How to Stay Youthful and Fight Off Frailty and Loss of Youthful Appearance

What makes a person look old? White hair? Wrinkles? Actually, the visual characteristic that most defines "elderly" is a slumped posture, causing one to look frail. Severe slumping causes feet to shuffle instead of walk, creating the appearance of having one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. This article explains how to fix slumped posture as well as retain youthfulness to face and hair.

Breaking the aging cycle

The process of aging is a vicious circle, one that is difficult to escape once caught in the cycle. However, there are inexpensive and healthy methods to significantly delay the onslaught of bone-density loss, sagging skin, hair loss, and fatigue which often accompany age, adding years of vitality, quality, and enjoyment to life.

Building up to prevent weakness

Weak muscles often lead to slumped posture and shuffling.¹ Become a member of a gym that has workout equipment. A mere 30 minutes of weight-resistance exercise three times weekly helps to maintain adequate muscle for supporting joints and preventing an aged appearance. Additionally, weight-resistance exercises help retain bone density. Ideally, adding 2 to 4 more hours weekly on the treadmill and/or the elliptical cross-trainer builds aerobic capacity by strengthening the heart and pulmonary system. Most gyms employ knowledgeable workers who can assist with a safe weight-training program geared toward increasing overall bodily strength (neck, arms, back, torso, and legs).

People who possess adequate muscle mass, have a youthful, energetic "spring" in their walk without even thinking about it.

Preventing excessive weight

Nothing says "over the hill" like a spare tire around the waist or a protruding stomach. Avoid refined, processed, fried and/or fatty foods, and weight loss will be easier without having to count calories. Never eat past the point of fullness, and never eat when you are truly not hungry.

Preventing facial sag

Weak facial muscles contribute to a "sagging" face. It only takes a few minutes a day to tighten up facial muscles, which should be done in private to avoid frightening others. Tensioning muscles (including facial) strengthens and builds them. Rebuilding sagging facial muscles works amazingly well at regaining facial youthfulness. Get in front of a mirror, and tense up as many facial muscles as possible without creating wrinkles. Start by forming your mouth as if making an "oooooo" sound. Widen the "ooo" formation if excessive wrinkles appear. Tighten your chin and cheek muscles too. Hold the tension for as long as possible. Results can be seen in as little as three days, but allow two weeks.

Nutrition helps maintain muscle and skin tone²

The next major step in retaining youthfulness is nutrition. The better our nutrition, the easier it is to maintain good muscle and skin tone,² promoting an overall youthful posture and appearance. Poor nutrition accelerates collagen loss; and collagen is the structure that gives our skin its soft youthful look and feel. As we age, our bodies become less efficient at absorbing nutrients from foods.³ Fortunately, there are inexpensive and healthy methods of boosting nutrient absorption. Enzymes make nutrient-absorption possible. Although our bodies can manufacture some enzymes for digestion (in decreasing amounts as we age), raw vegetables and fruits are abundant with enzymes that maximize nutrient absorption.⁴ Dark green leafy vegetables such as kale and spinach are especially nutrient dense.

Eating healthy food

Heating fruits and vegetables above 106 degrees Fahrenheit destroys enzymes. Thus, even many food dehydrators destroy enzymes, except for those specially designed to operate at controlled temperatures. Enzymes are also destroyed by canning and freezing. Therefore, the best way to ensure consumption of optimum nutrients from fruits and vegetables is to simply eat them raw. One way to save time is to extract juice using juicer or blender. However, valuable fiber is lost; additionally, oxidation caused by these processes also destroys enzymes if the extracted juice is not consumed immediately (within 10 minutes). A demonstration of this, using an average blender, is available on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeZnXT1r88k.

Youthful hair

Let's face it, hair with color looks younger than gray or white hair. However, gray or white hair can still look beautiful, and many people choose to keep it that way. But for a younger appearance, adding a little color to gray or white hair does wonders. Permanent coloring damages hair to varying degrees in different people. Some people can use permanent color without too much of a problem. But for others, permanent color causes hair to become more like frizzed straw. Fortunately, there is a solution to this problem. Most beauty supply stores carry non-damaging "semi-permanent" hair color (i.e., "Color Brilliance" by Ion) which lasts for two months, no mixing necessary, and one bottle can last for several applications. Simply squirt it on, rub it in, and cover your hair with a shower cap for 25 to 30 minutes (to prevent drying). Next, rinse and dry. Viola! The result is soft, youthful, natural-feeling colored hair with no harsh chemicals or noxious odors. No root "touch ups" are necessary--after two months, simply repeat the same steps you took the first time. In order to make the hair color last as long as possible, use a color-protecting shampoo, usually available at stores that sell semi-permanent hair color.

Thin or balding hair

Thin or balding hair takes away from a youthful appearance. Applying minoxidil to the scalp twice daily can actually regrow hair or help to prevent balding in most men and women, and it only takes a minute to apply (follow the package directions). Generic minoxidil is available at discount stores for approximately $6 to $8 for a one-month supply. If hair has become thin or bald from a deficiency or disease, then minoxidil will not work.

In summary, the above information provides the tools necessary to stay healthy and youthful longer, perhaps adding years to quality to life.

Go and be youthful.

Resources:

"Posture Alignment, The Missing Link in Health and Fitness" (Marcellina Mountain Press, 2003), by Paul D'Arezzo, M.D.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 24, 541-546, Copyright © 1971 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.
Canadian Medical Association Journal, August 3, 2004; 171 (3). doi:10.1503/cmaj.1031155
"Green Barley Essence" by Yoshihide Hagiwara, M.D.