Judy, The most impressive example of how proper nutrition and exercise aids in slowing and reversing the aging process is some of the research of both the Pritikin Longevity Center and Dean Ornish. Their programs include a low-fat, primarily plant based diet combined with exercise and behavior modification. Their results are quite dramatic and rapid. Both groups have shown reversal of plaque development, drops in total- and LDL-cholesterol, a drop in blood pressure, a reduction in medications (including anti-hypertensive medication, anti-cholesterolemic drugs, and insulin and insulin-like agents in NIDDM diabetic patients. In as short as two weeks on the program participants lower their blood cholesterol on average by 25 percent. Many are able to get off of all insulin-like agents and other medications within a month. These internal changes occur before participants see any change in body weight or fat levels. In fact, that is part of the problem with most of the degenerative diseases we face today - we don't see them progressing. And they start from an early age often in our childhood. The combination of our sedentary lifestyles and high-fat, calorie dense fare play a big role in this degeneration. What begins in high school and earlier, precipitates into many of the conditions we live with in our later years. The combination of proper nutrition, exercise, and behavior modifications combine to reduce the stress placed on the body and its organs and provide the optimal environment for repair, growth, and maintenance of proper function. Eating the proper nutrients and exercising regularly will help your body to function optimally. And allow it to better handle the stresses of life. Judy, in future posts, I will give you more ideas on how to eat properly and how to increase the level of activity you are currently doing to slow the effects of age. Yes - even at your age. You would be amazed at how many elderly seniors competed at the recent Masters National Cycling Championships along with me. The oldest "racer" and winner was 91 years-young! So you can imagine his level of function. And there were more than a handful of racers over the age of 80. Many participants didn't begin to engage in regular exercise until well into their retirement years. While I am nowhere near that age, here's a picture of myself winning the 45-49 age-group time trial at the recent 2005 USCF Masters National Cycling Championships - 
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