Getting Older and Ageing are Not the Same
by Yinka Thomas MSc RNutr.
A little while ago I was explaining to a lady who runs an alternative health centre what I do and my specialism in anti-ageing. “What’s wrong with ageing?” the lady asked. I was rather taken aback by this question. Not because I’m not used to defending my work to the many sceptics out there, but because I expected the lady with whom I was speaking to know better. However it made me realise that this lady had made the common mistake that many of us make in thinking that getting older and ageing are the same thing.
To many, anti-ageing brings to mind wrinkles (or avoiding them), and skin creams. It has connotations of vanity, and of vainly denying the inevitable. Nothing could be further from the truth. The answer to the lady’s question is that everything’s wrong with ageing. But I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with getting older. In fact getting older has its benefits because as we add years to our lives we increase in knowledge, learn from our mistakes (hopefully) and acquire wisdom. But there is a big difference between getting older and ageing.
Ageing is the degeneration of cells, tissues and organs that ultimately ends in dysfunction, frailty and decrepitude. It doesn’t just affect you on the surface. Yes, your skin wrinkles on the outside, but if ageing is left to continue unabated, tissues and organs shrink, muscles atrophy and weaken, and the end result is weakness, reduced immunity leaving you more susceptible to disease and ill-health. With this comes a dramatic deterioration in quality of life leading to dependency on others and ultimately death.
Getting older is natural and inevitable, Ageing is not. Scientific study has now shown us that ageing is a choice, and my work informs you about the tweaks in your lifestyle that you can implement now, that will slow, stop and even reverse the ageing process. If we implement these changes, we will stay strong, energised and youthful as we get older.
I’ve spent years researching the ageing process and have discovered that there’s a lot we can do to age well. These lifestyle changes are available to all of us, and I’ve put them together in a lifestyle programme called the No Nips No Tucks Programme (www.nonipsnotucks.com).
And the good thing about this approach is that making these healthful changes to your lifestyle will have other beneficial effects. As you do the right thing, weight will stabilise, you will be stronger and more toned, sleep will improve, you’ll have more energy, you’ll be less stressed, you’ll feel more vital. When you do the right thing other things fall into place.
About the Author
Yinka Thomas is a registered nutritionist and wellness consultant. She works closely with individual clients, devising comprehensive Lifestyle Modification Programmes for improving health and fitness, weight-loss and anti-ageing. She is also a public speaker and gives nutrition and health seminars and workshops. Yinka is author of Have a Baby and Look Better than Ever a holistic guide to health and fitness during and after pregnancy, The XCell Plan for eliminating cellulite, and her latest, the No Nips No Tucks Anti ageing Programme – www.nonipsnotucks.com.
