Category Archives: Healthy Aging

Four Types Of Exercise Can Improve Your Health And Physical Ability

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Research has shown that it’s important for older Americans to get all four types of exercise or physical activity:

  • Endurance (aerobics),
  • Strength and Resistant,
  • Balance, and
  • Flexibility.

Each exercise or physical activity has different benefits for your health and well-being. Additionally, doing one or more kind of exercise can improve your ability to do the others, and variety helps reduce risk of injury and promote healthy aging over the long term.
Endurance exercises for older adults

Four Types of Exercise infographic. Click to open infographic webpage.

Endurance activities or aerobic exercises increase your breathing and heart rates. These activities help keep you healthy, improve your fitness, and help you perform the tasks you need to do every day. Endurance exercises improve the health of your heart, lungs, and circulatory system. They also can delay or prevent many diseases that are common in older adults such as diabetes, colon and breast cancers, heart disease, and others. Physical activities that build endurance include:

  • Brisk walking or jogging
  • Yard work (mowing, raking)
  • Dancing
  • Swimming
  • Biking
  • Climbing stairs or hills
  • Playing tennis or basketball

Increase your endurance or “staying power” to help keep up with your grandchildren during a trip to the park, dance to your favorite songs at a family wedding, and rake the yard and bag up leaves. Build up to at least 150 minutes of activity a week that makes you breathe hard. Try to be active throughout your day to reach this goal and avoid sitting for long periods of time.

Gauging your exercise intensity

When you’re being active, try talking: if you’re breathing hard but can still have a conversation easily, it’s moderate-intensity activity. If you can only say a few words before you have to take a breath, it’s vigorous-intensity activity.

References:

  1. https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/four-types-exercise-can-improve-your-health-and-physical-ability

Health: There are No Limits

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“Once you pass the age of fifty, exercise is no longer optional. You have to exercise or get old.” ~ Dr. Henry S. Lodge. M.S., Younger Next Year, pg. 113.

People tend not to exercise because they are tired at the end of the day, But, in reality, people are tired at the end of the day not because they get to much exercise of physical exertion, explains Dr. Henry S. Lodge. M.D., leading NY internist and Columbia Medical School Professor. Instead, people are tired at the end of the day because they do not get enough exercise and as a result, they are not fit.

People are mentally, emotionally and physically drained and exhausted from being sedentary, states Dr. Lodge. Study after steady demonstrates that productivity increases and an individual functions better each day when they are fit. In short, time spent exercising and getting fit is life enhancing and extending.

So, make daily exercise a habit or routine like taking a shower or brushing your teeth. In short, your body craves the body’s chemical reaction resulting from exercise and movement.  So it’s important for you to “Do Something Everyday”.

Start exercising at a level that matches your current level of fitness, Dr. Lodge urges. Start out a level that is hard enough to make you sweat like walking at a brisk pace for twenty to thirty minutes. But, before you get started, check with your medical doctor.

Getting and staying fit is wonderful if you’re healthy, but it’s essential and life saving if you’re not healthy. Your life will improve dramatically once you commit to the habit of regular exercise.

Your long term endurance exercise goal should be to do long and slow aerobic exercise for three hours or more at 60% to 65% of maximum heart rate for three hours without getting exhausted.  You should be able to do something like an all morning bike ride for three hours or more well into your sixties, seventies, eighties and nineties.  You should make a real commitment to do something like that at least once a month

If you can get to the level of three hours or more of endurance exercise and stay there, life will be good, says Chris Crowley, New York Times bestselling co-author of “Younger Next Year”. Crowley recommends that you:

  1. Exercise six days a week for at least 30 minutes for the rest of your life.
  2. Do serious aerobic exercise four days a week for the rest of your life.
  3. Do serious strength training, with weights or body weight, two days a week for the rest of your life.
  4. Eat healthy foods and drink plenty of water. Quit eating crappy food like refined sugar, refined carbs and processed foods.
  5. Maintain close relationships and social connections.
  6. Get adequate sleep and reduce stress.
  7. Have an attitude of gratitude.  Always be grateful.

“Open heart surgery is hugely popular these days, apparently because so many guys prefer it to learning about aerobic exercise and working out.” ~ Chris Crowley, Younger Next Year, pg. 116.

Crowley believes that it’s possible that Americans, as a society, “can be radically healthier, more energetic, more fit, more optimistic and effective by making modest, behavioral changes. Putting off 70% of today’s aging is a simple matter: Move a lot more!…quit eating crap!…connect with others!, he emphasizes.” The combination of sedentary lifestyle  and the crappy food we eat is wrecking Americans lives and ruining the economy. The nation spends “20% of our national income on health care”. Half of the amount spent on healthcare could be saved “because 50% of our bad health is simply the result of the ridiculous way we eat and live.”

Final thoughts…staying deeply connected with and caring about family and friends and others are essential for healthy aging and longevity. Staying in touch… caring… is hugely important.

References:

  1. Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge, M.D., Younger Next Year, Workman Publishing, 2nd Edition, New York, December 24, 2019.
  2. https://www.youngernextyear.com/bios/

“Younger Next Year: Live Strong, Fit, Sexy, and Smart―Until You’re 80 and Beyond” – According to authors Chris Crowley and Dr. Henry S. Lodge, M.D., men 50 or older can become functionally younger every year for the next five to ten years, and continue to live like fifty-year-olds until well into their eighties. To enjoy life and be stronger, healthier, and more alert. To stave off 70% of the normal decay associated with aging (weakness, sore joints, apathy), and to eliminate over 50% of all illness and potential injuries.

Anti-Aging and Keeping Mitochondria Healthy

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Nicotinamide riboside — also called niagen — is a form of vitamin B3 that might be able to reverse signs of aging and might keep your mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cell, healthy.

One of the hallmarks of aging is a process known as “mitochondrial dysfunction”, a term that refers to our cells’ general loss in power and efficiency over time. It may be one of the reasons we age at all. Mitochondrial dysfunction occurs when your mitochondria lose the ability to function normally. It can happen if the mitochondria present in your cells are not functioning as they should. And if the mitochondria are at the heart of why we age, it makes sense to look at every possible way of keeping them functioning for as long as possible.

That’s one of the reasons why some of the world’s leading scientists are turning to nicotinamide riboside. This unique form of vitamin B3 shows the potential to affect mitochondrial health and in turn, many of the age-related problems associated with it.

Understanding the mitochondria.

Inside almost every cell are these tiny, strangely shaped organelles called mitochondria— “the powerhouses of the cell.” These mini-organs are responsible for producing 90% of the energy we need in our bodies. The mitochondria are the reason why we exist as the complex animals we are today, rather than bacteria.

We didn’t always know just how vital the mitochondria were to our health. One key way of keeping mitochondria healthy is a molecule known as NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide). Our cells naturally produce NAD+, and we use it constantly throughout the day.

We also know our NAD+ supply declines as we age. Once researchers realized NAD+ could be the key to keeping our cells healthy, they scrambled for a way to make more of it.

The beginning of the vitamin B3s.

Researchers already knew of two vitamins that began the chemical process to increase NAD+: niacin and nicotinamide. These were discovered in the 1930s and used to treat pellagra, a potentially deadly vitamin B3 deficiency disease.

Niacin would also go on to be a treatment for high cholesterol in the 1950s. However, people found that ingesting niacin in high doses sometimes resulted in an annoying skin flush that was both irritating and unsightly.

Nicotinamide didn’t cause the skin flush and could in theory provide a lot of the same benefits, but it inhibited the activation of important cellular repair promoting proteins known as sirtuins. Neither nicotinamide nor niacin were as effective as researchers were hoping they’d be.

Although these two vitamins were NAD+ precursors, they weren’t ideal solutions. With niacin’s negative side effects, and the relative effectiveness of nicotinamide, researchers still didn’t have a good enough vitamin supplement for increasing NAD+ levels.

The discovery of nicotinamide riboside.

Another vitamin B3 known as nicotinamide riboside was discovered in the 1940s in yeast. But it wasn’t until the early 2000s that scientists began to see the potential of this third form of vitamin B3 to not only increase NAD+ but also improve human health in general. In 2004, a Dartmouth College research team discovered that nicotinamide riboside, like its vitamin B3 brothers, was also a precursor to NAD+.

The team, led by Charles Brenner, PhD, found that nicotinamide riboside could increase NAD+ in mice and that those mice experienced a plethora of health benefits as a result.

The mice showed everything from improved blood sugar levels and cholesterol levels to reduced nerve damage, and resistance to weight gain. Dr. Charles Brenner found these results so inspiring, he took the next step to see what nicotinamide riboside could mean for human health.

In 2014, Dr. Charles Brenner became the first human to consume nicotinamide riboside as a supplement. The results were just as promising. This relatively unknown form of vitamin B3 significantly increased his NAD+ levels safely, quickly, and without any negative side effects.

Conclusion

Nicotinamide riboside (NR), also called niagen, is an alternative form of vitamin B3. NR is promoted as an anti-aging supplement because it is converted by your body into nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), a coenzyme or helper molecule, which is critical to cellular repair and the repair of damaged DNA, and which acts as fuel for many key biological processes, such as:

  • Converting food into energy
  • Repairing damaged DNA
  • Fortifying cells’ defense systems
  • Setting your body’s internal clock or circadian rhythm

“NAD+ is gradually lost as we get older or develop chronic diseases. Loss of NAD+ is linked to obesity and other negative lifestyle habits like smoking,” Christopher Martens, assistant professor of kinesiology and applied physiology and director of the Delaware Center for Cognitive Aging Research said. “Because more NAD+ is needed to counteract those negative consequences, it’s more likely to be depleted in the face of negative lifestyle habits.”

References:

  1. https://www.truniagen.com/blog/our-ingredient/is-nicotinamide-riboside-really-an-anti-aging-supplement/
  2. https://www.truniagen.com/blog/science-101/mitochondria-the-powerhouse-of-the-cell/
  3. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/nicotinamide-riboside
  4. https://neurosciencenews.com/nicotinamide-riboside-alzheimers-22550/

Omega 3 and Metabolic Health

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Omega-3 are essential fatty acids and getting sufficient Omega-3 fatty acid levels are a pillar of maintaining your brain, heart and immune health.  ~ Sports Research

Omega-3 are an essential fatty acids that our bodies cannot produce and have been linked to many health benefits and is necessary for many metabolic processes. In particular, omega 3 may help promote brain and heart health, reduce inflammation, and protect against several chronic conditions.

There are three main types of omega 3 fatty acids:

  • lpha-linolenic acid (ALA),
  • eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and
  • docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

Many studies show that eating fatty fish and other types of seafood as part of a healthy eating pattern helps keep your heart healthy and helps protect you from some heart problems, according to the National Institute of Health’s Fact Sheet for Consumers of Omega-3 Fatty Acids.

Getting more EPA and DHA from foods or dietary supplements lowers triglyceride levels, and may promote brain health.

Decades ago, researchers observed that fish-eating communities had very low rates of metabolic diseases. This was later linked to omega-3 consumption.

Since then, omega-3 fatty acids have been tied to numerous benefits for heart health.

These benefits include:

  • Triglycerides: Omega-3s can significantly reduce levels of triglycerides.
  • HDL cholesterol: Some older studies suggest that omega-3s could raise HDL (good) cholesterol levels.
  • Blood clots: Omega-3s can keep blood platelets from clumping together. This helps prevent the formation of harmful blood clots, according to some older research.
  • Inflammation: Omega-3s reduce the production of some substances released during your body’s inflammatory response.

Our metabolism is defined by a complex series of chemical reactions that occur throughout our whole body, in all our tissues, all the time, to keep us up and running. Our metabolism breaks down nutrients into smaller, bite-size molecules that our cells can use for all kinds of good things, including generating energy and allowing cells to communicate with each other.

Metabolism also includes building larger molecules that our bodies can use to form tissues and perform more complex functions that make our bodies smarter, faster, and healthier.

Thus, your metabolism is a fully functioning factory that takes nutrients in and turns them into, well…you. Your metabolism takes place on a cellular level. Your cells make up tissues, that make up organs, that make up entire bodily systems. When something goes wrong with your metabolism, there’s a domino effect that can add up to some pretty significant issues.

When we’re younger, our metabolism runs like a well-oiled machine. Unfortunately, as we age, our metabolism slows, resulting in an increasingly poorly functioning factory that produces an increasingly less-healthy you

Metabolic syndrome is a term for a group of conditions that place you at a higher risk of developing heart disease and stroke. These include:

  • Excess weight, which can lead to obesity(especially around the midsection)
  • Insulin resistance, which can lead to diabetes and fatty liver disease
  • High blood pressure
  • High cholesterol

These conditions can also cause chronic, low-level inflammation, which researchers now believe is a major underlying cause of many age-related illnesses and diseases.

It goes without saying that diet and exercise are important, but in terms of your metabolic health, they’re incredibly crucial.

Proper diet and exercise are at the foundation of any healthy lifestyle.

Your heart is a muscle, and just like any muscle, you should exercise it. You should aim to dedicate at least 30 minutes a day to movement and exercise.

And, a proper diet includes prioritizing your veggies, eating your whole grains, and choosing lean meats and poultry. Try to reduce your intake of salt, sugar, refined carbs and “unhealthy fats” such as those found in butter, fried food, processed snack foods, and red meat.

References:

  1. https://sportsresearch.com/blogs/wellness/daily-habits-for-a-healthy-heart
  2. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Omega3FattyAcids-Consumer/#h1
  3. https://fatty15.com/blogs/news/promoting-your-metabolic-health-a-focus-on-pentadecanoic-acid-c15-0
  4. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/17-health-benefits-of-omega-3#TOC_TITLE_HDR_5

Anti-Aging Laboratory Breakthroughs

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In Boston labs, experiments have shown that aging is a reversible process, capable of being driven “forwards and backwards at will,” said anti-aging expert David Sinclair, a professor of genetics in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School and codirector of the Paul F. Glenn Center for Biology of Aging Research.

“Our bodies hold a backup copy of our youth that can be triggered to regenerate”, said Sinclair, the senior author of a new paper showcasing the work of his lab and international scientists.

The combined experiments, published in the journal Cell, challenge the scientific belief aging is the result of genetic mutations that undermine our DNA, creating a junkyard of damaged cellular tissue that can lead to deterioration, disease and death.

“It’s not junk, it’s not damage that causes us to get old,” said Sinclair. “We believe it’s a loss of information — a loss in the cell’s ability to read its original DNA so it forgets how to function — in much the same way an old computer may develop corrupted software. I call it the information theory of aging.”

Epigenetic changes control aging

While DNA can be viewed as the body’s hardware, the epigenome is the software, writes CNN Health. Epigenes are proteins and chemicals that sit like freckles on each gene, waiting to tell the gene “what to do, where to do it, and when to do it,” according to the National Human Genome Research Institute.

The epigenome literally turns genes on and off. That process can be triggered by pollution, environmental toxins and human behaviors such as smoking, eating an inflammatory diet or suffering a chronic lack of sleep. And just like a computer, the cellular process becomes corrupted as more DNA is broken or damaged, Fr. Sinclair said.

“The cell panics, and proteins that normally would control the genes get distracted by having to go and repair the DNA,” he explained. “Then they don’t all find their way back to where they started, so over time it’s like a Ping-Pong match, where the balls end up all over the floor.”

In other words, the cellular pieces lose their way home, much like a person with Alzheimer’s.

“The astonishing finding is that there’s a backup copy of the software in the body that you can reset,” Sinclair said. “We’re showing why that software gets corrupted and how we can reboot the system by tapping into a reset switch that restores the cell’s ability to read the genome correctly again, as if it was young.”

It doesn’t matter if the body is 50 or 75, healthy or wracked with disease, Sinclair said. Once that process has been triggered, “the body will then remember how to regenerate and will be young again, even if you’re already old and have an illness. Now, what that software is, we don’t know yet. At this point, we just know that we can flip the switch.”

To prove the theory and with the help of other scientists, Sinclair and his Harvard team have been able to age tissues in the brain, eyes, muscle, skin and kidneys of mice.

To do this, Sinclair’s team developed ICE, short for inducible changes to the epigenome. Instead of altering the coding sections of the mice’s DNA that can trigger mutations, ICE alters the way DNA is folded. The temporary, fast-healing cuts made by ICE mimic the daily damage from chemicals, sunlight and the like that contribute to aging.

In his lab, Sinclair said his team has reset the cells in mice multiple times, showing that aging can be reversed more than once, and he is currently testing the genetic reset in primates. But decades could pass before any anti-aging clinical trials in humans begin, get analyzed and, if safe and successful, scaled to the mass needed for federal approval.

Here’s how to eat to live longer, new study says

But just as damaging factors can disrupt the epigenome, healthy behaviors can repair it, Sinclair said.

“We know this is probably true because people who have lived a healthy lifestyle have less biological age than those who have done the opposite,” he said.

His top tips? Focus on plants for food, eat less often, get sufficient sleep, lose your breath for 10 minutes three times a week by exercising to maintain your muscle mass, don’t sweat the small stuff and have a good social group.

References:

  1. https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/12/health/reversing-aging-scn-wellness/index.html

Dietary Fat is Health Food

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“Nothing beats the true healing power of food and food is the best medicine for chronic disease.  It works faster and better, and is cheaper than medication. And all the side effects are good ones.”  ~ Dr. Mark Hyman

Many Americans have long been told that consuming dietary fat makes them fat, contributes to heart disease, and generally erodes their health. Now a growing body of research debunks long held beliefs about dietary fat, revealing the immense health and weight-loss benefits of a high-fat diet rich in eggs, nuts, oils, avocados, and other delicious superfoods, explains Dr. Mark Hyman, M.D., author of “Eat Fat, Get Thin” and director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine, and founder and director of The Ultra-Wellness Center.

We now know that refined sugars and ultra process carbs, not fat, are the true causes and villains of obesity and heart disease. Overconsumption of refined sugars and processes carbohydrates causes a spike in the body’s production of the hormone insulin, which increases the storage of fat, especially dangerous visceral fat, explains Dr. Hyman. Instead, consuming healthy fats and plant based food, which are packed with powerful antioxidants and photochemicals is what your body and mind need.

Fat is one of the body’s most basic building blocks. The average person is made up of between 15 and 30 percent fat!

Essentially, dietary fat does not cause a spike in insulin.  Unlike eating refined sugars and processed carbs, eating fat makes your body burn fat, rather than store fat. Fats like butter and coconut oil boost your body’s metabolism, suppress hunger, lower triglycerides, reduce fat storage, and even improve athletic performance.

By increasing dietary fat into your diet, and eliminating sugar and process carbs, studies demonstrate that you can lose more weight, improve your metabolic health, and begin to feel and look better.

“Dr. Mark Hyman has helped thousands of people lose weight and lead happier, more energetic lives,” writes Toby Cosgrove, CEO of Cleveland Clinic. “His powerful insights on the dynamics of dietary fat will change the way you think about everyday eating, and show you how easy it is to enjoy a healthier, more satisfying diet.”

In short, the right fats can improve your mood, skin, hair and nails, while protecting you against Type 2 diabetes, dementia, cancer and much more, according to Dr. Hyman. Among his favorite sources of fat include:

  • Avocados.
  • Nuts—walnuts, almonds, pecans, macadamia nuts, but not peanuts (one study showed a handful of nuts a day reduced death from all causes by 20 percent).
  • Seeds—pumpkin, sesame, chia, hemp.
  • Fatty fish, including sardines, mackerel, herring and wild salmon that are rich in omega-3 fats.
  • Extra virgin olive oil (a large study showed that those who consumed 1 liter a week reduced heart attacks by 30 percent).
  • Grass-fed or sustainably raised animal products.
  • Extra virgin coconut butter, which is a great plant-based source of saturated fat that has many benefits. It fuels your mitochondria, is anti-inflammatory and doesn’t cause problems with your cholesterol. In fact, it may help resolve them.

References:

  1. Dr. Mark Hyman, Eat Fat, Get Thin, Little, Brown and Company. February 23, 2016.
  2. https://www.ecowatch.com/dr-mark-hyman-10-reasons-why-you-should-eat-fat-to-get-thin-1882141535.html

Dark Chocolate (Cacao) and Stem Cell Regeneration

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Dark chocolate (or cacao) is the number one longevity food on earth. 

According to researchers, “The raw cacao bean is one of nature’s most fantastic superfoods due to its mineral content and wide array of unique properties.” And according to Dr. Li, dark chocolate or cacao is one of the best foods for improving the stem cell response inside your body.

Dark chocolate, containing 70 to 80 percent cacao or higher or its more processed cousin cocoa, is rich in polyphenols, antioxidants that help protect from disease-causing free radicals. Cacao is also rich in magnesium, which helps our minds and bodies to relax.

Dr. Li specifically mentions drink two cups of dark, hot chocolate as the best way to get your daily dose of cacao, which can actually double the number of stem cells flowing in your bloodstream at any given time.

Dark chocolate containing 70 to 80 percent cacao or higher is packed with nutrients that can strengthen your body’s defense systems and positively affect your overall health.

Dark Chocolate is Heart Healthy

You may have heard this benefit before—and it continues to ring true through vast research today. Epidemiologists have long-established a connection between consuming foods with flavanols—a potent antioxidant found in dark chocolate—and a lower incidence of death from cardiovascular disease.

With the help of over 750 million stem cells, your body regenerates itself each and every day. Dark chocolate can mobilize your stem cells to carry out their job to the fullest. At the University of California, San Francisco, researchers found that participants who received a chocolate drink made with cocoa twice a day for thirty days had twice as many stem cells in their circulation as their control group.

References:

  1. https://www.vosgeschocolate.com/blogs/vosges-haut-chocolat-blog/guest-post-7-pleasantly-surprising-health-benefits-of-dark-chocolate
  2. https://althealthworks.com/holistic-doctor-shares-this-ancient-healing-food-helps-your-body-recruit-stem-cells-to-regenerate-itself-from-the-inside-out/

Cacao Flavanol Cognitive Benefits

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Compounds in dark chocolate, called cacao flavanols, have recently been linked with improved cognitive (thinking) skills.

There is a wealth of data supporting the benefits of daily cacao flavanol consumption on cognition, mood, and cardiovascular health. And the majority of the studies come from world-renowned research institutions, including Harvard, Columbia, and Northwestern.

A common thread among most flavanol studies demonstrating positive outcomes is the consumption of between 500mg and 1,000mg of cacao flavanols daily,

In fact, one study published in 2012 showed that daily consumption of cocoa flavanols was associated with improved thinking skills in older adults who did have thinking problems, a condition called mild cognitive impairment, according to Harvard Medical School.

After eight weeks, the study demonstrated that people who consumed medium and high amounts of cacao flavanols every day made significant improvements on tests that measured attention, executive function, and memory.

And studies found that cacao flavanols were associated with reduced blood pressure and improved insulin resistance.

Flavanols in cocoa have been shown to help lower blood pressure, improve blood flow to the brain and heart, prevent blood clots, and fight cell damage.

The best way of getting cocoa flavanols is through cacao powder or dark chocolate with at least 80% cocoa that is as natural as possible and has not been processed through the Dutch method, which reduces the content of flavanols. Such cocoa powder or dark chocolate will be bitter.

“The benefits of cacao flavanols on cardiovascular health are well established, and for the general population a daily intake of 200 mg of cacao flavanols is starting to emerge as a potential target within the context of a balanced diet,” says Dr. Alonso-Alonso.

The benefits of cacao flavanols are worth looking into further. The benefits of cocoa flavanols include:

  • Improvement and lowering of systolic and diastolic blood pressure 
  • Lowering of insulin resistance 
  • Improvement in cholesterol and lipid markers
  • Improved cardiovascular function
  • Improve brain health and cognitive function  

To find quality dark chocolate with at least 80% cocoa, follow these tips:

  • Avoid Alkalization or the “Dutch Process” : If this word appears in the ingredient list, avoid that chocolate. Alkalization removes healthy flavonols.
  • 70% Or More Cacao: Cacao beans come from the cacao plant, unlike “cocoa,” the powder made from roasted, husked, and ground cacao seeds.
  • Short Ingredient List: The ideal bar has only 3-4 ingredients—like cacao beans, cocoa butter, sugar, and a natural flavoring.
  • Other Ingredients to Avoid: Hydrogenated oils, Cocoa butter equivalents (CBE), and vegetable oils.

Bottomline, Cacao is rich in antioxidants called flavanols. These antioxidants have been shown to have anti-inflammatory and anti-aging properties. Studies suggest that consuming cacao may help to improve cardiovascular health, protect against sun damage, and even improve cognitive function.

References:

  1. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/cocoa-sweet-treat-brain-201502057676
  2. https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/101/3/538/4569408
  3. https://www.cacultured.com/blog/cacao-the-ultimate-superfood-for-health-and-wellness

Highly Processed Foods Can Result in Premature Deaths

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A growing body of evidence suggests that consuming too much highly processed food — items like hot dogs, chips, soda and ice cream — can have consequences beyond obesity and high cholesterol.

Foods that are “ultra-processed” contain more artificial ingredients than those that just have added salt, sugar or oil. These foods are ready-to-consume products that are made up entirely or mostly from substances extracted from food (oils, fats, sugar, proteins), derived from food constituents (hydrogenated fats, modified starches), or synthesized, based on organic materials (dyes, flavorings, flavor enhancers and other additives used to alter the food’s sensory properties).

Source: Bing.com images

They usually have very few whole ingredients and contain flavorings, colorings or other additives. Instant noodles, frozen pizza and store-bought cookies typically fall within this category.

In the U.S., ultra-processed food makes up around 57% of daily calories, on average. Based on that, Eduardo Nilson, a nutrition researcher at the University of São Paulo and the study’s lead author, believes the U.S. could expect more premature deaths associated with food.

Many previous “ultra-processed” studies have linked ultra-processed food to other negative health outcomes, including a higher risk for diabetes, cognitive decline, heart disease and cancer. An August study found that people in Italy who consumed ultra-processed food in large quantities had a higher overall risk of death.

Maura Walker, an assistant professor of nutrition at Boston University who wasn’t involved in the research, cautioned that this study did not show that ultra-processed food consumption directly caused premature death — only that there was an association. But the connection makes sense, she said.

Ultra-processed foods can often be identified by their long list of ingredients, many of which you wouldn’t normally find in your own kitchen and are often difficult to pronounce.

But not everything in this category is harmful, according to Dr. Walter Willett, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. For example, whole grain bread and whole grain breakfast cereals are sometimes considered ultra-processed, but they are also sources of dietary fiber, which can lower the risk of heart disease or cancer.

For that reason, Willett said, it’s important to focus on avoiding particular foods that are significantly associated with a risk of premature death.

The results from this study highlight the damage to health that is arising based on the observed trend in Brazil of replacing traditional meals, based on natural or minimally processed foods, with ultra-processed foods. These results also support the recommendation of avoiding the consumption of these kinds of foods.

References:

  1. https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(22)00429-9/fulltext
  2. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/highly-processed-food-linked-early-death-study-rcna55455
  3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4544452/

Social Security Administration (SSA) Benefits Increase in 2023

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Social Security Administration announced that the COLA will increase Social Security benefits by 8.7% beginning January 2023 — the largest since 1981. 

Approximately 70 million Americans will see a 8.7% increase in their Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments in 2023. On average, Social Security benefits will increase by more than $140 per month starting in January 2023.

A COLA at the this level is almost unprecedented. There were only three other times since the start of automatic inflation adjustments that COLAs were higher (1979-1981)

The Social Security Administration (SSA) will mail COLA notices throughout the month of December to retirement, survivors, and disability beneficiaries, SSI recipients, and representative payees.

But if you want to know your new benefit amount as soon as possible, you can securely obtain your Social Security COLA notice online using the Message Center in your personal my Social Security account. Your personal my Social Security account gives you immediate access to important information and tools.

According to The Motley Fool, December 2022, the Social Security Administration estimates monthly payouts for an assortment of beneficiaries will be as follows:

  • Average retired worker: $1,681/month
  • Average worker with disabilities: $1,364/month
  • Average aged couple, both receiving benefits: $2,734/month
  • Average widowed mother and two children: $3,238/month
  • Average aged widow(er) with no children: $1,567/month

Here’s what these same monthly Social Security checks will look like once the 2023 COLA takes effect in January:

  • Average retired worker: $1,827 ($146/month increase)
  • Average worker with disabilities: $1,483 ($119/month increase)
  • Average aged couple, both receiving benefits: $2,972 ($238/month increase)
  • Average widowed mother and two children: $3,520 ($282/month increase)
  • Average aged widow(er) with no children: $1,704 ($137/month increase)

For a majority of recipients, a triple-digit monthly “raise” is on the way, explains The Motley Fool.

January 2023 marks when other changes will happen based on the increase in the national average wage index. For example, the maximum amount of earnings subject to Social Security payroll tax in 2023 will be higher. The retirement earnings test exempt amount will also change in 2023.

There are few, if any, federal agencies that impact the lives of the American people to the extent that the Social Security Administration (SSA) does. Millions count on SSA—retirees who worked hard their whole lives, people who are no longer able to work due to disability, and many more.

SSA’s programs touch the lives of almost every person in the nation. SSA employees work diligently to ensure that they receive critical benefits and other services, and it is my honor and privilege to lead them in their efforts.

References:

  1. https://blog.ssa.gov/social-security-benefits-increase-in-2023/
  2. https://www.ssa.gov/news/newsletter/
  3. https://www.fool.com/retirement/2022/10/18/how-much-social-security-checks-increasing-in-2023/
  4. https://seniorsleague.org/week-ending-october-15-2022/