By Joshua Yamamoto, MD

Iused to drive a ’69 VW Beetle. It eventually stopped running right. I took it to the mechanic. “What’s wrong with it?” I asked. “It’s got engine trouble,” he said. No, really?

My mechanic telling me that my car had engine trouble was about as useful as a doctor telling you that you have “heart failure.” If your heart is not running as well as your body needs it to, then your heart is failing you. That may be the most important thing you are ever told, and the most useless. If your heart isn’t working right, it definitely matters why.

If your heart isn’t working as efficiently as it should, then blood doesn’t flow as well as your body wants it to. More importantly, blood doesn’t flow to your brain as well as your brain needs it to.

A stroke is a cerebrovascular accident. That is, brain damage from not getting blood to the brain. Even worse, vascular dementia is what happens to the brain when it chronically does not get adequate blood flow.

Vascular dementia is the chronic brain damage that results from inadequate or interrupted blood flow to the brain.

The brain does not suck blood up from the body. The heart pumps it there. If you want to get adequate blood flow to the brain, you have to keep the heart working well.

Healthy brains require healthy hearts. You must maintain good blood flow to the brain.

We need to keep our pumps working. Fortunately, there are only so many ways that a heart can be damaged or become inefficient. We know who the usual suspects are, and we know how to round them up. Most of these things, in fact, are entirely predictable.

There is (almost) no such thing as heart disease. It is just natural aging.

Don’t get me wrong. Mother Nature always wins, but when it comes to the heart, aging is largely predictable, measurable, and manageable.

Hearts naturally become less efficient over time, even if you don’t have overt heart disease.

If your body or brain needs more blood than your heart is giving it, then you have inefficient circulation. This doesn’t mean you have had a heart attack. It doesn’t mean you have heart damage. It doesn’t have to mean you have heart failure.

Old School: Heart failure means you are swollen and breathless with a weak heart, and you need to see a cardiologist who will give you pills to breathe better. Dementia means that your brain doesn’t work. You should see a neurologist, who can tell you what to expect.

New School: The heart works to support the brain. When the heart is not working well, blood flow suffers, and the brain will eventually suffer, leading to strokes, brain damage, and dementia.

To protect the brain, you have to understand the health of your heart and your circulation, and do everything you can to keep blood flowing to your brain.

Your brain depends upon your heart’s efficiency.

To understand the health and efficiency of your heart, it is helpful to think about the most common factors related to aging that affect the heart and lead to heart disease. Everyone has at least three things that will affect the heart over time:

1. Blocked arteries (atherosclerosis, heart attacks, coronary artery disease) 2. High blood pressure (hypertension) 3. Heart rate and rhythm (slow heart rate, also called “bradycardia” and AFib)

Many people get atherosclerosis with age. Everyone can have hypertension with age. Everyone can have a slower and irregular heart with age. (Heart valves can also be a problem, but this is a more variable, individual issue that you’ll need to talk to your cardiologist about.) Understanding the processes of aging give us the opportunity to stay healthy.

Not only can we prevent strokes, we can manage our aging and largely prevent heart failure as well. Preventing heart failure is very good for the brain (and the heart!).

So, to keep a heart and brain healthy, it is useful to think of the aging-related factors that will affect you.

Blocked Arteries

The coronary arteries are the arteries that feed the heart. The heart pumps blood to every part of the body, including itself. The coronary arteries sit on top of the heart like a crown (that’s how they get their name, like “coronation”—get it?). We already mentioned that 100,000 heartbeats a day cause a lot of wear and tear on arteries. Age leads to chronic vascular inflammation, which leads to plaque growth.

The coronary arteries that feed the heart are actually pretty small—barely more than ¼ inch (3–4 mm) across. It does not take all that much plaque to begin blocking an artery. When a coronary artery is blocked, the heart muscle downstream waiting for blood starts to die. When it happens suddenly, we call it a heart attack.

You do not have to have a heart attack to damage the heart this way. If your arteries are chronically blocked, or partially blocked, you can slowly starve your heart muscle and damage it. The net result is a weak heart muscle.

This is what most people think of as heart disease—blocked arteries and damaged heart muscle. If enough muscle is damaged, the heart becomes weak. A weak heart cannot pump blood to the brain well.

Blocked coronary arteries are the traditional cause of a weak heart and heart failure.

You can have a weak heart without dramatic symptoms (see the universal heart symptoms in the preceding chapter). You can have partially blocked arteries with no symptoms at all.

If you don’t want a weak heart from blocked coronary arteries, then don’t get coronary artery disease. That means don’t let plaque build up. The same steps that prevent plaque in the carotid arteries prevent plaque everywhere. Take a statin. Take something to prevent clots. Funny, preventing heart attacks is simple compared to preventing strokes.

High Blood Pressure

Age stiffens arteries. Arteries are the pipes that carry blood. Stiffer pipes mean higher blood pressure. Higher blood pressure means more cardiac work. More cardiac work means the heart muscle will become thicker and stiffer. A thick, stiff heart can be very inefficient.

Before blood is pumped out of the heart and into the body, the heart has to fill with blood. The heart must relax in order to fill with blood. But high blood pressure and age makes a heart stiff, which means it has trouble relaxing to fill. If the heart doesn’t fill with blood, there’s no blood to pump out, no matter how strong the heart is.

The issue is blood flow. We need blood to flow to carry oxygen to the brain. A stiff heart has trouble generating good blood flow.

You see, blood pressure is a number, not a disease. The issue is the health of our heart and our arteries.

Blood flow matters more than blood pressure.

The challenge, of course, is that we measure blood pressure. We can’t easily measure blood flow. But our blood pressure represents how hard it is to maintain blood flow, how stiff our arteries are, and how much work our heart is doing. If we chronically overwork our heart, we will have heart failure from a stiff heart due to blood pressure.

High blood pressure will lead to a stiff heart and heart failure, even though the heart may be strong.

So, if you don’t want to have heart failure from high blood pressure, be aggressive in preventing the aging of your arteries (exercise, don’t smoke, reduce salt) and talk with your doctor about medication to control blood pressure and maintain vascular health.

Heart Rate and Rhythm

It is pretty well known that we don’t want to get plaque in our arteries because it can damage our heart, and we don’t want to have untreated high blood pressure because that can damage the heart. What is less well known is that we don’t want our heart to beat too fast, too slow, or too irregular as that can create problems for our heart as well.

Heart rate is also called “pulse.” It is the number of times per minute that our heart beats. A typical, average heart rate is 60–80 beats per minute (bpm). Heart rate and blood pressure are not the same thing. For the most part, they are independent.

Heart rhythm is the pattern in which the heart beats. A normal rhythm is called a sinus rhythm. An abnormal rhythm is also called an arrhythmia. The most common abnormal rhythm is AFib. AFib can be fast (have a high rate) or be slow (have a low rate). The pattern of AFib is always irregular regardless of the rate.

Recall: AFib is very common if we live long enough. When most people first have AFib, the heart tends to race. That is, the heart rate is high, and the heart beats really fast. If a heart beats fast continuously for weeks or months, it will weaken and dilate or stretch-out and enlarge. That will give you heart failure and poor blood flow.

A continuously fast heart rate can cause a heart to weaken and dilate. This can happen with AFib.

Less commonly, the irregularity alone will weaken the heart, even if it is not beating too fast. These are the folks who may benefit from aggressively preventing AFib. Irregularity always makes blood flow less efficiently, even if the heart is not weak.

Fast heart rates are a problem. Irregular heart rhythms are a problem. But what may be the most common problem is a slow heart rate. How much blood we circulate is known as our cardiac output. Cardiac output is simply how much blood our heart pumps with each heartbeat times how many heartbeats we have: Cardiac output = (volume of a heartbeat) x (heart rate).

Our blood flow depends heavily (but not exclusively) on our heart rate.

When we are young, our heart rate may reflect fitness. All my athletic friends, especially the runners, are fond of bragging about how slow their heart rate is. The bicyclists are even worse (because they both brag and wear spandex).

When we are fit, our body, especially our muscles, are very efficient and do not need much blood flow. Since they do not need much blood flow, the heart does not have to circulate much, especially when we are resting. Thus, young athletes can have very slow heart rates.

Good for them.

When they get older, the heart rate naturally slows down just because they are older, not because they got more fit.

When we are young, the heart rate can be slow because we are athletic. When we are older, the heart rate is slow because we are older, not because we are athletic.

Athletes with slow hearts often have a lot of trouble when they are over 65 because their hearts are too slow for what their bodies need. First, think of that formula: Cardiac output = (volume of a heart beat) x (heart rate). If the rate goes down, the volume has to go up to maintain a steady blood flow. If the volume goes up too much, the heart will stretch, and that leads to heart failure.

A slow heart can lead to heart failure.

Even simpler than that, if your heart is too slow, you are simply not circulating as much blood. This is a very important point that is often overlooked. A slow heart rate means less blood is flowing. That means the brain gets less blood. Over time, the brain slowly suffers. This is one of the key drivers of senility, or vascular dementia. A heart rate that is too slow can be a cause of vascular dementia.

The major trouble with this is that the changes can happen very gradually. No one notices until you realize that your spouse is just not the same person they used to be. It can take years.

Old School: A slow heart rate is a good sign of fitness and health. Unless someone has fainted, you never need to worry about a slow heart rate.

New School: Aging alone will slow a heart. Blood flow depends upon our heart beating, and if it beats too slowly, the heart and brain will suffer. A slow heart from age alone can lead to heart failure, brain damage, and dementia. A slow heart in a young person may be desirable, but in an older person, it will eventually be a problem.

We did mention that a slow heart rate also encourages AFib. AFib creates another issue. When you have AFib (and currently 6 million Americans are in AFib all of the time), it is important to control the heart rate. If the heart rate is too fast, the heart can weaken. So, we use all sorts of medications to slow down the AFib.

The problem is that AFib is irregularly irregular. The vast majority of the time we may have a perfectly reasonable heart rate, but on occasion, the heart skips beats and pauses. During a pause, the heart is not beating at all. We all have the occasional skipped beats, or pauses. The pause is usually less than two seconds long, and we rarely notice it.

In AFib, many people experience longer pauses that happen more frequently. If you have a three- to four-second pause without a heartbeat, you might faint (without warning). What’s more, that’s three to four seconds without good blood flow to your brain. You can only do that so much before your brain suffers.

The heart can pause, and not beat, especially when we are in AFib.

This can happen even if we have a normal or fast tempo most of the time. You might be surprised at how often your heart is not beating. It’s not a good thing, and you often won’t feel it.

If you have too slow a heart rate, or too many pauses without a heartbeat, you will damage your brain from lack of blood flow.

For better or worse, the brain damage is usually subtle at first. True brain damage takes a lot of time. This does give us plenty of time to recognize the issue and prevent problems.

There is no pill for a slow heart rate. There is no diet or exercise that will restore the tempo of your heart when it is too slow. You can, however, get a pacemaker when you need one.

The problems from a slow heart can be prevented with a pacemaker.

Nowadays, pacemakers are easy. It is a quick outpatient procedure that involves little more than some local numbing medicine and a few stitches. Yes, I implant pacemakers, so I am biased. I know how easy it is to get one, and I know how much better people can feel when they have one. I know that it is easier to get a pacemaker than a root canal, and it’s covered by insurance.

As a matter of fact, all of my 100-year-old patients, except one, have a pacemaker. I have a lot of 100-year-old patients. My oldest patient is still sharp as a tack at 106, and as I said before, she still complains that no one will dance with her.

We all want to keep a healthy brain. To keep a healthy brain, we must keep a healthy heart. To keep a healthy heart, we must avoid or prevent heart damage. We must not let plaque build up in our coronary arteries, which will starve the heart of blood and damage it. We must not allow our arteries to get so stiff that our blood pressure rises and overworks our hearts so that it no longer pumps blood well.

We have to remember that age changes things. Our bodies work differently at 70 than they did at 17. We need to keep blood flowing to our brains. We need to have a strong heartbeat, and we need to have enough of them.

Find out more. Read, You Can Prevent a Stroke (RosettaBooks, July 30, 2019). Joshua Yamamoto, MD is co-author of the newly published You Can Prevent a Stroke (RosettaBooks, July 30, 2019).

By Patricia A. Ebaire

I am 66 years young and female. I stand 5’4” with a slim-to-average body type. I grew up in a Catholic Creole family in the Deep South of New Orleans. My family consisted of parents, four brothers, a sister, and a host of relatives who lived nearby. Everyone enjoyed cooking and eating. Thus began my introduction to healthy and unhealthy food choices.

Food and drink are as much a tradition in New Orleans as gumbo, crawfish etouffee, and beignets. New Orleans is a festival of foods and drinks in celebration of every imaginable joy in life. Food is a large part of the culture, and as I neared high school graduation, weighing 117 pounds, I became aware of childhood friends becoming less active and gaining weight.

Nutritious, healthy, and balanced meals are not the norm for New Orleans, but delicious is.

A few years later, I married, and at nine months pregnant, I weighed 145 pounds. At age 26, I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, and my weight dropped down to 100 pounds. After completing the treatments, my weight was 121 pounds. The day before my 32nd birthday, now divorced and a single parent, I moved to Fort Worth, Texas, with my daughter, and we embraced the culture.

In Fort Worth, people appeared to be more health conscience, and numerous venues for activity and exercise existed in every part of the city. I joined a gym and took aerobics classes. At 37, I began teaching exercise classes at local gyms and at the YMCA, and I maintained my weight between 121 and 124 pounds.

In my early 40s, I began to experience the joy of menopause and, like most women, gained a few extra pounds, ranging from 125 to 128 pounds. At 48, a five-time rollover automobile accident abruptly discontinued all my physical activity. My comeback was slow, but at 56, I began teaching yoga. My weight ranged from 128 to 130 pounds, but over the next 10 years, I gained almost 50 pounds. I started exercising less on my own and considered my yoga instructions as exercise. Ten years only equals just under 5 pounds per year—not bad, right? Big mistake! My weight was at 169 pounds.

Three years ago, in 2016, I had full panel labs of blood work done.

Patricia Ebaire, before and after. Photo: Courtesy of Patricia Ebaire

My lab work revealed dehydration, insulin resistance, inflammation, and other manageable issues. I added more foods that are high in fiber and increased my servings of fruits and vegetables. I lowered my carbohydrates intake to less than 100 grams per day. I also learned the art of balancing meals, which involves food preparation.

I try to exercise 40 minutes every day, a work in progress, and the result is…

As of today, I weigh 121 pounds, but I am still working on balancing meals—the key still being preparation, preparation, and more preparation.

I still teach yoga, now only twice a week, but I’ve added a strength and toning class once a week. I power walk for at least an hour whenever the weather is good. I play pickleball at least twice a week. We just had our first pickleball tournament, and I won third place doubles in beginner/advanced beginner. It was a random draw, so I’d never played with my partner before. We were overjoyed. I am also teaching 30-minute mini yoga sessions and personal training for a few private clients.

Overall, I feel amazing, and my friends all ask how I’m doing it. Now you know my secret! Exercise daily and eat healthy, nutritious balanced meals and snacks.

Surround yourself with all the activities you can imagine. Do something different or something you’ve always wanted to do and get outside of your comfort zone. You will find yourself having so much fun.

I am once again dancing and singing around the kitchen with my 12-year-old granddaughter, and sometimes it is just me. Whenever we race, I always win, and she says it’s because I’m in better shape. Imagine that.

I have a lot more strength and energy and a lot more younger men are flirting with me. I recently had a colonoscopy and had been diagnosed in the past with diverticulosis and hemorrhoids. Following a diet low in carbohydrates and high in fruits and vegetables, along with exercising daily, my colon is once again very healthy—no diverticulosis and no hemorrhoids.

Yes, at 66, I am living my best life!

By Lisa Frank

At the end of the year, I will turn 60, and I am doing a job that I did when I was in college: I am a food service worker.

When I first told people that I was taking a part-time job at my neighborhood grocery store in the deli, the response went one of two ways. First, some family and friends were aghast. Did we need more money? Should we set up a GoFundMe account? Did we wipe out all our savings by paying for private college and law school for our children?

Others would simply laugh and tell me I’d be managing the store in no time. Both are not true. Although money and the respect of a job title are always nice, they aren’t why I decided to take a clerk job.

I am choosing to be a foot soldier in the service world so that I can give back to my community.

For years, our stores have been there for us. For every late night beer run, early Thanksgiving cranberry panic, and last-minute potluck purchase, we have relied on our grocery stores and the community they bring.

Without our local businesses, where would we shop or dine? Where would we run into our neighbors and gather with our community? There are so many things that I do online now, ranging from shopping to entertainment and FaceTiming with my kids.

Whenever a stray dog walks across my lawn, I’m more likely to post about it on NextDoor than I am to go outside for a look.

But working at my local grocery store connects me with my community. I see friends whom I haven’t seen since my children were in school, and I get the chance to meet new members of the neighborhood, too.

As a service worker, I get a glimpse of my fellow citizens’ lives.

Who is so organized that they make a weekly visit to the grocery store every Monday at exactly 9 a.m.? Who frantically walks in for diapers or breakfast cereal right before closing? Who chats with the workers and who is on their smartphone and headphones?

When members of my community come in, I can see a little of my life through them. Young children remind me of when I was younger, in this same community, and would buy whatever I could for a few bucks at the grocery store.

When I see a new mother carrying a baby, I remember my first years as a parent and the challenge of picking the proper baby food without forever ruining my newborn’s chances as an Olympic athlete or astronaut.

When I see parents trying to impress their aloof teenagers, it reminds me of watching my own teens come into their own. I’m lucky to see my community as both an insider and an outsider.

It’s vital that we keep businesses like this alive.

As a reliable employee, I see it as my duty to support the next generation of managers to be successful in their jobs. I do not know all my fellow workers’ backstories. Some will be in food service as a stepping stone to management. Others are passing through until their real career takes off. And several may just be happy to have a job.

Needless to say, I’m inspired by my co-workers’ tenacity in serving customers throughout the long hours of the day. Maybe one day, we’ll all be replaced by robots, but I doubt those machines will generate the same sense of community.

Not all of us settle into a stereotypical retirement. Some of us are not people who can or want to travel all over the world. We have not all developed engrossing hobbies (bird-watching?). Not all are passionate about athletics, have a high-drama social circle, feel connected to a volunteer group, or can be satisfied by reading or streaming Netflix.

Is working close to minimum wage in food service a bad job? I don’t think so.

When working with a variety of individuals, it’s often a soulful journey and can be as invigorating as traveling to a foreign country. At the end of my shift, I know I’ve spent the day around young people, listened to their views (which I might not always agree on!), practiced retaining information, and am physically engaged. And sure, I’ve earned some extra spending money, too. I am not only helping myself, but I am also literally serving my community.

I’m not alone.

Take a look at many of the large (and small) retailers out there. You might be surprised to see how many people around retirement age are working in the kinds of jobs they might have held in high school or college, prior to launching their careers.

These might be jobs that young people don’t want, but they’re also jobs in which many older workers find value and meaning.

Hey there. Is there something I can help you with?

Lisa Frank is a deli clerk on Mercer Island, Washington. She can be reached at Lisa_Frank@comcast.net

If you find yourself making this common resolution, know this: Many so-called “miracle” weight-loss supplements and foods, including teas and coffees, don’t live up to their claims. Worse, they can cause serious harm, said Food and Drug Administration regulators.

The FDA has found hundreds of products that are marketed as dietary supplements but actually contain hidden active ingredients—components that make a medicine effective against a specific illnesses—contained in prescription drugs, unsafe ingredients that were in drugs that have been removed from the market, or compounds that have not been adequately studied in humans.

“When the product contains a drug or other ingredient that isn’t listed as an ingredient, we become especially concerned about the safety of the product,” said Dr. James P. Smith, an acting deputy director in FDA’s Office of Drug Evaluation.

Tainted Products

FDA has found weight-loss products tainted with the prescription drug ingredient sibutramine. This ingredient was in an FDA-approved drug called Meridia, which was removed from the market more than nine years ago because it caused heart problems and strokes.

“We’ve also found weight-loss products marketed as supplements that contain dangerous concoctions of hidden ingredients, including active ingredients contained in approved seizure medications, blood pressure medications, and antidepressants,” said Jason Humbert, an FDA senior regulatory manager.

Most recently, FDA has found a number of products marketed as dietary supplements that contain fluoxetine, the active ingredient found in Prozac, a prescription drug marketed for the treatment of depression and other conditions. Another product contained triamterene, a powerful diuretic—sometimes known as “water pills”—that can have serious side-effects and should only be used under the supervision of a health care professional.

Many of these tainted products are imported, sold online, and heavily promoted on social media sites. Some can also be found on store shelves.

And if you’re about to take what you think of as “natural” dietary supplements, such as bee pollen or Garcinia cambogia, you should be aware that FDA has found that some of these products also contain hidden active ingredients contained in prescription drugs.

“The only natural way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you take in,” said Smith. That means a combination of healthful eating and physical activity.

Dietary Supplements Linked to Severe Health Events in Children and Young Adults

Most recently, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health released information on the effects of dietary supplements on young people in particular.

Consumption of dietary supplements sold for weight loss, muscle building, and energy was associated with increased risk for severe medical events in children and young adults compared to consumption of vitamins, according to new research led by The Chan School. The study found that, compared with vitamins, these types of supplements were linked to nearly three times as many severe medical outcomes in young people.

“The FDA has issued countless warnings about supplements sold for weight loss, muscle building or sport performance, sexual function, and energy, and we know these products are widely marketed to and used by young people. So what are the consequences for their health? That’s the question we wanted to answer,” said lead author Flora Or, a researcher with The Chan School’s Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders. The study was published online on June 5, 2019, in The Journal of Adolescent Health.

The researchers looked at adverse event reports between January 2004 and April 2015 in the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System on the food and dietary supplements database. They analyzed the relative risk for severe medical events, such as death, disability, and hospitalization in individuals aged between 0 and 25 years that were linked to the use of dietary supplements sold for weight loss, muscle building, or energy compared to vitamins.

They found that there were 977 single-supplement-related adverse event reports for the target age group. Of those, approximately 40% involved severe medical outcomes, including death and hospitalization. Supplements sold for weight loss, muscle building, and energy were associated with almost three times the risk for severe medical outcomes compared to vitamins. Supplements sold for sexual function and colon cleanse were associated with approximately two times the risk for severe medical outcomes compared to vitamins.

Senior author Dr. S. Bryn Austin, a professor in The Chan School’s department of social and behavioral sciences, noted that reputable physicians do not recommend the use of the type of dietary supplements analyzed in this study. Many of these products have been found to be adulterated with prescription pharmaceuticals, banned substances, heavy metals, pesticides, and other dangerous chemicals. And other studies have linked weight-loss and muscle-building supplements with stroke, testicular cancer, liver damage, and even death.

“How can we continue to let the manufacturers of these products and the retailers who profit from them play Russian roulette with America’s youth?” Austin said. “It is well past time for policymakers and retailers to take meaningful action to protect children and consumers of all ages.”

Sources: FDA.gov and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

By Toni Gattone

Gardening is one of the healthiest activities for anyone, especially for seniors. It gets you out of the house and into nature and fresh air. It also involves bending and stretching, which helps with flexibility and balance, increasing your strength and, ultimately, your range of motion.

For those of us who have received our AARP card, a routine activity such as gardening every day can reduce our risk of stroke and promote a longer, healthier life.

Researchers for the British Journal of Sports Medicine followed a group of 4,000 60-year-olds in Stockholm, Sweden, for 12 years. Participants with the highest level of daily physical activity had a 27% lower risk of heart attack or stroke and a 30% reduced risk of death from all causes.

The bottom line is that a lot of people love to garden, yet many chores, such as raking, weeding, pruning, digging, and even harvesting, can play havoc with our bodies.

Drum roll, please … Adaptive gardening to the rescue!

“I find the love of gardening grows upon me more and more as I grow older.”—Maria Edgeworth

What Is Adaptive Gardening?

For gardeners of all ages with a limited range of motion, who are wheelchair users, or who want to reduce stress on their joints, adaptive gardening offers dozens of ways to identify what works for them in their garden according to their physical realities.

I bring nearly 30 years of experience to this kind of problem-solving. The business I started in 1990, Toni Gattone & Associates, has given me great opportunity to find the best ergonomic tools in an ever-changing garden market. My approach will enable you to think through what you may need in the future so that you can make changes now and not have to undo your hard work later.

The objectives of adaptive gardening are threefold:

1. To raise awareness of adaptive techniques that enable gardeners to rethink how and when they garden for greater ease. 2. To describe how gardens can be changed or modified to ensure the gardener’s safety and comfort. 3. 3. To modify favorite tools to increase their usability or replace them with options that are more ergonomic.

Why Do You Need It?

We have all been given a gift. Did you know the average life expectancy in the U.S. has grown by 30 years during the past century alone? We all want to thrive in our lives, and living longer means that we have more time to do the things we love. We are all pioneers finding new ways to live vital, meaningful, and happy lives into our 70s, 80s, 90s, and beyond.

Research shows that happy adults usually have a support group of like-minded individuals. Luckily, garden clubs abound. Happy adults are also passionate about something they enjoy doing. Well, gardening is a hobby that millions of people are passionate about. Gardeners love nothing more than to spend time in our gardens. Actually, being in any garden, anywhere, makes us happy.

But however much we love to garden, back, knee, shoulder, or hip pain doesn’t make it easy. You may have thought you might have to give it up or, at least, find new ways to approach it. If you learn to adapt to avoid the pain, gardening can bring you joy for the rest of your life.

10 Adaptive Gardening Rules to Live By

1. Our bodies change. That’s life. When we realize we have limitations that stop us from doing what we want, we have to learn to “accept what is” first. Only then can we develop resiliency by looking for other ways to get it done.

2. You deserve a safe and comfortable garden to work in.

3. One of the best things you can do for your body is stretch before you start gardening. Do yoga, tai chi, or dance to some upbeat music that gets you moving and warmed up.

4. Switch it up. This keeps things interesting and saves you energy. Every 30 minutes, start a different chore using a different part of your body. Repetitive movements are what cause pain, so switching it up will keep you from feeling sore the next day.

5. When you garden smarter, it takes less time to do more. Anticipate the chores you plan to do and decide what tools and gloves you will need. Then grab a tote and bring your tools to the job so that you won’t have to double back for “one more thing.”

6. Save time and money by planting perennials or shrubs rather than annuals. By following the concept of “right plant, right place,” you won’t make costly mistakes like buying a fig tree that wants to be 30 feet tall when you only have room for a dwarf.

7. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Make sure your requests are specific and you include a deadline for any help you hire. Have more fun by inviting friends over to help. If you grow succulents, let your friends take home pups you have propagated. From your garden to theirs—everybody wins!

8. Look for ways to make your gardening life easy. When you buy new containers, make them self-watering. Buy a tool sharpener so that every cut you make is with a sharp pruner.

9. Only use ergonomic tools that are comfortable. Adapted tools are easy to create and cost pennies on the dollar compared to new tools.

10. If you have a bad back, it is pure joy to stand up and garden. Find eye-level, vertical gardening opportunities. Then stand back to admire your work.

Who Needs It?

Seniors and gardeners of any age who have limited mobility or physical issues, as well as children and caretakers of senior gardeners, can benefit from adaptive gardening.

I remember reading a story about a woman who thought she would have to give up gardening entirely, due to her limited mobility issues. But now, her caregiver helps her maintain her herb garden and the fruits and vegetables grown in her raised beds.

With her caregiver’s help, the woman is still able to feel the joy that comes from doing what she loves—being in her garden. She’s not doing all the work herself, but she is enjoying teaching someone else. She could have thrown in the towel and said, “I can’t garden anymore because it has become too hard for me to do it alone.” Instead, she found a way to get it done.

I believe there’s always another way to get it done. We must be resilient and resourceful. Believe in yourself and do what makes you happy.

When Should You Start?

Now! Start where you are. Think about what hurts when you garden. Decide what chores have become increasingly difficult to do. Then take a hard look at your garden and plan for whatever the future may hold.

Let’s face it: We live in a stressful and complicated world. And that’s all the more reason to take time to get down to earth. As I write this in fall 2018, I’m struck by how different our world is from just a few years ago. If watching the news makes you crazy, why not spend more time in your garden to shift your gears?

Years ago, I had a high-energy sales job and worked for an insecure sales manager who enjoyed pulling the rug out from under me as a way of testing me. I was super stressed. And whenever I got home from work, I would pour myself a glass of wine, grab my pruners, and go out to my garden.

What began as a little deadheading resulted in creating a beautiful bouquet of roses and cut flowers to bring indoors. While still in my business suit, my stress melted away—replaced with a feeling of joy. Gardening has always been an attitude adjustment for me, and if you are reading this, I’m betting you feel the same.

Seasons change. Storms come and go. Changes will occur. These are certainties. No matter your age or your abilities, we have to roll with the punches as life runs its course and find solutions to whatever we think is holding us back.

Toni Gattone is the author of The Lifelong Gardener: Garden with Ease and Joy at Any Age, published by Timber Press, © 2019.

By Ronnie Citron-Fink

As I took a seat beside my colleagues at a business meeting in Washington, D.C., to discuss toxic chemical reform, I could already feel my scalp tightening.

The environmental scientist we were listening to was discussing low-level chemical buildup left in our bodies by personal care products. As she rattled off a list of ingredients—“phthalates, parabens, synthetic dyes, stearates”—I was struck by a profound contradiction in my own life.

In three years, I’d be 60. And like many women who care about their appearance, I had joined the ranks of the 75% of U.S. women who color their hair.

My personal goal for my hair color was “natural-looking” to complement my natural lifestyle. To achieve this, I spent hours upon hours, and thousands of dollars, attempting to embody the hair color company’s slogan: “Hair color unique to you.”

But who was I kidding?

Whatever was unique to me was buried under layers of hair dye.

“Why do we subject our bodies to questionable chemicals?” a young co-worker asked the environmental scientist, wiping off her lipstick.

“People ignore potential risks for the sake of convenience, cost, beauty,” she replied. “Many of these products promise a fountain of youth.”

As an environmental writer, I knew that more than 80,000 new chemicals have been invented since World War II and only a handful have been studied for safety. In the mid-20 century, baby boomers sought “happy days” in what DuPont advertised as, “Better living through chemistry.”

It wasn’t until Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking tome Silent Spring that the cautionary principle of preserving what we need to physically survive—and loving what we must protect—was raised.

But 50 years later, we are still dithering with dangerous chemicals that find their way into our bodies and environment.

Most people assume that chemicals in consumer products have been tested and proven safe, but that is not the case. Why do we assume that? Because we believed that something being on the market means it’s been cleared or vetted in some way, when, in fact, the overwhelming majority of chemicals—particularly those in beauty products—have never been independently tested for safety.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration “regulates” the safety of hair dyes. But according to its website, “The FDA does not have the legal authority to approve cosmetics before they go on the market … companies may use almost any ingredient they choose.”

Rather than the FDA protecting consumers from dangerous ingredients, it is the responsibility of the product manufacturers to decide whether the ingredients in their products are safe, according to FDA rules. But day after day, year after year, we are exposed to carcinogens, endocrine disrupters, and allergens in our hair products.

Personal care products are a $70 billion-a-year industry in the U.S., and the cosmetics industry is expected to police itself. The conflict of interest is stunning. By leaving safety oversight to the cosmetics industry, we are essentially letting the fox guard the henhouse.

The toxics meeting was my wake-up call. It spurred me to ask a host of questions and, ultimately, to write my new book, True Roots: What Quitting Hair Dye Taught Me about Health and Beauty. I asked: What’s the connection between coloring and cancer? Who regulates the hair dye industry? What are the risks for hairdressers? Are all dyes created equal? Do safer alternatives exist? Where does all that dye end up after it’s washed out of our hair?

But before I could answer these questions about the potential dangers of hair dye, I was struggling with the idea of giving up by beautiful, dyed, long dark hair. I realized that for me, as is the case for many women, hair dye was the “magic elixir” that made me feel youthful.

Ditching the dye would mean confronting strongly held cultural beliefs—mine and others’—some of them so ingrained that I was barely aware of them: beliefs about beauty, choice, aging, and femininity. It would also mean flouting fashion and beauty gurus, the media, decades of powerful and seductive advertising, my girlfriends, and even the expectations of the men in my life.

So, as my hair transitioned to shiny silver, I lived with the consequence of my ecological awareness, reckoning with the interplay between health and beauty. I explored new ideas about beauty and aging, learning to quiet my fears. Now, I’ve come to realize that my attitude has changed as much as my hair color.

One thing that made a big difference in reconciling my transition from dyed to natural hair was finding a community of silver sisters. From women leading by example, not only did I get helpful tips, but I also learned about a different kind of transition—the one that happens internally.

Although every woman has to find her path, it helps to share your journey to self-acceptance—the grace of gray. Ideas about turning back the hands of time shift as we learn more and more about what keeps us healthy.

Attitudes and minds change, and, for me, going gray created a challenge to be honest, to transform not only my hair but also my sense of self, and to accept the person within.

By creating a guide to the complexities of environmental health and revelatory beauty for women of all ages, I asked a question that people ask as they move through life: Will the choices I make keep me healthy, and are they worth it?

From my research, I discovered that our hair carries answers and holds other insightful messages about health and beauty.

For our health, we deserve to know what’s in the products we’re massaging into our scalp every day to make informed decisions about hair products that can keep us healthy. It also helps to understand the facts about questionable ingredients and how our regulatory system works.

But with little transparency required from hair care companies, those facts are not always clear or easy to find. When companies fail us in this regard, we can demand change.

If we don’t buy shampoos, dyes, and cosmetics with questionable ingredients, manufacturers will clamor to create healthier ones to meet customer demand.

We can boycott and vote with our pocketbooks, as well as raise our voices to lawmakers so they act in our best interest and in the interest of protecting public health over the profits of industry. This not only yields our power as consumers, but it becomes a new conversation that can change hearts and minds.

When we open ourselves to change, the hope—that most luxurious of feelings—is that we’ll find our way to good health. It springs up because looking good only matters if you feel good.

That’s the prize; the rest is just hair.

From True Roots: What Quitting Hair Dye Taught Me about Health and Beauty by Ronnie Citron-Fink. Copyright © 2019. Reproduced by permission of Island Press, Washington, D.C.

By David Kottler

I was blessed to work with my father for many years in my first career, being part of a food distribution company. It wasn’t my first choice of careers. However, as often happens in life, it was a consequence of a different intention.

Working for my father was a necessity if I wanted to be able to pay my way through law school and become an attorney. This was my dream career. Fortunately, I accomplished both. After five years of helping to build the food business and earning a degree, I realized that, contrary to my previous notions, business could be fun and profitable, which wasn’t a dirty word. This was one of my dad’s expressions.

It’s becoming increasingly important for older adults to think outside the box to realize a profit. Many are being squeezed financially on both ends. Some have aging parents who need their support, financially or emotionally due to increased medical costs, dementia, and the like.

At the same time, older adults have goals and dreams of helping their children and grandchildren and favorite causes. These obligations are in addition to making sure they have enough for what is projected to be greater longevity. With more longevity comes increased living and medical expenses.

So, what can they do to make a profit where they might not have realized there is one?

One way that older adults can think outside the financial box is by considering assets that they already own as a potential income or source of cash which they normally wouldn’t consider as such.

Insurance Policy

One example is an insurance policy.

Due to various factors, there is a huge demand for senior life insurance policies from institutional buyers like Warren Buffett and large multibillion-dollar hedge funds looking for noncorrelated assets to the stock market that can generate a profitable return for the investors.

Some of these buyers like Coventry and others are spending millions of dollars on TV, print, internet, and more to try to educate and lure owners of policies to contact them about selling their policies. This can be advantageous for both the sellers and the buyers, but sellers should try to use a broker who can maximize their value. They do this by accessing the entire market as opposed to just selling to a single buying entity that is advertising.

Sellers can make a profit, especially where they own a term policy if several factors are present. One, the policy must be able to be converted to a permanent policy. Usually, they are if the insured is less than 70 or 75 years of age. Second, the policy will ordinarily be much more salable if there has been an adverse health change from the time the policy owner/insured has purchased the policy.

In instances like these, despite the fact the policy owner has probably paid little so far for the policy, as term policies are the least expensive form of insurance, the policy could have a market value of 20% to 30% or more of the Death Benefit owned.

Too few understand that they may be able to cash out with a life settlement, or sale of an existing life insurance policy to a third party. Use this life value calculator to estimate how much your life insurance policy will be worth when you sell it.

Getting Advice

The greatest protection for older adults, and, actually, all consumers, is to find the most appropriate expert advocates they can. It could be a person who is a tax attorney, a certified public accountant, a registered investment advisor with a good reputation, a banker, a litigator, or, like in this instance, a life insurance expert.

One last piece of advice …

Volunteer

Do some kind of work or volunteer activity. Aside from the obvious financial benefits, older adults will accrue many other benefits besides income. Increased self-esteem, new social contacts, and keeping their brain active are all excellent side benefits.

Exercise

Daily exercise is a great stress reliever and creates the endorphins we all love so much.

Connect

Connecting with your spiritual side can also add meaning to your life.

Give Back

Being active in some form of giving back is an incredibly satisfying activity. It’s not just about surviving but also thriving!

David Kottler is a national speaker, author, and entrepreneur who combines his legal and business experience to help Americans fulfill their life mission both philanthropically and financially. Also known as “The Insurance Doctor,” Kottler draws on his 24 years of financial planning experience to help clients through his True ValueTM life insurance review process. Kottler is the author of The Best Kept Money Secret in Your Insurance Policy. For further information:

• Website • LinkedIn • YouTube

[awesome-gallery id=9424]