The 21^st century has revolutionized our standards of living. Today we live in a world of comfort, which was beyond imagination a century ago. This led to a radical change in our lifestyle in a very short time in the history of mankind. The progress in science has ensured that we have access to food & comfort and live longer. But this transition has happened with a huge cost to the quality of our health.

Our circadian rhythm (the biological clock) has been messed up due to excess exposure to artificial light and digital screens. Further, our food quality is more appealing and tastier than earlier but is genetically engineered and processed.

A sedentary lifestyle combined with salt, sugar, and poor dietary habits is the perfect recipe for disaster.

A peculiar paradox exists today. Our life expectancy has improved over the century. People surviving into the 80s and 90s are the norm today. An important additional observation is that the fertility rates are falling as well. But the Aging paradox here is – we are aging quicker than in previous centuries. Quicker aging can be best understood by observing early menarche (onset of menstrual cycles in girls) and early menopause (stopping of menstrual cycles) in women; external aging such as early greying of hair and skin changes (in the 20s and 30s). Internal aging today is best understood by understanding the population suffering from lifestyle disorders such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiac ailments in youth. Our spinal discs are getting degenerated and presenting as clinical problems much earlier, and our bones are getting weaker (osteoporosis) at a much younger age than expected. Brittle bones are one of the major reasons for suffering in the geriatric (elderly) population. It hampers their mobility, apart from agonizing pain and suffering.

We live in the era of ‘THE AGING PARADAOX’, wherein we are aging quickly, but living longer. Not a very happy situation to be in. It means that as time progresses the earth will have humans who are older and unhealthier, and not enough younger people to care!

The World Health Organization (WHO) was founded on 7^th April 1948. This day is observed as World Health Day, every year to create awareness towards healthy living and to attain the goal of ‘Health for all’. We live in a world of borderless boundaries, the COVID pandemic only reiterated this truth. Though ‘Health for all’ is a global movement, it is the responsibility of each & every individual to care for themselves.

A Stitch in Time Saves Nine

We all learned this proverb from our childhood days. It is very apt in every walk of our lives. This is going to be a series of awareness articles, each addressing a specific condition, where a stitch in time could have saved nine!

Let us address the aging paradox in time before it is too late! And it is never too late to start a healthy habit.

Age Reversal Tenets: Lifestyle modifications if followed sincerely can lead to healthy living with happiness, slowing the aging process of the both internal and external physical body.

• Mindful eating: Essentially it is developing awareness of our eating habits, the food content, our thoughts about food, and more importantly our feeling towards the food. Feeling involves our response to internal and external stimuli of food.

1. Eat on time. Discipline ensures a bodily rhythm. Don’t skip a meal.
2. Enjoy your food, appreciate its appearance, flavor, and taste, and feel them as you eat.
3. Eat slowly and chew the food, properly. We hardly chew food today on the pretext of no time, and it becomes a habit.
4. Watch what you are eating, ultimately, it’s your body. That’s where you live.
5. Reduce refined Sugars, salts, and processed foods. Avoid fast food culture as much as possible.
6. Respect our biological clock – Circadian rhythm. Our metabolism mirrors our circadian rhythm. Early Dinner (by 7 pm) is ideal for healthy living.
7. Don’t overeat! Always give free space in the stomach.

• Sleep: Respect our biological clock. Deep sleep is essential to repair and rebuild our mind and physical body. Early to bed and early to rise is the best-taught practice across the world from time immemorial. The body undergoes a lot of damage which ultimately accelerates aging. Good deep sleep allows the body to focus on internal repairs.

• Physical activity: Movement is life. Sitting is a silent killer. Sitting is the new smoking. The physical activity ensures metabolism, thereby all the internal organs do their work on time and efficiently. Prolonged sedentary life. This results in the accumulation of body weight and our internal organs begin to fail over time. If walking, running, or exercising are boring, try to include some activity as part of daily life which involves physical activity. There are no alternatives to physical activity!

• Breathing Exercises: Breathing is a sign of life. A habit of deep breathing activity as part of daily life can be a transformational experience in a person’s life. We can call it meditation, breathing exercises, silence, or simply – our time. Deep breathing increases blood circulation to the brain and vital organs, thereby nourishing them. It also allows for the repair of tissue damage, thereby helping in age reversal.

• Mindfulness: It is the awareness of ourselves, our habits, our patterns, our actions, and our reactions to situations. Mindfulness is essentially our intentions in life, our attitude towards life, and our attention to ourselves and our surroundings. Being mindful makes us realize our actual needs in the present and the future, it allows us to let go of our negative thoughts and paves way for Happiness. Happiness is a choice, and it must be chosen. You cannot place the source of happiness outside you! It is a very internal and personal attribute. Developing gratitude for all the blessings in life, ignoring the negatives, and ‘letting it go’ is key to happiness

A healthy life is a happy life.