What do you need to reach PRIME health?
Is it possible to live in prime health even as you age? For many over 50, adverse health effects can be debilitating. Poor health can not only reduce quality of life, but can tax relationships and finances. How can you ensure you’ll enjoy prime health? And how do you avoid the dangers associated with aging?
We call our answer PRIMEpathway™. It’s a method we’ve developed to help our clients reach and maintain prime health in body and mind.
Physical activity
Weapon number one in the fight against the aging process. It’s hard to underestimate the benefit of exercise and daily activity for the aging body. The physical benefits include increased strength and flexibility, greater stamina and endurance, and improved balance and posture. Internally, exercise plays an even more important role. Stronger heart function and increased blood flow reduce the likelihood of chronic diseases. Resistance training adds bone density, warding off osteopenia and osteoporosis. And the latest studies show neurogenesis happening in the brain during exercise. That means improving cognition in ways that mental games (i.e. puzzles) cannot.
Rest
As Americans, we often rest too much, but we’re still exhausted. Proper rest happens in balance with the right amount of physical activity. This allows our bodies to secrete hormones to help us sleep better at night. Uninterrupted sleep cycles enable our bodies to rejuvenate and recharge for the day ahead. Several issues may affect our quality of sleep. Many of them have remedies.
Intake
“You are what you eat,” the old adage goes. It’s a little more complex than that, but we can’t overstate the importance of a good diet. Enjoying a diet rich in the right nutrients will dramatically affect your quality of life. In fact, scientists have nicknamed the gastrointestinal tract the “second brain” because of its high number of neurotransmitters. More than 90% of your body’s serotonin comes from your gut along with over half its dopamine. In our culture of mass food production and innovation, it’s more important than ever to know how the quantity and quality of your food will affect your body.
Mind-Body Connection
We include in this category both education and worldview. One of the surprising outcomes of the many studies on centenarians (people who live over 100) is the impact of spiritual outlook on life. The study of centenarians in Okinawa revealed a strong sense of purpose. Many relieved stress through prayer. Whether through personality and lifestyle or a spiritual perspective, both purpose and stress-management play a key role in prime health and longevity.
Essential Elements
We can’t live without certain elements, like air, water, and sunlight. But because of their familiarity, we often overlook the powerful role they play. For example, your body will synthesize adequate amounts of Vitamin D in sunlight. But what happens in the winter months when the atmosphere blocks all UVB rays, or when you spend your days indoors? If you develop a Vitamin D deficiency, it will leave you at risk. Low Vitamin D levels have been linked to heart disease, low bone mineral density, cardiovascular disease, multiple sclerosis, some types of cancer, falls, and increased mortality.