Many of us take our health for granted until we lose it.
And then, instead of thriving we start surviving.
Others are proactive with their health.
It may take a serious illness in the family or amongst friends to give us a wake-up call or it may be just a realization that it is up to us to become more responsible for our own health.
So what is the difference between healthy aging and anti-aging? Suzanne Somers defines the eight anti-aging steps in her book 'Breakthrough' as being: 1.
Get Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy 2.
Avoid Chemicals and Detoxify your body 3.
Take nutrition seriously 4.
Create a healthy GI tract 5.
Avoid Pharmaceuticals unless absolutely necessary 6.
Supplement your diet 7.
Exercise regularly 8.
Get proper sleep In an ideal world these steps are certainly ones to aspire to.
I would also add another step: 9.
Visit your dentist every 6-12 months so that dental decay, gum disease and high bacteria levels can be treated in the early stages With respect to step 6 - supplement your diet, I believe that this is a vital step for our well-being.
Our environment is not as healthy as it was in our grandparent's days - it is difficult to avoid the chemicals and toxins that are in the air and the food and water that we consume.
To fight the extra free radicals that our body is producing, it is imperative that we use advanced quality nutriceutical antioxidants, multi-minerals, multi-vitamins and omega-3.
I would define Healthy Aging as all of the above, except I would leave out: 1.
Get Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy.
For many people this step is too expensive.
Not only do we have to find a Bioidentical medical specialist and pay them, we also have to pay for the therapy.
However, if our hormones do require balancing to improve a health condition I would certainly consider this option.
If you do not have a health condition by adding steps 2 to 9 with step 3 being a healthy diet of "Technicolor" fresh fruits and vegetables, very low sugar, low GI foods, avoiding processed foods, our hormones should be in healthy balance albeit declining as we age.
My intention is to live a long and healthy life which will provide me with the vitality to have fun and to inspire others.
What are your long-term health plans and what are you going to do to ensure that your health goals will be achieved?