We all want to stay looking young and vibrant. Many of us go to great lengths to ensure we will beat father time and stay ahead of the ticking clock with expensive lotions, potions, treatments and even surgeries. But the truth is, staying and looking young and vibrant is an inside job, not an outside one.
No matter how many expensive creams or lotions you buy, no matter how many beauty treatments or surgeries you subject yourself to, you will continue to age at a very rapid rate unless you attend to your internal health and well-being. Nothing you do on the outside will ever be able to cover up the effects of poor health on the outside.
Aging is a natural part of life. There is nothing we can do to escape the inevitable aging process other than honor and embrace it. However, there are many things we can do to support healthy longevity and decrease the external and internal effects of rapid aging, or aging that is happening much too quickly.
Here in the West we age much more rapidly than is natural, something that is directly caused by our eating and lifestyle practices. Our ways of eating and living cause us to age much more rapidly, which decreases our health and vitality, sets the stage for developing chronic diseases and health problems later in life, and increases the look of aging on the outside of our body, including deep lines and wrinkles, sagging skin, age spots, and all the other unpleasant outward signs of aging we try to avoid.
There are many practices you may be engaging in now that increase your rate of aging and look of external aging, which include:
- Poor eating habits including reliance on processed, fast and convenience foods
- Not getting enough nutrients, especially antioxidants
- Not getting enough hydration
- Exposing yourself to and taking in too many toxic chemicals
- Having too much stress in your life without healthy stress management practices
- Not getting enough exercise or movement
- Getting too much exercise, exercising too intensely, or being inconsistent with exercise
While the common path in the West is to age rapidly, live with disease and pain in our later years, and then most likely die from a chronic health condition, most all of that can be avoided with attention to the following 5 most important areas to increasing longevity and natural beauty as we age.
1. Fresh, Whole Nutrient-Dense Eating
There are many problems with the way we commonly eat in the West that directly contributes to aging, disease, and decreased natural beauty. The most important areas to pay attention to are eating diets made of food products, not real foods (which are low in nutrients and high in toxic, health-harming chemicals), and eating very few fresh plant-based foods while eating high amounts of animal based products.
By eating food products instead of real foods, we are not getting the nutrients we need and are taking in many chemicals and additives that are harming our cells and causing them to age much more quickly.
Foods that are not fresh or plant-based are also low in water content and contribute to a cycle of dehydration, which causes many of the unwanted skin and joint problems we hope to avoid in our later years. Diets high in animal products and low in fresh plant-based foods are also more demanding on the digestive system, taking energy away from daily repair and healing, and are very acidic, all which contributes to rapid aging and health problems later in life.
By making a switch to a diet that is HIGH in plant-based foods, is at least 80% fresh and organic, we avoid many of the problems common in most of the population later in life. You can also add in daily fresh juicing to increase the amount of fresh, whole nutrients you are taking in each day while helping your body to naturally cleanse and detoxify each and every day. You can download 10 Fast, Fresh and Healthy Recipes directly from the Raw Vitality website or join one of our 30-day online programs to learn how to shop, prepare, and eat fresh, whole nutrient-dense foods simply and sustainably.
2.Reducing How Much You Eat
It’s interesting that in our world we see health problems related to both starvation and deprivation, and at the same time we see problems caused by overconsumption. Balance is the key here and reducing the amount of food you eat is a proven method for extending your lifespan.
Since the 1930s, investigators have consistently found that laboratory rats and mice live up to 40 percent longer than usual and also appear to be more resistant to age-related diseases when fed a diet that has at least 30% fewer calories than they would normally consume. The point is not to deprive yourself or allow yourself to feel unsatisfied and hungry but rather to monitor your portion sizes and snacking habits. You should only be eating when you are hungry and only to a point you feel satisfied. You should feel heightened levels of energy and vitality about 30 minutes after eating and not sluggish and tired. This is a good sign you are eating the right amount of calories for your body and decreasing the health problems and increased rate of aging associated with overconsumption.
3. Stay Active, Consistently and in Balance
In the West we have a tendency to live very sedentary lifestyles that include little to no movement—especially during the day—and then to engage in very strenuous activity several times a week for periods of time and then not at all for other periods of time.
We all know or have experienced times when we decide to start working out. We become excited and go into an exercise program with all our might, only to stop within a month or two. At the same time, we mostly work jobs that require us to be inside and sitting most of each day. This is an extremely unhealthy cycle and way of living and being, one that contributes to rapid aging and decreased vitality and health, especially as we age.
A better approach is to engage in exercise or movement that is not as intense but that is consistent, something sustainable that you can do long term without starting and stopping constantly. Taking time for a brisk 30-minute walk each and every day is a great approach, as is creating an exercise routine that is balanced by including some cardiovascular exercise, weight-bearing exercise, and stretching.
4. Manage Your Stress
Medical research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that up to 90% of all illness and disease is stress-related. It is estimated that 75-90% of all doctor’s office visits are for stress-related ailments and complaints. Stress costs the American industry more than $300 billion annually, and more then 43% of all adults suffer adverse health effects from stress.
Stress is literally tearing our health apart. Stress also ages us much more rapidly (as much as 32 years more internally than your chronological age) during stressful periods of time. Stress is often inevitable in life…but how you deal with your stress is completely under your control. Implementing and using daily healthy stress management practices is extremely important. In Raw Vitality, we teach the use of yoga, meditation, and deep breathing exercises to help manage stress in a healthy way and prevent it from wrecking your health or aging you much more rapidly.
5. Reduce Your Exposure to Toxins
The most toxic place on Earth is right inside your home. That may be shocking to hear, but it makes sense when you begin to understand how many toxic products you are using inside your home, in and around your home like in your garden and lawn, and most especially your body and personal care products. Commercial personal care products are loaded with toxic chemicals that have been linked to a variety of health problems…and we are slathering them on the largest, most absorbent organ of our body each and every day—our skin! Toxic chemicals found in these products directly harm cells and increase the rate at which we age; they also contribute to the process of chronic diseases and pain as we age.
Your best approach is to start using green living practices to reduce your exposure to health-harming toxins and moving to using greener, cleaner versions of your products as you run out of commercial products. Any of our Raw Vitality 30-day programs teach the most effective green living practices and how to implement them into your daily life so you can decrease your exposure to health-harming toxins and increase your natural longevity and vitality.
By following these 5 simple holistic health strategies, you can increase your healthy longevity, decrease the problems commonly associated with aging, and naturally increase your beauty without having to spend all that money on expensive products and treatments to make you artificially look younger!
To learn the most effective natural strategies for Health, Vitality, and Longevity, join one of our 30-day holistic health, natural healing, and preventative health programs. We offer a variety of programs to fit your individual needs. To learn more, visit: www.rawvitalitytotalhealth.com
Get a free taste of Raw Vitality with 10 Fresh, Fast, & Healthy Raw Vitality Recipes at www.rawvitalitytotalhealth.com
About the Author: Candice Marley
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