I’m 53 years young. Lately, and amongst my friends, I have become aware that the topic of advancing age keeps popping into the conversations.

Don’t get me wrong. We’re not booking ourselves into an old age home just yet, but there are little niggles that have started to creep into our lives. It’s as if the machine is just not operating that smoothly anymore. If you were a 2nd hand car, the inspector would be making some notes for your vehicle’s roadworthy certificate., – – shocks need attention (joints) Paintwork is lackluster (skin sagging) fuel jets seem clogged (tummy issues) – I recently put my car on the market, because she was a glutton in the petrol department. When l looked for a replacement model, I became aware that there were vehicles of the same age, some of which were nearing the end of their lifespans, while those which had been maintained with love, showed no signs of aging.

Maybe I’m stating the obvious, but if you draw a parallel to the vehicle that is your body, similar principles come to the fore.

Maintain the marvelous machine that is your body, and it will last a long, long time. So here’s the reason I want to share this with you. It’s absolutely possible to restore a car to its former glory. – Replace a few parts and get it back to prom-night condition.

Well, there’s good news in the body department too. It is now possible to wind your clock back too. I’m not talking about the timeline clock, but about your youth clock. We all have a timeline age and a “condition” age. A 60 year old person can measure 70 years in real age if their vehicle has been neglected. However, with modern science, it is now possible to rewind the clock on our bodies to let’s say 40, or even 30 if one becomes aware of certain “repairs” and lifestyle tweaks.

When this sank in with me, I became really interested. I am a late father, ie at the age of 53, my youngest is 12. Let’s say she has children at 30, this would mean that I’m already an old codger sporting 70. If my biological age is 80, because I’ve been ill-informed about my health, I won’t even be able to get on the floor with them to play Lego, let alone kick a ball with them.

But what if I can reverse my age? Now, when I hit 70, I may be 50 and then I have a good few years to misbehave with them and get into trouble with their mom, my daughter, for causing a ruckus.

We spend so much time, worrying about dieting, getting fit, etc. In the early part of our lives, a lot of this motivation boils down to vanity. – Hawt abs get the girl etc. Boys hit the gym and chug down protein in pursuit of big guns. As we age (some more gracefully than others) I believe that our focus should shift from vanity to health. After all, a healthy body will take you further, and at the end of the day, who doesn’t want to ward off the knock at the door of the grim reaper for as long as possible.

I can see some of you rolling your eyes by now, saying, yeah, get to the point already, – I have a house to clean, a job to get to…

So while it would take a book to share the entire science with you, I can share a few of the changes that I have made recently in the 4 area’s of health

Fasting

I eat less frequently.

When you’re hungry, your cells get strong because they are fighting for their lives. A fast gives your body time to clean out the garbage by getting rid of the waste that can lead to illness and cancer.

Every once in a while, eat nothing for 2 days… This deep cycle Autophagy can literally remove cancerous cells and give you a new lease on life. The Jains in India are on average, the group of people who live the longest out of any population. Why is this?

They fast.

(drops the mike and walks off stage)

Feasting

I now follow a Mediterranean diet.

Eat loads of plants, especially distressed and gnarly looking vegetables, and fruit. The pathogens in these plants activate resilience and vigor on a cellular level and improve vitality and slow down aging. You can literally eat the magic that’s in plants and then have that magic work on you.

To quickly Donne my lab-coat here…

The process of Zeno hormesis, means eating plants in distress. The defensive polyphenols in plants activate curcitans;  they get stressed and put up their magic defenses like resveratrol. When you eat the resveratrol, you get the magic that’s in the plants. (ok, so maybe I’m wearing a lab coat and a wizard’s hat here too) – Eat the gnarly veggies folks!!

I now eat less meat.

I never thought I’d say this, but I was always looking for more protein. Too much red meat inhibits M-Thor (like my name, lol), which is the kid on the block, responsible for the building and maintaining of your body’s structure. Sounds counterintuitive.

The healthiest diet to follow from a longevity perspective is Pesco Vegetarianism. – They eat some fish sometimes but follow a largely plant-based diet. 

I’m eating more fish and less red meat.

I don’t eat sugar and steer clear of starch.

The insulin crashes just are not worth it, for the damage they cause to your energy and well-being.

My liver knows best and is producing the right amount of glucose for me to operate optimally, without the brain fog from a sugar spike. 

Fight

Work out at least 3 times a week and do at least 10minutes of High-intensity training – get out of breath. On a mitochondrial level, your cells get stronger. They adapt to stress. After exercise, there is a latent effect on a cellular level, where your mitochondria swell with power (like a light glowing brighter) – This power gives you more juice and vigor.

I lift Weights

No, you don’t have to be Arnold. But if you want to prevent your body from withering away, then it’s best that you stress the muscles so they don’t atrophy. Besides, what’s not to like about being a grandpa with a nice set of guns… lol

Flow

I spend some time in a quiet meditative or contemplative state.

This daily practice has the ability to connect the mind to the body. A stressed mind creates a stressed body and this manifests in physical stress which leads to illness.

Lastly, –

When you realize that there are hacks that can add an extra 30% to your physical lifespan, science is now able to isolate those markers that literally can halt the physical aging process and then reverse it. I’m not talking about reversing time, because that’s impossible. I’m talking about maintaining the parts of your body, internally and externally, so they become better or younger than they were. – Whoa – I for one am all ears and ready to make the changes. 

I mean who doesn’t want a new lease on life, some extra time on this crazy blue planet of ours.