Healthy Aging Supplements
Aging is a concern for everyone over the age of 30, and especially for those over 50 years of age. Everyone wants to live as long as they possibly can, but also feel healthy and look great along the way.
Aging is a multi-faceted phenomenon and begins within the cells, long before it starts to show on the surface. Graceful aging is best achieved by supporting the body from the cellular level. If your body is healthy on the inside, it will trickle through and reflect on the outside as well, and that’s a fact.
Youth, vitality, and great brain power is about being good to your body. That means eating a healthy, wholesome diet, exercising regularly and taking the necessary herbs and supplements every single day.
Antioxidants
Antioxidants are nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and other naturally occurring compounds (ie: brightly colored foods and superfoods). Antioxidants protect our cells from oxidative stress by fighting the free radicals that attack and damage healthy cells. The damage caused can lead to premature signs of aging and chronic illness, so antioxidants are a great place to start when it comes to healthy aging. Antioxidants also promote the body’s normal inflammatory response, which contributes to aging. Here are six antioxidants pertinent to cellular support.
Mitochondria
The mitochondria are nicknamed the “powerhouse of the cell,” and their primary job is to produce energy (aka: adenosine triphosphate or ATP) for cells and associated tissues. The mitochondria are responsible for producing more than 90 percent of the body’s required energy! When energy is readily available, the body is able to support a healthy metabolism and the natural aging process is decelerated. Efficient, optimally functioning mitochondria can support ideal energy levels, body composition, and overall vitality and health. Take a look at these key ingredients to support healthy aging.
Additionally, healthy mitochondria within the brain cells can help support optimal brain health and wellness. As we age, the ongoing exposure to environmental and food toxins causes deterioration of the mitochondria, causing them to function less efficiently.
Healthy Connective Tissue
Healthy connective tissue depends on the availability of nutrients that contribute to its physical structure, as well as nutrients involved in the biochemical reactions that regulate tissue anabolism and catabolism.
Connective tissue undergoes constant changes; physical trauma, nutrient deficiencies, and the aging process contributes to a loss of structural integrity in skin, bones, nails, hair, and joints. These factors may result in slow or improper wound healing; aesthetic changes associated with aging including wrinkles, dry skin, loss of skin elasticity and age spots; as well as more serious conditions such as osteoarthritis.
Other Factors
Hormone balance, insulin sensitivity, a lack of diversity in the microbiome, and detoxification also play major roles in the aging process.
Nutrients
Vitamin D is essential for just about anyone, and especially those over the age of 50. Vitamin D assists in the uptake of calcium and phosphate which are necessary to form new bone and maintain old bone.
Vitamin D deficiency has recently been associated with immune function, cardiovascular health, depression, inflammatory bowel disease, osteoporosis and hormone balance.
Vitamin K greatly enhances the benefits of vitamin D, in terms of bone strength and cardiovascular health. Vitamin D supports bone health by helping with calcium absorption. However, it is vitamin K that directs calcium to your skeleton, to prevent it from being deposited in the wrong areas.
Some adults over 50 may not be able to absorb enough vitamin B12. This essential, water-soluble vitamin affects many cellular processes, and its deficiency has the greatest impact on the generation of new blood cells and neurological function. An absorbable supplemental form is methylcobalamin.