Fountain of Youth

 Don't you wish there really was such thing as the fountain of youth?
Instead, all we have to look forward to is botox and plastic surgery.  I'm all about preventing premature aging, although this wasn't always the case. Now looking back at all the hours I spent in the sun, staying up way too late, drinking alcohol and experimenting with cigarettes. I wish I could take it all back for the sake of my skin...  oh AND my health of course :)
I've mentioned that I'm reading this amazing book on the brain called Magnificent Mind at Any Age (1st): Natural Ways to Unleash Your Brain's Maximum Potential [Treat Anxiety, Memory Problems, ADD, and Insomnia].  I'm seriously learning some incredible things about the brain from this book. The Author says that the most effective way of preventing premature aging is by increasing blood flow. Anything that limits blood flow will dramatically age all your body's organs, and we all know that our skin is the most important organ.  Life isn't worth living if you've got wrinkles and saggy skin!!! Okay,  you all know I'm kidding right?
Anyway, I wanted to share with you the list of things mentioned in the book that are all factors in what limits or disrupts blood flow. (note, the bold text is from the book, and the italic are my thoughts and comments.)

• Stress. The overflow of the stress chemical adrenaline constricts blood flow to many areas of the body. Ha, well, how in the heck are we supposed to eliminate stress in motherhood? That's a tough one. I guess my suggestion would be a weekly date night, a monthly girls night out, then of course you gotta have your own personal cook, housekeeper, and nanny.  That should do the trick.
• Caffeine. This substance directly constricts blood flow to the brain, disrupts sleep, and is involved in dehydration.  We all know that eliminating caffeine is NOT an option!!!  I know I could do better at cutting back, but why not just drink more water? Sounds like a better plan to me.
• Nicotine. Aw, crap! Do I really have to give up my tobacco chew?
• Environment toxins. These toxins poison blood vessels.  This is the biggest reason why I'm so into cleansing the body. I've learned how important it is to rid your body of these toxins in order to maintain better health and of course lose the excess pounds we all tend to put on as we get older. I use to think that it's normal to gain weight as you get older. Well, it IS normal, but there are ways of preventing this awful curse. If you haven't already tried the cleanse I do periodically, then you should seriously look into it. I lost 25 lbs and went from a size 10 to a 5. See my before and after pics HERE, and go to www.wannabelean.com if you'd like to order.
• Lack of sleep. People who get less than six hours of sleep at night have lower overall blood flow to the brain. Gosh, it's no wonder women tend to age faster than men. Women get way less sleep, especially during pregnancy and with a new born. A lot of moms have trouble falling asleep at night because our minds are going a million miles a minute thinking about all the things that need to get done the next day.  I've found Melatonin  to be very effective. It TOTALLY works.  It's only $5 on amazon or most any grocery store has it, look for it in the vitamins section.
• Lack of exercise. In addition to weakening the heart pump, too little exercise allows blood vessels to become droopy and less efficient. Droopy? Well um, I don't think I want anything else on my body getting droopy, inside or out.  There's nothing good that comes from droopy.  Anyway, I truly believe that a 20 min work out each day is all it takes.  I'm actually doing the Insanity work out right now, but it's the first time in years that I've pushed myself this hard. I just thought I needed a little pick me up so I'm giving it a shot. 
• Drug or Alcohol abuse. These substances are directly toxic to the vascular system. Drugs or alcohol cause a toxic Swiss cheese appearance on scans from the overall decreased blood flow.  Hmm, a swiss cheese brain doesn't sound too good. This one is easy for me since I'm a Mormon and already follow the word of wisdom. If it wasn't for my strong belief in the teachings of the LDS church I would most likely be a drunken mess, embarrassing myself in public, slurred speech, shouting out loud obnoxious comments at the grocery store while removing articles of clothing and forgetting things like, my name and where I am.  

So the moral of the story is: Stay young and beautiful by living a stress free life.  Stop drinking all that rum and coke, overcome your Nicotine addiction, drink more water, get at least 8 hours of sleep, exercise like a maniac,  lock yourself up in a air filtered room, NEVER go outside or eat anything other than organically pure food, or you can just cleanse :)
Let's avoid those nasty wrinkles and saggy butts ladies. Nobody likes a droopy set of...
blood vessels.