How to Be Younger, Longer(so they say)

Recently I read an article that said, "what you eat can dramatically influence how fast your body ages, according to mountains of research." Not that we really didn't already know that, but it is interesting to see what this research suggests in healthier eating and how it reduces aging and fights chronic disease. Here are some to do things for our diet:

GET PLENTY OF ANTIOXIDANTS: A leading cause of aging, experts say, is "oxidative stress," which results when cells become dysfunctional over a lifetime or die because of attacks from internal and external chemicals known as "free radicals." Consuming lots of antioxidant-packed foods, mainly fruits and vegetables, boosts your cells' power to resist attack. In addition there are now some real cool supplements that I feel are very good and provide you with the required antioxidants. Juice + on a daily basis provides all of the fruits and vegetables one would possible need, in a three pill cocktail. The only draw back to this type of supplement is that the body only absorbs about 20% of any pill type application and takes time to get into the system. What I do guarantee, from my experience, is that Juice + really works your digestive system and provides all of the fiber action anyone would need. For the past 3 months I have been taking MonaVie and since it is in liquid form it gets into your system much faster. This product is becoming very popular and is showing some great results, especially for fighting inflammation and increasing energy. The anchor of the MonaVie formula is the acai berry in addition to 18 other fruits. On a daily basis I take 2 oz. in the morning and 2 oz. in the afternoon or night. There is also a 1 oz. sport pack that I found worked very well for me on my most recent triathlon competition. This pack is also very good for traveling and easy to maintain.

INFUSE YOUR BODY WITH OMEGA-3: Chronic inflammation speeds up aging, promoting heart attacks, arthritis, skin diseases and Alzheimer's, while reducing memory, immunity and muscle function. Omega-3 oil in fatty fish, such as salmon, dampens chronic inflammation, studies show. Red meat promotes inflammation. Since salmon always gets the high marks for this healthy oil it makes it more of a challenge for me, since I cannot stand salmon. So, I do take a pill form of Omega-3, knowing that I only get minimum benefits from it since of the low absorption of pill form supplements. I am trying to like salmon and may learn to love it, who knows.

CONTROL BLOOD SUGAR: Eating foods that spike your blood sugar and keep it chronically high leads to cell changes that promote aging and chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, gallbladder and heart disease, Alzheimer's, and breast, ovarian and endometrial cancers. What spikes your blood sugar: white bread, white potatoes, most white rice, processed grains and sugary cereals. The key here is the color "white", since it seems that everything in food stuff that is white seems to be bad for you. So, if you are color blind have someone help you with the proper colors of the food you eat. It is almost impossible for me to eat white bread and I never do unless I pick a piece up out of habit. All of our bread around the house is now brown wheat bread with some nuts laced throughout the loaf.

MAINTAIN A NORMAL WEIGHT: Obese people are more apt to have type 2 diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, etc., etc. Other research finds that heavier adults harbor higher brain levels of toxic amyloid beta, a protein involved in Alzheimer's. Duh, I think it has to be obvious to all concerned that obesity is bad and it is now starting with our youth. We are not waiting to grow old to get obese, we are bringing this dreaded aspect of life into our adulthood from our youth. Our parents of today are lazy and lackadaisical about how they feed their children and are not doing them any favors by stuffing the fast food stuff down their little darling mouths, into their stomachs and ultimately causing them to be very fat before their times. WAKE UP PARENTS AND DO THE RIGHT THING BY YOUR CHILDREN IN FEEDING THEM PROPERLY. Yesterday, while waiting for my plain in the airport, I watched a mother feed her young son a McDonald meal of hamburger and french fries and it made me want to grab them out of their hands and dump it in the trash. This eating education needs to start at a young age and become a part of a healthy lifestyle.

On the next post I will discuss the 10 terrible aging foods, and 10 top anti-aging foods. But, always remember aging starts immediatley with birth, so to properly fight aging the combat should start immediately.

See you then,

Mike Greer

Stressful days, Movie Reviews

The 19th annual Buffalo Springs Lake Ironman 70.3 is now history and the stress level around this house has diminished. My squinched butt is now at ease and life is good. Even though the Irongirl Texas triathlon is coming up on July 20, nothing compares to Buffalo Springs. This year the stress was increased to the max since the weather had to take charge and take names, plus our numbers had increased by 30%. Since the weather patterns throughout the year had been so weird I knew something was up for June 29, but I really could not predict exactly what was on the agenda(I did know that rain was going to be on the agenda though). God was tricky on this one and threw us some curve balls just to let us know he is in charge. I knew that rain would be in the picture but I could have never guessed it would be an Alabama rain lasting for over 3 hours. I hard started watching the huge black cloud to the North East laced with violent lightening around 2:30 a.m. and I knew if it came our way we would have to make some real hard decisions concerning the race. But as I watched it seemed to move to the Southeast and was not heading our way. The most it might do to us was do some damage in the Horshoe Bend Canyon to our direct East and about 10 miles from the transition area. As the start of the race approached I knew we could get it started but then wondered what we would do if it turned bad on the bike course. Then the rain started in the canyons and commenced to wet us down for over 3 hours. The athletes loved it and it turned out to be a smooth, easy going rain with no violence, very uncommon for West Texas. Usually our rain will come along and be so violent, for 15-20 minutes, that you think the world has come to an end. But this rain had a complete cover of clouds and just came down and down. Some bikes went down, without serious injury, and others had flats. But all in all the athletes loved the 66 degree weather, rain and even the 25 mile an hour wind didn't seem to bother them. Triathletes have a resilience to them that always amazes me, they just get it done when the going gets tough. We are thankful to all who were here and look forward to the 20th anniversary next year.

Forgot to mention in the opening, I have had computer problems and blogger.com problems so that is the reason I have not posted sooner. Every time I look at this computer I can see Bill Gates just sitting there counting his money and grinning. This computer world has it made and every 6 months just sticks it to us. One day I will take an axe and just split this baby right down the middle(won't matter anyway since it will be out of date), and get the last laugh in. Oh, for the good ole Royal manual typewriters(I typed 81 words a minute on one of those things in college typing class), carbon paper, I can depend on those dudes to get me through without losing my cool and saying real bad words. I mean real bad words, and then ole Gates just grins some more!

Movie Reviews: "Get Smart", ***, Steve Carell is the perfect choice to bring Maxwell Smart to the big screen. He does a real good job and gets some laughs. My local critic took the movie too serious and criticized the screen writing, etc. With this kind of movie, just sit back and enjoy the obvious routes it will take and let the actors have their fun and let the audience enjoy it. Ann Hathaway is a great agent 89(I believe) and they have fun together. Go see, but buy the matinee ticket(I get the Senior ticket so it doesn't matter what time I go). Rated PG-13 for some rude humor, action violence and language.

"Hancock", ****, Will Smith is a very good actor and does a great job as the confused, alcoholic, destructive, super hero. Smith portrays Hancock, introduced as perhaps the first hated alcoholic superhero, destroying property while saving lives. He is actually hated and booed even when he saves lives and puts criminals behind bars. Jason Bateman is the PR agent determined to help Hancock change his public image. And Charlize Theron plays Bateman's wife, who has her own surprising strengths. Entertaining and well done, go see, no matter the ticket price. Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and language.

"The Love Guru", **, Not a real good movie but it does have its moments of humor. At times Michael Myers leaps over the the lines of good taste while seeking laughs as the Guru Pitka. Of course he is brought in by a team owner of a major league hockey team to straighten out the star player(who happens to be black, which is not common in the NHL). It has some laughs, but is not prime time movie stuff. Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content throughout, language, some comic violence and drug references.

"Wanted", ****, A very entertaining movie about a fraternity of assassins that have been going on for thousand of years. The star of the movie, James McAvoy is chosen to make the major kill that will save them all, while Angelina Jolie puts those puffy lips out for all of us to see, and uses her tremendous sex appeal to keep the new hero in line. Note: This movie has one of the neatest endings you will see in a movie this year. It is unique, humorous and so appropriate(not just for the movie, but for today's society). If nothing else just show up for the ending. Rated R for strong bloody violence throughout, pervasive language and some sexuality.

greerman