Body Composition, not Body Weight

You may think being on top of age means being weight obsessed. But in reality, it is the quality of what your body consists of that is important in terms of limiting ageing.

The key is having a sense of how much muscle [positive] you have and how much central fat [potentially damaging] you have gained.

So the number on the scale is less important  as long as you are travelling in the right direction.

Sleep Basics: New ideas on treatment for insomnia

The definition of 'Chronic' Insomnia is 3 nights poor sleep per week persisting for 3 months. It means problems in initiating sleep, or staying asleep, or returning to sleep after waking early in the morning. 

This effects 10-15% of men and women over 50, affects most women at menopause and continues after that if they are not on HRT. It affects some individuals chronically for many years, with severe health consequences.

Inflammation and CVD

Everyone understands that there is a  connection between ‘cholesterol’ and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and that it is the pattern of all the blood ‘lipoproteins’ not just the total cholesterol that determines the risk. 

Some of us have been mislead into thinking that dietary fat intake increases cholesterol. In fact most of our cholesterol is manufactured in the liver not eaten and eating good fats is beneficial. Abnormal blood lipids are a sign, mainly, of disordered carbohydrate metabolism and the dietary requirement is limiting sugar and refined carbohydrate intake. 

How old do you feel, Box-fresh or Antique Roadshow?

My message is simple

You can slow the negative aspects of ageing and have a good quality of life right up until you die – if you do what has to be done! So where are you on the slippery slope, now?

Take this test/quiz...

Are you borderline malnourished?

Strange but true. As you age not only must you avoid being in the overweight camp, but you also need to escape undernourishment which has even worse consequences. The reason malnourishment happens is either physiological, social, or medical issues. Your food is absorbed a lot less well, we all get reduced appetite, may be solitary and less ’bothered’ about food so eating too little, or have increased needs because of long term illness. Nowadays, rising food costs add another cause. Medically, inflammation is the key driver ie the ‘inflammaging’ addressed in other InfoSheets,

How old are you actually?

Well I was born on … 

It sounds like simple arithmetic, but your body is like a motor car, it isn’t the year it was made that matters … but how many miles it has done, how hard it has been driven and if it has been serviced and well maintained! Wear and tear is the critically issue. Let’s call this wear and tear your biological age in distinction to your chronological age – the years since you were born. Ideally your biological age is lower than your age at last birthday i.e. your body’s working parts are well maintained. 

How to MAXIMISE your healthspan and have a Diamond Life

Your Diamond Life

Not in the sense being rich materially, but rich in good 'quality of life' years. So your HealthSpan is the good years, your LifeSpan the total including those bad end-of-life years you have seen others have.

Want help you to limit the effects of ageing and maximise your HealthSpan?