Researchers defined “healthy survival” past 70 years of age as being free from chronic disease and able to maintain an active daily life, e.g., being able to climb stairs or shop for groceries. They followed more than 17,000 women with an average age of 50 over the course of 24 years. They found that for every 2.2 pounds gained from the age of 18, a woman’s chances of even living past 70 years of age fell 5 percent.

So, let’s face, this study didn’t really reveal anything that most people, men and women alike, don’t already know. A healthy lifestyle is the only way to put life into your years as well as adding years to your life. Longevity is not a gift, in and of itself, if a person is unable to enjoy those added years. That’s why, along with chiropractic treatment, I offer my patients advise on exercise and nutrition.

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Does it seem to you that it doesn’t matter where we look nowadays, there are news stories and advertisements, alike, promoting the stunning research on innumerable natural supplements, not to mention the cutting-edge health claims of coffee and red wine that, in one way or another, guarantee to reduce or prevent all causes of mortality? It would almost seem, in fact, that a quest for immortality has replaced our search for longevity!

To begin with, let me make it unquestionably clear that I unwaveringly believe that certain~particular things that we ingest can be beneficial to our health. Therefore, I’m absolutely not opposed to taking supplements. Not only do I recommend them to my patients, but I listen to my own advice and take them as well. Secondly, if confession is good for the soul, and red wine is good for the heart, then I’d like to take this opportunity to help both by stating for the record that I appreciate drinking a glass of red wine. The notion that it might have heart-healthy properties, well, that’s like icing on the cake, so to speak. And, lastly, as far as caffeine’s ability to actually reverse or prevent Alzheimer’s disease goes, I believe that if that were generally the case, life would be far less frightening and far more enjoyable for many people and their families.

But, let’s stop and ponder the wisdom of randomly adding an extra cuppa to your breakfast routine, drinking another glass of red wine with dinner, or plunking down a load of cash on high-priced minerals and herbs that guarantee near-immortality.

For example, let us consider the human condition. We are dynamic, biological beings, free to enthusiastically participate in life. We have not been cooped up in a cage all our life, and we have not been bred to “unnaturally” incur the age-related afflictions that lab animals do, disease and debilitation that is then “eliminated” by resveratrol, caffeine, or some “amazing” supplement.

In addition, our being dynamic and biological means that we are not “robots,” and that we are more than the sum total of our parts. We are each biologically unique in certain ways, that is, we react differently to internal stimulating factors and external instigating influences. For example, though generally, smoking cigarettes is harmful, there is a small minority of people who appear to be able to smoke and live to be ninety years old without any obvious ill effects.

Scientific studies isolate certain variables in order to achieve particular outcomes. That’s scientific inquiry! But, because the results occur through such isolation, and due to the fact that they are generally done on animals, when it comes to translating such results to humans, it can be said that what may work for some of the people all of the time, won’t work for all of the people all of the time, and sometimes won’t work at all (to paraphrase Abraham Lincoln!).

You make choices each day, some that are intentional and others that may be indifferent, that will affect your physical health, now and in the future. You decide what (and how much) you’ll eat and drink, and the amount of physical activity and rest you’ll get. Even though you can “sense” what is healthy for you, by the way your body responds, sometimes, perhaps too often, you may override the feedback. Clearly, when you don’t consciously make healthy choices, you jeopardize your health and longevity.

Then, a study comes along that hails the discovery of THE THING that has the efficacy to reverse all of the immoderate and unhealthy things you may have been doing to your body through unhealthy choices, and you, like many others, may be ready to take double and triples doses of whatever it is! This kind of “hope” is, unfortunately, a subtle illusion.

Your human body is an elegantly complex, homeostatic system. In other words, every operation is interdependent and sensitively balanced. When you choose an unhealthy lifestyle, your fastidiously-responsive system gets “off balance.” Sooner or later, the imbalances created by choosing unhealthily, result in diseases and a shortened lifespan.

As a chiropractor who supplements daily, I suggest that you supplement, too, if they help you to feel vigorously healthy. I agree, as well, that if it feels like the thing to do, an extra cup of coffee might actually be personally beneficial for you. And, if it truly feels healthy, have a little more red wine. Just keep in mind, however, that the only authentic way that you can prevent or reverse age-related health problems is by changing an unhealthy lifestyle. You won’t become healthier or live longer by waiting for the discovery of a “magic potion.”

Jamie Phillips, DC, a Santa Barbara Chiropractor, has been in private chiropractic practice for over two decades. She is also a consultant for Bloczone Marketing, a chiropractic marketing company specializing in chiropractic websites that attract new patients. She can be reached at (805) 882-1956.

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