The New Rules of Aging Well Quotes

“The everyday work of real life—taking out the trash, moving things around in the garage, mowing the lawn—is the kind of activity that keeps the body nimble and strong. And this, more than any other fitness regimen, keeps you young. Don’t outsource your chores; when you do, you’re cheating yourself out of the best kind of ongoing workout.”
― Frank Lipman, MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“Don’t use Listerine or other antibacterial mouthwashes; these kill the good bacteria too.”
― Frank Lipman, MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“Resveratrol affects the activity of enzymes in the body called sirtuins (one of the so-called longevity genes). Sirtuins control certain biological pathways and are known to be involved in the aging process. Resveratrol gives them a boost. You may have heard that red wine contains resveratrol. This is true, but you’d need to down 150 glasses a day to get the recommended amount.”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“20 minutes a day of something meditative”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“Micro movements matter too. Manual dexterity is something we don’t necessarily think about unless it becomes a problem. Making sure you mix it up in terms of micro movements—not just typing, but cooking, playing an instrument, gardening, kneading clay, knitting, or doing origami, say”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“Though cardio doesn’t necessarily help muscle mass, it increases blood flow, multiplies mitochondria in the cells, brings more oxygen to the muscles, builds endurance, and turns on (or “upregulates”) longevity genes. Do both, and mix things up as much as possible. Cross-training is like eating a lot of different vegetables:”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“Most of us lose about 1 percent of muscle mass each year after 40. So by the time we hit 70, we’re probably working with about half the muscle mass we had when we were in our 20s. It’s just a natural part of aging, called sarcopenia, and minimizing it is a priority for aging well. Until your late 50s, you shouldn’t worry much about sarcopenia; as long as you’re taking good care of yourself and exercising, you should be okay. Beginning at around 60 or 65, many of us need to increase protein by about 25 percent (even if this necessitates consuming more animal protein).”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“Many of the good things in life—wine, bread, pasta, ice cream, pizza, fries, cake, corn—cause inflammation in the body.”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“Take bitters or apple cider vinegar before meals. Either one can help with digestion. At the start of a meal, a tablespoon of Bragg’s apple cider vinegar (you can mix it into water) or a slug of Swedish bitters (Nature Works makes a good one) stimulates your natural digestive enzymes. Keep a bottle at work too; it doesn’t need refrigeration.”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“As for probiotics—you probably know you can get them in yogurt, kefir, kimchee, sauerkraut, and other fermented foods.”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“We’re talking about cellulose plant fiber, especially the parts of raw vegetables and fruits that your body can’t easily digest. This stuff—also known as prebiotics—is gold for your microbiome. It’s the material that serves as food for good gut bacteria. It’s pretty simple to get plenty of prebiotics: Eat the parts of vegetables you normally toss out: the end of carrots, the stump of the lettuce head, the stemmed tips of green beans. This is cellulose fiber (aka insoluble fiber). It gets down to the large intestine undigested, where the good bacteria is waiting to feast.”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“For protein, the order from good to problematic is plant protein (unprocessed nuts, seeds, and beans), then fish, then eggs, then dairy, then meat.”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“good tea is magnificent. Rich in polyphenols, which activate important longevity gene pathways, repair cells, prime the immune system, and reduce inflammation, high-quality black or green tea is powerful. (The difference between black and green is just the timing of the harvest.) Buy organic tea, because conventionally grown tea is one of the most pesticide-laden crops, and enjoy two, three, four cups a day.”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“Good salts contain more than 80 trace minerals that aid in all sorts of functions. Sometimes good salt is the solution to a specific health issue. If you’re feeling faint or dizzy when you exercise, or if your blood pressure is very low or your brain is foggy, you might need more good salt. If you feel perpetually exhausted, sometimes a glass of water with a half teaspoon of salt is the fix. Muscle spasms can happen because people are short on salt.”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“Once your body has changed from production mode to preservation mode (at about age 45), too much animal protein can support the growth of things you don’t want growing. The tipping point is around age 65. From 65 on, if you need to eat more animal products than you’ve been consuming to get the amount of protein you need, so be it. It’s very important.”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“But between ages 45 and 65, it’s more important to eat less meat and dairy than it is to go crazy with protein. A person in this age range weighing 150 pounds needs about 55 grams of protein a day. Most people get this amount without too much effort. After age 65, protein becomes extremely important. At this point, your body needs more protein, to combat sarcopenia—loss of muscle mass—which is just a natural part of life (see Maintaining muscle mass is critical for more on this). So you want to increase your protein intake by about 25 percent: A 150-pound person who’s 65 or over should aim for about 70 grams of protein a day. This, combined with exercise, especially strength training, helps minimize the loss of muscle mass.”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“How much protein do you need? Protein can be tricky, because your needs change as you age—”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“The goal at this point is to inhibit mTOR. Animal protein, especially red meat, contains high amounts of branched chain amino acids like leucine, which stimulate mTOR. Plant protein does not contain much of these amino acids, so it does not stimulate mTOR as much; mTOR also gets in the way of autophagy (the body’s cell-cleaning function). So turn up the plant protein, turn down the meat and dairy.”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“It’s about those longevity genes AMPK and mTOR, which are important nutrient sensors. mTOR controls a number of cell functions, including cell growth and cell proliferation. For younger people who are growing or whose bodies are in reproductive mode, mTOR has many benefits. But when we get older, we don’t want to encourage cell proliferation (cancer is cell proliferation).”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“Really fresh high- quality eggs are a great source of protein, natural fat, vitamins, and minerals. “Superfood” is an overused term, but eggs actually earn the title. They’re loaded with key nutrients like choline—essential for brain health and often deficient in plant-based diets—and lutein and zeaxanthin, which support eye health. For most people, it’s fine to consume two good-quality eggs a day. Spend more to get the best-quality eggs you can find. The language you’re looking for is “hormone-free and pasture-raised” (“free range”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“Packaged snacks are often made with canola or other inflammatory vegetable oils—just one of many reasons to avoid them.”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“virgin coconut oil (unbleached and not “deodorized”), and unrefined palm oil (we should mention that some players in the palm oil industry have devastated the rainforest; you can find ethically sourced palm oil with some research).”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“Some people think that because its smoke point is fairly low, extra-virgin olive oil is not great for cooking. That isn’t true. It does have a low smoke point, but the polyphenols compensate for any damage caused to the oil when heated. Uncooked olive oil is especially beneficial to the body. So drizzle it generously”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“Olive oil should come in a dark glass bottle (which protects it from sunlight damage) and should be no more than 18 months old.”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“The trick of using smaller plates is not new but is really effective: Store away those giant dinner dishes, and dine off of “salad” plates instead.”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“A two-meal pattern tends to become more doable as we age because of lifestyle changes. If you’re a parent, the kids may be grown or in their teens, with independent schedules. You’re no longer regularly called upon to put three meals a day on the table, which lets you accommodate your own needs with a bit more ease.”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“As your body adjusts to smaller meals high in natural fats, which will take a few weeks, you’ll notice changes: Cravings may fade or disappear, you’re probably going to be less hungry, and your energy will likely be steady throughout the day.”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“after age 45 or so, because most people become increasingly carbohydrate intolerant, meaning the body doesn’t metabolize carbs as efficiently as it once did. This is why the risk of diabetes goes up. Starchy foods also cause inflammation (see Inflammatory foods age the body) and, no surprise, weight gain, especially in the belly region. The solution is to change your eating behaviors so your body becomes fat-adapted; that is, it gets in the habit of using fats rather than carbs for energy. This is achieved by eating lots of leafy greens and healthy natural fats, some protein, and very few carbs. So nuts, salad, eggs, avocado, non-starchy veggies, grass-fed meat, fatty fish. Healthy”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“We’ve all seen what age can do to posture; as muscles tighten, shoulders round. But it’s not inevitable. Like a lot of things, good posture just takes more effort as you get older: more attention (are the settings on your work chair ergonomically correct?); more breaks (take a walk, cop a squat, shake out your arms); more movement all day long; more stretching, more foam-rolling, more strengthening. And more awareness, so you notice when you’re slumping and correct it. It’s worth it.”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality

“standing forward bend is an inversion. So is lying on your back on the floor (or the bed) with your legs up, resting on the wall—or a variation, lying on your back with your lower legs resting on the seat of a chair. This is a great pose to welcome yourself home with, after work and before dinner. It can really lift your mood. You can do it with your partner, catching up on your day while the pressure flows out of your feet. It’s a nice way to decompress. This is all part of a general policy to counterstretch whenever you can—to wash away a static pose with the opposite shape. If you’re on your feet all day, go upside down for a few minutes. If you’re rounded over a keyboard most of the time, lie down on the floor and,”
― Frank Lipman MD, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality