Mens Health Australia May 2017

MAY 2017^97

HEALTH

THERE’S NO MAGICpill to halt ageing.

But there are simple strategies to benefit

your body more than 30 trillion ways

at once. Seriously, by protecting your

telomeres, a layer of extra DNA that helps

cells divide, you can put a freeze on factors

that contribute to ageing and disease.

Nobel laureate Dr Elizabeth Blackburn and

Dr Elissa Epel, authors ofThe Telomere

Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living

Younger, Healthier, Longer,reveal the intel

that could help stall the clock:

NOURISH YOUR DNA

Anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids,

found in fatty fish like salmon and tuna,

shield telomeres from damage. Other foods

act like telomere toxins. “Processed red meat

and sugar stand out for their potent negative

effects on telomere maintenance,” says

Epel. Finally, steer clear of supplements that

tout telomere-lengthening benefits. These

haven’t been proven safe or effective.

BE POSITIVE

We’d love to peek inside Kyle Sandilands’

cells because cynicism, hostility and

pessimism are hard on telomeres. “Daily

stress is a part of modern life,” says Epel.

“What matters is how we approach these

situations and recover from them.” Try a

strategy known as thought distancing

• imagine the stressful situation as a movie
  scene. You’re just in the audience watching
  it go by.

RUN AWAY FROM AGEING

Exercise is the single most important tool

for protecting telomeres because it busts

two bad influences: inflammation and

stress. “The very time when you don’t want

to exercise is the best time to do it for your

telomeres,” Blackburn says. Moderate-

intensity aerobic exercise, done three days

a week for 45 minutes, may even double the

activity of an enzyme called telomerase that

helps repair frayed telomeres.

REDESIGN YOUR VACATION

Instead of lounging on a beach, take a trip

that will refresh you in a different way. Epel

and Blackburn recently found that a six-

day meditation retreat helped people fend

off telomere damage. You can also practise

mindfulness on your next holiday no matter

what the destination.

WATER DOWN STRESS
Turn off Spotify and listen to the tides.
The journalHealth Environments Research
reports that people who listened to the
sound of ocean waves began to calm down
within just seven minutes. It’s all about
the “biophilia hypothesis,” or the idea
that human survival instincts are bound
to natural surroundings because that’s
the environment in which we evolved.
Download an app likeOcean Wave Sounds for
Sleep and Relaxation(free, iTunes).

HACK YOUR HORMONES
Testosterone helps you build muscle; excess
cortisol is linked to burnout. But working
out for 40 minutes four mornings a week
can raise your T levels and reduce cortisol,
a study suggests. Jog in place and do star
jumps for a minute each; then walk for three
minutes. Next, walk briskly for three minutes
and run for two. Then do 3 sets of 10 reps
each of front kicks, high knees and lunges
with 20 seconds rest in between. Follow with
3 sets of 12 reps each of squats, push-ups,
bridges and sit-ups with 30-second rests.

STICK IT TO ALLERGIES
Call an acupuncturist. Needling might
relieve allergies by tamping down overactive
immune responses. For best results, have 12
treatments – two or three a week, suggests Dr
John McDonald of Griffith University.

1/ F eel your pulse:

check for a beat

at your carotid

arteries, located

either side of your

Adam’s apple, and

at your femoral

arteries, where your

inner thighs meet

your groin. Nothing?

One of them may

be blocked from

a congenital

condition or from

arteriosclerosis,”

says cardiologist Dr

John Elefteriades.

2/ Check your urine.

Persistent blood

in your pee could

signal an infection,

STD or cancer, says

urologist Dr Jamin

Brahmbhatt.

3/ Download the

Eye Handbookapp.

It tests for 20/20

vision, glaucoma

and macular

degeneration.

• BRIELLE GREGORY

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researchinthe

AmericanJournalof

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Percentageincrease

inmen’sriskof

colorectalcancer,

oneofthedeadliest

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22

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KEEP YOUR EARS PERKED UP

What’s the sound of 1.1 billion people

going deaf? According to the World Health

Organisation, that’s how many young people

are at risk of hearing loss. Loud noise from

concerts, nightclubs and sporting events can

do plenty of damage to your ears. See where

you stand with theMimi Hearing Testapp on

itunes. Check in periodically and if your score

changes, see an audiologist.

SPEED UP YOUR BRAIN

There’s no surefire way to stay sharp and

avoid dementia, but there are fun ways to

try. “Things that speed up your brain seem

best,” says psychologist Dr Philip Harvey.

Speedy thinking engages more brain regions

to strengthen neural connections. Play a fast-

paced game that gets progressively harder,

such as Double Decision (brainhq.com), for

about 45 minutes twice a week.

SEE MORE CLEARLY

Eye doctors see more men with dry eye

these days than they used to, likely thanks

to the hours we spend gazing at screens.

Don’t just pump over-the-counter artificial

tears into those dry peepers. See an expert.

“Dry eye is an inflammatory disease,” says

opthalmologist Dr Marguerite McDonald.

The glands that make eye lubricating liquid

can malfunction, sometimes causing

permanent damage.

STAY SHARP

Don’t let anything stunt your senses

THE ANTI-AGEING SECRET

FOR YOUR BODY’S CELLS

You can strengthen your chromosomes

BOOST YOUR ENERGY

Do what you love without wearing out

INSTANT

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