WEEKLY TIP: Live to Be 100

Want to live to be 100 and still be mentally sharp and healthy? It's possible.

National statistics indicate that the leading causes of death are heart attacks, cancer, and strokes, with death related to normally prescribed pharmaceutical drugs close behind. Short of death, the major scourges of aging are dementia and a generalized loss of function — failure of vision, hearing loss, severe weakness, and a loss of taste. Younger people like to say that the old just run out of gas.

More people who live to be 100 years old are healthy into old age, and a healthy early start will help you go a long way. (To learn more about natural products that slow the hands of time, "Stop Aging Naturally" will give a more in-depth discussion.) Follow these five rules:

• Eat a healthy diet. Your diet should include at least five servings of fruits and vegetables and no more than a slice of whole grain bread a day. Fruits, and especially vegetables, contain some of the most powerful chemical antioxidants found naturally. And don’t overeat. Many animal studies have shown that those on low-calorie diets live significantly longer than those on regular, or especially, high-calorie diets.

• Exercise regularly. Exercise is very important, regardless of your weight. Newer studies have found that obese people who exercise regularly will benefit significantly, just as with thinner people. In fact, being too thin presents its own risks: Studies have shown that young men who exercise excessively and have little body fat are at a much higher risk of developing Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS).

• Get plenty of restful sleep. The lack of sleep can sharply influence your quality of life as well as raise your risk of everything from automobile accidents to obesity and heart attacks. See my report "Good Sleep: Stop Insomnia, Reduce Stress, Boost Your Total Health" for detailed information.

• Banish excess stress. Mental stress can actually cause cells in your brain to shrink and die! It can even set the stage for serious diseases like multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s.

• Avoid toxins. Environmental toxins, such as pesticides, herbicides, and other toxic chemicals, including the food additive MSG, can program one for a life of illness and speed the effects of aging. For more information on food additives and the damage they can cause to your body, read my newsletter "Food Additives: What You Eat Can Kill You."

If you follow these rules, you will have a much better chance of enjoying life into the 100s.