Iron Age Blood Giving

Action to take

Consider giving blood periodically–as a good deed and to improve your health.

Why

What if you could perform one of the most generous good deeds possible,
help your health at the same time, and it would not cost you anything?
Chances are that you can. Philosopher Rabbi Moses Maimonides would add that
giving blood is one of the highest forms of charity as the recipient is anonymous.

Too much iron: Most Americans have higher than optimal levels of iron
in their blood. Iron is an oxidant that oxidizes LDL cholesterol and
contributes to atherosclerosis and heart disease. It impairs utilization of
zinc, which is vital to memory, immune functioning, healing, sexual functioning,
and healthy skin. Excess iron increases the risk of cancer and most cancer cells
consume more iron than other cells. One in 250 people have a common
genetic disorder that causes very high levels of iron. Very high levels or iron
damages the heart, liver, and other organs and can be fatal.

Too little iron: Iron is essential to red blood cell production. Iron deficiency
causes anemia, which brings weakness and fatigue and increased vulnerability to illnesses.
Iron is vital to several enzymes, energy production, metabolism and DNA synthesis.

Common sources of concentrated iron:
~Iron supplements
~Many multiple vitamin pills (use ones without iron unless you need iron)
~Cereals, pasta, and other foods fortified with iron
~Red meat
~Clams
~Soybeans, lentils, tofu, and beans

While people fret about whether vegetarians get enough iron, most get plenty from
soybeans, lentils, tofu, and beans. Popeye tried to popularize eating spinach for iron
and strength. One serving (1 cup) of spinach has 2.9 milligrams of iron. Red meat
and soy foods, however, have about twice as much iron as spinach. Three ounces
of clams has a walloping 23.8 milligrams of iron.

Do you have an optimal amount of iron?
When you get your annual physical (You do get an annual physical don’t you?),
make sure at least every few years you check iron levels. There are several
possible tests. Your doctor can choose the one that is most pertinent for you.

Women who menstruate and children have to make more blood and hence need
more iron than men and postmenopausal women. The reason premenopausal
women are less prone to heart attacks may be from menstruation reducing iron in their blood.
External or internal bleeding also would require building more blood.

Donating blood:
Giving blood is the quintessential act of giving of yourself and giving life to others.
If your iron levels are higher than optimal, it can also help you lower your iron levels.
One study found that men who donated blood at least once a year had an 88% lower
risk of heart attack than non-donors. It seems to be a tradition to reward blood donors
with donuts or sweets. When you give blood, bring healthy food with you, e.g., fruit
or nuts, and pass on the junk food.

Quotes

There’s a saying in medicine, which is that you are only as old as your blood vessels.
~Michael West

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
~(source unknown)

Humor

Children say there are three kinds of blood vessels: arteries, vanes and caterpillars.

Why did the Vampire get fired from the Blood Bank?
He was caught drinking on the job.

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Anti-Aging Psychologist Dr. Michael Brickey is keynote speaker and author of the Oprah-featured book, Defy Aging and 52 baby steps to Grow Young. The books and his Reverse Aging anti-aging hypnosis CDs comprise his anti-aging system.

Who Are Your Heroes?

Action to take

Have at least one hero that you aspire to emulate.

Why

When we were kids we had lots of heroes–perhaps they were
football stars, cowboys, movie stars, TV stars, rock stars, or even our parents
or teachers. Many people outgrow their heroes and don’t replace them with new
ones. Perhaps they think heroes are just for kids. If you want to
be youthful, do what youthful people do. Youthful people have heroes.

I often see clients who see trust as an all-or-nothing issue. They either
trust someone or they don’t. This is a bad idea. I can’t think of anyone
I trust on all matters, e.g.,
~to honestly say what they think (some people are “too nice” to risk hurting your feelings)
~to be honest and responsible with money
~to speak up when you are making a bad decision
~to be punctual
~to help with problems
~to keep a secret
~to be loyal
~to follow through, etc.

The idea is to appreciate a person’s or hero’s strengths and not insist they be
perfect in all areas. Especially when it comes to political leaders, it is hard to find one who does not have
faults and make some bad decisions. Not being perfect should not preclude you from having heroes.

Who is my hero? I thought you’d never ask. When my career turned to
anti-aging psychology, speaking, and writing, my favorite hero became
Art Linkletter. He was host of two of the longest running television programs–
“House Party” and “People are Funny.” One ran on radio and TV for 25 years.
Keys to his success included his wit, his great sense of humor, and his consummate
interviewing skills. He was MC for the opening of Disneyland in 1955 and at age 93 was
MC at Disneyland’s 50th anniversary in 2005. There is an interesting story that when
Disneyland opened Walt Disney said he couldn’t afford to pay him an appropriate fee.
Linkletter graciously suggested he would settle for the camera and photo rights for ten years.
I think he did OK on that deal.

He was adopted at an early age (and later in life adopted many children himself).
Despite family tragedies, (his 20-year-old daughter committed suicide and his
31-year-old son died in an automobile accident,) adversity didn’t stop
him from his passionate interest in children and seniors. In a Larry King
interview in 2000 he said he has been married 65 years. He swims laps every day
and only recently stopped skiing because his wife was afraid snowboarders might hit him.

His “Kids Say the Darndest Things” format interviewing young children has been often imitated.
His 27 books include Old Age is Not for Sissies. He does more than fifty lectures a year
and is active on the Boards of many businesses and charities. At 84 he still travels the world on
philanthropic causes. To me the crowning jewel is his new book,
How to Make the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life.
It has great advice for what it takes to live well into your hundreds. You can tell in reading it that
this is what he really believes and follows. His life is a testimony to following the principles
and the wonderful life that can flow from it.

P.S. When I sent Mr. Linkletter a copy of 52 baby steps to Grow Young,
I was thrilled when he wrote an endorsement for it.

Quotes

Don’t ask me if I’m going to retire. Retire to what? I love what I’m doing
because I think it matters. And I think this book can matter to anyone who
is getting into the later years. Don’t stop living and learning.
I never want to be
What I want to be,
Because there’s always something out there yet for me.
There’s always one hill higher–with a better view,
Something waiting to be learned I never knew.
So until my last days are over
Never fully fill my cup.
Let me go on grouping–up.
~Art Linkletter, from his newest book,
How to Make the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life

Humor

The only thing you should Re-tire is your car.
~Art Linkletter

When you get old, love making is less like the Fourth of July and more like Thanksgiving.

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Anti-Aging Psychologist Dr. Michael Brickey is keynote speaker and author of the Oprah-featured book, Defy Aging and 52 baby steps to Grow Young. The books and his Reverse Aging anti-aging hypnosis CDs comprise his anti-aging system.

Outsmarting Depression

Action to take

If you become depressed, vividly remind yourself of an upbeat, resourceful
memory before imagining the future. If a friend, co-worker, or family member
is depressed you can seamlessly use the same sequence to help him or her
feel more hopeful about the future.

Why

Depression is the common cold of mental health. When researchers have
depressed people imagine the future, it is usually bleak. If you’ve ever told
someone “Cheer up, tomorrow will be a better day,” you got that look that
says, “Yeah, right.”

Our minds are capable of logically understanding that the death, job loss, divorce,
etc., eventually will not sting as much and new positive events will occur.
But when we try to imagine the future, we almost invariably base emotions about
the future on the emotions we are feeling now. I.e., our minds are brilliant at imagining events
or even things we have never seen, but have great difficulty imagining emotions other
than our current feelings.

But there is a solution–a way to help your mind have more optimistic feelings
when thinking about the future. Think back to a time when you felt good and felt
hopeful and optimistic. Perhaps it was a time when you felt unstoppable.
Vividly remember what you saw, felt, and heard. Now while you are feeling these
positive emotions, imagine what will happen tomorrow, next week, or next year.
If you slip back into current depressed feelings, mentally take yourself back to
the resourceful time.

When a friend is talking gloomily about his future, slide in a
“Remember the time when we….” Revel in the fond memory.
Then you can ask what his plans are for next week.
With someone you don’t know as well you can ask about
better times or the best times of his life.

Certainly more severe cases of depression may need additional interventions
such as psychotherapy, exercise, better nutrition, addressing drug and alcohol
abuse, or anti-depressant medication. My analogy for anti-depressants is the
time when you left your car headlights on overnight and your car refused to start.
You got a jump start, drove it for awhile, fixed anything that was draining the battery,
and the car worked again. Of course, in some severe cases people need to stay on
anti-depressants permanently.

Depression is a miserable experience that impairs relationships, impairs
work performance, and makes us more vulnerable to illnesses.
The simple strategy of vividly experiencing positive memories before
contemplating tomorrow can prevent a lot of pain and get people more
hopeful and productive. Just as we all know we need to exercise and
eat healthily, the trick is having the presence of mind and discipline to do it.
This strategy is a lot easier than getting motivated to exercise or saying no
to that pastry. It’s free, it only takes a few minutes, and it works.

Quotes

There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
Shakespeare; Hamlet Act II, scene ii

Depression is really just anger without enthusiasm.
~Flo & Friends cartoon by Campbell Bigel

Humor

Statisticians say one out of four people are mentally ill.
Check three friends. If they’re OK, you’re it.

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Anti-Aging Psychologist Dr. Michael Brickey is keynote speaker and author of the Oprah-featured book, Defy Aging and 52 baby steps to Grow Young. The books and his Reverse Aging anti-aging hypnosis CDs comprise his anti-aging system.

Accessing Your Strengths

Action to take

When you need to get something done, remind yourself of the strengths
you have already shown.

Why

I saw a woman who told me she grew up in an alcoholic family and became
an alcoholic herself. Eventually she did something “beneath her dignity”
and was so disgusted she quit drinking the next day.
A decade later, she was a three-pack-a-day smoker despite emphysema.
One day she was smoking and fell asleep. The cigarette fell on her
oxygen tube and her house burned down. She quit smoking the next day.

Now her health problems are complicating her recovering from a fall.
It was clear to both of us that to have a quality of lifestyle that would
let her walk easily, she needed to lose at least fifty pounds.
“But I tried all my life to lose weight and have never been successful,”
she lamented. She was feeling very hopeless.

Alcoholism, particularly when there is a strong family history,
is a tough addiction to beat. In my opinion, smoking is even harder to beat
than heroin or alcoholism. Hollywood glamorized smoking.
Until recently you could smoke almost anywhere and smoking became associated
with everything–to start the day, while working, to take a break, to socialize,
after a meal, with coffee, with alcohol, after sex, etc. For heavy smokers
few activities or events didn’t include a cigarette. Only recently has
smoking been limited in the workplace and public accommodations.

So I talked with her about how she has already singled-handedly, beaten
two of the most difficult additions. You could see a physical shift.
“I have never thought of it that way. No one has ever put it that way,”
she said. Instantly she was empowered and feeling hopeful.
We then talked about the nitty gritty of what weight loss strategies would
work for her.

The formula is 1-2-3:
1. Think of two or three of your biggest accomplishments in life. Think about how if you can do that you can do anything.
2. Think of why you must make this change (leverage). Post the reasons where you will see them everyday.
3. Plan the details of how you will achieve the goal.

What are you wanting to do that seems impossible (or just doesn’t seem to happen)?
Whether the challenge is a small one like getting yourself to exercise today,
or a big one like losing fifty pounds, accessing your strengths gets you in a can-do
state of mind.

Quotes

Continuous effort–not strength or intelligence–is the key to unlocking our potential.
~Winston Churchill
What’s past is prologue.
~William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act II, scene 2

The inscription “What is Past is Prologue” is also on the National Archives Building.
Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas was riding in a Washington
cab once, pondering out loud what the quote meant. The cabbie chimed in,
“It means you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

Humor

The right side of the brain controls the left side of the body.
Thus only left handed people are in their right mind.

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Anti-Aging Psychologist Dr. Michael Brickey is keynote speaker and author of the Oprah-featured book, Defy Aging and 52 baby steps to Grow Young. The books and his Reverse Aging anti-aging hypnosis CDs comprise his anti-aging system.