How To Age Gracefully and Naturally (Expert Tips from a Physician)

If your idea of aging is turning into a weak, frail person with wrinkles, arthritis, or a sketchy memory, it’s definitely time to change that! You’re going to age, so why not embrace it and do all you can to make your life’s journey a healthy, energetic, and positive one? Why not age gracefully and healthfully? With the right diet, supplements, and other good-for-you daily habits, you’ll discover that the best is yet to come.

Inflammation is your body’s normal response to injury, illness, or toxins — this is a good thing and necessary for healing. But when that natural inflammatory response goes awry and becomes chronic, your body ages faster and is at greater risk for all types of diseases, including dementia, cancer, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and arthritis. This condition has become so wide-spread that doctors have coined the term “inflammaging” to describe it.¹

• Skin issues
• Joint pain
• Low energy
• Brain fog
• Anxiety and/or depression
• Increased susceptibility to infections
• Digestive and gut issues such as IBS, constipation, heartburn

Try anti-inflammatory foods: Adopt an anti-inflammatory diet built around whole foods such as lean protein, clean oils, and fresh fruits and vegetables. Research shows that certain foods, including cold-water fish such as salmon, leafy greens, and tomatoes, help reduce systemic inflammation and promote overall health.² Here are the: Best Anti-Inflammatory Foods for you to add to your grocery list.

Avoid these ingredients: Avoiding ingredients and habits that promote inflammation, which include refined sugars and carbs, alcohol, excess salt, chemical additives, pollution, and cigarette smoking can help your inflammation responses. Excess sugar consumption, in particular, creates high levels of inflammation and leads to type 2 diabetes and other health concerns. As many doctors will tell you, keeping your blood sugar balanced is one of the best ways to age well and stay healthy into your later years.

Reduce your exposure to toxins whenever possible. Protecting your health from toxins, including pollution, plastics, and chemicals such as glyphosate, can make a lasting impact on your wellness. To counteract these heavy metals, mycotoxins, and other environmental triggers, consider packing your diet with detoxifying foods and antioxidant-rich fruits, veggies. Broccoli and broccoli sprouts are especially as they contain sulforaphane, a potent antioxidant that controls inflammation by reducing levels of proinflammatory cytokines.³ If you haven’t tried a detox or a detox diet, detoxing can be especially beneficial for ensuring your body systems can accurately cleanse and defend from unavoidable toxin exposure. Taking detox supplements can also help enhance your natural detox pathways to do what they should. Learn more about detoxification and detox diet ingredients here Detox 101: Foundations of a Successful Cleanse.

Buy organic foods when you can. While we can’t ensure that all organic foods are free of pesticides, choosing organic can be a step in the right direction towards protecting your health from glyphosate, a toxic herbicide that is sprayed on hundreds of agricultural foods. Learn more about pesticides and how to defend from side-effects.  

Keep your iron levels in check. While most people know that too little iron causes symptoms such as fatigue and brain fog, many don’t realize that too much can be just as dangerous.⁴ The body gets rid of excess iron through blood, which explains why anemia is common among menstruating women. Too much iron can lead to disruptions in the gut’s microflora, cardiovascular problems, cancer, and other health issues. Donating blood on a regular basis is one way to balance iron levels over 50.  

Prioritize your skincare and cells. Boosting your collagen levels and addressing inflammation naturally can help give you smoother skin, shinier hair, stronger nails, and healthier joints. You can increase your body’s own production of collagen and healthy cells with specific nutrients. Vitamin C, an essential cofactor in collagen production, is the number one nutrient for boosting collagen. In fact, your body can’t produce collagen without it. Also helpful: modified citrus pectin, biotin, zinc, copper, manganese, and amino acids. Supporting your cellular health can defend and heal your skin from the side effects of inflammation and aging, from the inside out.  

A superstar aging supplement, PectaSol modified citrus pectin, is naturally derived from citrus fruit peels, including lemons, limes and oranges, and is your secret to healthy aging. This super-nutrient nourishes and counteracts the effects of aging, unlocking the healing potential in every cell of your body, from brain cells and bone cells to skin cells, rejuvenating your body systems to help you fight off inflammaging. PectaSol is the first and only researched and proven modified citrus pectin that delivers the support you need to stay and feel young, healthy, and vibrant.*⁵

Nourishing yourself by staying hydrated and taking these age-defying ingredients can help you feel your best and age well and naturally, from the inside out. Adding a skincare routine that moisturizes your skin daily and before bed can also help the external wear and tear.

Build a Healthy Aging Routine: Creating a daily regimen with steps that keep you feeling and looking young is essential to healthy aging. Whether you plan to play brain games to activate your brain, daily exercise like a walk or meditation to clear your mind, or a nightly journal practice, or take natural supplements, these researched daily actions can help your mental wellness, manage stress, promote healthy inflammation responses, and healthy aging.

While there’s lots of aging advice out there, trying these expert recommended natural solutions can help you feel and look like your healthiest self. How do you support your aging?

Sources:

1. Pilkington SM, Bulfone-Paus S, Griffiths CEM, Watson REB. Inflammaging and the Skin. J Invest Dermatol. 2021 Apr;141(4S):1087-1095.
2. McGrattan AM, McGuinness B, McKinley MC, et al. Diet and Inflammation in Cognitive Ageing and Alzheimer's Disease. Curr Nutr Rep. 2019 Jun;8(2):53-65.
3. Vanduchova A, Anzenbacher P, Anzenbacherova E. Isothiocyanate from Broccoli, Sulforaphane, and Its Properties. J Med Food. 2019 Feb;22(2):121-126. 4. Dev S, Babitt JL. Overview of iron metabolism in health and disease. Hemodial Int. 2017 Jun;21 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S6-S20.
4. Eliaz I, Raz A. Pleiotropic Effects of Modified Citrus Pectin. Nutrients. 2019;11(11):2619.