The Advice of Centenarians

the wisdom of centenarians

The Ancient Centenarian: Luigi Cornaro

Luigi Cornaro, a Venetian nobleman, was one of the most celebrated centenarians, who lived from 1464 to 1566 AD.

In his youth, Luigi had abused his health with a lifestyle of wantonness and excess, resulting in an extremely weak constitution, accompanied by many physical ailments.

At the age of thirty-five, he was given up by his physicians to die. Luigi’s physicians prescribed a temperate lifestyle as the only way to end his suffering and preserve his very fragile life. That temperate lifestyle was essentially the exercise of self-restraint or self-discipline in relation to diet and drink for calorie restriction. His physician recommended for him a diet consisting of only twelve ounces a day of solid foods of bread, a vegetable soup with tomato, an egg yolk, and a little meat, divided into two meals, and fourteen ounces of pure grape juice, also divided into two servings.

He lived on that minimal diet of calorie restriction from age thirty-five until eighty-five, when his relatives began to urge him to eat a little more since he was getting old and he required more physical strength and stamina. Complying with and succumbing to their well wishes and importunities, Luigi reluctantly agreed to increase his food intake from twelve to fourteen ounces. Immediately, he became seriously ill with high fever. Eventually, Luigi had the longevity wisdom to revert to his former anti-aging living with a diet of calorie restriction. As a result, he lived in a state of unbroken health and happiness until the age of one hundred and two.

Luigi was famous for his longevity living in relation to calorie restriction. He expressed his wisdom in his discourse when he was in his eighties and nineties. His wisdom has been an inspiration for more than five centuries. His longevity wisdom was simple and down-to-earth: never overeat; avoid environmental stress, such as extreme heat and cold; and avoid extreme fatigue, and interruption of sleep.

The bottom line: you don't have to eat such a low-calorie diet of Luigi in order to live long; just eat less, and eat only when you are hungry.

The Contemporary Centenarian: Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara

Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara, from Japan, turned 104 recently, and he is one of the world's longest-serving physicians and educators. Since 1941, he has been healing patients at St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo and teaching at St. Luke's College of Nursing. He has published around 15 books since his 75th birthday, including his bestseller "Living Long, Living Good."

As the founder of the New Elderly Movement, Hinohara encourages others to live a long and happy life with the following wisdom he would like to share with all:

·  Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara stresses the importance of not becoming overweight.

·    For breakfast, Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara drinks coffee, milk, and orange juice with a tablespoon of olive oil, which is for healthy arteries and healthy skin. For lunch, he drinks milk with a few cookies. For dinner, he eats vegetables, a bit of fish and rice, and, sometimes some lean meat.

· He always keeps himself busy with a full schedule ahead. He recommends that any retirement should be a lot later than 65.

·       He shares what he knows—one of the reasons why he is still working and teaching. When he teaches, he always stands to stay strong.

·       He recommends having a second thought or always seeking a second opinion whenever a doctor recommends a test, a procedure, or a surgery.

·      He believes that doctors cannot cure everyone. Instead, he believes in music and animal therapy. 

·     He recommends taking the stairs and carrying your own stuff to stay healthier and younger for longer.

·  He uses doing fun things to forget his pain, both physical and emotional.

·    He recommends letting go of all material things because nobody knows when his or her number is up, and nothing can be taken to the next place.

·  He believes that each person is unique, and illness is therefore individualized. But medical science lumps all and sundry together; an individual should understand why he or she is sick, and not the doctor. Science alone cannot cure or help you; you must learn to help yourself.

·     He believes that life is always filled with unpredictable incidents. So, be prepared.

·       He stresses the importance of finding a role model to help with setting life goals and life purposes.

·      He believes that energy comes from doing good and feeling good, and not from good food or good sleep.

·   To Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara, it is always wonderful to live long, and he loves every minute of it.

YOU JUST DON’T DIE!

YOUNGER AND HEALTHIER FOR LONGER

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

How and Why Aging Occurs

THE DIFFERENT THEORIES OF AGING

Scientists have come up with different theories explaining why and how you age.

The free radical theory of aging

This theory is based on the damage of cells due to cumulative free radicals, leading to disease and, ultimately, death.

Free radicals are molecules within the human cells. Due to regular oxidation (e.g. breathing), and other environmental factors (e.g. tobacco smoke), these molecules become damaged and unstable, and begin to affect other healthy cells close by, creating many more similar unstable free radicals, and thus initiating a chain reaction of cell damage by free radicals.

Damaged cells lead to disease and ultimate death.

This theory implies that antioxidants, such as vitamins A, C, and E, which reduce the formation of free radicals, not only slow down the aging process, but also prevent disease.

The genetic theory of aging

This theory is based on the pre-programming of human genes to induce aging and death—your Creator ensures that you will not be immortal. Therefore, aging is not the consequence of wear and tear over the years. The fact of the matter is that you are not meant to live forever.

Other than disease and other environmental factors, there is no great variation in the lifespan of humans, and this may partially explain the role of genes in aging.

The hormone theory of aging

This theory is based on the gradual changes in the human body due to the decline and degeneration of the endocrine system, which is responsible for producing hormones to regulate many body functions and processes. Changes in the human hormone production, such as menopause, account for the changes responsible for aging.

There is no scientific evidence that hormone replacement will in fact increase human lifespan. So, think twice before you decide on a hormone replacement therapy.

The immunity theory of aging

This theory is based on the failure of the immune system to give adequate protection against contaminants, viruses, and stress, among other agents contributing to a weakened or compromised immune system.

This theory attests to the important role of the immune system in longevity health and overall wellness.

The rate of living theory of aging

This theory is based on the rate of breathing: faster oxygen metabolism leads to a shorter lifespan. In the animal kingdom, rodents, with the fastest heartbeats have the shortest lifespan, while tortoises with the slowest breaths live the longest.

This theory vindicates that breathing right is one of the key factors in longevity in humans. Learning to breathe right is critical to remaining younger and healthier for longer.

To sum up, the human aging process is best explained not by one single theory but by a combination of these theories.

The truth of the matter is that you age, just like everyone else. The point in question is how you can delay that aging process, making you younger and healthier for longer—or, at least, not making you age more quickly than you are supposed to.

                   

Unfortunately, many of us have fallen victims to the so-called Accelerated Aging Syndrome.

Potentials for accelerated aging

According to Steven Masley, M.D., the former medical director of the Pritikin Longevity Center in St. Petersburg, Florida, you may have the potentials for accelerated aging, if you have just any three of the following:

• A fast blood sugar level of more than 100 mg/dl

• A blood pressure higher than 130/85

• A waist larger than 35 inches for women and 40 inches for men

• Good cholesterol level (HDL) less than 40 mg/dl for men, and 50mg/dl for women

• Triglyceride (a certain type of fat in your blood) levels greater than 150 mg/dl.

Factors contributing to accelerated aging

There are several factors that increase the predisposition to accelerated aging:

·        Your diet: you are what you eat, and you become what you eat.

• Your lifestyle: life on the fast lane often leads to faster aging.

• Your physical inactivity: or immobility brings about stagnation and degeneration.

• Your stress: stress kills your brain cells, predisposing you to accelerated aging.

“The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age.” Lucille Ball

THE TAO OF LIVING LONGER

YOUNGER AND HEALTHIERFOR LONGER

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Food As Medicine

According to modern medicine, there is no known cure for autoimmune diseases, and the only way to reduce the disease symptoms is through your diet.

Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, once said, "Let foods be your medicine; and your medicine be your food."

There is so much truth in that statement. All foods contain molecules that are messengers telling your body cells to respond in a certain way, either positively or negatively. In other words, the communication between your body cells impacts how your body functions, in particular, your immune system. Good foods are always better than medications, which work for only 50 - 60 percent of people at best. Therefore, the pivotal role of food on those with myasthenia gravis disorder cannot be over-stressed. As a matter of fact, research showed that some patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis had their symptoms cured simply by changing their diets. 

So, food matters, when it comes to autoimmune diseases, such as myasthenia gravis. When we eat something we are not supposed to eat, our bodies send us a message in the form of inflammation, causing irritation and inflammation in our bodies. Unfortunately, many a time, we fail to recognize the message, or simply ignore it. If similar messages as warning signs continue to be overlooked or ignored, the improper food may cause damage to body cells and the immune system.

Autoimmune diseases occur when the immune system becomes dysfunctional, such that it has become incapable of differentiating foreign invaders to the body, such as viruses and bacteria, from natural parts of the body, such as cells and tissues. In addition, a compromised immune system may cause imbalance between killer T cells and antibody-providing B cells (the former are like warriors fighting against foreign invaders into the body's immune system, and the latter are like the weapons and ammunitions used in the fight).

Avoid foods that cause inflammation, given that inflammation is one of the common denominators of many autoimmune diseases. Consume gluten-free foods.

Avoid foods that are high in glycemic index, that is, foods that are loaded with sugar. Bagels, breakfast cereals, cakes, cookies, crackers, and all soft drinks are not good for your immune system. All processed foods made with white flour and white sugar are not recommended. Also, beware of hidden sugar; read food labels before purchase or consumption.

Avoid animal fats from beef because cows nowadays are corn-fed, rather than grass-fed; their meat is loaded with artificial hormones that cause inflammation in humans. Accordingly, dairy products should also be avoided as much as possible. Conversely, good fats are good for the immune system; consume more fish, flax, avocados, coconuts, nuts and seeds that promote a healthy immune system.

Remember, you are what you eat, and you become what you eat. Use food to help your myasthenia gravis disorder, one of the many autoimmune diseases. It may not cure your disease, but it will certainly reduce the severity of your disease symptoms.

Read my book My Myasthenia Gravis to find out more about the autoimmune one disease.

THE IMMUNE SYSTEM RECOVERY PLAN

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Fasting to Protect the Immune System

“In recent years science has learned that the human immune system is much more complicated than we thought.” Dr. Philip F. Incao, M.D.

The immune system is the most aggressive age eraser for you. It protects your cells and maintains your overall health through its production of antibodies (specific proteins) to fight against antigens (invaders to your body system).

You body toxins impair and weaken your immune system.

Sources of toxins

All these years, knowingly or unknowingly, you may have poisoned your body with toxins coming from many different sources:

Pesticides and herbicides from agricultural products

Industrial wastes

Exhaust fumes from factories and automobiles

Polluted waters

Irradiation from use of cellular phones and towers, microwave ovens, power plants, radio satellite transmissions

Food contamination

Chemicals in food processing

Toxic pharmaceuticals

Toxic emotions and thoughts

Your body may have ingested these toxins through absorption, consumption, inhalation, and radiation, creating health hazards to your immune system, leading to the development of many autoimmune diseases.

Heavy metals, such as aluminum, cadmium, lead, and mercury, can cause damages to your immune system. Minerals, which make up approximately four percent of your total body weight, are essential for your immune system and energy production. However, heavy metals can also damage your DNA, adversely change neurons in your brain, elevate your cholesterol level and blood pressure, and deplete your bones of calcium.

Common symptoms of a toxic body

The toxins in your body may manifest physically, mentally, and spiritually in the form of bad breath, constipation, chronic fatigue, frequent gas and bloating, hemorrhoids, irritability, mental and spiritual lethargy, overweight, and recurrent headaches.

Internal cleansing

Internal cleansing is detoxification, which involves dislodging your body toxins and waste products from within and between cells and joints, and transporting these wastes from your body for removal. The benefits of internal cleansing are as follows:

Clean and clear skin

Disease prevention and treatment

Joint and muscle flexibility

Weight loss and effective weight management

Fasting to detoxify

Fasting is internal cleansing and rejuvenation—one of the most efficient ways to detoxify your body of toxins. Fasting is to recovery, as sleep is to recuperation.

Fasting is voluntary abstinence from food and drink, except water, for an extended period. Fasting is the best way to detoxify your body.

The benefits of fasting are many, and they are as follows:

Fasting accelerates the self-healing process of your body because fasting temporarily stops the continuing work of your digestive system, and therefore instrumental in reserving that energy for your self-healing.

Fasting benefits your cardiovascular system by softening your blood vessels to help decrease your blood pressure.

Fasting activates the immune system in your body to protect you from disease.

Fasting relieves the burden of not only your digestive tract, but also your liver and kidneys, which have to work extra hard to remove additives and toxins accumulated in your body through improper eating. Fasting removes the cause of any chronic disease you may have by removing the toxins, not just the symptoms, as in the case of medication.

Fasting enhances your body’s metabolism to control and manage your body weight.

To lose one pound of body weight, you need to burn up 3,000 calories more than you consume—which is virtually impossible unless you exercise vigorously. The body is composed of mostly water. Sodium in food retains water. As soon as you fast, huge amount of water is eliminated or flushed out from your system (that is how and why fasting cleanses), despite the large quantity of water you consume. In weight control, calories do count. In fasting, there is nothing—no calorie, no protein, no carbohydrate. The rate of losing weight is directly proportionate to the degree of your overweight.

Fasting enhances your taste, hearing, and eyesight. The ancient Greeks utilized fasting to purify their bodies and to sharpen their minds. The American Indians used fasting to induce better vision.

By conserving the energy otherwise used in digesting food, fasting provides you with more, not less, energy, contrary to the myth that fasting makes your body weak. Remember, eating and digesting food expends your energy too.

Fasting may alleviate your body pain and rid your body of drug dependence. Fasting facilitates you, if you are a smoker, to quit smoking during a fast.

Fasting slows down your aging process by keeping your arteries young (often hardened by cholesterol, fats, inorganic minerals and fibrous tissues).

Fasting facilitates the removal of accumulated substances that may damage cell functions, thereby slowing down your aging process and extending your lifespan. By removing stresses on your cellular cells, fasting may give your face a more radiant complexion, with fewer wrinkles. Rejuvenation in the skin helps your anti-aging. You would be no older in the body in the year’s end than you were in the beginning. Fasting rejuvenates an aging body.

The process of fasting

In the process of fasting, eat more vegetables and fruits prior to a fast; reduce the consumption of meat, and refrain from eating any meat the day before a fast.

On the first day, you may feel pangs of hunger, with a white coating on your tongue.

On the second day, you may begin to feel gradual dissipation of hunger, with more white coating on your tongue.

On the third day, you may feel complete disappearance of hunger and the clearance of coating on your tongue.

The first three days of a fast are most challenging. However, once the challenge is overcome, you are well on the way to rejuvenation of your entire body.

What to do during a fast

Drinking plenty of water is required since your body may easily become dehydrated due to the discharge of body fluids.

Continue your normal daily routine activities, but avoid all strenuous activities, especially those outdoor ones. Exercise as normal.

Bathe more frequently. Brush your body to stimulate your skin to rid toxins from your body.

Stop taking your daily vitamins while fasting.

Stop smoking, if you are a smoker. That is as good a time as any to quit smoking for good.

Stop taking medications, but consult your physician first regarding any prescribed medication.

How to break a fast

Break a fast on fruits and vegetables juice. An apple is ideal for breaking a fast.

Gradually increase your intake of solid food. Eat slowly and chew thoroughly. Overeating too soon may cause abdominal pain and even vomiting.

Avoid taking salt and pepper immediately after a fast, lest they damage your stomach lining.

Continue to drink plenty of water after a fast.

Remember, the longer the fast, the less you should eat at the first meal.

The duration of a fast is often determined by: a clear tongue and clean breath, indicating that the cleansing is more or less complete.

The length of a fast depends very much on an individual.

Fasting is the best way to remove toxins from your body to enhance your immune system to remove some of the symptoms of myasthenia gravis, which is one of the many autoimmune diseases due to a dysfunctional immune system.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

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Smart Parents with Smart Babies

Develop Artistic Skills and Musical Talents 

As a parent, if you want your baby to become smart, you need to explore and develop your baby’s artistic and musical talents and potentials, which play a pivotal role in enhancing the development of creativity brain cells in your baby further down the road. In addition to your daily interactions with your baby through activities and games, you must also develop his or her artistic creativity which is fundamental to intelligence.

Arts

Do encourage your baby to pick up a crayon, but don’t if he is still chewing it in his mouth. Do let him express himself through representational art on a blank sheet of paper. This may form the foundation of your baby’s creativity and imagination, which are the main components of smartness and intelligence.

Do pick up a paintbrush yourself, and show your baby how you express your creativity (even though you may not be versatile in art or painting). Don’t let your baby see your own frustration with your own artistic expression. It is also important not praise his artwork; instead, praise his effort (the explanation is that he should not be given the impression that comparing his artwork with that of others, or even with that of his own, may inhibit his creativity). Your baby should make his own judgment of his artwork, and not based on what you think. Don’t express your favoritism of one piece of his artwork over another, unless he asks for your opinion. Do ask your baby to express his comments on his own artwork, and do ask him why he likes it, meanwhile helping him to say something like “This color is good.”

Music

All children were born with musical abilities, but most of them were not given the opportunities to cultivate and develop their innate gifts after birth. After spending months in the mother’s womb, listening to the regular and rhythmic heartbeats of the mother, the baby’s brain is smart-wired to the rhythm of music.

During the months of pregnancy, your baby inside the womb had already experienced many different types of auditory stimulations—such as gurgles, pulses, heartbeats, and digestive noises, including human voices—that have formed the groundwork for your baby’s inherent interests in and preferences for rhythmic sounds, not to mention his possible inborn talents in music.

According to studies, babies have a tendency to increase their sucking rate of their pacifiers with rhythmic music or noise. In addition, babies respond well to changes in pitch and tempo even at any early age. Furthermore, music can enhance babies’ brain development in terms of science, mathematics, and spatial relations. A case in point, Albert Einstein started playing the violin at the age of five because his mother was a devoted musician.

Soft background music can improve your baby’s moods, and thereby enhancing his learning abilities by facilitating his brain to acquire new information. Studies have also shown that music helps babies not only gain weight but also develop motor coordination through relaxation. Research conducted at the University of California, Irvine, found out that formal training on the keyboard and singing significantly increased spatial intelligence in children. Some day-care centers and preschools in the United States are even obligated to play classical music because it can build and increase brain power over the long haul.

Given the many enormous benefits of music on the brain development of your baby, do continually provide in your baby’s living and play environment soft classical music in the background. Choose your music from Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, and Mozart. If you can play a musical instrument, play it in front of your baby; if you cannot, sing before him. Always use music to engage his attention or dance to the music.

Make Your Smart Baby Super Smart

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

The Golden Days of Simplicity

Life may not seem to be fair to you with happenings that are often beyond your control. No matter what, life is not meant to be a punishment for you; instead, it is supposed to be your spiritual awakening in the last golden days of your life.  No matter what, your human spirit is to be awakened such that it will bring wholeness to the emotional, physical, and intellectual dimensions of your life. This awakening is meant to deliver you from the abysmal of fear, confusion, and despair in the last golden days of your life, so that you will be empowered with faith, strength,  and confidence to confront  what is ahead of you by rejecting nothing, clinging to nothing, and embracing everything.

In your golden days, with the inevitable and the unknown looming ahead of you, you diminish your ego-self. Towards the end of the last journey, you surrender your ego to simplicity. Every morning is a new morning, and you are a new person, enlightened, and awakened to your deepest core of who you are. On each new golden day, there is nothing for you to do, except letting go of everything, including your ego-self, and trusting your own spirituality to guide you to your final destination of your life. Letting go is surrender, trust, and acceptance. Surrender, however, is not resignation to lost hope, complete withdrawal from life, and total indifference to what is happening around you; surrender is the willingness finally to abandon your ego-self with all its paraphernalia. Without its props, you see who you are in the final golden days of your life, and you trust that you have lived a meaningful life, full of love and compassion. The final closure of the last chapter of your life is your total acceptance of your mortality with gratitude but with no regret.

In your golden days, at times, you may still reflect on your entire life and all that you have been and done. By now, that reflection is done with total detachment and non-judgment—detachment from all material things, from self-importance, from control of others and, in particular, your own destiny. By now, your letting go is complete, and you are ready to enter the final threshold of your life with confidence and wisdom. By now, you have realized that death is not finality—it is the greatest transformation in your life. By now, death has taught you how to live your life freely—moment to moment—because it may be your last moment.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Are You Good Or Evil?

Are you good?

To answer this soul-searching question, you must also require mindfulness—mindful of who you really are and what you have done to self as well as to others, especially to those around you.

Is the nature of man inherently good or bad?

T

his is one of the most controversial questions that does not have a definitive answer.

There are those who believe that man is created in God's image to serve Him; if that is truly the case, man is inherently good. There are, on the other hand, those who believe that man is inherently bad.

According to Hsun Tzu (荀子), a Confucian Chinese philosopher who lived approximately between 310-219 B.C., the nature of man is evil, and his goodness is the result of his right actions and activities. Hsun Tzu’s explanation was that man’s innate nature is to seek gain, which is often followed by strife and rapacity that may annihilate his deference and compliance; man’s envy and hatred of others may obliterate his loyalty and faithfulness; and man’s desire to gratify his five senses may engender his own lewdness and licentiousness. This is how man may have become bad and even evil.

According to many Western philosophers, man from the outset is originally evil. For example, Thomas Hobbes, a 16th century English philosopher, believed that the life of man in his natural state is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” Sigmund Freud, the famous Austrian neurologist and founding father of psychoanalysis, also believed that man is innately evil and aggressive as demonstrated by the fact that we are violent on criminals; but that in a civilized society, the law is unable to prosecute the more subtle and smaller aggression of man, which can sometimes be just as evil.

Essentially, good and evil are only moral concepts that have coexisted since the beginning of time; humans have been categorizing different actions and feelings based on their own philosophical concepts. Good and evil are closely linked together, just like the concept of yin and yang; one cannot exist without the other, and they balance and complement each other.

Undeniably, we all have the bright as well as the dark side of life. The Bible calls the dark side of human nature “sin.” None of us is exempt from sin. Life is always an inner struggle between what is perceived in an individual’s moral system as “right” and the dark opposing force inside to do just the opposite as “wrong.” To make matters worse, most of us are really quite good at our self-deception: either we deceive ourselves into thinking that the dark opposing force does not exist in ourselves, or we simply inflate our own personal virtues to overshadow the dark force within us.

Robert Louis Stevenson, the famous Scottish novelist, called this dark side of human nature the duality of man. In his famous story “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” he presented Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde both having a dark side within them, where evil is always lurking to surface anytime. Both of them hide their evil away, pretending it never exists. In the end, it turns out that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are actually one and the same person.

No matter whether human nature is inherently good or bad, how you view the nature of humans is important because it shapes the way you look at life, and, more importantly, how you live your own life.

No matter whether we were born “good” or “bad”,  we all have enough “goodness” within us to change ourselves to become “better.”

“Evil exists to glorify the good. Evil is negative good. It is a relative term. Evil can be transmuted into good. What is evil to one at one time, becomes good at another time to somebody else.” Mencius

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Ginseng for Your Golden Years

Ginseng for Your Golden Years

As you continue to age in your golden years, taking ginseng is a must. For thousands of years, most centenarians all over the world have consumed ginseng. It is the elixir of life for seniors.

The King of Herbs

Ginseng is the king of herbs in the herbal kingdom due to its holistic-healing potency. In other words, it treats the body as a whole. As such, it is used to keep your body balanced and healthy, in particular in your golden years. 

In Chinese medicine, balance and harmony holds the key to wellness and recuperation. Ginseng, with its branched roots in the shape resembling that of the human form, is called “man root” in Chinese. The word “ginseng” literally means crystallization of the essence of the earth, “shen”, in the form of a man, ”jen.” The name itself attests to the importance of ginseng among herbs, especially in Chinese health and healing.

The potency of ginseng has long been recognized in Eastern cultures. In fact, as far back as 1800 B.C., ginseng was declared in the East as the king of herbs among more than 200 superior herbs recognized as “medical wisdom” for balancing and harmonizing the body for overall health.  Ginseng for the golden years is the wisdom in successful aging.

Ginseng is the essence of health. According to Chinese medicine, it brightens your eyes, opens your heart, enlightens your brain, and strengthens your soul and spirit. These are the attributes of healthy aging in the golden years. For centuries, ginseng has been present in many classical prescriptions for adjustive, preventive, and restorative purposes.

Ginseng is also a potent short-term stimulant that does no harm. It stimulates your nervous system and increases your reflex. In ancient times, Chinese soldiers used to carry ginseng to the battlefield, using it not only to restore strength, but also to ameliorate the effects of shock and stress in battles. It is quite common practice for Chinese to give ginseng root to those on their deathbed to provide adequate strength to be able to receive their family and arrange their after-death affairs before dying.

In space exploration, the Russian astronauts considered ginseng a better stimulant than the amphetamines used by the American counterparts, because ginseng enhances performance without the hangover effects of amphetamines. 

Nowadays, Soviet coaches and trainers have long used ginseng to enhance the performance of athletes in training, even for Olympic Games. The Chinese even purportedly used runners to determine the quality of ginseng by asking two men to run a race biting a piece of ginger root in the mouth, and the one who did not display any body fatigue would attest to the authenticity of the ginseng root. Similar research studies were conducted in the Soviet Union and other countries worldwide to confirm the potency of ginseng as a short-term stimulant.

As strong evidence of its efficacy as a medicinal herb, wild ginseng can be worth thousands of dollars in price. If stored in a tight container, ginseng can retain its potency indefinitely. Today, ginseng is widely grown in different parts of the world. However, wild ginseng is still exclusively sought.

Even in the West, ginseng has been well respected as a medicinal herb. Many American tribes used ginseng for childbirth, fever, aches and pain. In fact, ginseng was listed in the official book of medicine, the U.S. Pharmacopoeia, in the 19^th Century as a stimulant and a digestive aid.

Ginseng is safer and more effective than synthetic drugs or vitamins available on the nutrition market today.

Your Golden Years and Santa Claus: shows you how to take care of your health, how to live like Santa Claus in your golden years, so that you might last forever, just like Santa Claus coming back year after year.

Stephen Lau

Copyright © by Stephen Lau