Archive for the ‘Diabetes’ Category
Can Testosterone Help Prevent Obesity in Senior Men?
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Currently many articles on health are raising serious concern about the number of Americans who are not just overweight, but who are obese. The concern is based on the observed rapid progression from overweight to obese and then to conditions such as type 2 diabetes, artherosclerosis and cancer. It turns out that as testosterone levels decrease as men age that the markers of inflammation rise. One of the markers of inflammation is the C-reactive protein (CRP). Rising inflammation due to lowering testosterone levels contributes to the development of obesity and its related conditions including cancer and artherosclerosis. Much of the obesity in senior men is centered in the abdominal region. When this occurs the fat, which is deposited because of the testosterone deficiency, adds to the inflammation in the body and a vicious circle is initiated. For senior men who are concerned about promoting their senior health by taking appropriate preemptive aging steps to reverse testosterone deficiency is a large, important one. The first item on the agenda for senior men is to have their doctor perform the test to check their testosterone level. In the event that it is low, then testosterone replacement therapy is available from qualified physicians. For those senior men who need to raise their testosterone levels doing so will improve their cardiovascular health and help them avoid cancer.
Preemptive Aging Foods for Seniors
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Seniors who are concerned about taking preemptive aging steps to safeguard their senior health need to take the first step and choose foods that promote senior health. The foods at the top of the preemptive list are the foods that preempt cancer which is one of the leading enemies of senior health. The good news for seniors is a follows. Foods that preempt cancer are some of the tastiest foods around. In the first place are all the colorful berries that include blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, raspberries, strawberries, and so on. Most of the berries contain tumor fighting compounds such as polyphenols and ellagic acid which are the enemies of cancer. Another winner is chocolate as long as it is 70% cocoa which is true for some of dark chocolate bars. It turns out that cocoa contains polyphenols similar to the berries and it also contains antioxidants. As an added bonus, cocoa contains a class of chemicals known as catechins that offer protection against cancer and heart disease. Finally seniors can moderately choose daily to imbibe a glass of red wine for its high concentration of resveratrol content that is provided by the grape skin. The resveratrol contributes in some unknown way to suppress metabolites associated with cancer growth. In summary, drinking a daily glass of red wine, eating some dark chocolate, and consuming a variety of berries throughout the week can provide an array of preemptive aging foods for seniors who are concerned about protecting their senior health against cancer.
Nuts Complement Senior Health.
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Everyone has heard the warnings about eating too many fatty foods, because it can lead to obesity. Some folks think that they should not eat nuts, because they do contain more fat than say fruits and vegetables. There is some good news for seniors who want to receive information about preemptive anti-aging steps that they can take to foster their senior health. It turns out that nuts which are often complimentary in bars and restaurants are actually complimentary to our health needs. For example, a grand analysis of over 24 clinical trials demonstrated that folks who regularly consumed nuts had improved blood lipids meaning improved triglycerides and LDL/HDL cholesterol ratings. This is very good news for seniors who are concerned about fostering their cardiovascular health.
Additional benefits of eating nuts include reduction of hypertension, reduction of the risk of heart disease for women suffering from diabetes, and improved blood sugar control when nuts are consumed with carbohydrates. For all of these reasons it would be a good idea to include nuts as part of one’s daily diet. The preferred type of nuts are those that are raw or dry roasted. Consuming about 1/4 cup every day is a good general rule, because eating more than that quantity will supply too many calories.
Soy Is a Healthy Nutritional Source for Seniors
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Many articles in the press have promoted the health benefits of consuming soy as a food. In fact in 1999 the FDA allowed a health claim to be made for soy as a food. This action by the FDA was very unusual; it came under attack by certain folks who were later identified as representing a narrow slice of the food industry. These critics apparently felt threatened by the success of soy which would take away some of their pre-soy approval profits. The end result of this story has a happy ending for seniors who are concerned about fostering their senior health. As a result of the criticism, many clinical studies and research were performed on soy and the verdict is in; soy is a very healthy source of nutrition for all ages including seniors.
Soy proteins and its isoflavanones provide a wide range of health benefits through direct and complementary paths in our bodies. They operate by various means to reduce inflammation and block oxidation. These healthy effects provide a multilayer protection against cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis as well as many other unhealthy conditions that accompany aging. It turns out that soy protein and isoflavones have been shown to lower LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. This is very good news about soy for seniors who are concerned about taking preemptive aging steps to promote their cardiovascular health.
How Sugar Shocks Your Heart!
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Despite all the glitzy commercial advertising about the many products that contain refined sugar, the cat is finally our of the bag. A leading US medical research publication reported that consuming sugar may actually be bad for your heart. For seniors who want to find preemptive aging information, in order to foster their senior health, this information about the dangers of sugar to the cardiovascular health of seniors are clear. Sugar in the form of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has come under a lot of criticism from the folks in the healthy dieting community, but it is not the only sugar that is causing major problems in the US population. Some of the alternatives that have been recommended are honey, raw sugar, and molasses, but they all drive up blood sugar and insulin.
In our bodies all the sugars are broken down into equal parts of fructose and glucose. It turns out that fructose in small quantities such as are found in a piece of fruit are good for us. The massive amounts of fructose that are contained in carbonated drinks, sweetened drinks, and desserts pump too much fructose into our bodies. Consuming this high level of fructose results in raising folks triglycerides, lowering the good HDL cholesterol, and speeding folks on the road to cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes. The bottom line for seniors who are concerned about their cardiovascular health is to limit their consumption of drinks and foods that contain sugar in any form.
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The Big Four Lifestyle Changes for Senior Health
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Now that the Federal Government has passed Health Care Reform legislation this would be an appropriate time to take take a serious look at what each one of us can do to reform our individual health care practices. Seniors need to be particularly attentive to taking care of our senior health by the choices that we make in terms of the foods we consume, supplements that we take, and the exercise schedule that we follow. When you get right down to the nittygritty there is a lot that seniors and boomers can do to prevent or preempt diseases from ever getting started. This becomes more serious for folks the older we get, because of the special issues that affect senior health. We can choose our lifestyle so that we head in a direction with a high probability of attaining greater health or in an opposite direction with an equal probability of coming down with one of the big three diseases.
The big three killer diseases are cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. A small number of lifestyle changes can reduce the probability of seniors contracting one of the big three by 80%. Instead of raising your health insurance premiums these lifestyle changes will very likely keep them steady and in some cases may actually lower them. These lifestyle changes are attainable by most folks, but they do require sincere commitment. The alternatives for not embracing these changes are higher health insurance premiums for everyone, seriously degraded quality of life and early death. The big lifestyle changes can be reduced to four. They include eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy weight, and not smoking. As one motivation coach put it, “Where attention goes, energy flows, and the result shows”. Practicing the healthy four lifestyle changes will help seniors preempt cancer, promote cardiovascular health, and avoid diabetes.
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Colorful Berries Defeat Free Radicals for Seniors
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Free radicals that are a leading factor in degenerative diseases and aging that strike every cell in our bodies on the order of 10,000 times every day. These diseases include cancer, artheroschlerosis, and diabetes. There is good news for seniors who are concerned with finding information on preemptive steps that they can take to defend themselves against the multiple diseases of aging. The good news is that most berries or fruits provide high antioxidant values, in order to defeat the free radicals that attack the cells of our bodies. The antioxidant potency of berries is determined by a measurement of the ‘oxygen radical absorbance capacity’ or ORAC. The ORAC value of any berry or fruit tells you how effective it is at neutralizing free radicals that are known as ‘reactive oxygen species’ or ROS.
The list of berries with high ORAC values includes many popular ones, such as blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries. Recently a berry from Central and South America has been measured to have the highest ORAC value of any berry or fruit. The Acai berry has an ORAC value more than five times larger that blueberry which has one of the highest ORAC values among berries and fruit. Consuming these berries will contribute to neutralizing the effects of free radicals in seniors and positively help to promote the desired preemptive anti-aging effects against the multiple diseases of aging. By adding these berries to their diet seniors will be promoting their cardiovascular health.
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Choices for Senior Living after Retirement
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When seniors reach retirement age they have a number of options open to them regarding their choice of lifestyle after retirement. In addition to remaining in their preretirement community or aging in place, they can consider other options. Among those options are a variety of retirement communities that include active adult communities, retirement resorts, independent living for seniors, senior apartments, and retirement resorts. In terms of options that provide a wide variety of health care seniors can choose assisted living facilities, nursing homes, continuing care retirement communities, and facilities that provide Alzheimer’s care. Whatever their choice of facility, seniors need to remember that taking their prescriptions as instructed by their physicians is of utmost important to maintaining their senior health.
After senior choose their option for retirement, they need to keep in mind that they need to maintain access to information on those topics that are of critical importance to seniors. The information they need includes senior health, caregiving, money management, real estate, and travel designed for seniors. In particular the information on senior health should include resources that explain Medicare and Medicaid, as well as services that are available to seniors.
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Can NAC Provide Cancer Chemoprevention?
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NAC is the acronym for N-Acetyl Cysteine which is a double-barreled health promoting compound. It has been known for forty years, but its multiple health benefits have only recently been identified and reported. It regulates the expression of scores of genes in those pathways that link oxidative stress with inflammation. In NAC’s second barrel it supports raising the level of an important antioxidant known as glutathione (GSH) which is particularly important for seniors who are concerned about fostering their senior health. With these dual effects NAC can provide a special role in the treatment and prevention of many common diseases. NAC can provide protection against avian and seasonal flu, improve insulin sensitivity in folks with metabolic disorders, battle the stomach infection Heliobacter, and block cancer development at nearly every step in the process.
Today the knowledge that there are strong links between oxidative stress and inflammation that lead to cancer make NAC an obvious choice for a compound that will provide cancer chemoprevention. NAC has many anti-cancer activities which aim at multiple targets resulting in layers of cancer protection against myriad cancers. It turns out that NAC is now available in supplement form. This information is very good news for seniors who are searching for preemptive means to promote their senior health by avoiding cancer in any form.
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Two Sources for the Healthy Omega-3s
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The press and the health journals have both been reporting on the many benefits of the omega-3s from fish fats which are the richest source of the omega-3s. The omega-3s were discovered in the 1970′s when researchers figured out that the Eskimos in Greenland ate a high fat fish based diet, but seldom developed heart disease. Since then many studies have been conducted and both the FDA and the American Heart Association have compiled some of the benefits of eating oily fish or consuming fish oil. The list of benefits is long and impressive. Here are some of the highlights. The omega-3s are known to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, to provide relief from inflammatory diseases, to raise the levels of the ‘good’ HDL cholesterol, and to lower the levels of the ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol.
The key omega-3 fats in fish are EPA and DHA. Folks can get an adequate amount of both by consuming 3-ounces of salmon or of sardines that are fresh, frozen or canned. These particular fish are low in mercury so they are preferred. Beside fish as a source there are plant sources of omega-3s. The plant sources include flaxseeds, flax oil, and chia seeds. They provide alpha-lineolic acid (ALA) which our bodies convert to the EPA and DHA forms that are found in fish. Other good foods sources of ALA are pumpkin seeds and walnuts. This is good news for seniors who are looking for preemptive aging information that they can implement to enhance their senior health.
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