Secret to Health in the Later Years

A few weeks ago a 77-year old man I know ( it's a relative but I want to protect his friends' identities) had a reunion with 15 of his high school friends. While they had a great time he noticed over the week that he was the healthiest one of the bunch. While he maintained his normal weight everyone else was considerably overweight, had a ton of health problems and were all on a variety of medication.

He created his good health to diligent eating patterns, proper weight, an active lifestyle and close relationships with his family.

In a new book Prime-Time Health, Dr. William Sears has compiled 10 years of work and research offering advice on how to live a long and healthy life and it turns out he suggests this same route to health. He calls his plan LEAN -- Lifestyle, Exercise, Attitude, Nutrition.

He encourages those in their 50s and older to begin investing in an IRAH - an Individual Retirement Account for Health. He suggests that we need to save our bodies, just like we save our money, to better enjoy our later years.

He points out that dangers of not investing in our health is that we will end up with the three Ds -- Disease, Disability and Doctors.

He points out that
*More than 50% of the adults in the U.S take prescription medications for chronic health problems
*3/4 of those 65 and older take medication for chronic illness
*25% over 65 take 5 or more medicines regularly.

His books lays out a detailed plan of what do to and how to do it in a manner that is very easy to adopt.

While many might consider being healthy in our later years an exception to the rule, it doesn't have to be that way. My relative has basically continued to the live the same life he did as a young adult (he did fine tune his eating habits over the years) and is enjoying an active and healthy life as an older adult.