RebuiltU #52: Aging Gracefully... part 2: The 2nd enemy of aging... your decay

Rebuilt U: A show about unlearning

Aging. We all do it, but some do it better than others. We are going to explore this topic and give you some insights about healthy aging.

The great thing about this job, is that I get to meet a wide variety of people. I think every one has something to teach me. The super healthy and the super sick both offer lessons.

A couple of months ago I had someone come in that was "too late", much too late. Advanced neurological destruction and severe liver problems. Those are hard ones, because there is a point of no return for the body.

One of my pet projects over the last 20 years has been to find as many ways to prevent problems as I can. I think it's important because it can keep you from jumping the rails and going off course.

Health is a nebulous concept, like wisdom. There is no end point to arrive to. But, we definitely know what unhealthy is. That's pretty easy.

You have pain.

You are over weight.

You are chronically tired.

You have diabetes.

You have XYZ disease.

There are more than 10,000 labels of problems I can give a person in the insurance code book. To my knowledge there isn't a code for "healthy."

Being healthy is when your Mind, Body, and Soul are at peace with one another.

You know veggies are good for you and cupcakes aren't. The basics aren't hard to understand. It gets tricky in the modern world with the temptations from advertising everywhere. Your friends will tempt you at work and the sirens song of sugar is always playing.

When I was reading yesterday I came across this from C.S. Lewis. I thought it was a good way of looking at temptations.

"No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie.

Only those who try and resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in.

You find out the strength of the wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later."

You might be thinking, "that's all well and good, but I don't know how to exercise, I don't know how to cook, and my spouse isn't on board."

In modern society, you'll always encounter roadblocks...always. I have them too. You'll also constantly have temptations. You will fall off the wagon, every one does. The difference will be if you get back on.

It's actually good for you to fall off every once in a while. It makes you appreciate the wagon more.

Ultimately, you are responsible for you. You are a priority. You are "the" priority. If you are ill, everyone around you suffers. If your spouse refuses to get on board with doing healthy things, then let it be and focus on you. Maybe, slip an extra life insurance policy in there :)

You can't force someone to believe something. It won't work no matter how hard you try. Have you ever tried to force some one to believe anything? What happens, they dig their heels in against you. Just like trying to push a dog forward, they resist. Try pushing a string.

You can't force people to believe in chiropractic, in organic food, or even God, for that matter. I get the "I don't believe in chiropractic" all the time. That's nice. Can I change that person's mind? Probably not. I actually can, but they have to crash and burn first, then try all other options.

Then we run into the problem of "it might be too late."

So how can you help yourself?

The first step is to just be aware that learning is a life-long process that never ends.

Look within...If you are unhealthy, realize you need to learn more. Remember the naive person is the intelligent person. They recognize they need to change something. I'm learning more about toxic metals every day. Where ever you are on your health journey is perfect for you, as long as you are learning to be better.

Look around... If your grandfather is slumped over and in constant pain, and you don't want to end up like that, don't do what he did. If your doctor is overweight, maybe get a second opinion on health advice. If your friends tease you at lunch about eating "health food". They are just mockers and their opinion doesn't count. Wisdom is trying to make the best choice, not the easiest or most popular choice.

Let’s start at the beginning...THE BABIES

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the water contamination from the city I live in. There was fluoride, lead, and copper contamination. Toxins can affect us all. Particularly concerning are the heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, mercury, and cadmium.

Last week, a patient showed me this article about baby foods and their contamination with these heavy metals.

”One of the biggest worries: cognitive development in very young children.

Babies and toddlers are particularly vulnerable due to their smaller size and developing brains and organ systems,” says James E. Rogers, Ph.D., director of food safety research and testing at Consumer Reports. “They also absorb more of the heavy metals that get into their bodies than adults do.” -Consumer Reports

https://www.consumerreports.org/food-safety/heavy-metals-in-baby-food/

Lets try and slow your aging down by limiting your toxic exposure.

Let's say you go for a hike and every 100 yards you need to pick up a tiny rock and put it in your back pack. How far could you go? Eventually the weight will start bothering you.

You have chemicals in you right now, guaranteed. These are like the rocks in the back pack. They come in so slowly that you won't notice them for a while. Over time, though, they cause more and more damage.

As you age, your body becomes a warehouse of chemicals. It's often said people don't need to be embalmed anymore because of all the chemicals in them. The accumulation and burden of chemicals is the most common cause of cancer.

Sadly this is happening to babies. Yes, babies.

If you have a baby and are feeding them anything (even organic) in any package please go look at this web page from Consumer Reports. You will be shocked at the number of baby foods that have heavy metals in them.

https://www.consumerreports.org/food-safety/heavy-metals-in-baby-food/

You as an adult may have a myriad of health problems from toxic metals that you may not even realize you have been accumulating over the years.

This is why I do 2-3 tissue mineral hair analysis every year. It is the best way to monitor toxic metal exposure.

Let’s go to the end ... THE ELDERLY

The most common toxic metal problem as you age is aluminum toxicity. It goes in you almost every day, and it is very difficult to get out. Aluminum accumulation in the brain is one of the main causes of Alzheimer's. That's why only elderly people get it. It accumulates.

Toxins are every where. I mean every where. Do your part by buying organic products. Use natural cleaners, detergents, soaps, shampoos, etc. Help your body out by exposing yourself to fewer chemicals. Cancer, the scourge of our time, is often attributed to toxins.

If you use 1 tablespoon of lotion over 5 years, you’ll absorb over 7 gallons of lotion and all the chemicals in it.

Check your skin care products here. Ewg.org/skindeep

More than 10 years ago the CDC did a study looking at Toxicity. They found an average of 212 chemicals in a persons blood, saliva, and urine.

If you want to slow down your aging effects try and take in less toxins and increase your bodies ability to eliminate them.

I use Livaplex from Standard Process, LivCo from Mediherb and I do the Purification Program once a year from Standard Process. I do hair analysis yearly to monitor my levels and I try and buy as many organic products as I can.