Everyone wants to age well. Our culture is fixated and looking young. People worry about getting sick as they get older. So I went to Dr. Jennifer Landa to get some info on aging in the best way possible. Dr. Landa is Chief Medical Officer of BodyLogicMD–the largest national network of highly-trained physicians–and Medical Director of BodyLogicMD of Orlando. Dr. Landa is Board Certified by the American Board of Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine and serves as an Advanced Fellow in the Fellowship for Anti-Aging, Regenerative and Functional Medicine. And, she’s the author of The Sex Drive Solution for Women. Here’s what she has to say:

What has your experience been with people’s attitude about getting older? Most of my patients present with the attitude that they want to go down fighting. They want to keep everything as good as they can for as long as they can. Generally people are afraid of getting older. Our society values youth. There are plenty of studies that show if you look young, you’re more likely to get the job. We’re sort of all feeling this. The media puts a lot of pressure on people to be living this great life: You should be active, beautiful, this and that. These are the images we get every day. All the messages tell us young—young—young.

What are the top causes of premature death and how can it be deterred? Heart disease, diabetes, all of the diseases I call, essentially to some extent, lifestyle diseases. There’s a genetic component. You get dealt a certain deck. But there’s so much evidence now that says it’s what you do with that deck that will determine your outcome. I call them lifestyle diseases to some extent because I do believe with the proper lifestyle people can reverse what I look at as pre-disease. I have been looking at pre-diabetes for many years. Now it’s finally becoming in vogue for primary care mainstream doctors to talk about it. The endocrine society said in the last year or two that it should be standard to check a hemoglobin A1C. I’ve been checking that on every patient for ten years. Every one of my patients gets that test before they walk in the door so I can inform them whether or not they have pre-diabetes. Then I can give them steps to take.

What first steps someone should take to age the best way possible? There are tests that are determinants for heart disease and for inflammation. Inflammation is really the bottom line for all disease. If I can keep people from being inflamed, I can keep them healthy, and looking and feeling good.

What is inflammation? Inflammation is the presence of inflammatory cytokine chemical secreted throughout our bodies that induce “bad stuff.” They cause all kinds of problems. Inflammation is the presence of these chemicals throughout the body that cause a reaction. Those reactions in certain circumstance can be helpful, like if you get in an accident and get a huge wound. Inflammation is a good thing in that circumstance because it will wall off the wound, prevent bacteria and all kinds of good things. So there is a functional component to this.

But when you have this inflammation system going out of control through mechanisms like elevated blood sugar, it causes blood sugar to get worse. We know that fat is metabolically active and one of the big things it makes is inflammation, these inflammatory cytokines. So fat begets fat, basically. Being fat can keep you fat, because it produces more inflammation, which creates more fat. It’s a really bad cycle. That’s why fat is associated with heart disease, cancer, etc. You can name every disease and find that fatter people have more of them because they make more inflammation.

What are some habits you recommend people adopt in order to be their best as they age? One of the biggest thing is taking supplements. Take fish oil, which is a natural anti-inflammatory, which decreases inflammation. It’s been shown in many studies that it decreases bad things and increases good things. One study showed it decreased the risk of sudden cardiac death. It reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s and improves mood. Vitamin D is being shown to be a big cure-all as well. Besides helping bone density, in the last few years it’s been shown to decrease risk of heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and cancers. You should get your Vitamin D level checked and keep it in an optimal range.

How important is diet? Dietary changes are crucial. I recommend that people generally try to eliminate toxins. That includes your diet, chemicals, and cosmetics. Avoid processed food—anything in a bag, bottle, can, frozen, etc. Try to eat only fresh foods. Get rid of the white and brown foods. Most people eat way too many whole grains and that will elevate your blood sugar. No more than one to two servings a day and a serving is a piece of bread. I recommend better grains like quinoa. It gives you more bang for your nutritional buck so to speak.

Anything else? Exercise—Exercise—Exercise! Weight training is extremely important. The more muscle you create, the better you can utilize and break down blood sugar. That’s super important for keeping healthy. You’ve gotta move! It’s so integral and essential for people who want to live a long and healthy life. You need to make movement part of every day. Find ways to make it fun! And you need to have variety.

Why do you believe that integrating alternative therapies into Western healthcare is so important? It offers options that we don’t have in Western healthcare. There are downsides to Western medicine that we don’t fully acknowledge in our society. Every medication has a list of side effects as long as my arm. If you have two medications in the mix you have contra-indications and cross-reactivity and all kinds of things going on. You have to detoxify these medicines so they’re going through the liver system and it’s bogging that down and you have to detoxify everything else that’s coming at you every day. I think there ‘s a place for Western medicine. I do use my traditional medical training. But in addition, I don’t think I would be anywhere near successful as a physician without knowing what I know about prevention. A lot of people come to me on multiple medications and don’t feel good. They have some of the side effects. You want to use it judiciously. Treating the root cause instead of the symptoms. In traditional medicine your taught to memorize every disease and every symptom a person can have and then every drug you can possibly prescribe for it.

Why is it so important to maintain your whole endocrine system, especially when you get over forty? Because they all work in concert with one another. It’s like a symphony. If the woodwinds and timpani sections are off, it won’t produce as rich a melody. When everything is firing on all cylinders, so to speak, you’ll feel the best. I see physicians who just focus on one or two hormones and kind of leave the rest. The person feels okay but not as great as they could. You have to balance all the hormones because they’re made from one another. There’s a lot of complex interactions.
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Taking good care of yourself is a strong act of self-love. Learn from Dr. Jennifer Landa! She’s an expert at helping people age as gracefully and with the best healthy possible at any age.
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Take the 31 Days of Self-Love Challenge–a pledge to do something loving for yourself for the next 31 days–and get my book, How Do I Love Me? Let Me Count the Ways for free at http://howdoiloveme.com. Read my 31 Days of Self-Love Posts from 2012 HERE.

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