Healthy Silicon Valley - nutrition & fitness profile

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Sometimes people feel older than they actually are. Your age may not be your real age. RealAge is the actual age of your body, as opposed to your calendar age. Depending on your eating habits, amount of exercise and lifestyle, you may actually be older or younger than you actually are. There are ways to grow younger. Here are tips on how to turn back the hands of time.

You can quickly measure how old your actual age is in 25 seconds or less. Stand up and begin by closing your eyes. Lift one foot up six inches and bend your knee at a 45-degree angle. How long can you hold this position? Someone 30 years old or younger should be able to do it for at least 25 seconds. Someone around 50 may be able to do it for only 10 seconds. But if you're well under 30, and unable to hit the 25-second mark, you may not be aging as well as you could.

(Add years to your calendar age)

• Skipping Breakfast
• Not exercising daily
• Sleeping less than the optimal time each night (7-8 hrs.)
• Not wearing your seat belt
• Not attending religious services
• Smoking

+1.1 year
+5 years
+3 years
+3 years
+2 years
+8 years

(Subtract years to your calendar age)

• Lowering blood pressure to a healthy level
• Flossing teeth daily
• Eating less and no visible fat
• Reducing speed and limited cell phone use
• Driving a larger than compact sized car
• Volunteering
• Owning a dog

8 years
6.4 years
6 years
3.5 years
3 years
2 years
1 year

• Pick foods you will enjoy eating
• Select foods that are nutrient-rich, calorie-poor
• Eat a small amount of a "good" fat (like olive oil or chocolate!)
   at the beginning of your meal - it slows the movement of food
   through your stomach, makes you feel fuller and helps your body
   absorb nutrients
• Reduce the "feet" in your fats - go from fats from animals with
   four feet (like beef, pork and lamb) to fats from animals with two
   feet (like chicken) to fats with no feet (like olive oil, canola oil
   and chocolate)
• Have wine or alcohol with your meal - 1/2 to 1 glass for women,
   1-2 glasses for men
• Top five anti-aging foods: Spinach, Red pepper, Broccoli,
   Strawberries, Salmon packed in water

1.		Take Your Vitamins Regularly taking vitamin C (1200 mg/day), vitamin E (400 IU/day), calcium (1000-1200 mg/day), vitamin D (400-600 IU/day), folate (400 mcg/day), and vitamin B6 (6 mg/day) can make your RealAge 6 years younger.

2.		Quit Smoking and Avoid Passive Smoke Smoking makes your RealAge 8 years older.

3.		Know Your Blood Pressure A person with low blood pressure (~115/75 mm Hg) is as much as 25 years younger than a person with high blood pressure (greater than 160/90 mm Hg).

4.		Reduce Stress In highly stressful times; your RealAge can be as much as 32 years older than your calendar age. By building strong social networks and adopting stress-reduction strategies, you can erase 30 of those 32 years of aging caused by stress.

5.		Floss Your Teeth Flossing and brushing daily can make your RealAge 6.4 years younger.

6.		Be Active Even a small amount of exercise—two 20-minute walks per day—can make your RealAge nearly 5 years younger.

7.		Wear Your Seatbelt Regularly wearing a seat belt and driving within 5 miles per hour of the speed limit can make your RealAge as much as 3.4 years younger.

8.		Fill Up on Fiber Getting 25 grams of fiber per day in your diet can make your RealAge 2.5 years younger than if you only included 12 grams of fiber per day in your diet. Men may need even more than 25 grams of fiber per day.

9.		Monitor Your Health People who are proactive about seeking high-quality medical care and managing chronic conditions can have a RealAge as much as 12 years younger than their peers who do not.

10.		Take the RealAge Test; Develop an Age Reduction Plan® Over your lifetime, you can make your RealAge as much as 26 years younger. That means that you will live younger every day, and live longer with as much health and energy as possible.

11.		Laugh a Lot Laughter reduces stress, strengthens the immune system, and can make your RealAge as much as 8 years younger.

12.		Become a Lifelong Learner People who remain intellectually involved throughout their lives have a RealAge as much as 2.5 years younger.

• Wear sunglasses and stop smoking, it triples the risk of cataracts
• Sleep well, and don't take work worries to bed with you
• Don't exercise too late in the day
• Avoid wrinkles by limiting sun exposure, bathing no more than
once a day, and using a humidifier in the winter
• Also, avoid spicy foods, too much exercise, and drink a lot of water

To take the RealAge test visit, www.RealAge.com

*Referenced from www.RealAge.com