Ultralongevity - Living Longer
Ultralongevity
By Mark Liponis, M.D.
The newest medical research shows that the best way to live a long, healthy life is to have a healthy immune system. How do you get one? By reducing your immune system's activity -- a quiet, peaceful immune system is a strong, happy one.
Science has long known that an overactive immune system leads to autoimmune diseases. Now it appears that every disease of aging -- from heart attacks to cancer -- is related to immune over-activity. Here are ten tips by Dr. Mark Liponis, author of 'Ultralongevity,' that will help you take the best possible care of your immune system so that you can live (almost) forever.
Living Well
Avoid Antibiotics
Frequent antibiotic use prematurely ages the immune system and is linked to a number of health effects, including heart disease, allergies, asthma, and even breast cancer. Such usage is a sign of someone whose immune system is often in battle mode, fighting an infection but also wreaking havoc on his or her health in the process.
Floss
Yes, floss! Flossing helps reduce plaque buildup in the teeth and gums. Plaque is a thick coating of nasty bacteria and is linked with an overactive immune system and a doubled risk of cardiovascular disease. Research has also shown that periodontal disease doubled the risk of stroke in adults over 25.
Make Love
Just what you were waiting for: Sex is good for you! And not just sex; few things quiet down a revved-up immune system better than loving and feeling loved. When you're loved, not only does everything seem better in the world, it is better in your body, too.
Play with Rover
An animal companion plays an important role in supporting your immune system. Dogs and cats (and other pets) create contact with most of the harmless germs your immune system needs to know as it develops in childhood. Without exposure to the right germs, your immune system may react to everything from pollen to grass, leading to allergies, asthma, and skin rashes.
Forget Three Meals -- Graze All Day Long
Despite what you might think, eating three large meals a day is no longer considered healthy. Meals are one of the biggest stresses on your immune system, and the bigger the meal, the greater the stress. Instead, feel free to graze all day -- as long as you eat small amounts each time.
Lower Your Voice
Have you been angry recently? Have you yelled at anyone? Your kids? Your spouse? At the office? Even when your voice gets a little edgy, it's a sign of inner hostility, and that tells your immune system you're geared up for a fight. Translation: Get ready to be hurt by an overactive immune system.
Sleep
When you sleep, your immune system can finally relax, recharge, and repair. It can't do this during the day -- it's too busy defending you. This is why it's difficult to sleep when you're sick, because your immune system is so damn active. All kinds of repair processes occur during sleep, while sleep deprivation is an important cause of immune over-activation.
Exercise In Rhythm
Dance! Sway! Move to the beat! The latest research suggests that while exercise is great, rhythmic exercise is even better -- numerous studies of athletes show that those who moved the most rhythmically (i.e. swimmers and rowers) enjoyed the lowest immune system activity. Other studies have shown that adding music to rehabilitation improves the outcome. So don't just walk -- walk to the beat!
Eat a Few Brazil Nuts
Maintaining a good diet is important for your immune system. Healthy, balanced meals emphasizing plant-based foods will give you all the requisite vitamins and minerals. One of these minerals is selenium, which helps prevent autoimmune diseases. And one of the best sources of selenium is the Brazil nut -- although you shouldn't eat more than six a day.
Let the Sun Shine On You
Too much sun exposure can lead to skin cancer. But that doesn't mean you should avoid sunlight, which is the primary way we get our vitamin D. Twenty minutes of daily sun exposure on the face and arms--or any other similarly sized body part -- meets the need for your daily D requirement.
More on AOL Body: Living Well
▪ Better Body, Better Life
▪ Live a Longer, Healthier Life
▪ Surprising Ways to Live Longer
Recent Comments
Zolshl 04:09:29 AM Apr 26 2008
There is a ministry where the Bible is read over the phone and a prayer is given. It changes messages daily and has said they will never ask for any money, only our prayers! That's quite a change! The number is 706-855-WORD (9673) if you are interested.
Crimedawgxxv 11:59:53 PM Apr 25 2008
miracle food, eat more possum. live long, save chickens
Vanclaybor 09:59:49 PM Apr 25 2008
While all of these are good ideas, I have serious doubts that they increase longevity. is thers any scientific research on the subject?
Avoiding antibiotics is some serious missinformation! The discovery, implementation, and use of antibiotics has effectively doubled the life span of the average person. Before antibiotics, infections that we take for granted now, were life threatening. Things like food poisoning, minor injuries, the flu and colds developed into serious illnesses that killed people. People used to die from tetnus, gangreen, and diarhea. All of which now are easily controled by antibiotics.
Toni Medford 04:30:49 PM Apr 25 2008
I've only known 2 women who lived this long, into their 100s. Both lived in a very small Florida town. One was black and had been a slave before the Civil War; one was white. Neither drove. Both loved to sit in a favored spot on the Chattahoochee River and fish any days that weren't too cold or it wasn't raining. Both walked to the store a few times a week to buy what few things they needed. Both drank strong, boiled coffee all day long and maybe a glass of water every now and then. One dipped snuff all her life. One did not. They were good friends but only socialized as fishing buddies. Both went to church every single Sunday and then had dinner with their families. Both endured hardships and heartaches. Both said they were who they were and nothing more. No weird secrets, just living day to day and enjoying the journey.
MYCUZ 01:53:26 PM Apr 25 2008
While all the suggestions maybe valid, the absolute best way to improve the immune system is throught diet. A specific diet that emphazises alkaline foods, when the body is acidic the immune system is compromised and subject to disease.
Feelinefem 10:43:58 AM Apr 25 2008
your life style makes up your gene and the baby's gene
GIRLILLA 09:48:39 AM Apr 25 2008
ok wait a minute, if we all start living to be over 100 years old, at what age do we get to retire? Does this mean I have to work until I am 80 to survive the rest of my days? Or does the "state' take care of my needs until my passing. If that is the case then that means the tax payers are footing the bill. I think living until my 80s is good enough for me. Pretending to hear and see in my last dying days are not for me.
TmHartline 07:55:40 AM Apr 25 2008
Is it genetics? Or lifestyle?
In my family, males have never made it to 70. Some drank and smoked, others led a "clean life" didn't matter. Heart failure took them all. Am I doomed to this fate?
We'll see in about 20 years. I have 5 brothers, an the two older than me already have heart trouble.
Am I going to sit arund and wait for that day? Heck no! I enjoy each and every day.
Woke up this morning and asked myself what can I do to make this a great day?
Answer? - do the next right thing. I am not sure what that is yet, but I will when the situation approaches me.
PCHCORP58 01:49:20 AM Apr 25 2008
To BIMBO729- I LOVED YOUR POST LOL. THAT'S FUNNY. I ALSO HEARD OF PEOPLE THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD AT 30 BY THE WAY THEY LIVED AND STUCK IT OUT TILL AT LEAST 90 YEARS OLD.
Bimbo729 06:30:11 AM Apr 24 2008
I had 2 neighbors that never ate a fat free thing in thier life. Never exersized, were over weight, smoked till they were 75, and drank 2 glasses of scotch everyday and lived to be well into their 90's. One lived to be 101.
My friends mother is 93 and was a selfish woman all her life. Never ate a fat free thing in her life smoked unitl 75, never exersized either. Personally I feel that the more selfish you are the longer you live. Because it's all about you and not what others think. In that case I'll be lucky to make 55. Thank goodness for Cymbalta!
