The aging process is, for the greater part, no longer a mystery. It consists largely of damage done daily on the macroscopic, tissue, cellular and genetic levels. This adds up as the years pass by. The damage has specific causes like oxidizing agents, sun beams, mechanical wear and tear, psychological stress, lack of some nutritional components and too much of others, like fat.
Another factor of aging is the reduction of the telomere chains at the chromosome ends, as each cell division occurs. However, the body has means to repair these ends again, with an enzyme called telomerase. The rapidity of the aging process depends on a lack of efficiency in this repair process. The above-mentioned causes of aging also slow down this repair process.
The factors causing aging also cause other diseases like cancer and coronary heart disease. Both aging and these diseases can to a large extent be prevented with the knowledge possessed today, and the damage already done can to a significant extent be reversed. The actions to achieve this are as follows:
-Adequate daily food containing whole cereals, peas, beans, vegetables, fruit, fish, mushroms, fouls and seafood, and with just a moderate amount of red meat.
-Just a moderate amount of fat and most of the fat supply coming from sources like olives, fish, nuts, sun-flower, etc. Then you will get a good balance between mono-unsaturated fat (olive), poly-unsaturated fat of the omaga-3-type (fish) and poly-unsaturated fat of the omega-6-type.
-Just a very moderate amount of butter, soya oil, corn oil and palm oil. A high consumption of these fat sources gives you too much saturated fat and poly-unsaturated omega-6-fat.
-Just a very moderate amount of sugar, refined flour or refined cereals.
-Supplements of specific nutritional components like vitamins, minerals, lecithin and some essential fatty acids.
-Adequate exercise, that gives both a muscular work out and stretches out your body. To stretch out, yoga exercises are ideal.
-Adequate rest and stress-reduction. Daily meditation is a method of achieving this. Natural relaxing agents or specific tools for meditation or relaxation may also be useful.
-Supplements of specific anti-aging agents like anti-oxidants or human growth hormone.
-Use of specific anti-aging agents to apply upon the skin surface.
-To protect the skin against excessive sun exposure.
The amount one needs of nutritional supplements, like vitamins and minerals, differs very much according to a person's health condition, work load and exposure to environmental stress. A person having poor digestion, doing high performance sport or being exposed to a high amount of environmental stressors, may need more than a person in an average situation.
