LS4 - Aging Backwards with Jackie Silver

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Welcome to the Longevity Show. Informing listeners on the important aspects of health, wealth and happiness to ensure you live life to its fullest. With fascinating interviews with top authors and gurus in the field, along with the latest news in the science and technology of longevity, we're going to reveal expert advice and amazing secrets of living a life happier life. And now, here's your host, Jason Hartman.

It's my pleasure to welcome Jackie Silver to the show. She's the founder and president of Aging Backwards, and she's coming to us today from New York City. Jackie, welcome. How are you?

I'm great. Thanks for having me.

Well, good, good. How can we live long and prosper?

Isn't that what everybody wants?

Yeah, yeah, it certainly is.

Well, one of the reasons why I wanted to come on your show is because I wanted to talk about some new studies that have come out about the brain. You know, one thing that we really want to do is we want to live long, but we want to live long and we want to be in control of our faculties, right?

Absolutely.

So there's a new study that found out that sleep is not just for resting and dreaming, but it actually has been found to detox the brain of those proteins that could cause Alzheimer's and dementia. So you know how they always talk about that protein that they find in the brains of Alzheimer's and dementia patients? So when we're sleeping, our brain undergoes a mopping up process that removes waste products linked to those diseases. And if that's not good enough, then what about something called catabolysis, which is a purification process for your skin cells? And a new study showed that scientists found out that process peaks at nighttime when you're sleeping.

Yeah, that's interesting. I heard about that mopping up concept, and that's a good idea. But the question is, Jackie, what is the optimum amount of sleep? Or does it very well, you know.

Everyone knows the typical eight hours of sleep, and really, that has stood the test of time. Some scientists and doctors are saying seven to eight hours, but really, if you only sleep five hours, you're just robbing yourself of all kinds of healing in the middle of the night. You know, we talked about the skin cells, we talked about the mopping up process. Your hormones tune up when you're sleeping. And I always say jokingly, why pay for hormones when you can get them for free?

That's a. That's great. I like that the amount of sleep, I mean, five hours is too low. Eight hours is what we hear of as the standard. But I find in my own life, and I think it's true with other people from conversations I've had, that as we age, we really sort of don't need as much sleep. I mean, I'll give you an example. I'll just talk about my own personal issue. I just kind of naturally wake up. I mean, I never use an alarm clock unless I have a plane to catch that's early. But otherwise, alarm clocks are against my religious. But I just tend to wake up after about, I don't know, six, six and a half hours most of the time.

Well, that's you, Jason.

But actually, I don't want to. I'd actually like to sleep.

We actually do need. We do need seven to eight hours of sleep as we age. And, you know, as you can imagine, if all those good things are happening when we're sleeping, then we might actually want to get our full eight hours as we age because we want to help our body recuperate in the middle of the night. One thing you can do if you're over 40, of course, you don't look over 40 in your pict, but people over 40 can take melatonin, which is a natural supplement you can get at the health food store. Of course, check with your doctor and also check with your doctor on how much you should take. But I like the one that's sublingual under the tongue. I take it like 20 minutes before.

I go to bed and you mean the liquid type with a dropper, right?

No, mine's like a little pill that I dissolve under my tongue.

Dissolves, okay.

And so it really helps you sleep, but, you know, you kind of have to do your homework on the brands because not all melatonins are created equal. Like, I've taken some that have kept me up all night and given me nightmares. And then the one I finally found that works for me, makes me go to sleep in 20 minutes and I stay asleep for eight hours with beautiful dreams and wake up refreshed in the morning.

Yeah, I noticed the few times I have tried melatonin, the dreams are really cool. They're vivid and neat. But, you know, I only take it on occasion. And I have no trouble falling asleep. It's just staying asleep. Everybody's got a different issue. But.

Should one take melatonin regularly? Should they take it every night? Should they take it?

Well, yeah, check with your doctor on that. But not all doctors know about melatonin.

I agree. Yeah. Doctors just want to prescribe.

Pharmaceutical doctors. Right. But I actually met, like, this sleep guru, Dr. Ruben Nyman. I met him in person, and he told me that he's been taking melatonin every day for, like, 20 years. And it's actually less is more with melatonin. So a lot of times people buy these, you know, two milligram sublingual pills, and they take the whole thing. I use a 2 milligram sublingual, and I bite off a quarter of it. So less is more when it comes to that sort of thing.

Right, right. Yeah. Yeah. Very interesting. Okay, so good sleep is obviously important. You know, one of the things that I thought was really interesting, Jackie, you know, I. And you talked about a lot of common sense stuff and a lot of good ideas, and we'll get into some of those. But one of the really, I guess, kind of odd ones that I hadn't heard before is you talk about how our smell changes as we age and having a young aroma. Tell us more about that one.

That's actually true. You know, do you remember when you were little and, like, you'd go to your grandma's house or something, and it always smelled sort of like Grandma?

Yeah, it smelled like grand old people, right?

Well, I didn't say that, but, yeah, our smell changes as we get older. And there are companies that make perfumes and products that actually have been scientifically formulated to make us smell younger. And that's all based on a study that was done that found that the scent of pink grapefruit made people. Made men see women as younger, and the smell of roses made men see women as older because.

Right.

Doesn't like, Grandma always smells like roses. So, you know, there's something to the perception of how people, when they smell you, what it evokes in their mind.

And I mean, is this smell. Of course, a lot of it is just subconscious. I mean, you know, I've read and heard about pheromones over the years, and I guess that science is an example. Exactly. There. Yet otherwise every perfume and cologne manufacturer would be cashing in like crazy on it. But this is just sort of a young smell. Now, is there a young smell for men, too, or does this just apply to females?

You know, that's such an excellent question, because actually, in the study, that only applied to men seeing women as younger and not the other way around. So I don't know what you're gonna do, Jason.

Yeah, I do know.

I guess I stay young.

There you go. Exactly. Exactly. Allegedly. You are in your 50s, and you still get carded from time to time for your id. Tell us some of your secrets. I mean, that's amazing.

Well, first of all, you can drop the word allegedly.

Allegedly. Okay. All right.

Because I really am in my 50s, and I really do get asked for ID. Just not even two months ago, I was asked for ID to buy a beer at Trader Joe's. I asked the guy, how young, you know, how old do you have to look? And he said, you have to look 35. I went to a meeting today down on Wall street, and I met with a young, beautiful woman who was in charge of the beauty section, you know, of this meeting, and she thought I was 35. So, yeah, I really do get carded. And I know what everyone's wondering. What's the number one secret? Is that your question, Jason?

Yeah, the number one, two and three, actually.

Well, the number one secret, a lot of people don't like to hear it. Exercise is the fountain of youth. But wait, before you tune out, let me give you a couple of tips. Number one, you don't have to work out for an hour. You can do progressively shorter yet more intense intervals of exercise, such as, you know, fast walking, running, if you're a runner, jumping rope. That's what I like to do. Dancing. Dancing is exercise. All of those kinds of exercises that get your heart rate up and get you sweating a little. And you can do five sets of that in, like, 10 or 15 minutes, and you're good to go. And another tip I have for exercise is it's really all about getting started. And think back to when you were in school, like high school or college. A long time ago for me, but I do remember that I used to think, oh, ugh, I have to do homework. But once you got started with the homework, actually, it was sort of enjoyable at times. It's the same thing with exercise. It's all about thinking. It's worse to think about it than it is to do it. So it's always about getting started. Put on your cute outfit, put on your shoes, and just start.

Yeah, yeah, I agree. I love exercise. I haven't always loved it, but I sure do love it nowadays. And it's amazing how fast you feel just badly if you don't do it. I mean, I think the important thing with exercise is just form the habit. It's really enjoyable once you do it, you know, and it's the best high going afterwards. I mean, it is literally, those endorphins, they're just. They're Just nature's best drug, you know.

You know, funny you say that, because I had an interview last week with somebody and we were talking about how neither of us have ever really felt the endorphins or the runner's high, but I get the high just because it's finished. When I'm done, my high is okay, that's over with. And I just feel good. I like that feeling of my cheeks being red and being a little sweaty and breathing heavily and, you know, once you make up your mind to like it, like, I love what you said, Jason. You said I didn't used to like it, but I love it now. Once you make up your mind that you love it, you can convince yourself your brain is so powerful. I used to hate salmon. I didn't like the taste of it or the smell of it or anything. I liked the color of it. And that was it. And then I had an apartment where a woman used to cook salmon every day. And I'd smell it in the hallway and just, ugh, you know, jump into my apartment so I didn't have to smell it. And I decided, because it's so good for you, that I was gonna like it. And I just decided to like it. And now I eat salmon and love it.

Yeah, a lot of these things are just habits. You know, when most of us were and we didn't like a lot of great food that we love. Now, obviously our taste buds change over the years, too, but. Okay, so exercise number one. Give us number two, Jackie.

Well, number two is, you know, we all know about the weight problem in this country and actually all over the world, and I don't preach to people, but I have a great little tip that I invented that can help anybody start to change their eating. And I call it the world's easiest eating plan. Super size your veggies and half size everything else. So whatever you're eating now, I'm not saying don't eat it, don't cut out any food groups. Listen, if you have a candy bar every day at 3 o' clock at your desk, have half a candy bar instead of the whole thing, double your vegetables. And what's amazing is if you eat half of whatever you're eating now, you're going to be reducing your daily caloric intake. You're going to start noticing that you're going to feel lighter, your belt loops might be feeling a little looser. And then once you start on your way to losing weight, it feels so good, you just want to make better choices.

Very good point. Absolutely. You know, veggies are good, fruit is good. This, you know, all of nature's great food, especially if you eat high quality versions of it, you know, from, from high quality providers. It really is tasty. And one of the things I always say about meat, Jackie, and you'll probably agree with this, is, you know, just think about our creator and the way things were set up. It's pretty well done. The way the world was laid out and you know, everything and you know, fruits and vegetables are bright colored, they're pretty, they're attractive to the eye. Yet bread and meat, it's brown and you know, it just doesn't look that good, you know, it's just not attractive. So go with what naturally was attractive to your eye. The way it was put here, you know, not with packaging, obviously, but I think that's a good rule of thumb. Just eat by color. Really?

Well, yes and no, because, you know, you do have to have enough protein.

Oh, hey, I'm not, by the way, I want to make the disclaimer. I'm not a vegetarian. I tried that for several years and I don't agree with it. I eat meat. I'm just saying in the proportions that you mentioned, you know, that's all right.

Right. Well, I do eat meat also, but you know, like you said, look for quality, look for grain, not grain for grass fed beef. You know, look for, you know, free range chickens and free range eggs and that sort of thing. So, you know, it's sometimes hard for people to eat quality because they make it so expensive, but just try as much as you can.

Yeah, good points, good points. Okay. And I think you have one more. Right.

Well, my favorite tip is it has nothing to do with looking young, but it could translate to having a happy, healthy, longer life, and that is that volunteering. Studies show that volunteering on a regular basis is people who do it are the healthiest, the happiest, they live the longest. And you know, there's a term called the helper's high and it's for a reason that they coined that term because you feel so good when you help other people.

Yeah, I agree. It gives your life meaning and purpose. So Jackie, any particular advice on volunteering? Like what types of volunteer opportunities, where to find them?

That's my favorite question you've asked me the whole day. And that is if you don't know where to volunteer, there's a really great website called volunteermatch.org and you just put in your zip code and it tells you where in your neighborhood they're looking for volunteers and with Thanksgiving and the holidays coming right up, there will be lots of opportunities to volunteer. I'm planning to, yeah, absolutely.

Good point. And you know, I'm not sure how much of this you cover, but I'd like to talk, talk a little bit more about the visual side of aging if we could and just make the point that looking good is not necessarily a shallow concept. I think it's a, when you look in the mirror that reinforces your opinion of your age and how you feel and how you're going to be in terms of exercising and eating and how much really self esteem and self respect you have for your body. Do you have any tips on just generally looking good? I mean, of course you talked about exercise and that makes your skin vibrant. It keeps your weight down and you know, eating right, you know, but anything maybe, you know, and other, other areas. I do skin care, whatever.

I have tons of tips. We don't even have enough time for all my tips. But first of all, I will say thank you for saying that because it isn't shallow to worry about how you look on the outside because it does translate to how you feel on the ins. And in fact, I did another interview recently where we were talking about feeling good and looking your best. And you know, that can improve your relationship with your significant other because if you feel good, then you have confidence and that can improve your intimacy and all kinds of things in your relationship. So yeah, one of my secrets is a secret magic pill for aging backwards. It's called Skin Defense Complex. And really I just look for it online and find it at the most affordable place, Skin Defense Complex. It's the only one with that name. It's a supplement, two little soft gels a day. But if, you know, if you're on other medication, you would certainly check with your doctor before you start any new supplements. Even if you're not, just check with your doctor. But I've been taking Skin Defense Complex for about five years and literally people tell me my hands, my skin is like a 25 year old.

So this is a, this is a specific product. That's a brand name.

Yep, that's a brand name. Skin Defense Complex. It's not my brand. It's just a wonderful secret that I discovered.

Who's it made by?

It's made by Astavita. A S T A V I T A.

Okay, sounds good. And anything more on the look side, you know, just to add to what I was saying before, and I'm glad you agree with it, there's a great lyric in a John Denver song that I've always thought was really meaningful. And he says, my body is merely the shell of my soul, but the flesh must be given its due. And you know, that is so true, everything you just said about. About the visual side of things. Any other advice?

Well, I always say, you know, that I'm just taking care of my human suit, you know, just like I would take care of.

I love that.

Just like I would take care of, you know, a beloved frock that I want to wear to a charity event and I would lovingly get it dry cleaned. You know, some people take better care of their clothes than they do of their bodies or their skin, you know, but. Yeah, another thing is that I do facial exercises and I used to get a lot of injections, to be honest, before they were even approved sometimes, but I haven't had any injections in about five years. I do facial exercises. So, you know, there's so many ways that we can stay young. But I think that one of the main things that why people age is they stop paying attention, Jason. Or they never paid attention. And then they turn 50 and they wake up and look in the mirror and say, where did all these wrinkles come from? So, you know, it's not that I'm obsessed with my looks, but I do pay attention. And also, of course, back to exercise. Exercise is truly the fountain of youth. And I've been exercising since I was 17 years old. I've never stopped except for six weeks when my son was born 22 years ago. So I think consistency with exercise is so important. You know, all of that wonderful circulation that's happening, it's good for your skin, it's good for your heart, it's good for your attitude. You know, here's the quickest tip for looking young ever. Smile. People who smile look younger.

Yeah. Yep, they look younger and they welcome new opportunities into their life when they smile. It's just obviously a very welcoming thing. Well, good stuff. Well, Jackie, any other thoughts? Give out your website, please. And then, you know, just any final thoughts you have.

Well, my website is Aging backwards dot com. And my final thought, I guess, would be, really, it's never too early or too late to think about aging backwards. You know, if you're a teenager, you're not thinking about, how can I stay young forever? But once you get into about your mid-20s, some people might think that's too early. But listen, those women are already having injections. So even if you're over 60, it's not too late to start an exercise program or get more sleep or change your eating. So we always have a new opportunity every day.

Yep, every day is a new day. Well, Jackie Silver, the website is agingbackwards.com thank you so much for joining us today.

Thanks for having me.

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