The Schwarzbein Principle II: The Transition

 

Endocrinologist and author Dr. Diana Schwarzbein's follow-up to "The Schwarzbein Principle" is sub-titled "A Regeneration Program to Prevent and Reverse Accelerated Aging". It's a sequel that expands on the original's examination of the link between diet (carbohydrate intake) and poor health to look at the influence of poor health on the aging process.

According to Schwarzbein there are two types of aging - genetic (how you will age in theory, because of your genes, under optimal conditions) and metabolic (how you are actually aging, given the actual condition of your body and health). Schwarzbein asserts that a body under optimal conditions could live for 120 years. But those optimal conditions include your metabolic aging - which is determined by your nutrition and lifestyle habits. So if you eat a crummy diet, smoke or drink excessively or have long term exposure to chemicals and drugs (including prescription) - you're damaging your metabolic aging, acquiring degenerative diseases and guaranteeing you won't see 120. (Which does beg the question: would you want to?)

In any event, Schwarzbein asserts that while modern medicine has lengthened the average lifespan (in developed nations, anyway) with medications, it hasn't succeeded in reversing the metabolic aging processes (and, hence, the degenerative diseases) of the smoking/drinking/crummy diet devotees among us. Schwarzbein thinks the vehicle for reversing metabolic aging and making the "transition" to better health are these 5 basic steps:
1. Good, healthy nutrition. This includes vitamins, antioxidants, minerals, and amino and fatty acids supplements.
2. Stress management. This is first and foremost getting enough sleep.
3. Weaning yourself from toxic chemicals (caffeine, alcohol, drugs, etc.) or avoiding them completely.
4. Exercise. Specifically cross-training exercises.
5. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), if needed, for peri-menopausal and menopausal women.

Schwarzbein Principle II also explores the role of the endocrine system in good (and poor) health, specifically addressing the hormones cortisol, insulin and adrenaline. Schwarzbein advises for submitting yourself to a battery of laboratory tests with an endocrinologist to determine the state of your endocrine system and hormonal balances - which would be very interesting of course but is probably not remotely practical for most people to do on an "exploratory" basis.

As to the nutritional portion of this plan - it's organic meats, whole grains, vegetables, fruits, fish and legumes. Banned are processed foods, refined flour, 90% of sugars, coffee and alcohol. It's a revised, healthier version of the original Schwarzbein low carb plan, and that's to be applauded. We also give high marks to Schwarzbein's 5 fundamentals here - it's inarguably good advice for better physical and mental health. While the lab tests and endocrinologist visits are more than most of us can reasonably swing, Schwarzbein's advice in this book is good. Better, even, than in her first one.