Aging Gracefully and Healthfully with Proper Nutrition
- Dr. Lucienne Safaite
- Mar 6
- 5 min read
Every one of us at one point or another will eventually go through the aging process
unless our stages of life have been cut short by some extraneous circumstances. Adequate
nutrition and health issues are two of the major challenges that middle-age and older adults face
in their quest of growing older gracefully and healthfully. We all dread that moment when we
finally realize that we are getting older. Sometimes it’s through the eyes of a loved one, other
times it’s a wakeup call from an illness or perhaps just from standing in front of a mirror and
watching the stages of our life flash before our eyes and wondering where has time gone. One
moment we were full of life and agility and the next we’re full of aches and pain and pruning.
Where is the fun in that? Don’t lose heart; there is hope to getting older gracefully and
healthfully.
While we may never look like our 18-year-old self ever again, we can surely look like
our best self at any age by taking the necessary steps that can help slow down the catabolic
effects of the aging process. A few of these steps might include working with a health or life
coach who can help awaken our best self, learn how to better adapt to life’s stressors, set
achievable goals and incorporate proper nutrients into our dietary intake through effective
professional coaching.
For those of us who are not familiar with the coaching profession, a coach is “a
professional who helps you reach a goal or make a change in your life; ... a source of motivation
and inspiration that gives you the push you need to reach your full potential (Life Coach Spotter, 2021, paras. 1-2).” A life or health coach is your personal “trainer” whose responsibility is to
help you dig deeper into your subconscious for those treasures that had been buried deep inside
your heart; and empower you to bring to the surface these resources that will help you live a
healthy lifestyle and become the best version of yourself. Coaching is all about living your best
life whether it be emotionally, financially, physically, socially or spiritually. Studies have shown
that “99% of the companies and individuals who used life coaching were at least satisfied with
the experience and 96% said that they would use a life coach again (Life Coach Spotter, 2021,
para. 35).” Health and fitness is one of the specific area where coaching have been used
effectively among many others such as work-life balance, spirituality, career/educational goals,
life purpose, relationships, motivation and others (Life Coach Spotter, 2021).
As a health coach and physician, I am well-aware of the fact that as we grow older, our
nutritional needs change in quantity and quality. Our body develops unique deficiencies in
vitamins and minerals that we are not able to absorb through our dietary intake alone. A health
coach can help guide the transformational internal and external dialogue that needs to happen to
help you figure out the source of that deficiency and help guide you into what course of actions
need be taken to remedy the problem. Sometimes, a coach may also equip an individual with
pertinent resources needed to achieve their goals, whether it is for health & wellness reasons or
just nutritional guidance needed to grow older gracefully and healthfully. It has been suggested
that “good nutrition can help middle-aged adults maintain their health and recover from any
medical problems or issues they may experience (13.5: Middle Age and Nutrition, 2021, para.
1).” Some of the most common useful suggestions for healthy aging include but not limited to:
“Maintain a healthy body weight, consume nutrient-dense foods, drink alcohol moderately or not
at all, be a nonsmoker, engage in moderate physical activity at least 150 minutes per week (13.5: Middle Age and Nutrition, 2021, para. 2). One way to ensure adequate nutrients is via
supplementation of vitamins and minerals preferably through natural sources or from Chinese
herbal medicine that has a “long history in Asian countries, which have antiaging properties and
could intervene aging-associated disorders (Zhao & Luo, 2017, para. 1)”; all of which can be
safely and effectively prescribed under the supervision of a qualified licensed healthcare
professional.
According to Yang et al., Chinese herbs such as: “Ginseng (Renshen) and Astragalus
membranaceus (Huangqi) are two of the most highly used qi tonifier in Chinese herbal medicine.
Scientific evidence have proven that the bioactive metabolites in the ginsenosides have the
ability to “increase lifespan, regulate the function of multiple organ systems including
cardiovascular, nervous, and cutaneous systems through antioxidant and antiinflammatory
properties (Zhao & Luo, 2017, para. 2).” Clinical studies have shown that the main Astragalus
membranaceus’ components such as saponins, flavonoids and polysaccharides have been
demonstrated to have “immunoregulatory, antioxidant, hypolipidemic, antihyperglycemic,
hepatoprotective, expectorant, and diuretic effects”, which “likely contribute to its beneficial
effects such as lifespan extension, slowing down of vascular and brain aging, and anti-cancer
activity (Zhao & Luo, 2017, para. 2).”
In addition, the ganodermasides like Ganoderma lucidum (Lingzhi) with their
“immunomodulatory, antioxidant, neuroprotective, and anti-tumor effects related to
polysaccharrides, triterpenes and peptidoglycans” properties have the power to “exert lifespan
elongation or related activities (Zhao & Luo, 2017, para. 2).” Moreover, herbs such as H.
cistanches (Roucongrong) aka “Ginseng in the deserts” commonly used for “chronic renal
disease, impotence, female infertility, morbid leucorrhea, profuse menorrhagia and senile constipation”, Panax notoginseng (Sanqi) aka “miracle root for the preservation of life” well
known for its “pharmacological function on lifespan extension, anti-vascular aging, anti- brain
aging, and anti-cancer properties” and Ginkgo biloba leaves (Yinxingye) that are widely use in
“various degenerative disease such as cerebrovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease” as well as
its pharmacological function as “an antioxidant, prevention of mitochondrial dysfunction, and
effect on apoptosis”, just to name a few, have been effectively used in mediating the healthy
aging process (Zhao & Luo, 2017, para. 1, 4).
In conclusion, there are definitely some viable options that can help with aging well.
Before the industrialized era took precedence over our world, we had nature to provide the
proper nutrients that our body needs to stay healthy as we age. We also had our own innate
treasures to empower us to make better choices for ourselves. With the help of effective coaching
and the correct supplementation of macro and micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, herbs) to aid
the “anti-oxidative stress, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotection, apoptosis and mitochondrial
function regulation”, we can get back to nature, back to our innate healing ability and to our
innate potential thereby carving out our future into growing older gracefully, healthily and
beautifully just as we were destined to be (Zhao et al., 2020, para. 1).
References
Life Coach Spotter. (2021). The complete guide to life coaching. Retrieved June 30, 2021, from
13.5: Middle age and nutrition. (2021, June 3). Medicine LibreTexts. Retrieved July 4, 2021,
from
n_to_Nutrition_(Diker)/13:_Lifecycle_Nutrition:_Childhood_to_Late_Adulthood/13.06:
_Middle_Age_and_Nutrition
Zhao, H., & Luo, Y. (2017, December 1). Traditional chinese medicine and aging intervention.
PubMed Central (PMC). Retrieved July 4, 2021, from
Zhao, J., Lan, X., Liu, Y., Liu, Y., Xian, Y., Lin, Z., & Xu, F. (2020, May). Anti-aging role of
chinese herbel medicine: An overview of scientific evidence from 2008 to 2018. APM.
Retrieved July 4, 2021, from https://apm.amegroups.com/article/view/41362/html
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