Aging Younger

Twelve steps to aging younger
By STEVEN GRAY Chicago Tribune
Published: Monday, October 15, 2007
Michael Roizen, M.D., and cofounder of RealAge.com, has done an exhaustive review of more than 35,000 medical and scientific studies about aging in humans. He has uncovered many of the mysteries of how and why we age, and shares the simple things we can do to make our "real age," which can be older or younger than what the calendar says, younger.

Here are his tips to help make a woman's real age younger in as little as 90 days. Anyone can receive a personalized, science-based plan to live younger by taking the RealAge Test for free at RealAge.com.

1. An aspirin a day after age 40: Taking one 325 mg. tablet of aspirin per day can make your real age as much as 1.9 years younger.

2. Floss your teeth: Flossing and brushing daily can make your real age 6.4 years younger.

3. Know your blood pressure: A person with low blood pressure (115/75 mm Hg) is as much as 25 years younger than a person with high blood pressure (greater than 160/90 mm Hg).

4. Reduce stress: In highly stressful times, your real age can be as much as 32 years older than your calendar age. By building strong social networks and adopting stress-reduction strategies, you can erase 30 of those 32 years of aging caused by stress.

5. Take your vitamins: Regularly taking vitamin C (1,200 mg/day), vitamin E (400 IU/day), calcium (1,000-1,200 mg/day), vitamin D (400-600 IU/day), folate (400 mcg/day), and vitamin B6 (6 mg/day) can make your real age 6 years younger.

6. Quit smoking and avoid passive smoke: Smoking makes your real age 8 years older.

7. Be active: Even a small amount of exercise - two 20-minute walks per day - can make your real age nearly 5 years younger.

8. Wear your seat belt: Regularly wearing a seat belt and driving within 5 miles per hour of the speed limit can make your real age as much as 3.4 years younger.

9. Fill up on fiber: Getting 25 grams of fiber per day in your diet can make your real age 2.5 years younger than if you only included 12 grams of fiber per day in your diet.

10. Monitor your health: People who are proactive about seeking high-quality medical care and managing chronic conditions can have a real age as much as 12 years younger than their peers who do not.

11. Laugh: Laughter reduces stress, strengthens the immune system and can make your real age as much as 8 years younger.

12. Become a lifelong learner: People who remain intellectually involved throughout their lives have a real age as much as 2.5 years younger.

Reminder: Take the real age test: Develop an age-reduction plan. Over your lifetime, you can make your real age as much as 26 years younger.

Compiled from Dr. Michael Roizen's books, including his newest book, "YOU: Staying Young" (Free Press), to be released Oct. 30.