Walford contends that underfed mice live longer than fat (happier?) mice. So, one of his basic tenets is to practice undereating. This is not, repeat, not a form of anorexia! It is a systematic practice of undereating over a long period of time – say, one year – until you are 10% to 25% under your "set point" or your characteristic weight when you don't overeat or undereat. Walford calls this CRON, an acronym for Calorie Restriction with Optimum Nutrition and he achieves this goal through eating lots of salad, little fat, lean meats and fasting 1 or 2 days per week. He hopes to reach the age of 120 and has written a book called "The 120 year Diet Plan."

So, if your normal weight is 150 pounds, after one year on the no-stress CRON way of eating, you could be a lean and mean machine of about 125-130 pounds. I'm trying it. I started at 122 about 4 months ago and now I am about 116. My goal CRON weight is between 105 and 110 which is about a 10% reduction from a pretty normal weight. The goal here is not to diet in the usual sense, but to systematically undereat so that you reduce your weight set-point over a long period of time.

Walford contends that all the health parameters change, not only weight but blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar, thyroid status, white blood cell count and a host of other aging tests like fasting insulin and hemoglobin A1C. Anyone trying CRON should get the appropriate physical exam and blood work done before starting if only as a measure of success and every six months thereafter. After only 4 months – and believe me, I am not depriving myself of much – I have noticed not only a 6 pound decrease in weight but a decrease in blood pressure that, for the past few years, had tended to be on the high side.

Modifiable Risk Factors of Aging: Part I

We know (all too well) that certain unavoidable things happen to us as we get older, things like wrinkly and/or thinned skin, less endurance, more fatigue, certain inevitable changes in body contours along with changes in hearing and vision. But some of us also experience changes that are totally avoidable, like increases in blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose/ insulin. Or, chronic inflammatory conditions and toxic conditions which not only affect our joints but our brain cells, arterial walls and heart valves. I will be listing a few modifiable risk factors of aging along with a way to diagnose them when possible and then a plan to eradicate them.

First of all, I cannot stress too highly the fact that you must eat properly and exercise, so let's just assume that with every modifiable risk factor of aging that I subsequently mention, you will automatically include proper eating and exercise. This is your very bottom line: In fact, these two factors alone can reverse many "diseases" of aging.

I know you've all heard this before, but by eating properly, I mean primarily no sugar, very low grain intake and high intake of lean meats, vegetables, nuts and fruits. I don't believe that you must do the Walford CRON diet to be healthy on a daily basis. Since I am your designated guinea pig, I am just playing with that now. Secondly, exercise does not necessarily mean extreme sport activity, but brisk walking, swimming, snow-shoeing, cross country skiing, etc. a couple of miles 4 or 5 times a week, plus some upper body weights.

1) Chronic Inflammation: We baby boomers suffer an epidemic of inflammatory diseases: With our purchases of expensive drugs like Celebrex for our aching knees and Nexium for our burning tummies, we encourage the pharmaceutical company's delight in overcharging the American public. But, folks, our joints are just the tip of the iceberg: Chronic inflammation is also a cause of heart disease, senile dementia and atherosclerosis. Not good. (See News-briefs for more on this)

How can I find out if I have chronic inflammation? There are two good lab tests that I or your M.D. can order for you: C-reactive protein (CRP) and Fibrinogen.

How can I fix this problem? Get on the good eating plan. There are also three things which can cause and perpetuate inflammation so you can avoid these:

1) Avoid all transfats as they are highly inflammatory and will create the series II prostaglandins which are the bad guys in the inflammatory cascade. Read labels carefully as transfats will be disguised as "partially hydrogenated" and "hydrogenated".

2) The series II prostaglandins are also increased by an overly acidic diet which includes shellfish, red meat, vegetable oils (not olive), dairy, sugar, fried foods, coffee and alcohol, which lo and behold, are the main ingredients of the Standard American Diet. Follow a more alkaline diet which includes more vegetables and fruits. Stress is also acidic, so you might want to do something for that like meditation, Tai-chi or just sitting still and doing nothing for 10 minutes twice daily.

3) You will also want to balance your oils – often we ingest too many Omega 6's and not enough Omega 3's which can also increase the inflammatory cascade. An imbalance here can also cause an irregular heartbeat, low energy, hypercoagulation, dry skin and eczema. I can find out how much of each you need through muscle testing. Usually I find that we will need to increase your intake of Omega 3's which include fish and flax. If fish and flax oil caps make you burpy, use a good lipase digestive aid with them. Personally, most mornings I will grind 3T. of golden flax seed and blend this with 1c. of non-fat milk and a few ice cubes for a before breakfast morning shake. I also take at least 1t. of Nordic Naturals orange-flavored cod liver oil before dinner most nights.

If you have inflammatory pain, you can plump up the cell membranes with fish oils, glucosamine-chondroitin, MSM, ginger, boswellia, turmeric or any of the many natural anti- inflammatories. Different ones work for different people. Pane Away, an essential oil from Young Living and Deep Tissue Oil from Dr. Schulz are both good for topical pain relief. Magnets are terrific for pain relief as well - just tape them on wherever it hurts.

Will this slow my aging process? Yep. Without pain and inflammation, our physical bodies will not break down as fast and we will slow the secretion of immune destroying stress hormones.

Faulty Methylation: This is one of the easiest to handle and fairly common; 1 in 3 people have a methylation defect. There is an amino acid called methionine in our bodies. When methylated, methionine becomes SAM-e which is then used to repair cells and DNA. When SAM-e gives up his methyl group he is transformed into a very toxic molecule called homocysteine. If we lack certain repair items, then the toxic by product of methylation - homocysteine - keeps recirculating in our bodies (like a faulty muffler spewing toxic byproducts of
gasoline into our car interiors… ) causing free radical damage, heart disease, kidney failure, strokes, senile dementia, cervical dysplasia, increased risk for hormonal related cancers and babies born with neural tube defects. Very bad news.

How can I find out if I have faulty methylation? By a very simple laboratory measure of homocysteine levels.

How can I fix this problem? By taking simple nutrients like B12, Magnesium, B6 and folic acid.

Will this slow my aging process? You bet. And it will also keep you from dying prematurely, too.

DHEA is our anti-aging and anti-stress hormone, but when the body is under a great deal of stress, the body steals away DHEA and creates the Darth Vader of hormones – cortisol. Cortisol will decrease the level of all hormones, including sex hormones, and will promote rapid aging. Pregnenolone is referred to as the "mother" hormone since it is the precursor to all of the steroid hormones in that it can be converted to progesterone then to DHEA or testosterone or healthy estrogen. Vitamin D is actually a hormone not a vitamin and should be baseline tested at least once by a lab test called 25 (OH) D since it affects bone health so directly.

How can I fix this problem? Of course, it all depends on your imbalances, but there are many good and natural ways to handle most hormonal imbalances. In the healthy body, estrogen and other steroid hormones are detoxified by the liver then sent on to the colon for excretion, so hormone balance overlaps with liver health which is part of my next topic, the accumulation of toxins, so read on.

Will this slow my aging process? Oh, my yes. Healthy hormone balance is one of the major keys to healthy skin and bones, increased energy, sexual vitality, increased muscle tone, mental acuity, happiness and long life. You name it – a hormone is probably controlling it.

Accumulation of Toxins: We've all heard "You are what you eat." and maybe even "You are what you absorb." But here's what's really so: "You are what you don't eliminate." The symptoms of toxin accumulation or chronic poisoning are legion and here is just a short list: Fatigue, headache, allergies, confusion, anxiety, insomnia., skin rashes, constipation and Ones You Don't Want To Get like cancer, heart disease and neurological disorders like Parkinson's Disease. Our lungs exhale toxins along with carbon dioxide and our skin, liver and kidneys eliminate all the rest of the toxins. Of the big four, the liver is the most important–our body's Four Star General who gives over 200 orders per toxin then sends it to his troops, the kidneys and the skin for further modification.

How can I find out if I have an accumulation of toxins? I can muscle test for this and in fact, I do this with patients on a daily basis. We can order lab tests as well – such as antioxidant levels – just to see where you are with your detoxification capabilities. Just a reminder: We are required to eliminate not only exogenous toxins like heavy metals, chemicals and fungi, but also endogenous toxins like the byproducts of metabolism of our very own hormones (like estrogen).

How can I fix this problem? First of all and most important, if environmental, you can find out where your toxic overload is coming from and avoid it. Secondly, we need to remove toxins from the intestinal tract so the liver will have room to dump the toxins it is processing. If there is no room at the inn, the liver turns the toxins back into the blood stream and lymph and that not only feels awful but will make you sick.

So, it's very important that we keep the bowel clean and purring right along with large enough doses of magnesium citrate to cause good bowel movements along with bulking agents like Herbal Bulk which contains psyllium, prune powder and apple pectin and also contains bentonite which adsorbs toxins 2000 times its own weight as it chugs merrily through your body brushing and sweeping. We might also want to give the body digestive enzymes so it can break down the food better.

After a period of cleansing, we might want to heal the gut with l-glutamine, slippery elm, peppermint, and/or an acidophilus/bifidus product.

Third, since our overworked livers are being asked to neutralize over 60,000 toxins on a daily basis and the big red blob under our right rib cage is understandably crying uncle much of the time, we need to feed the cranky General now and again. The liver is very nutrient dependent. It loves snacks of amino acids such as glycine, taurine, glutamine, arginine, and ornithine; it sometimes requires sulfur products like n-acetyl cysteine or MSM. The liver loves vitamin C sometimes in great quantities and other anti-oxidants like those found in cruciferous vegetables, green tea, grape seed extract, curcuminoids, alpha lipoic acid, CoQ10, and lyco-pene. For long term nourishment, the liver loves milk thistle and phosphadityl choline.

Will this slow my aging process? You bet and with a happy liver, you won't come down with the Ones You Don't Want To Get.

In Part II of Modifiable Risk Factors of Aging [next newsletter], I will be discussing sugar metabolism and glycosolation, immune dysfunction, impaired energy production or mitochondrial depletion, chronic stress, enzyme deficits and oxidative stress.

Brain Neutraceuticals for Normal People*

I have found that, at least for me, it's better not to confuse the body with too much nutrition at one time. Therefore, I have developed a new schedule in which I treat my brain every other day and my body every other day but, of course, the two overlap.

Please note: This program is in no way a substitute for healthy eating and exercise! It is an addition to your already healthy lifestyle. Here is some good brain nutrition for you and the cost. (Yes, brain nutrition is pricey and no, I don't know why.)

1) Acetyl-l-carnitine: By far my favorite. ACL is a brain energizer and revitalizer. It lights up all the little cells in the brain and increases neurotransmitters to enhance memory and focus. It repairs stress related damage to brain cells, relieves depression and is an immune enhancer to boot. Sometimes I can feel the effects of a 800 mg. dose in as little as 20 minutes. Because it is an energizer, don't take it any later than 3PM.

Dosage: You could take 500-1000 mg of ALC every other day. Brain Vitale from Designs for Health is a powder which contains 750 mg. ALC with every quarter teaspoon. It will also give you 200 mg. of PS which I will talk about next. Because I respond to ALC so well, I take 800 mg in pill form on the off day, too. Price: The Brain Vitale is $64 for 50 grams and will last you probably a month and a half. The ACL in capsule form is $60 and contains 90 capsules each 800 mg, so this would last you 6 months at 1 every other day.

2) Phosphatidyl Serine: This is a phospholipid which is good for the overall health of the brain. Since the brain has an enormous amount of fatty tissue, it automatically gobbles up any phospholipid we throw at it. PS will enhance memory and recall , help with age-related memory loss, slow dementia and will also help with seasonal affective disorder. Also good for kids with ADHD.

Dosage: You could take 600 mg every other day. Your Brain Vitale dose above will supply you with 200 mg. of PS, so if you purchase DFH's PS powder, you could take 1/2 t., or 400 mg every other day. That added to your Brain Vitale dose would give you 600 mg. of PS. which is a nice big dose for your brain. Price: The PS powder is $32 for 20 grams which would last you about a month.

3) Phosphatidyl Choline: This is another phospholipid which the brain loves. It's a greatly enhanced and absorbable form of lecithin. You cannot do too much PC because it is totally non-toxic and your entire body loves it as it is the basic building block of every membrane in the body. Great for the liver in helping it to detoxify chemicals and good for hormone balancing, too. Without PC, cells age faster and do not function optimally.

Dosage: You could take 2T of the powder every other day which will give you 7 grams of PC. Take it with other powders or at meals as PC increases the absorption of other nutrients. Price: The powder is $24 for 300 grams which is a lot. It would last you about a month and a half.

4) Glycerophosphocholine or GPC: This is a new brain neutraceutical which works more
effectively than PC and is excellent for cognitive decline, a wonderful addition to any brain health program.

Dosage: Take 1 -325 mg capsule of GPC every other day. If you are experiencing cognitive decline, take as many as 4 caps or 1200 mg. Research shows that GPC works better than current Alzheimer's drugs and without the side-effects. Price: $36 for 30 pills, so it would last you about 2 months for normal wear and tear.

*Do 4 X the amount mentioned above if you are already experiencing cognitive decline.

Rough estimate for monthly cost doing the above schedule: $116.00