Surefire Antidote to Anti-Aging Claims

Q: There are so many products touting “anti-aging” effects. Is there a more surefire approach?

A: You’re right to question those claims. Aging starts the minute you are born, and your health and appearance at any given age reflect the cumulative effect of your lifestyle, including your diet and exercise habits, as well as your genes.

One new study in American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism showed that resistance training, long known to help with bone density, may help slow the aging process. Women who did resistance exercises for 24 weeks produced more human growth hormone (a “longevity” hormone whose levels start dwindling after about age 30) than the control group.

What’s more, heavier weights were found to produce more growth hormone than lighter weights. If you don’t do resistance training, start now. Check out bodyandsoulmag.com
for a simple routine you can do at home or at the gym.

Learn more:
The 10 Best Foods to Fight Aging
Activities That Will Keep You Young

Dr. Brent Ridge is the health expert for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. As an undergraduate, he majored in public health and environmental science, studying the way the state of the natural environment impacts our health choices. You can post a question in the comment field below; you can also call and ask him a question live every Tuesday at 2 p.m. Eastern on Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 112 (1.866.675.6675). To follow along as he learns to grow his own food and raise goats on his farm in upstate New York, visit www.beekman1802.com.

Read more: Health, anti-aging, longevity, resistance training