How Do You Define “Anti-Aging?”
Written by Jonathan Aluzas
Can someone tell me what anti-aging is, really?? I’m crystal clear on the general concept, but if you search the term online you’ll come up with a vast spectrum of philosophies, diets, products, practitioners and snake-oil peddlers who loiter in the anteroom of the “anti-aging” industry.? It’s no wonder, the pursuit of everlasting youthfulness has been undertaken by everyone from the ancient Egyptians to alchemists to Ponce de Leon to modern chemists and physicians and finally by the general public.? And in our desperation for eternal vigor we’ve tried just about everything; natural spas, pills, injections, religions, monkey testicles.? No, you didn’t misread that, I said monkey testicles.? Apparently one ancient approach was the ingestion of monkey balls.? The sad thing is, if a news flash came across TMZ that Madonna’s secret to staying young was monkey balls, women all over L.A. would be knocking them back like Skittles.? That’s how sick we are for youth.? But what exactly is “anti-aging?”
There is no definition for the term “anti-aging” on Dictionary.com, so clearly it’s a concept subject to interpretation.
The American Academy of Anti Aging is “dedicated to the advancement of technology to detect, prevent, and 
treat aging related disease and to promote research into methods to retard and optimize the human aging process.”???? (www.worldhealth.net)
The Life Extension Foundation is “a nonprofit organization, whose long-range goal is the extension of the healthy human lifespan. In seeking to control aging, our objective is to develop methods to enable us to live in vigor, health and wellness for an unlimited period of time.” (www.lef.org)
Companies like Anti-Aging Research Laboratories stand behind human growth hormone as the key to youthful vigor and longevity. (www.antiagingresearch.com)
What does all this mean?? Do we really believe that we can turn back the clock, is that what we’re seeking to do?? Is the platform for “anti-aging” the premise that 70 year-olds can look and function like 30 year-olds?? Should they?? Is that realistic?? Or are we merely trying to preserve whatever degree of vitality and health we have right now; to stop the clock? Is this about vigor, health and longevity or, as most things are (especially in my part of the country), is this just another monument to our vanity?? Is this about looking fabulous for as long as you can without regard to your health and wellness?
I’ll be forty years old next year and I’m okay with that.? I don’t want to be twenty anymore.? I did it, it was great, but it’s someone else’s turn for that now.? I don’t mind that my hair is going grey (rapidly enough for the woman who cuts my hair to give me a barely camouflaged “Holy Shit” reaction last time I saw her).? I don’t mind having a few creases in the face (I don’t want them, but I’m not losing sleep over them).? I’m getting older and that’s the way it is.? But I have my vanities, too.? It gets to me when my knees ache after doing something like landscaping work in my front yard (my friends will tell you it’s from “gardening.”? I vehemently deny that.? It’s from landscaping; the manly art of moving rocks from one place to another and digging holes and stuff).? And it does bother me when I feel run down and used-up at the end of the week, that I can’t bring it like the kids do.
So, do I believe in “anti-aging”?? I do, within this context:? I don’t expect nutrition or pharmaceuticals or supplements or anything to transform my forty year old body into one of a twenty year old.? I don’t expect to turn back the clock, I don’t even expect it to stand still for me.? What “anti-aging” means to me is being the healthiest almost-forty-year-old I can be.? I took too many liberties in my early years; had way too many drinks, stayed up too late, slept too little, ate garbage and went long stretches of time without breaking a sweat or coming across a vegetable.? I regret that.? But, as they say, youth is wasted on the young.? We don’t really appreciate it’s majesty until we are on the other side of a mountain of bad decisions looking back with outstretched arms and a battered conscience.? But, I believe that I can take actions now that will result in the maintenance of youth and vitality to a greater degree than it would if I ignored it.? I believe I can SLOW the clock; that with exercise, clean eating, smart supplementation, good sleep, the ability to manage stress and a healthy enjoyment of life I can reasonably straight-arm aging.
So, that’s my take.? What’s yours?? How do you define “anti-aging” and is it achievable?
Jonathan Aluzas is the owner of Arena Fitness in Encino, California.
