By Dr. Edward Rowe
The idea of maximizing length of life has been the focus of human interest since long before Ponce de Leon (1458-1521) sought the fountain of youth in Florida.
From the beginning of human life on Planet Earth most people have wanted to live longer and have pondered every conceivable way to achieve that goal. In our time the interest in longevity is so persistent that numerous organizations have sprung into existence to explore ways and means of slowing the aging process.
According to projections by the US Census Bureau life expectancy in the USA will increase by a margin of about 7.15 years by the year 2050. The Bureau also predicts that in the year 2100 there will be 5,300,000 Americans over the age of 100 and average life expectancy will top out at around 90 years.
What are the factors that determine length of life? Some of them are genetic inheritance, stress level, environment, nutritional privilege and body cleanliness. Arguably the most important single factor in determining longevity is the presence of about 100 trillion live bacteria that inhabit the intestinal tract of every normally healthy living person.
Many health professionals believe the most important of all life extension factors relates to the situation in the intestinal tract. It is now scientifically established that intestinal health is foundational to the health of all body systems. Formerly unknown words such as prebiotics, probiotics, and biofermentics have sprung into usage among health professionals, although understanding is lagging in the general public.
What’s it all about? In a word, it’s about the billions of tiny living cells called bacteria or microbiota that inhabit the human intestinal tract and largely determine the issues of life and health for every inhabitant of our world.
Formerly the primary issue in professional health circles was food values, nutrition and nutritional supplements such as multi-vitamins, minerals etc. Not by any means denigrating the importance of those factors, there is now a paradigm shift to focus on the crucial importance of the intestinal flora - the billions of bacteria working inside the intestinal tract.
Let’s take a closer look at the intestinal flora. Biologists use the word flora to designate the mass and variety of microorganisms which reside in the intestinal tract. Our human intestinal flora consists of 1000 or more different varieties of microorganisms – also called microbiota – that reside in our intestines.
Some of them protect and preserve health, while others are non beneficial to health. In proper balance, the superior quantity and activity of friendly, beneficial microbiota maintain predominance, enhancing digestion and absorption of foods, assuring strong immunity, and protecting the body from invading germs – all of which is important for achievement of longevity.
As the body ages and is confronted with excessive stress, chemical pollutants, pesticides, X-ray, processed foods, refined sugars, antibiotics, automotive exhaust and a variety of other challenges, the formerly predominating quantity of beneficial bacteria may be decreased remarkably and the non beneficial bacteria may gain predominating influence. In that event immunity may be impaired and unprecedented health challenges may develop.
It is obvious that longevity depends on maintenance of health. Continuation of optimal health normally translates to optimal longevity of life. Therefore the goal of any person who desires to live longer must be to maintain good health. And to a large degree the maintenance of good health depends on wise management of the intestinal tract, which in turn depends largely on dietary supplementation with excellent Probiotics.
The website on which you have found this article features a carefully researched and selected menu of Probiotic supplements. Fortunately, you will notice that for less than the price of a daily cup of coffee at your favorite restaurant, you can regularly add billions of beneficial bacteria to your intestinal tract. Get started with one Probiotic, and then shift to another three or four times each year.
Such bacteria may provide your body with a reliable kind of personal “health insurance” by supporting healthy aging so that your wish to optimize your longevity of life will be fulfilled. |
