Mens sana in corpore sano is a Latin phrase, usually translated as “a healthy mind in
a healthy body”. The phrase is widely used in sporting and educational contexts to express
the theory that physical exercise is an important or essential part of mental and psychological well-being.
While in the hospital doctors told me I was an 87 year old man in a 57 year old body – because of the way – I had cared for my physical-mental-spiritual body and labs et cetera were all close to normal. This they say helps my recovery. Do you think this is available for all of us and what we need to do to accomplish this. I am interested in your ideas. Of course! The mind controls all. And yes, you absolutely have to fuel that body a certain way. Put good in, get good out! Healthy mind, healthy body (and vice versa). Avoid unhealthy toxic foods & unhealthy toxic people… and be happy and positive and the healthier you will be.
I think mindset is huge. If you believe you can take care of yourself and heal yourself you
will be well on your way. Eating healthy organic foods, making time for self-care, movement, enjoyable relationships, helping others, and not holding grudges all go a long way to keeping one healthy. I’m making serious changes as I head into this new chapter of my life.
Did you ever read “Younger next Year”?
You are what you eat, Eat organic, vegan with lots of raw fruit and vegetables, meditate daily, help others when I can, stay positive as much as possible, being grateful, use affirmations when needed, avoid negative people as much as possible, stay in touch with family, use FLFE energy continuous in my house, be dependable. exercise and socialization also helps!! Thoughts are thing, so have Faith, love Family, enjoy friends and have lots of Fun, the 4 powerful F’s. Even when you think the cards are stacked against you remember those 4 powerful F’s. We do the best we can even when you think it doesn’t meet your standards for ourselves. Never berate ourselves-just keep loving ourselves for who we are. Pat stated: My Mother lived to be 97,
an Aunt 104, others in late 90’s. My Dad 89, he would have lived much longer
if he hadn’t used tobacco and sipped on 100 proof Ole’ Smokie White lightin’.
It was his sister that lived to be 104. I grew up on a tobacco farm in the Smoky Mountains of NC. and my Daddy always thought he should smoke his own product. I don’t know what his excuse was for the white lighting. It has to be fun to make, fun to drink & fun to hide from the Revenuers! Just kidding you have to have a little levity in your life as well
(so laugh often and even at yourself ! )
Food and mental care is important. It also is important to have a healthy environment. It helps to live in a pristine area and grow your own food. Growing your own food is key I believe. We also grew our own fruit and vegetables when I was growing up and killed a pig and cow. . . before each winter. Because there was no refrigeration my mother canned the meat and vegetables and the potatoes and root vegetables were in the root cellar for the winter. I believe mindset is a lot of it. Sure taking care of your body certainly helps. I’m proof vitamins work. The way you think is part of recovery also. Good health has something to do with telomeres being lengthening due to good nutrition, healthy lifestyle, good thoughts!
Actually… I was just reflecting on this, I need to make a point of mentioning that the reason I’m not on pharmaceuticals is because of my self care practices. Yoga, massages, hot tub, meditation. Eating well with only fish for meat. Juicing and teas during flu season. I want it noted in my chart I KNOW it makes a difference. Let me embrace it… Sending you LOVE!!!
You should pray for a healthy mind in a healthy body.
Ask for a stout heart that has no fear of death,
and deems length of days the least of Nature’s gifts
that can endure any kind of toil,
that knows neither wrath nor desire and thinks
the woes and hard labors of Hercules better than
the loves and banquets and downy cushions of Sardanapalus.
What I commend to you, you can give to yourself;
For assuredly, the only road to a life of peace is virtue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1u8H0xq6l8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCqw7V_33Ss
Sometimes the best medicine is a huge dose of amazement !!!
Progress is an endless challenge and for those hit their stride and for those up for the challenge you can change the game?
As researchers learn how to naturally slow aging to keep us looking and feeling young, they’re looking at telomeres, the parts of chromosomes that control aging, for the answers. And with possible links to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some types of cancer, the stakes are high.
What Are Telomeres?
Telomeres are segments of DNA at the end of our chromosomes. Scientists frequently compare them to the plastic tips of shoelaces that keep the laces together. (1) Telomeres function similarly, preventing chromosomes from fraying or tangling with one another. When that happens, it can cause genetic information to get mixed up or destroyed, leading to cell malfunction, increasing the risk of disease or even shortening lifespans.
Each time a cell divides, its telomeres become shorter. After years of splicing and dicing, telomeres become too short for more divisions. At this point, cells are unable to divide further and become inactive, die or continue dividing anyway — an abnormal process that’s potentially dangerous.
Essentially, this is how our bodies age. As more of our cells lose their telomeres and go out of commission, without others to take their place, the body follows and begins breaking down. And telomeres don’t leave (or shorten) quietly. Their shortening process has been linked with aging, cancer and a higher risk of death. (2)
Each telomere’s ticking biological clock (unfortunately, ladies, there is another one) has the potential to alter our lives in drastic ways but, interestingly, it’s not our age that determines when the clock will stop — it’s the length of our telomeres.
What Do Telomeres Have to Do with Health and Aging?
One of the largest studies to date on telomeres shed some light on telomeres’ effect on a person’s health. Researchers collected saliva samples and medical records of more than 100,000 participants. Their findings showed that shorter-than-average telomere length was associated with a boost in mortality risk — even after adjusting for lifestyle factors like smoking, alcohol consumption and education that are linked to telomere length. (3)
The study found that individuals with the shortest telomeres, or about 10 percent of the study’s participants, were 23 percent more likely to die within three years than those with longer telomeres. The findings are trickier than expected, however. Researchers are still unsure whether telomere length is just a marker of aging, like gray hair or wrinkles, or if it’s an active factor in whether a person is more likely to have a disease like Alzheimer’s or die.
There’s also another key player in the game: telomerase.
Telomerase is an enzyme that lengthens telomeres and keeps them from wearing out too fast or too early. But with constant cell division, telomerase levels are depleted, enabling telomeres to shorten. It stands to reason that if science found a way to increase telomerase production, telomeres would remain long, lengthening life spans and possibly reducing the risk of some diseases.
In fact, one 2010 study on aging published in Nature performed on rodents seems to confirm that theory. Mice engineered to lack telomerase aged prematurely and became decrepit. But when the enzyme was replaced, they bounced back to health. By reawakening telomerase in human cells where it’s stopped working, normal human aging could be slowed. “This has implications for thinking about telomerase as a serious anti-aging intervention,” said Ronald DePinho, a cancer geneticist who led the study.
However, there are still serious doubts about whether reversing or slowing down aging via telomerase activity is the answer. Because while telomerase does lengthen telomeres, in humans with cancer, the enzyme helps existing tumors grow faster. At this stage, it doesn’t seem we know enough about safely harnessing telomerase to ensure that it works only to lengthen telomeres and doesn’t actually stimulate cancer.
How Can I Lengthen My Telomeres and Slow Aging?
While science still isn’t 100 percent sure how telomere length affects how we age, it’s clear that the longer our telomeres are, the better. The good news is that there are a variety of lifestyle changes you can make today to lengthen your telomeres. (4)
1. Control and Reduce Stress
Several studies have linked chronic stress to shorter telomeres. (5) A 2004 study compared healthy women who were mothers of healthy children (the control moms) and those who cared for chronically ill children (caregiving mothers). On average, the caregiving mothers had telomeres that were 10 years shorter than the control moms. (6) That is, their cells behaved as if one decade older.
Another study that examined African-American boys found that those who came from stressful environments had telomeres that were about 40 percent shorter than peers from stable homes. (7)
The takeaway? Chronic stress doesn’t just put you in a bad mood; it contributes to aging in a very real way. Exercising regularly, getting enough sleep and carving out time for yourself daily are all easy ways to help bust stress.
2. Exercise Regularly
From boosting happiness to providing an energy boost, the benefits of exercise are well documented. Now there’s another reason to hit the gym.
A recent study found that a person who did some type of exercise was about 3 percent less likely to have super short telomeres than a person who didn’t exercise at all. (8) Not only that, but the more a person exercised, the longer their telomeres. The correlation between telomere length and exercise activity seemed to be strongest among those in middle age, suggesting that it’s never too late to start a fitness program and keep those telomeres from shortening.
Another study about how exercise keeps your cells young found that middle-aged adults who were intense runners (we’re talking 45–50 miles a week) had telomere lengths that were, on average, 75 percent longer than their sedentary counterparts. Now, this doesn’t mean you need to become an ultramarathon runner. It does, however, suggest that regularly engaging in intense exercise, like
HIIT workouts, can keep telomeres long and happy.
3. Eat a Range of Foods for Antioxidant and Vitamin Benefits
Foods high in vitamins are believed to protect cells and their telomeres from oxidative damage. A diet high in antioxidant foods, like berries and artichokes, can slow down aging and help prevent or reduce cell damage.
Additionally, taking a multivitamin supplement to bridge the gap between the foods you’re eating and what your body needs might lengthen telomeres as well. One study found that women who took a daily supplement had telomeres that were about 5 percent longer than nonusers. (9)
But supplements still can’t mimic all the health benefits of eating real, wholesome foods. The same study found that, even after adjusting for supplement use, participants who ate foods high in vitamins C and E also had longer telomeres. Oranges, peppers and kale are among the top vitamin C foods. For vitamin E, turn to almonds, spinach and sweet potatoes.
As always, you should avoid sugary and highly-processed foods. One study found an association between sugar-sweetened soda consumption and shorter telomeres. (10)
4. Practice Meditation and Yoga
It’s time to unroll your mat and unwind. In a 2014 study among breast cancer survivors, those who participated in mindful meditation and practiced yoga kept their telomeres at the same length; the telomeres of the control group, who did neither activity, shortened during the study time. (11)
A 2008 study among men found that, after three months of a vegan diet, aerobic exercise and stress management, including yoga, there was increased telomerase activity. A 2013 follow-up study found that those lifestyle changes are associated with longer telomeres. (12)
Meditation comes in different forms for different people. For me, it’s healing prayer and setting aside time to reflect. For others, it might be setting an intention for their day, attending a regular yoga class or spending time with loved ones without the distraction of technology or work. Whatever your meditation looks like, it’s clear it’s good for our minds and bodies.
While we wait for science to unravel all the mysteries of telomeres and how they work for — and against — us, we can make changes to lengthen them and positively affect the rest of our lives.
Read Next: Blue Zones Secrets: How to Live 100+ Years
A Harvard study, almost 80 years old, has proved that embracing community helps us live longer, and be happier.
By Liz Mineo
When scientists began tracking the health of 268 Harvard sophomores in 1938 during the
Great Depression, they hoped the longitudinal study would reveal clues to leading healthy and happy lives.
They got more than they wanted.
After following the surviving Crimson men for nearly 80 years as part of the Harvard Study
of Adult Development, one of the world’s longest studies of adult life, researchers have collected a cornucopia of data on their physical and mental health.
Of the original Harvard cohort recruited as part of the Grant Study, only 19 are still alive,
all in their mid-90s. Among the original recruits were eventual President John F. Kennedy and longtime Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee.
(Women weren’t in the original study because the College was still all male.)
In addition, scientists eventually expanded their research to include the men’s offspring, who now number 1,300 and are in their 50s and 60s, to find out how early-life experiences affect health and aging over time. Some participants went on to become successful businessmen, doctors, lawyers, and others ended up as schizophrenics or alcoholics, but not on inevitable tracks.
During the intervening decades, the control groups have expanded. In the 1970s, 456 Boston inner-city residents were enlisted as part of the Glueck Study, and 40 of them are still alive. More than a decade ago, researchers began including wives in the Grant and Glueck studies.
Over the years, researchers have studied the participants’ health trajectories and their broader lives, including their triumphs and failures in careers and marriage, and the finding have produced startling lessons, and not only for the researchers.
“The surprising finding is that our relationships and how happy we are in our relationships has a powerful influence on our health,” said Robert Waldinger, director of the study, a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “Taking care of your body is important, but tending to your relationships
is a form of self-care too. That, I think, is the revelation.”
“The people who were the most satisfied in their relationships at age 50 were the healthiest
at age 80,” said Robert Waldinger with his wife Jennifer Stone.
Close relationships, more than money or fame, are what keep people happy throughout their lives, the study revealed. Those ties protect people from life’s discontents, help to delay mental and physical decline, and are better predictors of long and happy lives than social class, IQ, or even genes. That finding proved true across the board among both the Harvard men and the inner-city participants.
The long-term research has received funding from private foundations, but has been financed largely by grants from the National Institutes of Health, first through the National Institute of Mental Health, and more recently through the National Institute on Aging.
Researchers who have pored through data, including vast medical records and hundreds of
in-person interviews and questionnaires, found a strong correlation between men’s flourishing lives and their relationships with family, friends, and community. Several studies found that people’s level of satisfaction with their relationships at age 50 was a better predictor of physical health than their cholesterol levels were.
“When we gathered together everything we knew about them about at age 50, it wasn’t their middle-age cholesterol levels that predicted how they were going to grow old,” said Waldinger in a popular TED Talk. “It was how satisfied they were in their relationships. The people who were the most satisfied in their relationships at age 50 were the healthiest at age 80.”
He recorded his TED talk, titled “What Makes a Good Life?
Lessons from the Longest Study
on Happiness,” in 2015, and it has been viewed 13,000,000 times.
The researchers also found that marital satisfaction has a protective effect on people’s mental health. Part of a study found that people who had happy marriages in their 80s reported that their moods didn’t suffer even on the days when they had more physical pain. Those who had unhappy marriages felt both more emotional and physical pain.
Those who kept warm relationships got to live longer and happier, said Waldinger, and the loners often died earlier. “Loneliness kills,” he said. “It’s as powerful as smoking or alcoholism.”
According to the study, those who lived longer and enjoyed sound health avoided smoking
and alcohol in excess. Researchers also found that those with strong social support experienced less mental deterioration as they aged.
In part of a recent study, researchers found that women who felt securely attached to their partners were less depressed and more happy in their relationships two-and-a-half years later, and also had better memory functions than those with frequent marital conflicts.
“Loneliness kills. It’s as powerful as smoking or alcoholism.”
— Robert Waldinger.
“Good relationships don’t just protect our bodies; they protect our brains,” said Waldinger
in his TED talk. “And those good relationships, they don’t have to be smooth all the time.
Some of our octogenarian couples could bicker with each other day in and day out, but as long as they felt that they could really count on the other when the going got tough, those arguments didn’t take a toll on their memories.”
Since aging starts at birth, people should start taking care of themselves at every stage of life, the researchers say.
“Aging is a continuous process,” Waldinger said. “You can see how people can start to differ
in their health trajectory in their 30s, so that by taking good care of yourself early in life you can set yourself on a better course for aging. The best advice I can give is ‘Take care of your body as though you were going to need it for 100 years,’ because you might.”
The study, like its remaining original subjects, has had a long life, spanning four directors, whose tenures reflected their medical interests and views of the time.
Under the first director, Clark Heath, who stayed from 1938 until 1954,
the study mirrored the era’s dominant view of genetics and biological determinism.
Early researchers believed that physical constitution, intellectual ability, and personality traits determined adult development. They made detailed anthropometric measurements of skulls, brow bridges, and moles, wrote in-depth notes on the functioning of major organs, examined brain activity through electroencephalograms, and even analyzed the men’s handwriting.
Now, researchers draw men’s blood for DNA testing and put them into MRI scanners to examine organs and tissues in their bodies, procedures that would have sounded like science fiction back in 1938. In that sense, the study itself represents a history of the changes that life brings.
Psychiatrist George Vaillant, who joined the team as a researcher in 1966, led the study from 1972 until 2004. Trained as a psychoanalyst, Vaillant emphasized the role of relationships,
and came to recognize the crucial role they played in people living long and pleasant lives.
“When the study began, nobody cared about empathy or attachment. But the key to healthy aging is relationships, relationships, relationships.” — George Vaillant
In a book called “Aging Well,” Vaillant wrote that six factors predicted healthy aging for the Harvard men: physical activity, absence of alcohol abuse and smoking, having mature mechanisms to cope with life’s ups and downs, and enjoying both a healthy weight and a stable marriage. For the inner-city men, education was an additional factor. “The more education the inner city men obtained,” wrote Vaillant, “the more likely they were to stop smoking,
eat sensibly, and use alcohol in moderation.”
Vaillant’s research highlighted the role of these protective factors in healthy aging. The more factors the subjects had in place, the better the odds they had for longer, happier lives.
“When the study began, nobody cared about empathy or attachment,” said Vaillant.
“But the key to healthy aging is relationships, relationships, relationships.”
The study showed that the role of genetics and long-lived ancestors proved less important to longevity than the level of satisfaction with relationships in midlife, now recognized as a good predictor of healthy aging. The research also debunked the idea that people’s personalities
“set like plaster” by age 30 and cannot be changed.
“Those who were clearly train wrecks when they were in their 20s or 25s turned out to be wonderful octogenarians,” he said. “On the other hand, alcoholism and major depression could take people who started life as stars and leave them at the end of their lives as train wrecks.”
Professor Robert Waldinger is director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development,
one of the world’s longest studies of adult life.
The study’s fourth director, Waldinger has expanded research to the wives and children of the original men. That is the second-generation study, and Waldinger hopes to expand it into the third and fourth generations. “It will probably never be replicated,” he said of the lengthy research, adding that there is yet more to learn.
“We’re trying to see how people manage stress, whether their bodies are in a sort of chronic ‘fight or flight’ mode,” Waldinger said. “We want to find out how it is that a difficult childhood reaches across decades to break down the body in middle age and later.”
Lara Tang ’18, a human and evolutionary biology concentrator who recently joined the team
as a research assistant, relishes the opportunity to help find some of those answers. She joined the effort after coming across Waldinger’s TED talk in one of her classes.
“That motivated me to do more research on adult development,” said Tang. “I want to see how childhood experiences affect developments of physical health, mental health, and happiness later in life.”
Asked what lessons he has learned from the study, Waldinger, who is a Zen priest, said he practices meditation daily and invests time and energy in his relationships, more than before.
“It’s easy to get isolated, to get caught up in work and not remembering, ‘Oh, I haven’t seen these friends in a long time,’ ” Waldinger said. “So I try to pay more attention to my relationships than I used to.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KkKuTCFvzI