Dr. Walter Bortz: Live to Be 100

CBN.com According to Dr. Walter Bortz, the ultimate challenge of anyone's life is the opportunity to make the most of it that can be made. Who you get to be--how old, wise, competent, active, creative, sexy, fun you become--depends on largely how you plan. Decrepitude and loss are not predetermined. Like the turtle, how you set your course is highly predictive of the journey you will take.

ANTI-AGING NUTRITION
“For most animals, acquiring enough nutrition is a problem; for us, it's the opposite -- we have to avoid taking in more than our bodies require…but no matter what your size or age, the more you move, the better your body will utilize your vitamin and mineral intake,” says Dr. Bortz.

• Diet Right - The central truth of good nutrition is that your needs are best met by a varied and complex diet that is in compliance with the USDA food guide pyramid.
• Vitamins – Vitamins are like light switches. You need a certain number to light your house. Following the same analogy, having 10 or 100 times that number doesn't make the lights any brighter. Use only what you need.
• Calcium Matters - Of all the body's minerals, calcium is the most important. We would all be jellyfish without it. It helps muscles contract, the heart to beat, and the brain to think.
• Keep Your Fiber Up - Fiber is a major aid in lowering blood cholesterol. The soluble kind of fiber acts like a blotter in the intestine, helping absorb fat and cholesterol, and facilitating their excretion.
• Slash the Salt - Never salt before tasting. Use pepper, garlic or onion powder, or herbs as substitutes.
• Fat Alert - It is the fat in your diet that makes you fat. It has been calculated that every pound of excess body weight over ten costs you one month of life.
• Don’t Dry Up - Drink early, drink enough (48 fluid ounces or 1.4 liter), and never let your urine turn dark due to dehydration.

LIVE LONGER WITH FITNESS
According to Dr. Bortz, most of the negative things we associate with aging aren't a result of chronological aging, but rather, a lack of physical activity…when you stop using yourself, you decay rapidly. Dr. Bortz believes you can gain vitality even in advanced ages... it’s never too late to start exercising, but never too soon to stop. Research indicates that a fit person is 30 years younger than an unfit person is. A 2001 study found that women 50 and older lowered their systolic blood pressure 12 points more than the youngest women after starting a 20-week cycling program. Some of the benefits you can gain by participating in an exercise program include:

1) Improved circulation by lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels;

2) Reduced risk of cancer;

3) Protection against infections;

4) Increased alertness due to the release of adrenaline; and

5) Improved sleep. Dr. Bortz believes that "although being lean doesn't guarantee longevity, obesity certainly prohibits it."

To be successful, an exercise program should have an element of recreation and renewal in it. Exercising just because it is good for you isn't enough for most people. It should be fun, too. If the exercise is perceived as work, chances are you won't sustain it.

Dr. Bortz encourages people of all ages to be more than body fit, be whole person fit -- body, mind, spirit all in harmony, balance, vitality. This is the ideal. It takes guts and smarts. It takes involvement. The key is to do it, just do it. At 75, he practices what he preaches. Over the past 35 years he has run a marathon each year. Most recently he and his wife completed the Boston Marathon.