In the early 1500s, Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon traveled to
Florida (founding the state for Europeans) in search of the

fountain of youth.

In the early 1500s, Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon traveled to Florida (founding the state for Europeans) in search of the “fountain of youth.”

Although the explorer did not find this vitality-restoring water, it has been discovered that the Fountain of Youth does actually exist. It is called exercise.

Let’s look at a couple of examples of how exercise (and a healthy lifestyle, in general) affects how we age.

When legendary jazz musician Charlie Parker died, he was chronologically 35 years old. Without this knowledge, the doctor performing his autopsy estimated he was about 60. The abuse his health took caused his body to be almost twice its real age.

On the flip side, we have someone like Jack LaLanne. He is the epitome of health at the chronological age of 90. However, his biological age is somewhere around 50 years.

There are a number of factors that contribute to how well we age. One, of course, is genetics. Many of the others relate directly to exercise. Among these are:

– muscular strength and endurance

– flexibility

– aerobic fitness/lung capacity

– lung function

– body composition (lean body mass to muscle ratio)

– blood levels of sugar and cholesterol

– blood pressure.

One of the reasons that exercise slows the body’s aging process is the fact that being active on a regular basis slows the loss of brain tissue. Exercise also helps control the levels of insulin and glucose (sugar) in your system and chronic glucose overload has negative effects on brain function.

In his latest book, “Dr. Perricone’s 7 Secrets To Beauty, Health, and Longevity,” Dr. Nicholas Perricone, a leading anti-aging expert, points out that “scientists long ago established that exercise greatly reduces the incidence and severity of age-related degenerative diseases.”

Exercise has so many effects on our vitality. It strengthens our bones and muscles, including our most important muscle: our heart. It improves and can restore our physical and emotional balance. It has the ability to reduce stress and improve our physical, mental and emotional health.

However, Dr. Perricone points out that from an anti-aging standpoint, exercise should be done at moderate levels of intensity. Too much exertion increases the demand for oxygen past the optimum level. If this happens on a regular basis, the result in inflammation at the cellular level and an acceleration, rather than a deceleration of the aging process.

Brain health is a factor of aging as well, and studies have proven that exercise, particularly exercise that demands both sides of your brain to work, can help maintain brain function. Other factors that result from the loss of cognitive functioning are high blood pressure (hypertension), diabetes, stroke and higher body mass index. Thus, it stands to reason that if you exercise, keeping these brain functions sharp, then the aging process will be slowed.

In general, exercises that challenge you in the areas of resistance/strength building, endurance (cardiovascular and lung function), balance/core strength, and stretching/flexibility are all beneficial for slowing down that biological clock, if not potentially reversing somewhat. If you haven’t already begun your physical fitness regime, don’t worry. Its not too late to start. Get moving and see what happens.

Was Ponce de Leon successful in finding the “Fountain of Youth?” No. Does it exist? Yes! We call it exercise.

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