Book Notes: The New Rules of Aging Well
Frank Lipman, MD's, book The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality, has a gem of information on nearly every page and is super quotable. Here are some highlights from Chapter 3: Focus on Food.
Dr. Lipman is the founder of Eleven Eleven Wellness Center, one of the nation's first clinics to integrate Western, Eastern and traditional modalities, with the mission to treat the body as an integrated system, rather than parts in isolation. He is New York Times bestselling author of 7 health-focused books.
"Chronic inflammation…it's one of the underlying problems of many, if not most diseases…"
Even though inflammation may not be producing symptoms, and even though you don't know you've got it, inflammation can be having a detrimental effect your health, including your brain. That's why lifestyle and diet choices that decrease inflammation, like I help clients work towards, are so important.
"Inflammation is a critical factor in aging."
Do you wonder why your body doesn't bounce back like it used to? You don't have as many reserves in the tank to be able to compensate for the onslaught of inflammatory foods that our modern lifestyle and marketing tells us is normal to consume. It turns out many processed foods and drinks like "foods fried in vegetable oils, white bread and pasta, processed carbs, sweetened drinks, CAFO meats— all of these cause harm in the form of inflammation."
"Inflammatory foods age the body."
Many of the good things in life—wine, bread, pasta, ice cream, pizza, fries, cake, corn—cause inflammation in the body. Reasons can be food sensitivities, an imbalance of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids (processed, packaged foods deliver a lot of omega-6's, particularly in the oils of processed foods), and leaky gut which can be a cause or an effect inflammation.
To feel, and age, better, it's best to avoid inflammatory processed food and drinks, and feed yourself whole foods closer to their natural state. It's that simple. (Caveat: even "healthy" foods may be causing issues if there is an undetected food sensitivity.)
To set yourself up for success, make bowls (I recently bought bowls from Crate & Barrell for this purpose and we are loving them). Bowls are fun, easy, delicious, and endlessly customizable. Start with a base of cooked whole grains or greens, add a protein, veg, and a sauce, dressing, or salsa. I also love a big salad using canned protein, like salmon. Add olives, pepitas, homemade vinaigrette, any other veggies you've got, and you have a delicious, filling, quick meal.
"That crummy feeling you have…is not in fact random—it's a direct result of what you ate."
When you're eating junky food, that may cause an imbalance in your microbiome. That imbalance may result in your gut wall not being as strong as it should be, which could allow inflammatory particles to leak into your bloodstream. This can cause irritation throughout your system. Some symptoms that may be resulting from systemic inflammation from leaky gut include headaches, foggy-brained, unexplained joint pain, fatigue, body aches, eczema, rashes, excess mucus, puffy face, weight gain, anxiety.
"Because chronic inflammation is weakening your immune system, your risks go up for cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, arthritis, and Alzheimer's."
The mucous membranes in our body house the cells that are our first line of defense in fighting foreign invaders. Think, your eyes, nose, mouth, and gut lining. According to UCLA Health, "70% of the immune system is located in the gut."
I help clients test their gut mucosal barrier and immune system function using lab kits that are shipped to their home.
If you're ready to stop guessing and start testing to find some of the missing pieces of your health puzzle, let's be in touch.
I've put together supplement ideas to Support Immune Function and Decrease Inflammation on my Fullscript website. Once you've created an account you will have lifetime access the the catalog. Plus, there is a 15% discount.
