Dr. Ron Sinha On Aging Gracefully (Breather Episode with Brad)

I keep the tape running as Dr. Ron and continue to talk, going into a discussion about longevity, some concerns related to menopause, when heart disease risk increases, and related concerns for aging males.

Longevity promoting behaviors include keeping that visceral fat off the body, because it hampers hormonal function and can accelerate aging. Some great checkpoints to mitigate the effects of aging include keeping competency with squats, running the mile, and maintaining muscle reserves with regular resistance training. Also, monitor your blood values for triglycerides, glucose, HbA1c and inflammatory markers like C-reactive protein. 

Surprisingly, women’s cardiovascular risk is lower before menopause – after menopause, their heart risk stats more closely resemble their male counterparts. Dr. Ron also warns us to watch out for the “skinny male” syndrome, when a thin man is actually at higher risk than his heavier wife, because more of the carbohydrates in the diet are going towards lipid production. As Dr. Ron explains, menopause can act as a sort of trigger – because pre menopause, women are fertile; a lot of the time, this means there’s more fat. This is not usually a problem especially during child-rearing years. Obviously, losing weight is a hot topic, and many women in the paleo community have asked for years why they can’t get rid of that last 10 pounds (something I expanded on in my article, How to Lose That Last 10 Pounds) but a lot of the time, it’s just because the female body needs that extra weight for hormonal reasons. But after menopause, Dr. Ron says the female body asks, “Why are we still eating this garbage?” because it’s aware that it doesn’t need to support a baby, and the excess fat is just that...excess.  

As all of us get older, carrying a little extra weight has more serious ramifications – as Dr. Ron says, “With aging, you have to stay ahead of the insulin resistant race as far as possible.” This is why he advises patients to keep carbohydrates restrained, and stay on top of weight/resistance training for muscle preservation. “Muscle wasting with aging” is something Dr. Ron sees all the time with sedentary office workers, and adequate protein intake, along with weight training, are great ways to counteract this. Muscle mass preservation is particularly integral as you age because it helps you metabolize fuel, and the muscle cells themselves contain chemicals, that when released, can help with the aging process. 

One of Dr. Ron’s most illuminating tests when checking his patients’ vital signs is, how are your squats going? Of course, he’ll check out the triglycerides, their stats, etc., but if his patients can’t do a few squats without getting out of breath, then he knows there’s an area that needs improving. We also discuss The Cooper Institute’s data about the mile run, and how one’s 1 mile run time at the age of 50 is strongly predictive of your changes of living to 80. Clearly, there’s so much you can do to increase your longevity and quality of life as you get older. And, sure, some of those things aren’t always fun or pleasurable – who out there actually likes doing squats? Not many people. Most people would prefer to be noshing on some French fries on the couch then to be sweating and squatting – but think about Longcuts, something I’ve discussed before (twice!). Nothing good in life ever comes easy, but thankfully, a healthy lifestyle is actually pretty easy once you commit to it. It’s just the mental part of it all that trips us up....so, get over yourself, and focus on enjoying the steps you take to increase your longevity and support your health.