LOOK 20 YEARS YOUNGER

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As one ages, the body loses muscle mass and becomes frail.  This natural phenomenon is called sarcopenia.  It can be dramatically slowed or even reversed with the four basics of good health: 1) adequate amounts of high-quality protein, mostly with food (eggs, meat, poultry, fish, dairy, beans, nuts, whey powders), 2) movement (walking, exercise, cleaning, gardening, etc.), 3) adequate amounts of quality sleep, and 4) nutritional supplements (daily vitamin, resveratrol, calcium, magnesium, fish oil, 5,000 IU vitamin D, sublingual vitamin B-12, CoQ10, blueberry extract).

As you age, your skin dries, wrinkles, and thins and this makes you look old.  Two practices I learned of and used for an entire year to fully work was taking 1000 mg fish oil capsules/day and bathing only with Dove soap, plus avoiding bad habits like smoking and sunbathing, both of which wrinkle your skin. You can’t change your genetics but you can change enough of the four basics to good health to significantly delay, reverse, and possibly avoid Alzheimer’s and other degenerative diseases of aging.  The following explains the four basics:

  1. FOOD: Chicken and fish are the only meats that don’t significantly raise your risk of death each year.  Processed meats cured with nitrites (lunch meats, hot dogs, bacon, etc.) also significantly raise the risk of death.  Eat nine vegetables and fruits daily, but no potatoes, no sugared fruits, and only stone ground whole wheat bread. Use no or very little sugar or artificial-sugar-sweetened beverages.  Instead, use the natural sweetener, stevia, in your coffee or tea.  Only use extra virgin olive oil from California since 80% of imported olive oils sold in the U.S. are adulterated with cheaper oils.  Avoid partially-hydrogenated margerine as well as high-fructose corn syrup (found in non-dairy coffee creamer).
  2. EXERCISE: Aside from food, exercise is the next most important factor determining good health, both cardio and weights. If you can’t be bothered with these, then walking 30-minutes/day for 5 days each week is the next best thing.  Try walking at a moderate pace and every  5-minutes or so try stepping up the speed for a minute.
  3. SLEEP: Most adults need seven hours of sleep/night for optimum health.  Many people, however, suffer from obstructive or even central sleep apneas. If you snore, you may have sleep apneas.  I’ve tried C-PAP (continuous positive airflow pressure), Bi-PAP, and V-PAP since 1991 after an overnight sleep study showed that I had 59 arousals every hour of sleep.  I therefore now use (after 4 more sleep studies) a VPAP (variable positive airflow pressure) every night.  Sleep apneas cause wrinkles and fine lines around eyes as well as making your gut protrude, increase your chances of Alzheimer’s, etc.
  4. SUPPLEMENTS: a half-century ago there was very little research on nutritional supplements, and most health claims were therefore B.S.; today there is a ton of research (testimonials are not research) thanks to Life Extension Foundation-funded research, as well as  LEF’s monitoring and reporting of research from around the world.  Since many people have limited funds, you need to know the few essential supplements everyone should take daily: 1)multi-vitamin-mineral; 2)calcium; 3)magnesium; 4)fish oil; 5)vitamin B-12 lozenge; 6)5,000 IU vitamin D; 7)CoQ10; 8) Resveratrol; 9)blueberry extract.  Avoid most herbal supplements.

Your face reflects your overall heath.  While many are not too concerned about health benefits, most do want to look their best.  Hair dye will make you look a lot younger, however actions taken to improve your health will make you look your best.  Follow the four basics I cited above and you will look great.  Be sure to take fish oil supplements and use Dove soap and give it a full year to work its magic.  I’m 80 but am told I look 60 or younger so I know it works.

PREVENTING ALZHEIMER’S, PARKINSON’S, ALS, DEMENTIA, ETC. (audio interview)

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I interviewed Dr. Michael Smith [25-minute audio can be heard by clicking on the blue “play” icon  at the bottom of the final paragraph in this post on my blog, mikerussoexpose.com.].  The scientific literature shows that certain lifestyle choices and nutritional supplements can help delay and even prevent  Alzheimer’s, so I asked a medical doctor, who’s knowledgeable on the latest research in this area, what he thinks.  

UPDATE SINCE MY INTERVIEW WITH DR. SMITH: 1) according to a CAIDE (Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging and Dementia) study, coffee given to mice, equivalent to 5 cups of coffee a day by a person, gives  65% less risk of getting Alzheimer’s,  2) scientific research conducted at MIT developed and tested Magnesium L-Threonate which allegedly doubles long-term memory and increases short-term memory by 20% by increasing the density in the synapses between brain cells;  3) a supplement called PQQ (Pyrroloquinoline Quinone) has been researched and allegedly found to foster the growth of new brain cells, something that had been thought to be impossible; 4) researchers have found that people who ate the most strawberries or blueberries delayed the onset of Alzheimer’s by 2 1/2 years; 5) to keep the brain from shrinking as you age, high-dose DHA (a transfatty acid in fish oil) or walking 6-9 miles/week are both effective; 6) methylene blue has been found to slow the progression of Alzhemier’s by 81% (and also is effective for Parkinson’s and Huntington’s); 7) there is promising research on reversing Alzheimer’s by an FDA-approved cancer drug, Bexarotene,  which reversed Alzheimer’s in 2 weeks in mice (note that a physician can prescribe a FDA-approved drug for any medical problem if s/he can justify its use); 8) taurine, an amino acid, has been  shown to promote the formation of new brain cells and enhance their connections (neurites) in laboratory studies; 9) Alpha-Glyceryl Phosphoryl Choline (A-GPC), a B-vitamin, is a precursor to the fat that is in brain cells’ myelin sheaths which cover and protect the connections between brain cells,  and is required to repair them (their deterioration leads to dementia); 10) follow the MIND diet (Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) to slow the rate of cognitive decline and protect against Alzheimer’s; 11) follow as much as possible the 36-point plan from the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, especially by eliminating all simple carbohydrates and processed food, increasing vegetables, fruit, fish, sleep and exercise, taking daily vitamin D3, B-12 under the tongue lozenges, and Coenzyme Q10; 12) according to the Life Extension Foundation, its supplement, “Memory Protect,” which contains very low-dose Lithium and a colostrum-derived proline-rich polypeptide, has been shown in both animal and human studies to halt Alzheimer’s progression; 13) Vigra reduces the risk of contracting Alzheimer’s by 69% according to Dr. Marc Siegel on Fox News on 8/19/22, who cited a recent Harvard study; 14) the new anti-amyloid antibody drug, Leqembi, slows cognitive decline by 26%; 15) follow the Alzheimer’s Risk Reduction Program Daniel G. Amen, M.D.’s book, Change Your Brain, Change Your Life; 16) according to a study presented at the American Society of Nutrition’s NUTRITION 2023 annual meeting (as reported in the January 2024 magazine, Life Extension), just over a half-teaspoon olive oil/day lowers risk of dementia by 28%; 17) according to the August 2023 Neurology magazine (reported in the January 2024 magazine, Life Extension),proton pump inhibitors (heartburn meds like Nexium and Omeprazole), after 4.4 years of use, was associated with a 33% increased risk of dementia later in life; and 18) according to a Harvard study published in the January 2022 issue of The American Journal of Clinical of Nutrition, “Compared with eating carbohydrates, eating protein was associated with lower odds of developing cognitive decline….”

In addition to the above, I take Life Extension Foundation’s (LEF) supplement, Cognitex Elite, because it contains ingredients shown to significantly improve brain function, such as Phosphatidylserine, Sage Extract, and blueberry extract; and I also take 3,000 mg fish oil/day because the EPA and DHA fatty acids it contains improves brain function and reduces inflammation; 

My interviewee, Dr. Michael Smith, a medical doctor (MD) with specialties in internal medicine and radiology, and currently serves as the clinical information specialist with the Life Extension Foundation, a non-profit organization devoted to researching and disseminating information on preventing diseases and medical disorders.  In this interview he discusses preventing neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, dementia, and mild cognitive impairment.   He received his MD from Southwest Medical Center at the University of Texas in Dallas and has been with The Life Extension Foundation for 8 years.

In my interview with Dr. Smith, various nutritional supplements and lifestyle choices are discussed as ways of helping prevent the onset of neurological disorders. You will hear about how nerve cell structure is the focus of prevention, not function, which traditional medicine focuses on.  Also, hear about the benefits of phosphatidylserine, phosphoryl choline, coenzyme Q10, vitamin B-12 under-the-tongue lozenges, vitamin D3, fish oil, R Lipoic Acid, etc.  Also discussed are lifestyle choices such as your cookware, some baking powders, and more.

Neurological disorders are so devastating that all avenues must be pursued since traditional medicine has no cures; therefore prevention has become especially important.  If you have any neurological disorders in your family, listening to this audio should be helpful.  Click on the blue link below and then the hyperlink under it.

I’m not a physician.

Michael Smith-Preventing Neurological Audio

Interview by Mike Russo