This week I’m sharing a reflection on aging and announcing the beta launch of my first group program offering. Enjoy!
- Ageism in the news
I was really glad to see the article on NPR this past week about doctors tackling ageism in medicine–it’s a quick, worthwhile read if you missed it. The term “ageism” refers to the stereotypes and negative beliefs of societies and individuals about age which result in discrimination against people as they get older and which ultimately result in poorer health outcomes for older adults. A common saying in functional medicine is “just because it’s normal doesn’t mean it’s optimal,” and I think this is very appropos in addressing age stereotypes. Studies have shown that the idea that dysfunction is “to be expected” as we age leads to older adults receiving suboptimal care and even predicts earlier mortality in population studies¹. For example, in a study involving 105 adults over the age of 80, the personal attribution of “old age” to negative health outcomes increased the probability of death at the 2-year follow-up point by more than 20%. This was a relative increase of more than 2 times compared to those individuals over 80 who did not strongly accept this idea².
Conversely, a positive self-perception during aging may increase longevity. In a community-based prospective study which had a follow-up period of 23 years, it was found that positive self-perception of aging was associated with a lifespan increase of 7.5 years³.
It’s important to realize that self-perception is not solely the result of one’s personal feeling or intention–rather, the way someone is treated can impact how she/he sees herself/himself and what kind of behavior that person then portrays. This is exemplified by experimental studies showing that when older adults are randomly assigned to be spoken to or treated in a manner which conforms to negative age stereotypes as part of a study, they are more likely to perform poorly on cognitive and physical tests. This is a type of subconscious, self-fulfilling prophecy these researchers call the “stereotype-matching effect”⁴.
I find it interesting and somewhat alarming to learn how vulnerable we are to internalizing stereotyping. (While, on the other hand, it is encouraging to learn how malleable we are to changes in our environment because this is something over which we have some control, by way of intentional lifestyle choices.) The body of research on ageism implies that there is a lot of room for improvement in health outcomes to be had with changing our perceptions, individually and collectively.
What if, instead of treating (and fearing) aging as a pathological process, we were able to perceive it as a transformational phenomenon? Are we not constantly in the process of becoming the next version of ourselves? If you’re still here, I believe there remains opportunity for transformation, nomatter your age.
2. Introducing Macronutrient Mastery
One of my primary motivations in my work is a desire to empower my clients to make health decisions that are in alignment with their inherent wholeness and which support their optimal function. Working one-on-one is the default way that I’ve been trained: to delve deep into a client’s health history, to put together the pieces of their puzzle, and to collaborate with them on personalized interventions.
In addition to this, I have been thinking that there is a lot of potential for my clients to learn, make progress on health goals, and find support by working in a small group setting. In the spirit of better serving my Osa community, I am very excited to announce my first group program offering, Macronutrient Mastery. This 5-week long group program is aimed at equipping you with tools to help you build resilience as you age by optimizing your metabolic health.
What exactly do I mean when I say “metabolic health”? Metabolism refers to the complex myriad of reactions that are happening in every cell of your body moment to moment that keep you alive, and metabolic dysfunction underlies nearly all major chronic diseases, from heart disease to cancer. This is where functional medicine really shines–in optimizing health from the cellular level. Although subcellular reactions feels very removed from our everyday reality, we experience the health of these reactions in every moment of our daily lives: we feel them in how easily we can get out of the bed in the morning, in how well our pants fit, in how awake we feel at our desk or in how easily we can find the words we are looking for in conversation. In other words, we are living our cellular health.
One foundational way we can impact our cellular metabolism is by leveraging the food choices we make on a daily basis. There is so much juicy stuff to discuss when it comes to the building blocks of our diets–namely proteins, fats, and carbohydrates (aka “macronutrients”)–and how we can optimize our intakes these to build resilience as we age. I’m really excited to delve into this topic with you and equip you with tools to help you build a sustainable eating style that suits you and your goals.
If this type of group experience interests you, or if you’re curious to receive more information, please visit the landing page for my program here, where you can sign up to receive a detailed flyer with a coupon code to be part of the inaugural beta-tester group. If you know someone who you think would enjoy this program, I would be so appreciative if you’d pass on the information to them. Thanks so much.
Wishing you a beautiful week,
References
- Chang, E. S., Kannoth, S., Levy, S., Wang, S. Y., Lee, J. E., & Levy, B. R. (2020). Global reach of ageism on older persons’ health: A systematic review. PloS one, 15(1), e0220857. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0220857 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31940338/
- Stewart, T. L., Chipperfield, J. G., Perry, R. P., & Weiner, B. (2012). Attributing illness to ‘old age:’ consequences of a self-directed stereotype for health and mortality. Psychology & health, 27(8), 881–897. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2011.630735https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22149693/
- Levy, B. R., Slade, M. D., Kunkel, S. R., & Kasl, S. V. (2002). Longevity increased by positive self-perceptions of aging. Journal of personality and social psychology, 83(2), 261–270. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.83.2.261 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12150226/
- Levy, B. R., & Leifheit-Limson, E. (2009). The stereotype-matching effect: greater influence on functioning when age stereotypes correspond to outcomes. Psychology and aging, 24(1), 230–233. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014563 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19290757/