“Most of us think aging happens like this: We go on our way, living happily through life, until one day we start to feel old, and the symptoms domino right before our cataract-clouded eyes.”
By Hulya Aksu
No matter how much my fingers insist on writing 2007, it is 2008. Another year has passed, memories were made, babies were born, lives were changed, marriages started and some ended, while things changed, some things consistently stay the same...we get older. Our time clock clicks away while we try to play catch up and before we know it, the clock is winning the race. That is what I thought until I picked up a copy of YOU: Staying Young -- The Owner’s Manual for Extending Your Warranty, authors Michael Roizen, MD, and Mehmet Oz, MD, offer the promise of extended youthfulness and increased vigor, no matter how many candles light up your birthday cake and I like that.
This new book proves that healthy living, not genetics, most profoundly determines how we age. YOU: Staying Young shatters modern day misconceptions about aging. In their typical humorous and direct way, the YOU Docs offer ways to combat the ever-creeping stage in life called “old age.”
“Most of us think aging happens like this: We go on our way, living happily through life, until one day we start to feel old, and the symptoms domino right before our cataract-clouded eyes,” the authors say in YOU: Staying Young.
There are things we can do to slow the process, to “extend our warranty.” We asked one of the authors, Dr. Mehmet Oz some specific questions about how aging affects women of Loudoun.
ModMom: How can the moms of Loudoun extend their warranty?
Dr. Oz: The most important driver of longevity is physical activity. In particular, try to include weight bearing physical activity, even lifting your own body. Combine this with a diet you love and a sense of connectiveness to an intact social network and you are well on your way to age 100.
ModMom: Living a healthy lifestyle, making the right choices in diet and exercise are all important factors in increasing endurance and energy in women. Is there a supplement, food or a special trick, aside from caffeine, that will increase energy immediately?
Dr. Oz: Green tea has more than just caffeine and it is a good resource for energy. Vitamin B and CO-Q10 are also useful.
ModMom: We all age. Aging is a natural process we can't stop. What are you hoping to accomplish with this book?
Dr. Oz: Death inevitable, but the rate of aging is not. If we appreciate that aging is a side effect rather than a pre-ordained, immutable process, then we will take charge of the 70% of the aging process that we control.
ModMom: What are some of our basic misconceptions about aging and why do we have them?
Dr. Oz: We think genes drive aging. But genes are like the geography of a city and effect how we deal with aging, but do not control the process. You can build a vibrant, bouncy body around sub-optimal genes and you can ruin acceptable genes with poor life style changes.
ModMom: Is there a perfect age to be pregnant? Does age matter?
Dr. Oz: It is easier if you start by 35.
ModMom: Women in Loudoun County are having children later and later in life. Is this a factor in speeding the aging in women?
Dr. Oz: Having children later in life has an increased difficulty for mother and child, but it can still be done safely by most women.
ModMom: What can moms do today to increase fertility?
Dr. Oz: Above all, physical activity and healthy nutrition are vital for increasing fertility.
ModMom: Is there a supplement or a food moms can take or eat now to ease the discomforts of menopause later?
Dr. Oz: Yes, omega 3 fatty acids and vitamin D are critical.
ModMom: What is the most important thing you want people to know about aging?
Dr. Oz: You have to give your heart a reason to keep beating. Don’t worry about managing time in your life, rather focus on managing your life energy so you are pursuing your passion. Good luck and thanks very much for being part of the movement to bring health back to America.
Dr. Oz is vice-chairman and professor of surgery at Columbia University, medical director of the Integrated Medicine Center, and director of the Heart Institute at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Oz received his undergraduate degree from Harvard and has a joint MD and MBA from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Wharton Business School.
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