Utilizing Tea To Help Minimize Your Biological Age...
Your Chronological Age and Biological Age Are Likely Not The Same...
Based on research, it appears our biological age may be a better indicator of how much life we have left than our chronological age...
Biological age and chronological age are not the same? This could be good or bad news. You make the assessment. How do you feel about your life, your lifestyle, and the state of your health...you know, your well-being?
Are you feeling fit? Are you eating a healthy diet? Are you focused on nutrition?...or not so much? If you are, you might be pleasantly surprised to find that your biological age is younger than your chronological age, meaning that you are optimizing your chances for a longer chronological life.
Researchers have found that biological age is a better way to predict longevity than chronological age.
But what exactly IS Biological Age?...
We cannot change our chronological age...we are stuck with it! No matter what we do, we can't change when we were born or how many days we have been on this earth.
The fact is, your biological age may be significantly different than your chronological age based on life factors including genetics and lifestyle.
Aging is affected by both internal factors - those we are born with - and external factors, some of which we can influence.
Our biological age is the result of those factors combined...
Understanding the differences between Biological, or Physiological, Age and Chronological Age...
The genetics we are born with are our starting point...our initial internal factors. Think of your chronological age as the number of birthdays you have had and your biological age as how aged your body is. My guess is they are rarely the same.
Consider people you know or meet. Sometimes they look younger or older than your expectation based on their chronological age. Sometimes you can rationalize that impression based on what you know about their lifestyle.
How much does biological age really matter?...
A lot...sort of like a report card, and in my opinion, an enhancement beyond your normal medical physical. Biological age looks deeper than averages, on an individual basis, and gives us insight into our future.
Biological age could be a vital statistic on your medical chart, as it can help predict the possible onset of conditions such as dementia or diabetes.
It can also provide a roadmap of sorts, giving you an element of control over your quality of life and leading to, essentially, becoming younger by making contributing lifestyle enhancements...like drinking the right teas.
Understanding your biological age, or even the concept of it, can become an incentive or catalyst that leads to a healthier lifestyle...We call it The Healthy Tea Lifestyle...
What factors contribute to Biological Age?...
Though you may not be aware, you probably already know them...
As you likely would expect, diet, exercise, stress management, smoking, sleep, and surroundings (where you spend your time) are all factors that contribute to influencing our biological age.
Daily choices...each day we choose how we will conduct our lives...to an extent, we are the gatekeepers of our biological age.
Changes in your genetic material...
What? Changes to my genetic material?
Indeed, the changes to our genetic material result in adjustments to our biological age.
The changes can be beneficial or not..over time they lead to the sum of our current biological age.
Consider the State of Your DNA...
Every day we think about what is important to us. Our memories, our families, our experiences, our quality of life. Minimizing our biological life continually contributes to extended longevity. Blended with well-being, it allows us to be the best versions of ourselves.
At any given moment, considering the State of our DNA guides us to conduct our behavior in such a way that puts biological factors in our favor.
How do we know our biological age?...
We measure. Our chronological age is easy...we already know it. Our biological age, however, is a bit more tricky.
Rather than telling us the time since birth, our biological age indicates how much life we might have left...and may guide us in optimizing that life.
It is all about our physiology at any moment in time...and we can always improve it.
When determining biological age, two things are analyzed: Telomeres, a portion of our chromosomes, and how our DNA is aging...called DNA Methylation.
Telomeres get shorter with chronological age, but studies have shown that a healthy lifestyle can both minimize shortening and, in some studies, may be able to lengthen telomeres.
Our DNA is not fixed or unchanging. DNA Methylation relates to the ability of our genes to be expressed - turned on or turned off. While a fascinating topic to explore in-depth (see this article from Nature's Neuropsychopharmacology Journal), for our current interest, we will focus on how DNA Methylation can influence aging in positive or negative ways.
Calculating your biological age takes medical tests which can be costly, but there are simple measures we can monitor every day. My personal stance is that biological age testing should be a preventative step as part of your annual physical and covered by insurance. Imagine what good could be done with the awareness of this information early in life.
While you can find less expensive online options, which require you to enter blood test data or provide a saliva sample, these options will be subject to less certainty than working directly with a healthcare provider.
Back to the things we can control...
Diet: Research has shown that paying attention to nutrition when purchasing food is indirectly correlated with biological age. An indirect correlation means that when one factor goes up, the other goes down. Put simply, when you pay more attention to the nutritional value of the food you purchase, your biological age decreases.
Take control of what you consume and keep your biological age in mind. Don't forget the correct teas...
Studies suggest that an optimal diet is low in calories, plant-based, and includes fish - consider a Mediterranean diet. Your healthcare provider can recommend ways to transition.
See more information on the Mediterranean Diet from the National Library of Medicine.
Exercise: Research reveals a connection between higher physical activity and lower biological age.
Finding the right activity for you comes down to determining the appropriate levels of physical strain for your circumstances and discipline to stay the course.
Stress: I believe it is critical to minimize stress-induced telomere damage and chronic sleep debt...the right teas and herbal blends can help with these things...
Both physical and psychological stress can increase biological age. Studies show that controlling or eliminating stress can reduce or eliminate its impact on biological age.
Smoking: I'm not even going to go there. If you smoke, stop. You will immediately begin to reduce your biological age.
Sleep: I could go on forever about the virtues of sleep and minimizing biological age.
Start with a minimum of 7 hours per night. Sleep is your body's restorative time. Research suggests you can take strides to reduce biological age just by sleeping an adequate amount of time...and that is just the beginning.
See More on The Value of Sleep and Teas That Can Help...
Physical Environments: Where you spend your time matters. Your environment contributes physically through the atmosphere and any biological-age-advancing toxins, as well as your emotional well-being considering the amount of your life during which you are subjected to those conditions.
Where you spend your time influences your mental well-being, which connects to stress, enhancing conditions and feelings.
Well, where does tea come in? An Intervention?...
Tea comes in everywhere in this message on biological age...You have heard me tout tea as 10,000 medicines which references the bioactive ingredients in tea that infuse our bodies with reinforcing ingredients, promoting the reduction of biological aging.
For those of you who embrace the virtues of tea, changing your life beyond the biological-age-reducing satisfaction to embellishing your life with teas that delight you every day...you already know what I am talking about and have already incorporated this valuable option into your quest for wellbeing and longevity...you are contributing to reducing your biological age.
For those who are just now hearing this message, the opportunity is real, and it is great.
See More on Tea as a Medicine for the Body...for the Soul...
See More on Tea IS 10,000 Medicines Here...
How much of our biological age is actually up to us?...
Probably a lot. What do you want from life and how much do you want it? Enough to enhance your life with an incentive that will reduce your biological age?
The best part is that much of it is up to us.
Thinking about The State of Our DNA...what is yours? What do you want it to be and how can tea be part of your quest for well-being and longevity?
We cannot change the genetics we were born with...but we can certainly take the best care possible of what we have been given.
Will any tea do?...
Hardly. To me, there are two important things about drinking tea...first and foremost, the health benefits I receive with every sip...each sip contributes to minimizing your biological age. But then there is enjoying the tea.
As you discover more high-value teas, your appreciation grows, and your satisfaction increases, compounding with the awareness that with each sip you are doing something so good for yourself...
What are High-Value Teas?
High-value teas come from proven genetic stock and grow in conditions advantageous to producing high-value content as the leaves grow.
The plant genes, the growing environment, and the period of time the leaves are grown all contribute to producing the most prolific ingredient in the leaf...that is, the ingredient that is most favorable in helping us both love each sip and have the satisfaction in knowing that we are contributing to minimizing our biological age.
Don't get me wrong, all tea (Camellia sinensis) is healthy. It is just that teas produced in certain terroir, under favorable conditions, provide the best options for cup enjoyment and contribute most to minimizing biological age.
Leaves produced in specific growing locations during Mother Nature's Spring Surge will have the richest high-value-added content. These leaves are more costly, but the results more than make up for the price.
How can tea help you?...
We call it The Healthy Tea Lifestyle...utilizing tea as an incentive or catalyst to inspire your quest for well-being, vibrancy, and longevity.
Tea can be a cornerstone in your foundation for building a better you and be part of your program, your journey, to minimizing your biological age.
The Tea Council of the USA sums it up nicely in their report on Tea & Health:
"Tea contains hundreds, if not thousands, of bioactive compounds, including amino acids, caffeine, proteins, xanthines, and flavonoids. Tea flavonoids are bioactive compounds that have specific cellular targets... related to cardiovascular, chemopreventative, metabolic, neuroprotective and other health benefits."
In other words...tea is good for us, and the right teas, the high-value-adding content teas, pack a powerful punch...our job is to help you find them.
The Right Teas...
Being a Tea Purveyor means we search for the teas that fit the bill. Those that deliver authenticity to their growing region, provide a drinking experience that delights us, provide high-value content, and are still within a price range people can justify and afford.
Our site is loaded with high-value-adding content teas, but here are some to consider starting with or to enjoy more of:
- White Pu'erh Bud-White Tea
- Silver Cloud-White Tea
- Cloud Mist-Green Tea
- Enshi Yu Lu-Green Tea
- Pumpkin Seed-Green Tea
- Imperial Jade-Green Tea
- Kabusecha-Green Tea
- Gyokuro-Green Tea
- High Mountain Jade-Oolong Tea
- GABA Oolong-Oolong Tea
- Four Seasons-Oolong Tea
- Ginseng Oolong-Oolong Tea
- Golden Water Turtle-Oolong Tea
- Black Snail-Black Tea
- Himalayan High Golden Tips-Black Tea
- Yunnan Golden Bud-Black Tea
- Ceylon Wiry Tips-Black Tea
- Assam Gold Rush-Black Tea
- Golden Flower-Dark Tea
- Gong Ting-Pu'erh Tea
This may be quite a list, but it is only a peek into the variety of teas we offer and the plethora of benefits they provide.