Hey you!
I’m soon to appear on a TV program which focuses on the lives of healthy baby boomers, and the lifestyle strategies we’ve used over the years to get us to this point. Yes, I’ve managed to avoid being hit by a bus, and I’m blessed to say my father is a healthy 90 year-old and my mother an attractive, slender 87-year-old. There are definitely good genes, however, the science indicates that lifestyle factors are more significant when it comes to our overall health and wellbeing.
I thought I might share with you my health tips by using the letters of my two given names – Jennifer Gay: |
J is for joyful. When you look good and feel good on the inside, it shows on the outside. An appreciation of and gratitude for each moment of life – whether it’s sweet or sour, will have you living Albert Einstein’s quote, that is seeing life “……as though everything is a miracle.” E is for energy. When you eat to live (well) and not live to eat, as well as exercise daily and limit your food intake, you will have more energy. I have also been taking a daily supplement of NAD+ from Truniagen for the past year which has me full of beans 99% of the time. N is for nutrition. Occasionally have a treat like a Danish, croissant or chocolate brownie but 90% of the time treat your body as the temple it is and make Dr. Gundry approved vegetables (mushrooms, sweet potato, broccoli, cauliflower etc.) your primary food as well as pasture raised chicken and wild caught fish. |
N is for nuts. If you don’t want to go nuts, have half a cup of mixed pistachios, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts and almonds without the skin every day. These nuts, in moderation, will satiate you and contribute to your brain and eye health. Remember to eat the feathery part of the pistachio in the shell, which is full of beneficial polyphenols. I is for increasing your intake of virgin olive oil. It is full of polyphenols, which your brain and body love. Some elders and centenarians in the Blue Zones ingest as much as a litre of VOO a week. F is for friends, fats, fermented foods and fasting. They’re all important. Staying socially connected to others by being with people who lift you up (not pull you down) has been shown to enhance your overall wellbeing and longevity. Good fats like those found in avocados, macadamia nuts and fish oil will improve your cognitive capacity. Fermented foods like kimchi and sauerkraut will have your good gut buddies surviving and thriving, and then passing on those good vibrations to your brain for a happier version of you. E is for exercise. This, say the experts, is the elixir we need for a long, youthful life. I combine regular stretching, walks in nature, swimming, bouncing on my mini-trampoline and bike riding. Whatever you do, just make sure you enjoy it. Let’s face it, anything is better than just strolling to your local café for coffee and cake. R is for reducing your eating window during the day. What works for me is eating in a 7-hour window from 10 am to 5pm with two meals a day. This eating strategy helps me to sleep better and if I am pooped in the evening, I can go to bed as early as 9 pm since I ate at least 4 hours ago. G is for the gut and Gundry. A healthy, thriving gut biome is vitally important to feed our feeling of contentment. Read Dr. Steven Gundry’s best-selling books, and learn to develop eating habits that keep your gut flora happy, which in turn has you feeling at your best. A is for avoiding harmful lectins which cause leaky gut and sabotage our health. Dr. Gundry has a list of yes foods and no foods. The no foods include some fruits and vegetables that may surprise you, as well as nearly all cereals/grains except for sorghum and millet, which are both lectin free. Y is for yogurt from sheep and goats. The people in the Blue Zones of the world eat a lot of yogurt and cheese coming from sheep and goats. These products don’t contain the inflammatory A1 beta-casein protein. Dr G says our aim is to be like the centenarians in the Blue Zones (see current Netflix series). We can, if we are vigilant, die young at a ripe old age just like the people in parts of Italy, Greece and Japan. We do this by eating less, being less sedentary, and living a life that is active and meaningful - our whole lives.  |
These are my main tips for optimum health that have worked for me. I’ve been following Dr Gundry’s advice now for over a decade. Today a 42-year-old psychologist I met at The University of Queensland looked at me unbelievingly when I told him I was 61. He almost demanded to see my driver’s license! This man thought I was 48, so I must be doing something right. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. Please let me know if any of these strategies work for you. Carpe Diem. Best wishes, Jen 😊 |
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