Aging Naturally

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Watch your weight. Morbid obesity, sometimes defined as being more than 100 lbs. above your "normal" weight, is incompatible with healthy aging because it increases the risk of a number of age-related diseases, including cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and osteoarthritis. Ordinary obesity--weighing at least 20% more than you should--correlates with milder forms of these diseases as well as with increased incidence of postmenopausal breast cancer and cancer of the uterus, colon, kidney and esophagus. But what is normal, and how much should you weigh?

It is quite possible that our criteria for obesity and our thinking about its medical implications have been warped by fashion. We all know morbid obesity when we see it; clearly, it interferes with activities of daily living and makes people unhappy and unhealthy. But being too lean may also compromise health and successful aging. I believe that those who are somewhat overweight but fit in middle age may enjoy a healthier and longer old age than those who are lean and not fit.

DIET

It should be obvious by now that diets don't work, except in the short term. By definition, diets are regimens that eventually end, and when people go off them the weight that was lost is almost always regained. I am going to urge you to follow a diet that I believe can increase the probability of healthy aging, but I hesitate even to call it a diet. It is absolutely not intended as a weight-loss program, nor is it an eating plan to stay on for a limited period of time. Rather, it is the nutritional component of a healthy lifestyle. I like to call it the Anti-Inflammatory Diet.

The word inflammation suggests "fire within," a graphic if inaccurate image. Normal inflammation is the healing system's response to localized injury and attack. It is confined to that location, serves a purpose and ends when the problem is resolved. Abnormal inflammation extends beyond its appointed limits in space and time; it does not end when the problem is resolved. The inflammatory process unleashes some of the immune system's most sophisticated weaponry, including enzymes that can rupture cell walls and digest vital components of cells and tissues. When inflammation targets normal tissues, when it just won't quit, it is abnormal and promotes disease rather than healing. Abnormal inflammation has been linked to a wide range of diseases, including cancer, coronary heart disease and the autoimmune diseases--Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, rheumatic fever, rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus.

I believe without question that diet influences inflammation. The food choices we make can determine whether we are in a proinflammatory state or in an anti-inflammatory one. The anti-inflammatory diet on these pages (see box) offers specific recommendations for foods to include and foods to avoid.

SUPPLEMENTS

Whether or not to use dietary supplements is a contentious issue today.