Aspiring to live a long life is not just about the "number" of years you survive, it's about the "quality" of those years.
Interestingly today, we live in the best of times and the worst of times.
For all of the brilliance of new technologies and the evolution of commerce, it could be argued that it has come at a cost to our standard of living and general health and wellbeing.
Even though we are generally living longer, the real question is, are we experiencing a happier, more energetic life to enjoy the extra time we have on the planet.
One of the biggest challenges we all face is managing our constant exposure to physical and mental stress, which greatly impacts how we look and feel over time.
This is why it's so important to be extra conscious of the main areas that support ongoing health and vitality - mentally, physically and emotionally.
Here, we highlight four longevity secrets that can play an important role in helping you to minimise interference within your body and mind, so that you can look and feel great and live your best life into your golden years.
1. Minimise Toxicity & Interference
The first step to longevity, is to minimise your exposure to toxicity as much as possible.
Exposure to toxicity creates interference in your body, which ultimately takes your body out of homeostasis, it's the natural state of equilibrium.
In small doses, your body can do an amazing job at filtering out any disruption, however constant exposure becomes overwhelming, causing your body to eventually break down.
This is why you should do all that you can to reduce toxicity in your diet and lifestyle.
There are three common sources of toxicity in the body:
1. Poor Diet - mainly caused by processed and refined foods, chemical additives and preservatives.
2. Personal Care - in terms of the products you use on your body and around the home every single day.
3. Emotional Chaos - in the form of mental and emotional trauma and stress in your personal and working life.
All of these sources of toxicity have a big say in your overall quality of life and your ability to resist disease as you age.
This is why staying forever young, starts with doing the little things right on a consistent basis throughout the main part of your lifetime.
It means embracing a clean diet, making regular exercise a part of your routine, using natural non-invasive products and surrounding yourself with positive, uplifting people to help minimise emotional stress and trauma.
2. Embrace The 7 Principles of Health
No matter how much time goes on and what technologies are invented, the 7 principles of health are timeless, dependable, common-sense principles that should be your "go-to" place to preserve and reset your health and quality of life.
Let's quickly recap these principles, because no matter how many times you may have heard them, they cannot be emphasised enough!
- AIR
- WATER
- SUNSHINE
- WALKING
- WHOLEFOODS
- HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS
- PASSION
AIR - The latin word for air is "spirit" which basically means; that which you cannot see that has special significance. Air definitely fits this bill and your goal should be to give your body, brain and lungs the gift of clean, outside air, every single day for at least 1 hour;
WATER - Your body and brain represent around 70% water, which is why water is a vital source of life and why replenishment is so important. Drink a minimum of 2 litres of water per day, which is the approximate weight of the brain that should ideally be replaced every 24 hours if you want to avoid headaches, fatigue and brain fog. More optimally, you should aim to drink 1 litre per 22 kilos of bodyweight per day to replenish your cells and support all of your body's most important functions;
SUNSHINE - Like water, sunshine is a source of life and without it, there would be no life on earth. The sun is vital for physical, emotional and mental wellbeing, for protecting immunity and for helping you to avoid a host of cancers, such as breast, prostate and lung cancer. It's important to respect not fear the sun, and to get into sunlight for small blocks of time, particularly during the early part of the day, to receive Vitamin D which is vital for supporting liver health and key functions of your body;
WALKING - There is a reason why walking is referred to as a constitution. Walking is a vital foundational exercise that human beings are meant to do every day to support health, longevity and for optimum function of all systems of the body. Get outside and walk for a minimum of 30-45 minutes per day as close to nature as possible if you can;
WHOLE FOODS - Whole foods are plant foods that are in their natural, unrefined state - that means seasonal fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and whole grains. Your diet should consist of at least 80% whole food, leaving the remaining 20% for you to fill with more concentrated foods and other foods you enjoy. Shop locally at your farmer's markets for fresh produce as often as possible, in order to minimise and avoid your exposure to harmful chemicals that are generally used in the cultivation, transportation and merchandising of most supermarket produce;
RELATIONSHIPS - Love and connection is such a fundamental human need to preserve emotional wellness and longevity. For this reason, it is so important to avoid, end and/or heal relationships that become toxic, as they can become one of the biggest sources of trauma we can experience. Express love and gratitude to those people in your life you really care about and do whatever it takes to protect your emotional peace from toxic relationships that don't serve you. This is a vital longevity principle that should not be overlooked!
PASSION - Having a passion for something, means you make time for things that bring you joy and light you up with positive emotional energy. No matter your age, you should find and practice activities and activities that bring you fulfilment and personal satisfaction. Dedicate at least two 1 hour sessions per week to passion for lasting happiness as a longevity principle.
3. Support Your Body's Natural Cycles
The body has three 8 hour cycles per day that regulate sleep, energy and the digestive process.
These 8 blocks are also tied into what is known as the "Circadian Rhythm" - your body's natural sleep-wake cycle.
So, what are these 3 cycles?
Appropriation - The Eating Cycle e.g. 12pm-8pm
Assimilation - The Rest & Digest Cycle e.g. 8pm-4am
Detoxification - The Elimination Cycle e.g. 4am-12pm
Even though the start and finishing times of these cycles may very from person to person, this principle provides for the following within each 24 hour period:
- An 8 hour feeding or consumption window
- An 8 hour sleep window where your body absorbs nutrients and processes waste
- An 8 hour detoxification window where your body most efficiently eliminates waste via the bowels, urinary tract, respiratory system and skin.
When you support these natural cycles in a conscious way, you'll go a long way to preserving health and prolonging longevity. However, when you disrupt these cycles, inflammation, disease and shorter life span will likely be the most likely end result.
4. Intermittent Fasting
There has never been a long-lived culture on earth that has subscribed to the modern day concept of three square meals per day promoted by the modern food industry.
Despite what we've been raised to believe, for thousands of years, human beings have been accustomed to going long stints of time (many hours and even multiple days) without food.
We are not designed to eat several times per day.
And ignoring this fact is why we have more inflammation, fatigue and dietary related diseases than at any other time in history.
Intermittent Fasting is a simple methodology that extends the number of hours that you "fast" within each 24 hour period and reduces the window of time in which you consume your daily calories.
For example, instead of having your first meal of the day at 8am and your last at 8pm, a popular way to intermittently fast is to delay breakfast until say 10am and to eat your final meal of the day at 6pm. In this instance, you would essentially be fasting for 16 hours within a 24 hour block.
Science is now proving that there are powerful longevity benefits in practicing intermittent fasting in this kind of way. These benefits are known to include:
- Cellular regeneration
- Boosting Skin Elasticity
- Reducing Inflammation
- Avoiding Weight Gain
- Decreasing risk of chronic diseases such as Cancer, Heart Disease and Alzheimer's.
Done optimally, intermittent fasting ties in perfectly within the body's natural three 8 hour cycles, because it calls for a "feeding" window that is limited to 8 hours and a "fasting" window that is dedicated to the remaining 16 hours.
Fasting for this period of time is known to activate a process in the body known as "Autophagy", whereby the cells begin to recycle - dismantling damaged cell proteins so that new, healthy cells can be built.
Even if 16 hours is too much for you, if you're able to prolong your daily fasting window to even 12 or 14 hours just two or three days per week, it can be very beneficial to your health, energy and longevity.
The key is with intermittent fasting is to gradually increase your fasting window at a comfortable level over time. You will quickly find a level that works for you and your lifestyle and then begin to notice the benefits in how you look and feel.
The Main Take Away
The secret to longevity and staying forever young, begins with doing the little things right throughout your life, but it's never too late to start!
The cornerstone of ongoing great health as you age, comes down to reducing your toxic load in all departments and to practice the 7 principles of health on a consistent basis.
Beyond that, it's wise to have a basic understanding of your body's natural cycles and to learn to support those cycles effectively, using the power of intermittent fasting.
This is how you set yourself up to experience ongoing health and vitality...and how you can greatly reduce your risk of sickness and disease, even into your golden years!
Tolman Self Care.