Words Sherrin Griffin, Sidney Seniorcare
As we age into our 50s and 60s, we inevitably start to notice some changes in our body – not all of them welcome. For some, it might be small aches and pains associated with osteoarthritis and gradual wear and tear on our musculoskeletal system. For others, it might be early onset, or full-blown, diabetes, heart disease, cognitive decline and/or other age-related disease.
We may find our conversations with our peers turning from discussions about our children, family vacations and the demands of our jobs to more health-related issues – how our bloodwork is all of a sudden not so good, how we seem to be getting more forgetful, how we just don’t seem to have the energy we used to, etc. etc.
My own husband was absolutely shocked and outright indignant when his recent bloodwork showed that he was borderline diabetic, with cholesterol through the roof, earlier this year. “How can that be when my bloodwork was perfectly normal only six months ago?” he sputtered. “Well, I guess it’s time to pay the piper,” I said. Decades of excessive meat and cheese combined with ice cream and cookies every night had come to demand a heavy toll, and he was bitter to have to pay it.
My husband, like many others in our generation who are heading towards senior status, had lived his life boisterously, without thinking about the potential ramifications of his choices in later life. And, of course, we all want to enjoy what we want to enjoy, without denying ourselves, whether it be junk food, being a couch potato or staying up late at night to binge watch Netflix.
I think, deep down, we inherently know that these kinds of choices are not sustainable, and certainly do not result in good longevity, but we tend to live life in the moment and cater to our cravings at the time.
With “longevity” now deemed an official science and a mainstream hot topic these days, Dan Buettner’s popularization of the “Blue Zones” and multi-millionarie Bryan Johnson’s extreme $2 million-a-year anti-aging protocol has catapulted interest in longevity practices into superstardom, almost to the point of fad-like obsession.
Granted, with decades of research-backed science under our belt, we now know a whole lot more about how the body works and how to best stave off age-related illness. We’ve learned that genes, once believed to be the sole determinants of our health outcomes, are not the sole directors of our health after all, and that lifestyle choices have a far greater influence on our longevity than we originally thought. This discovery of epigenetics has debunked traditional theories of how genes express themselves.
Dean Ornish, an American cardiologist and researcher, completely turned the cardiac world on its side with his landmark study, published in 1990, proving that when it comes to disease management, prevention and even reversal, much of the power lies in our own hands. With over 45 years of research under its belt, Ornish Lifestyle Medicine remains the only lifestyle program scientifically proven in peer-reviewed randomized trials to prevent, and often reverse, the progression of heart disease, diabetes and other chronic diseases. It is also the first lifestyle program and only one of its kind to be reimbursed by Medicare and Blue Shield in the U.S.
Dean Ornish’s program for reversing chronic disease is based on four main pillars: Eat Well (plant-based nutrition), Move More (exercise), Stress Less (stress management), and Love More (social connection).
The pillars of Dr. Ornish’s Program may seem simplistic and old-school, but they also ring true to something a very wise physician said to me a few decades ago in response to a mysterious condition that I had at the time. “Live like your grandmother did,” she advised. At the time, it seemed an odd, unhelpful thing to say, but little did I know how very intuitive and valuable it would turn out to be.
