibrant life.  Most people will not do this and so I suggest a 20% reduction to get some of the benefit without looking somewhat anorexic.  After I get really healthy and fit, I’m going for the 20% reduction.

3. Skip Meals

   This is a hard one for me. I’m a fan of six small meals, but the research is there. In animals, regular fasting has the same effect as calorie restriction. One recommendation is to skip breakfast, eat a light lunch, then eat a normal dinner.  Experts believe the underlying anti-aging mechanism is probably the same as calorie restriction.

4. Walking

   30 to 60 minutes of brisk walking up to 5 times a week, works wonders.  It’s the 80/20 rule of exercise.  You get much of the benefits without the hard work of rigorous exercise.  I happen to believe that intense workouts provide the maximum benefit, but I’m not there yet.  I’m past walking, but I haven’t achieved the intensity level I believe is needed to really get the most benefit.

5. Defy Stereotypes

   I think this one goes right along with visualization in number 1.  Don’t accept or act like you are getting old.  Don’t buy into stereotypes or allow others to talk about what it’s like to get old.  I’m guilty as hell on that one so I need to clean up my own act.

6. Supplement

   Even the conservative establishment has come around to supplementation – slightly.  People simply don’t get the optimal level of nutrients from their diet and the JAMA recommends daily multi-vitamin supplementation.  Most studies on vitamins have either used isolated supplements (they work synergistically) or bad supplements (vitamin E studies don’t use the right kind of vitamin E).  There is conclusive evidence and many good studies (selenium and C taken together for example).  In any case if you don’t overdo it they can’t hurt.

7. Take Aspirin

   Note: This can be dangerous for some so you might want to check with your doctor. In addition to the well known heart and stroke benefits, aspirin is becoming the super cancer prevention supplement.  For no other reason than that, you should consider it.  A 50% reduction in colon, prostate, melanoma, skin, stomach, and esophageal cancers?  A 20+% drop in breast and ovarian cancer?  I’m headed to get my baby aspirin right now!

8. Keep Your Bones Strong

   It turns out Vitamin D and exercise is more important in preventing bone loss than calcium supplementation.  Ladies take note!  Take a D3 supplement and exercise for healthy bones.

9. Social Connections

   This is a big one.  It seems that people who have strong social and family connections live longer and healthier lives.  It has also been linked strongly to having a healthy brain in old age.

10. Volunteer

    I don’t really know why this helps, but I guess it has something to do with feeling good about yourself and having less stress.  Regardless of why, it turns out to be one of the most powerful ways to ward off premature aging and death.  Volunteering is correlated with a 50% reduction in premature death.  That’s hard to believe, but that’s what the book said.  I’m a little skeptical, but I don’t doubt it has some and maybe a lot of benefit.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

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This article is the fourth in a series that will be dedicated to helping you improve your energy. You will not escape the rat race or enjoy life if you are energy deficient. Energy level is a fundamental key to thriving and not just surviving. Take it from someone who knows. I have been chronically fatigued for much of my adult life. I’m turning it around big time, but I’m not all the way there yet. The first three articles are:

Energize Your Success – Decrease Distress
Energize Your Success – Use The Right Fuel
Energize Your Success – Potassium

Exercise that increases your cardiovascular fitness will actually increase your body’s ability to produce energy.  Some very good studies have confirmed that moderate aerobic exercise increases the energy of otherwise sedentary people.

Aside from aerobic exercise, I believe everyone should lift weights.  Loss of function in aging is more related to loss of muscle strength than anything else.

I think there is great value in Pilates.  Strengthening your core and learning to move correctly is very important.  Other exercises that increase flexibility and range of motion like yoga are also probably very valuable.  I took a few yoga classes a few years ago and I thought it was very beneficial.  I quit doing it and regret that decision.  I intend to start up again.

Our bodies developed in an environment where we moved.  In fact we moved almost constantly.  Therefore it makes sense they we need to continue to move throughout our lives.  They are making treadmill desks now so you can actually walk slowly while working on your computer!  I have an adjustable desk that can be raised or lowered to sit or stand.

I read a lot, which is very easy to do in a recliner.  I have been doing a lot of standing and walking while reading.  I just walk around my house.  There are many ways to move more if you get creative.

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What do you think?  Leave a comment below.

I was going to put all kinds of science in this article about pH balance, sodium-potassium pumps, and other such fascinating stuff.  As I sat down to write, it dawned on me that most people probably are not as fascinated by that kind of thing as I am, so I decided to write something practical that could be easily understood.

This article is the third in a series that will be dedicated to helping you improve your energy. You will not escape the rat race or enjoy life if you are energy deficient. Energy level is a fundamental key to thriving and not just surviving. Take it from someone who knows. I have been chronically fatigued for much of my adult life. I’m turning it around big time, but I’m not all the way there yet. The first two articles were:

Energize Your Success – Decrease Distress
Energize Your Success – Use The Right Fuel

A Paleolithic diet of natural whole food would contain a potassium-sodium ratio of about 17 to 1.  A modern American diet contains a ratio of about 1 to 1.7. Do I really need to say any more?

I’ve had low blood pressure all my life and so ignored salt and ate processed foods.  Natural foods were unknown to me.  Processed foods have been stripped of potassium and preserved and flavored with salt.  The science concerning what this does to our cells is pretty clear.  The number of health problems that can be attributed to this imbalance may be more than we could have imagined.  Aside from all that, there is a very strong impact on your energy.

Most people are chronically potassium deficient.  It’s as simple as that.  Blood tests do not determine the level of cellular potassium and so they are worthless with one exception.  If they show low blood potassium you are in trouble.  If they show normal they mean nothing.

What Should You Do

Limit sodium intake to 500 mg per day or less.

Eat fresh whole fruits, vegetables, and nuts.  Raw is better than cooked, but cooked is still OK.

Take potassium supplements.  There is a problem here.  Drug manufacturers like to make prescription potassium or create drugs that solve health problems by increasing potassium.  This is very convenient since our diet creates health problems and then we have the FDA and drug companies ready to solve it for us.  A cheap mineral supplement might cut into big pharmaceutical profits.  So in the guise of protecting the public from the dangers of potassium, the FDA limits supplements to 2.5% of the RDA.

Think about the absurdity of that.  If I need potassium supplements why would I need a capsule that gives my a measly 2.5%?  What good would that do?  If I need supplementation, I certainly need more than 2.5%.   I know there are claimed reasons for this, but they are absurd and unsupported.  You might as well ban potassium supplements.  I would have to take 40 capsules per day to get 100% of the RDA.  Or I could just go to a doctor and get a prescription.  Hmm…

To hell with the FDA.  I take 20 or 30 capsules a day.  Make your own choice.

Potassium Rich Foods

One caution.  Don’t eat 10 bananas a day.  Some of the most potassium rich foods play havoc with your blood sugar.   Look for lower GI potassium sources.  I’m going to leave off of my list high GI foods rich in potassium.  For example a baked potato is about the richest source of potassium you can find and it is also very bad for you from a blood glucose perspective.

Also, if you buy a can of green beans loaded with salt you are not helping yourself.  You need to increase potassium and reduce salt.

• banana (eat in moderation)
• tomato
• almonds
• sunflower seeds
• asparagus
• mango (eat in moderation)
• orange
• pear
• peach
• strawberries
• pumpkin
• brussels sprout
• green beans
• carrots
• broccoli
• cauliflower
• pinto beans
• lentils
• salmon
• dark turkey meat
• lean beef
• peanut butter
• egg
• cheese
• milk
• chocolate

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You wouldn’t put diesel fuel in a rocket or rocket fuel in a truck.  They each were made to run on a certain kind of fuel and so are you.  If you put poor quality fuel into your body, you are going to have a poor result.  One result will be a lack of energy, or in any case a less than optimal amount of energy.  Remember, you are essentially drugging your body every time you eat.  Put in good drugs.

This article is second in a series that will be dedicated to helping you improve your energy. You will not escape the rat race or enjoy life if you are energy deficient. Energy level is a fundamental key to thriving and not just surviving. Take it from someone who knows. I have been chronically fatigued for much of my adult life. I’m turning it around big time, but I’m not all the way there yet. The first article was:

Energize Your Success – Decrease Distress

So what kind of fuel do you need to perform at your optimum level?  This is something that tends to get people fired up and controversial.  There are a wide range of schools each with their own gurus.  Each of them can make good arguments that their particular vision of healthy eating is the “right” way.  I’m not really going to wade into that because I think you can make some general conclusions that are widely accepted across most schools of thought.

The human body and its operation is extraordinarily complex.  We know only a tiny fraction of what we need to know to be making categorical pronouncements.  I know people who are very healthy and seem to eat right even though they have very different ideas about what “right” looks like.  You can be a vegan or a meet eater; you can be a raw food enthusiast or a cooking enthusiast and still eat very healthy.

The Diet Your Body Was Made to Eat

If I had nothing else to go on, and I don’t have a lot, I would suggest that we should generally eat the kind of diet that humans and human ancestors ate during our biological development.  It seems uncontroversial to say that the bodies that thrived on those diets were the ones who survived and passed on their genes to us.  Agriculture was only invented 10,000 years ago and our modern dietary habits have only developed in the last couple of hundred years.  Neither of those is nearly long enough to significantly change our biology.

So right off the top we can assume that our bodies are not made to eat processed foods any more than a truck is made to run on rocket fuel.  Furthermore, there is plenty of logic and research that shows that those foods are not good for us.

Individuality

One problem with giving diet advice is that we are all different.  I think I remember my biology studies enough to remember that for some genes they have identified as many as 20 different alleles (genetic variations).  That was way back in the dark ages and probably is far out of date.  These individual variations can make a huge difference in what you can tolerate.  There are a lot of people who do poorly on gluten while it doesn’t seem to bother others.  Same thing for dairy, wine, shellfish, etc.  Some people have poor glucose control and others have excellent glucose control (although if they abuse it they can ruin it).  Some people remove toxins well and others don’t.  There is a metabolic typing system that I don’t know much about but it makes sense to me.

Some of these problems with food tolerance surely developed recently.  The gene pool is going to hell in some ways.  I’m pretty sure that not too many of my ancient ancestors had my poor eyesight.  The spear in their chest would have limited the number of descendants they produced.  The point is that regardless of what someone tells you, and that includes me, you must pay attention to your own body and how you personally react to various foods.  That will tell you more than a lot of the advice you get that is based on a non-existent typical person.  I can’t emphasize that enough.

My Recommendations

I am trying to stay fairly uncontroversial and I welcome your thoughts.  I’m not an expert but I have studied this enough to have some opinion.

General

Eat as much natural and whole food as you can.  Eliminate most or all of the man-made and refined foods you eat.  No matter what anyone claims, there is simple logic to this:  Human bodies did not develop eating the crap most of us eat now.  There is no way the body is going to handle this stuff as well as the whole natural foods that were the basis of our biological development.  I recommend Vin’s Natural Bias website for more information on natural foods.

Toxins

I’m not a organic bigot, because if truth be told the reason I’m able to type on this computer to you and the reason you are able to read it,  is because of mass produced agricultural products.  Agriculture, even if it was bad for our bodies, allowed civilization to develop.  Later, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizer, etc. allowed us to go from an agricultural based economy to one in which agriculture is now almost unnoticeable.  I’m probably pissing a lot of people off with this, but I believe it to be the truth.

However, having said all that, if you can afford it I think organic natural food is far better for you.  Just because we are where we are because of less than wholesome food, does not mean you shouldn’t optimize your own situation.  There are reasons to believe, aside from the toxic effect of eating all that poison, that the natural foods are far better.  Starving people or countries that are not as blessed as mine can eat all the mass produced food they need.  Enough said.

Don’ts

• Refined Carbohydrates – I’m sure there are millions of articles on the net on the dangers of refined carbohydrates so just read them.  If you want to slowly kill yourself, just load up on these.
• Trans-Fat – Zero positives and tons of negatives.  It damages your cell membranes.
• Deep Fried Food – They are cancer producers.
• Man-made sweeteners and other additives – Aspartame for example kills your brain cells, especially sensitive ones in your hippocampus.  That’s very important to memory in case you didn’t know.
• Carbonated Drinks – They rot your teeth and bones.

You Can’t Go Wrong With These

Balance

Eat carbohydrates, protein, fats, and fiber at every meal.  I’m not going to preach about ratios since there is plenty of information on that, but avoid extremes.  I eat mostly carbohydrates, a good amount of protein, and smaller amounts of fats every time I eat.

In my article, How To Take Care of Your Brain, I recommended a colorful rainbow diet and I repeat it here.  Eat colorful foods; orange, red, blue, purple, and green foods.

Cruciferous Vegetables

Cauliflower, broccoli, kale, bok choy, cabbage, brussels sprout, etc.  These are nature’s miracle foods.  Find me somebody who thinks you should not eat these.  They are absolutely loaded with phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals, and soluble fiber.  They are complex carbohydrates that break down very slowly and give your body a constant supply of blood glucose.   In the GI index they are at the top of the list.  They have strong anti-cancer properties.  Men, scientists have discovered they have powerful anti-prostate cancer properties.

Green Leafy Vegetables

Arugula, spinach, collard greens, Romaine lettuce, mustard green, Swiss chard, etc.  The darker the leaves the better. You can almost repeat the cruciferous vegetable paragraph for these.  Dark green leafy vegetables are a super food and you should eat them at every meal if possible.

Vegetables in General

If you look at a GI index you will see the top of the list (low GI foods that are good for you) is dominated by vegetables.  In general you should eat more good vegetables than fruit.  Some fruit can spike your blood sugar.  You can almost not go wrong with vegetables.

Avoid the few hi GI vegetables like white potatoes, parsnip, beets, and be careful with corn and yams.  The latter two you can eat in moderation.  Carrots are high GI but low in carbohydrate content so you can eat them without worrying.

A Note On Blood Sugar Testing

My wife is mild type II diabetic.  She has those finger-prick home testing kits.  I have taken advantage of this to watch my own blood sugar level.  Your level will vary throughout the day, mostly as a result of eating.  With most people it spikes dramatically.  You want to maintain as flat a level as possible and avoid too much spiking.  If you eat the white death foods, you will spike your blood sugar and produce a lot of insulin.  I take my readings at random occasionally and I spent a couple of days taking it all day long.  My blood glucose stays very flat and doesn’t rise much even after eating.  I consider this evidence that eating the way I recommend with low GI vegetables and small frequent meals, is ideal for blood sugar maintenance.  I also eat a lot of protein which helps maintain it between meals and overnight.  Test yourself if you can.

Fruits

Fruits are excellent but they tend to be much higher blood sugar producers than vegetables. So eat more vegetables than fruits.  The berries are fantastic and they are generally low GI and low carbohydrate content so eat away.  They are packed with phytonutrients and antioxidants.  The berries should be a basic part of a healthy diet.  The purple/black berries like blueberries and blackberries are super brain foods.  I eat strawberries and blackberries like candy, because once you stop eating processed sugar, fruits taste so sweet!

With fruits stay away from fruit juice.  It will spike your sugar and most of the fiber has been removed.  Other high GI fruits to be avoid are raisins and pineapples.  Be careful with mangos, bananas, and too much watermelon.  Grapes are excellent sources of nutrients (especially red or black grapes), but don’t eat too many of them at once.  They are moderate on the GI index.  Eat berries, apples, pears, grapefruits, and plums about any time you want.  Just don’t eat too much of them at one sitting.  Don’t eat two or three apples for instance.

Lean Meats

If you get protein from meats, eat mostly lean meats.  You need fat, but too much of the wrong kind is bad for you.  If you review my articles on brain chemistry, you will find a common pattern of good meats with wild game topping the list:

Your Brain on Food and Supplements – Dopamine
Your Brain on Food and Supplements – Acetylcholine
Your Brain on Food and Supplements – GABA
Your Brain on Food and Supplements – Serotonin

In addition to wild game, chicken and turkey are excellent.  Ham is a fairly lean pork if you cut the fat off the outside.  If you eat fatty red meat, at least eat it in moderation.  The grain-fed beef most people eat has the wrong kind of fat content and produces inflammatory arachidonic acid.  Grass fed beef is supposed to be great, but I haven’t started it yet.  Read Vin’s article Why Grass Fed Beef is Better for Your Health for good information.

Eggs

Despite the bad rap they have received in the past, I think eggs are a great food.  They are loaded with high quality protein that is good for your brain and they contain Omega 3 fatty acids.  Eat your eggs without worrying.  I guess I’m getting controversial here but I couldn’t help it.

Vegetable Protein

I’m not too good in this area so I would welcome comments.  Meat protein is more complete than vegetable protein and since I am a meat eater I don’t worry about vegetable protein too much.  From what I know I would recommend seeds (sunflower especially), nuts, beans, peas, soy, rice, and spinach.  I need help on this please!

Supplemental Protein

Why not take a high-quality protein powder just to be sure?  Especially if you don’t eat meat.  I eat meat and I still have one glass of protein powder drink every morning.

Nuts and Seeds

I eat a ton of nuts and seeds.  I know they are very fatty but in general this kind of fat does not make you fat and is very good for you.  Like I said I eat tons of them and I am still losing weight.  My body chemistry is likely different than yours, but everyone should eat some of them.  Walnuts are a supper brain food.  Please eat them.  Almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts, macadamia, cashews, sunflower and pumpkin seeds are my other favorites.  I eat them with every meal and snack.

Summary

I tend to be scientific and over analyze everything.  If you want to be more relaxed about it I would suggest you eat a rainbow diet with a wide variety of natural whole foods.  Eat a lot of vegetables, a moderate amount of fruit, and a moderate amount of lean protein.  You need to eat some seeds and nuts and you should eat a lot of berries.  Eat small frequent low GI meals and snacks.  Mix your meals up with portions from each food group: fiber, vegetables, fruits, protein, and good fats.   Enjoy your super health!

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You need to energy to be successful.  Your brain and the rest of your body run on energy.  What happens in one part of you body impacts the rest of it.  Mental exhaustion is really just physical exhaustion occurring in one part of your body.  It saps the strength and energy from other parts.  You might not think physical energy matters that much, especially if you are more intellectually oriented.  But it matters and I think it matters a great deal.

This article is the first in a series that will be dedicated to helping you improve your energy.  You will not escape the rat race or enjoy life if you are energy deficient.  Energy level is a fundamental key to thriving and not just surviving.  Take it from someone who knows.  I have been chronically fatigued for much of my adult life.  I’m turning it around big time, but I’m not all the way there yet.

You may know what to do to increase your success, but don’t feel you have the “time” or the energy to do it.  This is pervasive in our modern fast-paced culture.  Often people who don’t think they have time, really just don’t have the energy because lack of energy slows down their rate of action.  Energetic people can get more done in a given amount of time.  Increased energy then can in one sense give you more time to do the things you want to do.

I have a friend who we refer to as the Energizer Bunny.  She is full of energy and she moves at least twice the speed of most people.  She actually lives more life in her day than other people.  You can take this too far and I’m a big believer in slowing down and living in the present (see Problems are Memories: How to Become Present, 10 Ways to Slow Down and Still Get Things Done, How To Relax And Why It’s So Important), but the two are not incompatible.  When you want to act and when intense action is called for, having the energy to perform is critical.

While the impact your physical energy has on your overall success might be more obvious to those of us who have had or do have a significant deficits, we shouldn’t ignore the potential impact of increased energy to those who already have normal or even above normal levels of energy.  Unless you are already super-energized, I think you would benefit greatly from increased energy no matter what your current level.

This series will focus on ways to increase your energy levels that I think are fairly universal and non-controversial.  Keep in mind that when you use energy for one thing, such as digesting a big meal, you have less energy left for other activities.

Decrease Distress

This is the bad stress and includes any physical or mental stress that is bad for you.  The best way to decrease distress is to avoid it.  Here are some common sources of distress that you can reduce in order to increase your energy levels:

Fat

This is simple physics.  Carrying around extra fat simply uses up more energy.  If you don’t believe me just pick up a 50 pound weight and carry it around all day and see what happens to your energy levels.  You wouldn’t do that so why do you carry extra body fat?  Fat doesn’t do work.  Lose fat, not muscle, and you will use less energy.  Lose fat and gain energy to do those things that are important to you and your loved ones.

Eating Too Much at Once

Eating a lot of carbohydrates at once will cause blood sugar to spike and that will cause insulin to spike.  Insulin causes a lot of damage to your body if it is chronically raised.  Further the subsequent drop in blood sugar will make you feel tired and sluggish.  Finally digesting a lot of food uses a lot of energy.

Not Eating Often Enough

Eating smaller meals more frequently will give your body a constant supply of nutrients, especially blood sugar, and allow you to maintain a much more constant source of energy.

Eating Refined Carbohydrates

These foods are killing you.  I’m not just talking about refined sugar.  Once your body turns any carbohydrate to glucose, it really doesn’t matter what it’s source.  The important part is how much glucose it contains and how fast it is released into your blood stream.  High GI foods like white flour, white rice, white potatoes, or other refined carbohydrates are just bad for you.  You might as well be eating poison.  When you restrict the candy your child can eat, but then give them a sandwich on white bread you are accomplishing nothing.  In fact white bread may be worse than table sugar.  If you want to know what the white deaths are doing to your and your family, read Vin’s excellent articles: How Sugar Can Ruin Your Life and How to Eliminate Sugar From Your Diet.

Lack of Sleep

When you sleep your body repairs itself and does a lot of other things.  Sleep deprivation creates distress on your body by not allowing time for recovery.  I have recently written a fairly long article on sleep that you can read: Sleep Your Way to Success.  You can also check out Jonathan’s article: What is Your Brain Doing While You Are Sleeping?

Mental Stress

I don’t think I need to spend much time on this one because we all know what stresses us, but I want to mention a couple of things.

• Negativity from others – Eliminate these people from your life or walk away from them when they get negative.
• Negativity from yourself – I’ve written about this in the following article and it is a huge factor:  Positivity Leads to a Flourishing Life.

When you eliminate your own negative reactions you save tons of stress and thus energy.  When I get mad I feel physically sick or drained.  I simply can’t emphasize the importance of this enough.

Relax

The other topics in this article focused on avoiding or eliminating specific sources of stress.  Aside from that, you can reduce overall stress by taking time to relax and practicing specific techniques of relaxation such as meditation or yoga.

I don’t have a source for yoga yet so if you know any good ones please add them in the comments.  For meditation, Roger has a good series going: Meditation for Beginners (Week 1) – Introduction

Other Resources

This article from the Mayo Clinic contains tons of stress management information.  I highly recommend it:  Mayo Clinic Stress Management

Check out these other articles:

10 Ways to Remain Calm in a Stressful Situation

One Dozen Simple Stress Busters

Stress Is A Myth

The Second Step To Happiness

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This is the fourth article in the series on how to balance your brain chemistry with food and supplements.  Please read the first three articles in the series:

Your Brain on Food and Supplements – Dopamine
Your Brain on Food and Supplements – Acetylcholine
Your Brain on Food and Supplements – GABA

Serotonin is used in your gut extensively (80% to 90% is found there) but we are concerned about the brain.  In your brain it does various things  like control of appetite, mood and anger.

Serotonin natures are happy, sensory, and live in the moment.  Despite being calm they can be very impulsive and like to seek a wide variety of exciting new activities.

Serotonin deficiency is a primary cause of mood or depression disorders.  Other symptoms can include carbohydrate-craving, allergies, arthritis, backache, constipation, diarrhea, headache, insomnia, premature ejaculation, tinnitus, yawning, lack of pleasure, being a loner, OCD, perfectionism, rage, shyness, lack of concentration, and slow reactions.

How to Increase Your Serotonin Levels

In order to increase your serotonin, you need more tryptophan.  Tryptophan is a precursor to serotonin.  Here is a list of the best food sources for tryptophan.  The list is basically in descending order of how much you get from a typical portion.

• Wild game
• Pork
• Avocado
• Wheat germ
• Egg
• Duck
• Cottage Cheese
• Turkey
• Ricotta
• Sausage
• Halibut
• Whole grain oats
• Beef liver
• Chicken
• Oat
• Granola
• Chocolate
• Whole Milk

Supplements

L-Tryptophan – Take 500 mg to 2,000 mg a day in divided doses between late afternoon and bedtime.  Take more at night if you need help sleeping.  Take with food during the day to avoid daytime sleepiness.

5-HTP – Take 100 mg to 600 mg a day in divided doses between late afternoon and bedtime.  Take more at night if you need help sleeping.  Take with food during the day to avoid daytime sleepiness.  I strongly prefer this to L-Tryptophan because it crosses the blood-brain barrier much better and you need far less.

If you suffer depression you can take these on an empty stomach in the morning too.  This will help your depression but may make you sleepy.  It has that effect on me so I take mine late.

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