7 WAYS TO SHORTEN YOUR TEENS’ LIFE
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Sounds like a pretty strong statement? I cannot make it any clearer that the decisions our children make today will pave the way for health or disease in their later years.
It should also be clear by now that the fastest way to an early grave is by taking in too many calories. Calorie restriction without nutrient restriction is the key to longevity and avoiding all chronic diseases. So how can we tell how well we’re doing with our lifestyles?
There really isn’t a single marker that can measure longevity, but there are a few that correlate very, very strongly with long term health and longevity. One of these is telomere length. What are telomeres, you ask? Consider them as the wick on the end of the DNA of our cells. When this wick burns down, that’s it. The cell is no more. So, the longer the telomere on the end of our DNA, the longer that cell is going to live and, by extension, the longer you are going to live.
This particular article finds that higher caloric intake in teens led to a shorter telomere length in their white blood cells. Not a good thing. And we don’t get these telomeres back–once they are shortened they’re shortened for life.
Consider that the next time the Mcdonald’s drive thru seems like the “only” option.
So what else has been shown to lower telomere length?
- Multivitamin use has shown to lead to longer telomeres
- A pro diabetic lifestyle shortens our telomeres
- Stress shortens telomere length
- Overweight children have shorter telomeres
- Childhood abuse (emotional, nutritional or physical) shortens telomeres
- Omega 3 fatty acids lead to longer telomeres
Overall, you can see that the everyday decisions we make as parents for our children have a direct impact on their longevity. Decide well or they will pay the price.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Since acquiring a passion for how the body works in chiropractic school, I have continued to indulge this desire by reading some 120 peer reviewed medical journals per month. I’m always learning more about how to help people avoid chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, dementia, osteoporosis, obesity and cancer, and pass along this information in my blog. There are currently almost 2,000 posts cataloged on almost every health topic imaginable. Click Here for more bio information
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