In our youth it should be our duty to build a body that is strong, and along with eating a well balanced diet it will help us live better and more productive lives in old age.
With an increasing age and an ever growing older population the amount of people living longer is growing, however from what i can see from my daily practice at hospital is that although we are living longer our general QOL (quality of life) is getting worse. The reason why ? …this is due to and ever increasing sedentary lifestyle as we age and an associated frailty
Frailty in medical terms is a geriatric syndrome that is characterized with the loss of muscle bulk, increased inflammation and hormone disruption resulting in faster aging, slower movements, weight loss and increased risk of falls and overall mortality. This distributive state is a condition that we should tackle in order to obtain better health outcomes!
Falls are one of the most deadly common accidents that put people over >65years of age at risk of morbidity and mortality.
Therefore as we get older it is our duty to not only take pills and vitamins to control our health but actually take over the drivers seat and drive our health towards success by adding exercise and a good diet to out daily routine. Our health should not be put on the back burner and forgotten!
So how do we reduce the risk of frailty and how do we keep a strong physique?
The main steps involve: EAting the right type of food for our bodies and not over indulging! this important at reducing our total daily caloric intakes and reducing the overall proinflammatory state
Exercise at least 45minutes a day, focus on weight training and muscle maintenance and hypertrophy. the aim here should be to train the body as a whole in a functional mindset !
Integrating and educating the older generations to partake in exercise programs and having personal trainers cater to the increasing needs associated to elderly populations
Employ multidisciplinary teams. Various members of the team should network and par take in the care of health of regional populations in education, nutrition, physiotherapy, medical, pharmacy and orthopedic aspects.
supplements might be helpful, especially supplements like Vitamin D.
however we should not just rely on supplementation and medication, but as we outlined before, strength training and fitness, including a plant based diet are essential for our health.