Aging and Health: Food for Thought

Aging and Health: Food for Thought

By Angela Murphy

I like to look at the whole picture when it comes to almost anything, and the body is no exception.  When I was reading the forum responses, I noticed a few that alluded to the fact that aging has no direct effects on the digestive system, and throughout the module this sentiment has recurred, why does aging affect anything?  These anatomical parts are built to do what they do, just look at their shapes, sizes and locations.  How do they wear out?  With this in mind, and your indulgence, the sage will now take the stage…

         In terms of daily routine and function the respiratory and nervous systems are of obvious and paramount importance.  The lungs keep our cells supplied with oxygen and respire the carbon dioxide waste produced; while, the brain, spinal cord, and all the cranial and peripheral nerves have us wired to do everything the body does, respiring, circulating, digesting, blinking, sneezing, on and on.  As we learned in chapter 7 the nervous system is run on chemical electricity.  However, looking long term the cardiovascular system is where it’s at, “you’re only as old as your arteries,” is the root of aging and the first domino when looking at organs and ultimately systemic malfunction.

         “Old” blood vessels are stiff, hardened, and clogged.  This means a person could be 34 years old on the outside but 60 years old on the inside.  It’s the same reason why it’s a bad idea to buy a used sports car.  It may not have many miles on it, but you know they are hard driven miles.  So, it’s not how many years you have on your body that’s important, but how hard those years have been lived, and what you have done to compensate for any hard living (the body is very resilient).  With this new definition of “age” in mind, I will explain the impact on the digestive system and the body in general.

         If your circulation is poor, and inefficient the digestive system’s ability to do its job is definitely impacted, hepatic portal circulation being first to come to mind.  This results in poor nutrient absorption, and we all know the homeostatic negative feedback for this would be, “eat more.”  So, between mal-absorption in the intestines and inadequate dietary nutritional choices, it’s no wonder our poor metabolisms end up having to compensate by slowing down 5-8% every 10 years starting in middle age.  They don’t get enough starting fuel to run at full capacity, so homeostasis compensates by decreasing demand and slowing our “furnace,” aka metabolism.

         So, what can we do to improve our cardiovascular health, thereby the health of the entire body and slow “aging”? 

1.   I’ll start with everyone’s favorite, exercise.  You should do some activity a few times a week, every week.  Regularity is what matters the most.  Regularity gives results.   Whatever activity it is it should be somewhat aerobic, and include some stretching and weightlifting.  Benefits of each:

a.   Aerobic, if your heart rate is elevated, then it and your blood vessels are working.  This helps to strengthen the skeletal, cardiac and smooth muscles.  Plus you’re maintaining stable blood oxygen levels which is very important in burning fat and keeping muscle soreness to a minimum.

b.   Stretching is not only a great way to improve the condition of your skeletal muscles, but it also stretches everything else inside, like your organs and blood vessels.  Stretching imparts flexibility to not only skeletal muscles, but also smooth muscles.  Where there is flexibility there is strength, which creates stamina and endurance.  Not to mention it helps prevent muscle soreness after exercise by squeezing out any lactic acid that may have accumulated in the muscle tissue.

c.    Weight bearing activities are also useful, but women, should be particularly mindful of engaging in them.  After menopause estrogen production declines, and this hormone helps maintain the health and normal density of a woman’s skeleton.  Weight bearing activities improve bone density and strength in men and women.

2.   Go to the dentist.  Peridontal (gum disease) is no joke.  The mouth and accompanying oral cavity is the main entrance to the body, our front porch, if you will.  If you don’t clean it well (floss, brush 2 minutes, and rinse 2x a day), and get it checked regularly all kinds of bacteria, viruses, and foreign matter will find their way not only into your digestive and respiratory systems, but also your circulatory system.  Blood vessels are closest to the surface of the skin in the mouth.  Medications for fastest delivery, besides injection, are administered “sublingually,” dissolved under the tongue.  The mouth is immediate access to your circulatory system and therefore all organs of your body.  Keep your mouth clean, and you’ll make yourself and everyone around you smile.

3.   Watch your fluid intake.  Too much fluids is very hard on the kidneys.  When we overwork them they age faster, as with any body part.  Kidneys are imperative to efficient circulation, and we can’t live without both of them.  The recommendations for 8 glasses of water per day are accurate (remember water companies have bottom lines too), however this accounts for all sources of water including: water in solid food (44% of 8 glasses), water that is drunk (36% of 8 glasses), and water produced by the body from metabolism (20% of 8 glasses).  Looking at water needs in this fashion, in turns out that on a daily basis, we only need to consume about 2-4 glasses per day depending upon your activity level, which may have additional needs.  Remember all drinks have water.  Overconsumption of fluids will not only flush nutrients from your system (including your skin making it sag more) and tax your kidneys, but it is also addictive.  The more you drink the more you want.  In case you’re wondering, the ideal daily beverage would be a bottled, flat (noncarbonated), mineral water.

4.   Diets don’t work long term because they are generally a temporary change, so they may achieve a satisfactory temporary result.  Additionally, they are hard on your body’s homeostasis.  But, as we all know, nutrition is ultimately about your lifestyle.

5.   So what should you eat to improve overall health?

·      I’ll start with what we shouldn’t eat.  Be wary of sugar, fried and processed foods.

·      This is what the food pyramid tells us, the bulk of our diet should come from grains, and then vegetables, and then fruit.  After which come dairy, then meat and beans, and finally oils.

·      What the food pyramid and its basis on fiber doesn’t tell us, is that it did not come, “…about as a result of thorough academic research, methodical clinical investigation, and penetrating peer reviews.” (Monastyrsky, p. 3).  Our “modern” ideas of what we should consume, and how much is based on marketing and commercialism.  John Harvey Kellogg (1852-1943) was a practicing physician and also a successful entrepreneur who started a little known company that produces, among other things, sugared breakfast cereals fortified with fiber, known as the Kellogg Company.  Kellogg’s influence is responsible for how the food pyramid was built.  He had the access, authority, and resources to espouse his dietary recommendations over a long period of time to lots and lots of people.  So, fiber took hold as the basis of our diet.

6.   So what’s wrong with consuming lots of fiber?

a.   It’s indigestible, that should be the first red flag, meaning our digestive system does not have the means to extract any meaningful amount of nutrition from it.  We are not herbivores, plant eaters, we are omnivores, plant and meat eaters.  When we consume insoluble fiber, it bulks up, by absorbing liquids including acid, in the stomach making you feel full, but once it enters the small intestine and your body is unable to get all the nutrients it requires, you get hungry again.  Hunger is your body’s way of saying I need nutrition, not I need to feel full.  Remember the stomach is really just a holding tank that is doing more mechanical digestion, hopefully killing incoming germs and breaking down proteins.

b.   The small intestine is a very long, flexible tube with many folds inside of it.  It is designed to absorb nutrients from liquid chyme, the digested material from the stomach.  However, if clumps of solid indigestible fiber are to pass through our hose-like intestines, here are some consequences:

                                                                i.     It will overwork those smooth muscles, eventually leading to loss of tone, and a slowing of peristalsis. 

                                                               ii.     Fiber, because it is indigestible gets into places and plugs things up.  It is a likely culprit in creating those inflammations in the appendix and gallbladder.  What else could be stuck in these small openings causing inflammation if everything else is digested down to liquid? 

                                                             iii.     Fiber is also tough on the sensitive mucous linings of the digestive system.  When these linings are compromised all manner of problems occur: ulcers, infections, malnutrition, and cancer, just to name a few.

c.    Adopt a low fiber diet as your lifestyle and, assuming you don’t supplement with refined sugar, fruit juice or soft drinks, you will also naturally be adopting a low carbohydrate diet.  Some benefits:

                                                                i.     It is an effective preventative for cardiovascular and endocrine (controls the hormones, second in command of the body behind the nervous system) disorders.

                                                               ii.     Effective and lasting weight loss, aided by a general reduction of appetite and faster satiety, when eating.

                                                             iii.     “Advantages of a low-fiber diet come from the combined effects of better digestion and improved endocrine functions, which impact health, well-being, and longevity.” (Monastyrsky, p. 264).

d.   Even though a low-fiber and hence low-carbohydrate diet maybe ideal, you can’t just stop ingesting carbohydrates and fiber suddenly without your body reacting to the change.  People who have tried the South Beach or Atkins diets will tell you that your body has learned to work with a higher carbohydrate intake, that crazy homeostasis again, and when this is lowered you may experience, constipation, headaches, and moodiness.  Once this happens it is only natural that people abandon the “low-carb lifestyle.”  But if you want to be healthy and active into old age, it is the way to go.  So make little changes, take baby steps; that way you won’t freak out your homeostatic mechanisms, and you’ll be on your way to long lasting success in attaining your health goal(s).

e.   One more observation, copious amounts of fiber consumption is seen more frequently in women.  We are always trying to lose weight.  We eat salads, vegetables, fruits, pastas, stay away from meat, drink lots of water, take fiber laxatives, on and on in an effort to be at a healthier weight.  That is why so many of the digestive and hormonal (endocrine) issues are more prevalent in women.  We are stuffing ourselves with indigestible stuffing hoping to have healthier and more efficient and functional bodies, so we can fully participate in life activities.  But until you get a handle on how to treat your body you can’t ever fully engage the world the way you should.   Become a body mechanic and fine-tune your habits, and contentment will follow.