(Updated 25th August, 2024 - first published in 2011)
Strong heart, strong body, strong mind — That is Healthy Ageing!
As we age, what do cognition, a strong heart, healthy joints, and the ability to retain and then pee at an impressive volume have in common? Simple: When one is doing well, then so are the others! What is good for your brain is good for your heart.
Now that I am in my 8th decade, I feel qualified to comment about healthy ageing, and to do so with some authority.
In 2011, I wrote the article that follows. I have never looked back since then. Despite now being in my early 70's I still experience the thrill — yes, the thrill — of things being just that little bit better. This year has been no exception. I wrote about this when I woke up this morning because I peed the most and longest after sleeping since I was in college, when I drank beer by the jug, not by the glass. I am not trying to be a skite: I want to change how people see ageing. I want to do this by being my best, healthiest self. I want to help break down the common myths that ageing means losing your mind and getting sick and arthritic and the only solutions are to retire to the rocking chair, take more drugs, and get more surgery. What could be more powerful than walking the talk?
Are we wrong, or what?
In 2010, I read a book by health economist David L. Friedman, titled "Wrong!" While I was already well down the path to realising this, Friedman estimated that around 70 percent of health advice would later be either fully or partially wrong. I had resolved never to be so arrogant as not to say to my clients and readers this: "Sorry, I got it wrong, now let's put it right". This attitude has served me well. I agree there is a 70 percent chance that I am wrong.
Blood-letting was wrong.
Purging was wrong.
Restricting salt is wrong.
Fat-free is wrong.
Vegan is wrong.
Allopathic Medicine, except for emergency medicine, is very WRONG!
Other than antibiotics and a handful of other medications, no drugs cure anything.
Instead, we are best to abide by these ageless Hippocratic Principles:
Body, heal thyself.
Food is your medicine.
By applying these ageless principles of health to myself, while making the most of modern medicine and science, my health trajectory remains positive. I wonder to myself, just when will I plateau and resume the decline I experienced (suffered) from my early 40's before reversing this trend in my early 50's?
Personal health highlights for the year 2024 are as follows:
Setting lifetime personal bests in cyclocross (CX).
The best endurance (stamina) performances of my life.
Winning my age group in the NZ CX championships for the 11th year, while lapping the rest of the field.
Knocking 40 minutes off the Karapoti mountain bike race record for the 70+ age.
More satisfying was finishing 7th in the final of our region's CX A-Grade race series, with two national champions in front. I am giving the young ones a good run for their money.
Winning my 4th UCI Masters Mountain Bike World Championship.
Peeing like a champion!
At a career peak for productivity in work.
I am handling stress better than ever.
These highlights, like the gold medals, and records, are not imaginary. The hard evidence supports the claims that I am in better physical and cognitive health than 20 years ago.
So, without further ado, here is what I wrote in 2011 about the preposterous notion of reversing cardiovascular disease. In this case, the evidence, as outlined above confirms that I got it right back then!
Cardiovascular Disease (Arteriosclerosis) Reversed — Here is the evidence
By age 50, my blood pressure was all over the place and I was consulting a cardiologist about an irregular pulse. I was tired - damn tired! In addition, my left knee was getting worse, two operations later. On my 50th birthday my partner, Alofa, gave me a surf kayak. She knew it and I got the message - my legs had had enough, I was tired and it was time for sit-down past-times. Arthritis and cardiovascular disease were starting to rear their ugly heads in less than subtle ways. If this was how I felt at fifty, how was I going to feel at sixty? Seventy? Eighty? I did not like the imagery going through my head.
It was time for some serious intervention! Several years on, I can report brilliant success. My breakthrough came when I was introduced to the science of Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA). I realised that following the health advice, and medicine I had learned from my university years and onwards, was mostly wrong! I was harming my health.
Please read this article about cholesterol and cardiovascular disease in conjunction with what I have written below.
Slowly turning to stone
The principal driver of cardiovascular disease - leading to ailments like heart attack, stroke, loss of circulation to limbs, impotence, declining eyesight and dementia - is calcium deposition into soft tissues - including the blood vessels - aided by chronic inflammation.
This process of gradual calcification happens over decades and affects at least 80% of the New Zealand population. It sneaks up on us. This leads to a number of ageing-related health issues, including osteoporosis, gall stones, weight gain, thyroid disorders arthritis, and arteriosclerosis. We are going to focus on arteriosclerosis in this article.
My Hair Tissue Mineral Analyses, which now cover several years, show how I reversed this most unwanted process of gradually turning to stone.
Arteriosclerosis is the deposition of calcium in the walls of the arterial blood vessels of the body. This causes a gradual loss of flexibility and scarring of the blood vessels. there is a progressive die-off of the tiniest of blood vessels (arterioles) and this may be seen as purple spider veins on the cheeks, chin, legs and ankles. As this process of arterial calcification and tiny blood vessel die-off progresses, there is a gradual increase in blood pressure and a steady reduction of blood flow to the limb and organs, including the brain. When your optometrist looks into the rear of your eyes, one of the things she is assessing is the health of the tiny blood vessels that nourish the retina: Arteriosclerosis causes a progressive die-off of these tiny vessels. Arteriosclerosis explains why cardiovascular related ailments are the leading causes of disability and death in New Zealand.
Arteriosclerosis happens when there is an imbalance of calcium circulating in the body relative to quite a number of nutrients, including magnesium, sodium, potassium, copper, zinc, phosphorus, selenium and various other nutrients including pyridoxine and vitamin D.
Toxins such as mercury and lead, even in the tiniest amounts, may interfere with calcium metabolism, leading to calcium deposition in unwanted places like the joints and blood vessels. High calcium plus toxic elements gives you a double whammy of calcium deposition.
Excess Soft Tissue Calcium = Premature Ageing
If circulating calcium can not be properly utilised inside the cells, such as for bone, muscle and nerve function, it will end up precipitating into the spaces between the cells of the soft tissues, causing them to be clogged by chalk. This chalkiness may contribute to transparent dry skin, fine wrinkles, brittle nails, lifeless hair and unsightly spider veins. Deposition in joints drives arthritis. Because excess calcium affects thyroid function, the affected person may feel very tired, suffer cold hands and feet, sleep restlessly and gain weight about the hips and waist. Libido may be poor to non-existent.
Reversing arteriosclerosis
Everything I have been taught, to date, is that the processes of arteriosclerosis are progressive and irreversible: All that can be done is to mask or alleviate the symptoms with drugs and surgery. This is a bleak point of view: Dementia, impotence, stroke, heart attack, arthritis - inevitable? We now know that this process of calcification can be halted and even reversed. But it does take time and a whole lot of effort.
The HTMA charts in this article document the commencement and the ongoing process of my body mobilising and then dumping excess calcium from my soft tissues over several years. During this period, I have repeated the Hair Tissue Mineral Analyses about once a year to guide me as to what I should be doing with my diet and supplementation.
The first chart hints of the imbalances that drive the the process of calcium deposition into the soft tissues. Dietary and supplement measures were then put in place to reverse this process and this appears in the next chart as improvements in the uptake of Mg and other minerals and an associated dump of excess calcium commencing. The third chart show this dumping gather astonishing pace, while the fourth and fifth charts show that the calcium dump has peaked and is now in decline but still continuing to this day.
The process of "detoxification" can bring about periods of discomfort when it may be that you feel you are going backwards. In my case, when I look at the big picture of progress overall, since 2007, the gains have been absolutely amazing! I feel half my age and the stop watch does not lie - My athletic performance is at least as good as it was during my 30's. Incidentally, I am carrying more muscle than I did back then which is unusual because muscle is lost as we get older - and this despite no longer working out in a gym.
Here are some of the things I have noticed have improved since 50 years:
Libido
A good measure of general health, including circulation is libido which, for me, is at least as good as it was decades ago; but that's as much detail as you're going to get out of me!
Cholesterol
I have been keeping an eye on my cholesterol for over 20 years and it has been steadily creeping up, even despite being on a cholesterol lowering diet. For the first time ever, cholesterol levels have started to trend down. And this is despite my quadrupling my intake of fats and proteins during the same period!
Skin Kerastoses
I used to visit the dermatologist about once every two years to get precancerous skin kerastoses burned off - there has been no need for the last five years because they have all dropped off or faded away!
(still the case now it is 2024)
Joint Arthritis
My left knee is close to 100% pain free and functional which is miraculous. It should be getting worse at my age - not better. I am able to ride a bike and run competitively without discomfort or limitation.
(still the case now it is 2024 - better actually)
Blood Pressure
My blood pressure at 50 years was all over the place, often above 150/90 and at times less than 100/60. It is now consistently about 120/80 and I can tell the difference.
Heart
I did consult a cardiologist about ten years ago regarding an excessively low pulse and irregular rhythm. At one point, my peak pulse in a lab stress test was 109 beats per minute! Normal maximum pulse is 220- Your Age, so I was in big trouble back then. Both these issues have completely resolved in line with what is indicated in the Hair Tissue Analysis Reports; but the real proof is the regaining of my sporting Mojo in quite spectacular fashion. My peak heart rate during exercise is now slightly over 180 beats per minute which is excellent for my age and there are very few veteran male athletes in New Zealand who can outdo me on the cardiovascular stamina front.
The Challenge Ahead
This exercise of improving and maintaining good health is never finished because the natural processes of ageing dictate that one's physiology must eventually fall into terminal disrepair, resulting in death. The challenge is to keep the wheels of the machinery of life bolted on tight and turning despite the ravages of time and life itself. Of course, this exercise of staying healthy gets more difficult as time passes. Depressing as it might be to think about these matters, I actually find it to be a fascinating challenge.
My goal is to die healthy, quickly and with a smile. Hopefully I will wake up one morning only to discover I died peacefully in my sleep. Hopefully that is many years away!
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