Living Healthy Longer: Jim Polakof’s Secrets to Longevity and Survival

Welcome to the Living to 100 Club Podcast. Here's our host, Dr. Joseph Casciani.

Well, hello to all of our listeners joining us today on our podcast. You're listening to one of our Successful Aging episodes this month on the Living to 100 Club program, and I'm your host, Joe Casciani. On each program, our conversations educate and inspire, helping you get the best out of all the years we're given, regardless of what obstacles come our way. You can learn more about my club at my website. Be sure to take a look at my new training and activities manual, Better, Longer and Happier: A Guide to Aging with Purpose and Positivity. It's a series of 12 modules in a card deck format developed for activities directors at senior living communities and other groups. Learn more at livingto100.club/blh. Now on to today's program. In today's episode of the Living to 100 Club podcast, I welcome Dr. Jim Pollockoff, a renowned author and wellness expert, to discuss his inspiring journey from the film industry to holistic medicine. Jim shares insights from his latest book, Live Healthy Longer. Offering practical advice on health, longevity, and the secrets to living to 100. He also reveals the personal survival lessons he learned almost too late and how these have shaped his mission to help others live healthier, more fulfilling lives. First, a little background. Dr. Jim Pollockoff is a former director and producer in the film industry who transitioned into holistic medicine, where he's worked with hundreds of medical practices across the U.S. and internationally to promote wellness. As an author and speaker, Jim focuses on nutrition, health, and longevity, with his latest book, Live Healthy Longer, offering valuable insights into maintaining a healthy lifestyle well into Later Years of Life. Dr. Jim now hosts his own health-oriented podcast and continues to inspire individuals to embrace healthier habits for a longer, more fulfilling life. Jim, welcome to our program today.

Well, thank you for having me, Dr. Joe. It's a, uh, it's a pleasure to be with you. And by the way, just to clarify, I do appreciate you mentioning my book. Uh, the strange thing about Amazon is there are a number of books Uh, you know, titled, subtitled Live Healthy Longer.

Yes.

So if someone's gonna find it, it has to be Live Healthy Longer with Dr. Jim, with, with Dr. Jim.

Okay.

I know it sounds strange, but unfortunately, well, no, it's everybody. So many people are writing about longevity. Yeah.

That's a, that's a term of a lot of interest. Sure. For readers. Yeah. Okay. I'll be sure to qualify that. All right. Well, I'm looking forward to our conversation today. Um, you got a lot to share, and I'm glad to be the messenger for your messages. So let, let me open by asking you to tell us just maybe the highlights of the journey that brought you to where you are today. You've covered a lot of ground over the years, but what are the points that stand out that brought you to where you are today?

Well, you, you said correctly, I covered a lot of ground for so many years, like 86 years. Uh, some people are in disbelief, but others say, oh, you look it. But in any case, uh, I do feel good at my age. It's an interesting, probably strange journey because I was making movies. I wrote and directed and produced, like, largely, uh, 10 motion pictures. And I said, I guess this is my vocation in life. But for some reason, I thought there was more to it. Making movies is a feast or famine business. It is a business, but I felt that there, there's something else I could do that was out there for me. And one of the things I noticed, particularly among actors, other people in the entertainment industry, is they got old very quickly. Uh, when I say that facetiously, I mean makeup does wonderful things when you see them on screen, but these people, many of them, were suffering from stress from eating the wrong foods, not getting proper exercise. And I said, you know, that's something perhaps I might be able to help out on.

Wow.

So that's when I began to study nutrition and that's what got me into the field. Both my wife and I actually studied nutrition and where we earned our PhDs.

Uh-huh. Uh-huh. So that planted the seeds for you to investigate and learn and maybe share some of this information with others. So you pursued your, your graduate work and got your degree, your doctorate degree. So any actors stand out in particular who, well, maybe you don't want to mention any names, but—

I don't mind to mention names. Uh, uh, but it depends. I suppose, uh, Joe, the, uh, the age of your audience is pretty much close to the age of my audience.

Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

So they might remember some of the names. Uh, uh, one name stands out because I really tried to help him out. He was in bad shape actually when he was in my movie. Oscar nominee winner by the name of Tony Curtis. You might remember that name.

I do, I do, of course.

Right. And Tony had— of course, he's not with us any longer, but Tony had some real problems with drug addiction. His eating habits were horrible, but he was on that track that he tried to make better, better of himself, you might say. But unfortunately, He did a few relapses until he actually moved to Hawaii after he retired, and then he changed his lifestyle, but it was too late at that point in time. But those are the types of, you know, people we might remember. Uh, Chuck Connors, Sonny Bono, um, there's a whole slew of, uh, uh, Carol Lindley, a whole slew of actors that I, that I worked with, uh, that I enjoyed working with. It was a fabulous career, and I was very excited. I wouldn't want to change anything, except I'm glad I got out of it when I did and got into something to me that was more meaningful.

Yeah, yeah. Well, I think you're right. We, we learn a lot of lessons as we go down that road, and, you know, we can make more informed decisions today than we could a generation or two generations ago. And that's what I think— that's what our education is all about, helping people you know, give them the information that we can to help them make these informed decisions. So, yeah, thanks for sharing that. So why did you, why did you write the book Live Healthy Longer? What inspired you to focus on longevity and health?

Well, of course, being the age that I am was certainly a starting point. I thought others might like to know because I did have, I did have some challenges along the line. And much of it was due to my very early eating habits. But, you know, I decided that here I am at 86 years old. I do have some back problems. I think much of that from my tennis career, which is another lifetime, so to speak. But in any case, I really felt that I'm healthy. I feel great. I'm still working, obviously doing podcasts, writing books. Uh, and perhaps I had some things that I should share with others to say, you know, when you get into your 60s and your late 60s and your 70s and your 80s, you still have a shot at it without having to be heavily medicated to combat whatever disease you might encounter. So I thought I should share why I got to, to live this long and be healthy at the same time, enjoying life. Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Well, we do learn a lot, and I'm glad to hear that you're putting some of those ideas and lessons in into your book and your writings. So you mentioned that transitioning from the film industry to your current work in holistic medicine, you learned a lot by interacting with others, observing others. Are there, are there lessons that you learned from that earlier career to holistic medicine that you're putting into practice now? I mean, giving advice to people is one thing, but other things that you learned about progress and staying successful? Any, any ideas that you can kind of translate into your current work?

Well, of course, remembering back on the movie business, it was— it's when they use the term rat race, it actually was. You're at a heavy pace. When I was directing movies, I would start out at 6 o'clock in the morning normally, prepare for perhaps a shoot that starts at, at, uh, 7 or 8 o'clock in the morning. And then after the day was done, I, you know, I, I wolf down my lunch because, uh, you know, I have to prepare for the next shot that was being set up. So, you know, I certainly wasn't eating healthy. I grabbed whatever I could reach, a sandwich, uh, uh, certainly not good foods. And then of course at night I then have to sit down with my editor to look at the dailies from the day before to say, oh, we're going to need to reshoot this, or whatever the case might be. So by the time I got to bed, it was oftentimes midnight, 1 o'clock in the morning, and then at 5 or 6 AM it starts all over again, 6 days a week. So I mean, this was— it was really like I was on a very, very fast treadmill. So managing stress was something I didn't know how to do at the time. Fortunately, uh, you know, I was young. I was in my late 20s when I began. I was in my 30s when I was at the height of my career. So I was able to do that. But the problem is it really came back to haunt me. And if you'd like me to tell you a little bit about that, you know, I thought once I learned nutrition and both my wife and I started really eating healthy and living the kind of life we should be living, still in 2009, which is what, about 15, 16 years ago, I had to have a heart bypass. Now, it's, you know, I'm very fortunate because at this tennis club that I played at, I was playing a lot of tennis. It was very, very hot. It was hot and humid. I would play in the heat of the day. And here I am, you know, at this point in time in my 70s. But I was a good tennis player. I won some championships and, and Anyway, in any case, I kept at it, but I felt great. I mean, I felt fine. But then I had my annual treadmill test, and in the middle of the test, the cardiologist said, we've got to stop. There's something wrong. And they were picking up— I wasn't feeling, you know, fatigued or anything, but I found out that I had— my arteries were blocked in 5 areas. So I have to face that bypass surgery, which I obviously didn't relish. Then bounced back from that. But what I didn't realize, because I did some further research, is why did this help happen to me? I mean, my goodness, I, I was eating right, I was exercising. I think I had my stress well in, in, in tow. But by the same token, how did this happen? Now, I didn't feel any chest pains, thank goodness. And by the way, on that same tennis court, 2 weeks later, a player in my age group fell to the ground and died right on the spot.

Wow.

With the same situation as mine.

Yeah.

Now I traced it back and did some further research, and what we don't realize is that the habits that we have, whether it's smoking, whether it's eating wrong when we're young, that stays with us for the rest of our lives. And even though we change, uh, we change our, our environment, our situation, the way we eat, we're healthy. Even though it changes, it still comes along, which is— I learned two lessons from that. Yeah. Number one, if you have grandkids, pass on the lesson and try to get them into good habits when they're young, because if not, eventually it's going to catch up with them. Yeah. And then the second thing is to be checked regularly. Thank God I was smart enough, wise enough to do annual treadmills, or they never would have picked it up., and I would have been the player who dropped to the court and didn't get back up. So those are two things I learned from it.

Two important lessons, sure. And the whole idea of, um, kind of passing on those lessons to others— I mean, these are— you're talking about early lifestyle patterns that linger on even if we stop and change, like the The effects of smoking take their toll on the body well after we stop. I mean, it decreases, of course, but just like poor diet and nutrition, inactivity, these things can linger. I mean, it's not like they go away when we turn the door for more healthy lifestyle. They were healthier, of course, and we're making the right change. Choices. But you're saying the effects of that high-stress environment, fast-paced environment, rat race, so to speak, really did take its toll on you.

And my food choices, not necessarily my food choices when I was young. I grew up on a farm, which, you know, theoretically you should be very healthy in that type of environment. I worked, and as a young lad, I just recall our meals, and I didn't really think about this until later.. But we'd start off the day with bacon and eggs or sausage and eggs, which, you know, my feeling is that meat is not necessarily your best friend, but we'd start off the day that way. I loved hamburgers, so I'd have a hamburger for lunch.

Mm-hmm.

And at dinner, now you have steak to choose from and, and pork chops and, and all of the unhealthy mashed potatoes with tons of butter and all of that sort of thing.

Yeah.

That stayed with me. And that's why I say, you know, if you can give advice to young ones, it's to start making those easy, easy choices right on.

Yeah.

But those do linger with you. Yeah. Now the good news is you can change that. Yes. I would not be alive were I did not adopt healthy habits and learn how to eat better and, and manage my stress. I would not be alive today were it not the fact that I did that. Because that saved my life. I didn't even know what was going on in my chest.

Yeah.

I didn't even know that I had 5 arteries that were almost completely blocked. I wouldn't have known that, but I lived because the fact that I changed. So changing at any age can be very important in my opinion.

That's, that's the important lesson here, right? No matter where we are changing for a more positive lifestyle. I mean, I, I love the study about, you know, NAH found that our longevity is due to genetics about 25% to 30% of the time, and our longevity is due to lifestyle about 70% or 75% of the time. So that shows that so much of our longevity, how long we live, is really under our control.

Absolutely.

Absolutely. Yeah. So, um, how do you know, as I'm a psychologist and I, you know, I know the challenges of trying to change behavior when people are unhappy with a certain behavior pattern, maybe overeating or smoking or substance abuse, it's very hard to change behavior. What have you learned about, you know, key behavior changes related to diet and turning that corner to more healthy lifestyle? What are some of the answers that you've come upon?

Well, since nutrition is my specialty, I'll focus on that for a moment, if I may. One of the things that frustrated me as a nutritional counselor, and that's why I think I moved into setting up wellness programs at medical practices. The thing that frustrated me is I would have very well-intentioned clients, shall we call them, who would come to me and said, gee, Dr. Jim, I really want to lose weight and I'm motivated and it's important and I know it's important to my health. And my longevity. So what should I do? And then you, you would find out how to individualize or tailor a plan to what their specific needs were. So we do that. And for the first couple of weeks, it went great. And I'm just giving you a typical example. But after that, I noticed that oftentimes the patients would, shall we say, postpone a session, uh, or they would come in and they would be very honest at times and say, you know, I tried, but I kind of slipped back into my old habits. And then they were embarrassed. Many were embarrassed to even come back again for, for further counseling because they were not following advice. They were not following the plan that we'd worked out together. So what I really learned from this, and I think it's important, at first First I thought, oh well, perhaps nutrition carry over a 6-month period of time so you could stay right on top of it week after week. But most people really don't wanna get involved with con— long-term contracts and things of that nature.

Sure.

What I really learned from this is if you're going to eat better and if you're going to lose weight in particular, and let's face it, as we get older, our metabolism slows down. Substantially. And when we're in the 60s, it slows to a fairly moderate pace, you might say. But in the 70s, even more. In the 80s, even more.

Yeah.

So with that slow metabolism, we have to eat better if we're going to live healthy. So I say that it's not just an individual thing. You really need a support system around you. If you're an alcoholic, and I don't necessarily say the two are equally comparative, But if you're an alcoholic, you've got a sponsor who works with you, who kind of oversees what you're doing, who kind of supports you.

Sure.

And I think as a psychologist, you probably found the same thing. If you have a support group, your spouse, your significant other, who, for example, eats with you every day, but if they keep eating the foods that tempt you, if they keep eating the foods that are not good for you, you're going to be inclined to fall back into that pattern and not be able to change nutritionally. So I found that it's important that obviously you say, I need to do something, but at the same time, you need a support group to really make it work. That's what I've learned.

I agree. But that close supervision, monitoring, feedback, you know, just that monitoring, that support is important. But what stops people? What causes them to revert after they have a nice, clear plan of change? What happens? What goes on in their thinking? That says, oh, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna follow this, in so many words. Yeah.

Well, well, you know, we'll look at some practical things since you and I both have audiences that are, you know, an aging group of people. We realize that we've gone through a lot in life. We've worked hard. We've done our best to raise a family in some cases. We've really put out a strong effort. Now it's time to relax. Now it's time to kick back and enjoy life. And my God, what's more enjoyable than sitting down and eating a good meal, having an apple pie à la mode, doing all those, you know, tempting foods, I should say, that are at your fingertips. And if you're sitting next to someone who's eating the meal that they want to eat and you look over and you say, God, I wish I was eating that meal. I mean, after all, I've lived a life, I've sacrificed. It's time for me to enjoy myself. I think seniors in particular just finally say, listen, I'm just going to live with it. I'm just going to go ahead and go back to what I really enjoy. And that's the problem is, you know, food can be enjoyed. Healthy food can be enjoyed. You don't have to eat bad foods to enjoy what you eat. And that's, I think, the mistake that most people make. So I think part of it is in the preparation of your food. You know, if you go to a restaurant, you have no control over what they feed you. They're gonna add as much sodium to their food to make it taste as good as they can. Yeah. I mean, that's their modus operandi. They're gonna buy meats, for example, that are not as lean as they should be, or not from grass-fed cattle, for example. You're, you're gonna get the worst of what they have to serve. And as seniors, you tend to eat out more often. That's another study that I thought was interesting.

Yeah. More restaurants.

So you have to control how you prepare your food. And I think it has to be, if you're gonna make a commitment and you have a significant other, hopefully that significant other will make the commitment with you to help you go through that, prepare your meals so they're healthy. That's my, that's what I have found at least.

Yeah. Okay. That's a good point, Jim. That's a good point. I mean, we, we go through life and we, we understand that there are healthier foods and at a certain point we say, well, I think I'm entitled to having a few beers and some burgers and/or chips or whatever. And we can make those same choices. We can feel satisfied with healthy foods too, with healthy snacks. So learning what some of those healthier foods are to help us make those, you know, what I call more informed decisions to stay healthy.

I found, for example, Joe, I found that I love hamburgers. I really do. I grew up with them and I like to throw a slab of cheese on them. To really make them good. The nice, the healthy thing I do is I put a lot of tomatoes, so that gives me that extra lycopene that, that really helps me from a nutritional standpoint. But I have found that when I take an Impossible Burger, just using something that is available at any supermarket, and I put it on the patty, and then I take some low-fat Swiss cheese and, and put it over that, I tell you, it's very, very difficult. And I've done the test with others.

Yeah.

Say, oh, we're gonna have hamburgers tonight. And they say, oh, well, this is really good.

Yeah.

And yet they're, they're not eating that, you know, that red meat, that very heavily saturated fat meat that they normally do in the hamburger. Mm-hmm. And it still tastes wonderful. It's just a question of finding things that taste good to you that have the same effect. Yeah. That you need for good health.

Yeah. And they're coming out with many more substitutes now for a lot of the beef and even the seafood. They're creating some artificial seafood, synthetic seafood. Whatever that doesn't have— I mean, it provides a lot of the same nutrients but not the downsides in a lot of—

Yeah, you bring up a very good point with seafoods, for example. I, you know, I recommend salmon strongly, but is farm-raised as good as wild-caught? Well, wild-caught, you know, is a few dollars a pound more, but typically it's a more healthy fish. But any kind of salmon that you eat, I think, is is certainly gonna be good for you, whether it's farm-raised or, yeah, wild-caught Alaskan salmon or sockeye salmon, sardines, things of that nature. There are fish that you can eat, but for example, tilapia, I stay away from because tilapia is typically an unhealthy fish.

Mm-hmm.

So I think here again, you have to, yeah, kind of judge and learn what kind of foods you're eating and where you're getting it from.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, good. Thanks. So when we spoke earlier, you mentioned a lot of the work that you did as a consultant to medical practices in the US and internationally, helping them to implement, introduce some wellness programs. What were some of the themes that, that you came across, that you encountered in these medical practices, and why were they looking to make a shift?

Well, let's begin with the primary care doctor. As you know, you go to your primary care doctor for your— if you're a senior, probably a semiannual visit to make sure your health is fairly good, check your blood pressure medication or your cholesterol, whatever the case might be. But the average time that a primary care doctor spends with you is 7 minutes. Now, in 7 minutes, how can you possibly give a patient— check them over, see what's happening in their life, and then give them good nutritional advice. Not possible. Nor is nutrition something that you study in medical school. So most doctors, unfortunately, are really not up to date on nutrition. So that's what inspired me to get more involved, uh, you know, with wellness programs. Now, you're going to be surprised. Uh, we've put together wellness programs for special specialties ranging from primary care to obgyns, even a urologist. But the majority of wellness programs I put together, would you like to guess what specialty it was in?

The most common specialty?

Well, the specialty that adopted and welcomed wellness programs to their practice.

No, I don't.

It's a tough one. Well, you'd say primary care. Yeah, OB-GYNs, that would make sense. Yeah, but it was plastic surgeons.

Oh, I wouldn't have guessed that.

Yeah, you're right, most people don't. The reason for plastic surgeons is the fact that they— and it's an economic thing— they realize that after you do a, a procedure, uh, the patient no longer needs you, and, uh, therefore you lose the patient and you lose that referral base that most physicians depend upon. Particularly plastic surgeons, since most of their procedures are not covered by insurance. So they, you know, many adopted the fact that if we institute a wellness program, which primary care doctors are not providing for their patients, we probably could retain patients longer, have them come back for their esthetician services, shall we say, convert more patients to their practice. So it was a win-win situation. You're doing good for your patients. And at the same time, you're helping yourself economically.

Yeah.

So believe it or not, most of the programs we set up, you know, well, for— were for plastic surgeons. Now, the idea is really when you leave the practice after you're taught the staff how to do things, are they continuing? Are they going to continue to do things the right way, or are they ultimately just going to put out little bulletins of wellness bulletins, as we call them? So, you know, sticking to a program is so important. Uh, when you have a patient, you, you really need to help to continue to encourage them to stay on the, on their diets, on the way of life that they change, managing their stress and that kind of thing.

Yeah. So I can see where the cosmetic surgery is, is kind of this external change and any lifestyle changes, nutrition and attitudes about eating and staying healthy. That's very internal. That doesn't show up. So I, I, I could see where the primary care doc or any other specialty says, well, let's integrate this external change and the internal change. Let's make sure they, they fit together. They complement one another. 'Cause you can do one without the other.

Not that you need both, but, well, if you're eating right, it's gonna really help improve your skin condition.

Yes, of course. That's right.

Eating where women in particular are very concerned. About the condition of their skin and how it ages and their wrinkles and all of that. Yeah. Healthy eating actually nourishes your skin. Yeah.

So what are your secrets to living to 100? That's, we're on the same channel on that.

Well, you're right. I'm at 86. I've got 14 years to go.

Yeah.

Knock on wood. If, you know, nothing befalls me, any accidents or that sort of thing, it's likely I might make it. Because I'm healthy, I feel good, I have energy, you know, I, but I, I think there are several things that, that have, have helped.

Yeah.

One of the things, because we've been talking about food, one of the things that I, I have found is very, very helpful, and that is, I mentioned to you I was an avid tennis player at one time, right? Well, after a period of time on the hard surface and everything, you start to have back problems. And that's the thing to date that has still remained with me. I still have an, oh my, aching back. I mean, you know, I lived through it, but I no longer can play tennis with the zeal that I used to because my back hurts too much. So the question I have to, I have to decide is what am I going to be able to do? And I had a tennis injury to my shoulder, or I had an injury to my shoulder where I couldn't serve anymore. I really couldn't do anything. Even in the pool, I couldn't swim the freestroke because my, my arms wouldn't go properly. So I had to find what I can do. And I think if I have advice for, for those of a senior age group, what you need to do is look for exercise or fitness regimes that you can actually do.

Yes.

And the two things I found— well, actually there are three. One is pickleball, which is becoming a very, very popular sport now.. And as you age, if you can't get out and play tennis or your body can't take that constant impact, pickleball is a great activity. But the two things that I found that really work regardless of what shape your body might be in, even if you can't play pickleball, are two things. One, aqua jogging. Now, I mentioned to you I really couldn't freestyle any longer, but I can get into the pool with a noodle and I could begin jogging. The move— the noodle gives me the buoyancy. My legs are moving as if I were running, and yet I'm in water, so I have no pain whatsoever. My back pain doesn't even flare up or doesn't bother me in the least when I'm doing this aqua jogging. So at least 3 times a week, sometimes 4, I try to be sure that I'm doing some aqua jogging for about a half an hour.

Yeah.

Secondly, I have found out that you get some really good exercise from chair yoga. And chair yoga, uh, you know, you can get the different things on YouTube to, you know, be with somebody who for basically 25 minutes you sit right in your chair, you move your body, you get, you get exercise. It has cardiovascular abilities, or shall we say capabilities. Uh, so these are two things that regardless of how old you are Regardless of your aches and pains, your arthritis, your rheumatism, these are things you can do that will keep you healthy and living longer. And then of course there's managing stress. I feel that's very, very important. And I think that, you know, many people just, you know, they get on a treadmill and they get so busy during the day that they forget to take a little time for themselves to de-stress. Yeah. And I think that's also very important.

All right. Those are, those are important points, important recommendations for my listeners. Thanks for that. So no matter what level physical functioning rat, even with some back strain or injuries, the aqua jogging is one remedy, one way to stay really to push for that endurance and mobility.

And then the chair, you don't have it, right? If you don't have an indoor pool, yeah, I mean, obviously there are certain seasons if you have an outdoor pool or you go to an outdoor pool that you know, you can only swim, but that's when you have to fall back on something like the chair yoga.

Chair yoga, sure. Yeah, and I can see the chair yoga really helps with balance and stretching and even some strength, strength building.

Yes.

So yeah, and we know there's plenty of YMCAs around and they have great programs for seniors and, you you know, staying active. They have great indoor pools and outdoor pools, so I can see where the advantage is there too.

Right. Oh, you're absolutely right. Of course, you are in the wonderful country of San Diego where you have the greatest air-conditioned city in the world. Never gets too hot or too cold except this past summer. But in any case, no, you're in an area where people can get out and do more. But if you happen to be in Minnesota, Uh, you don't have quite that luxury. You can't get out of the house. So falling back on the chair, doing a bit of chair yoga can, can get you through the bad times.

It's all about adapting, right? And, and finding ways to overcome some of those barriers that we encounter, some of those challenges, some of those setbacks. How do we adjust our lifestyle? How do we make different decisions based on some of the new limitations? And continue to push forward and open new doors, as I say.

Yeah, that's right.

So you, you've been in the wellness, um, industry for a long time now, and I wonder, what do you see as the future of holistic medicine and wellness practices? Where, where are we, where are we headed?

Well, I think there's a, there's a positive side. I always, I'm a, an optimist, so I always look to the positive. The only downside is because it's such a popular area and there are people who, you know, can, shall we say, make a buck at it. There are people out there giving advice that perhaps is not really good advice. So one has to be very, very careful where they get their nutritional advice, their fitness advice from. So I'd be very, very careful about not listening to anyone, everyone. The problem with the internet is everybody and their brother has different advice. From Aunt Sarah to Uncle Harry that, you know, will tell you if you do this or you do that. I think it's important, the beauty of the internet and wellness where it's going is people, it gives, well, and I know you were going to ask about artificial intelligence like ChatGPT, etc. But if you don't mind my stepping in, I really feel that artificial intelligence is going to have a positive and negative benefit as we learn how to adapt to it. And that is obviously we can find a ton of information, but sometimes not all that information is good. So we have to learn to decipher what the good information and what the bad information is. But I see wellness as a field that's going to be growing because the senior population is growing. You know, the— soon the dominant population in America are going to be seniors. We're seeing that now under— with elections, uh, that's the, the senior vote is becoming more and more prevalent. So I, I think there's a wonderful future if you get the right advice and you be sure to do your research thoroughly. That's my advice.

Sure. Yeah, we, we have what I've heard called is the longevity bonus. We're, we're living longer, more years, and we have more time to be productive and, uh, resourceful and to go after new things. But that also takes learning what the opportunities are. So being open to a lot of new approaches and Pilates and exercise and other fitness programs and nutrition, that's, that's just a bonus that we have now. We can look for more ways to stay healthy and to, to look at new, new experiences, new opportunities. And I, I can see where holistic medicine and I mean, I used to talk about the separation between mind and body. We used to refer to the physicians in the long-term care settings as, you know, focusing on symptoms and problems and fixes. And we're, as the mental health professional, we were always talking about, well, what's going on with the individual? Why are they depressed? What's their reaction to their stroke or their medical problem? So it's this combination. And I think holistic medicine, lifestyle medicine, integrative medicine, whatever it's called, is merging these, these two different sides. And I think you're at the forefront of that. You understand what's going on with the person's attitude and outlook and how that affects their, you know, I'm a, I'm a believer of mind, body, and soul.

Yeah, that they all kind of, and regardless of what your spiritual beliefs might be, uh, you know, I, I, I think the spiritual element, uh, even if you're not religious, has certainly plays a part. But it's not just the body, it's the mind, it's your, your mindset. Uh, it all, it all comes together. You're absolutely correct. You know, we have to, we have to keep this in mind. Doctors do focus on the bodies, unfortunately, uh, where I think if they bring a little bit more of the mind and spirituality into it, then I believe they may achieve some greater benefits for their patients.

Sure. Yeah, we always found psychiatry to be the, you know, the area for medication, psychotropic medication, anti-anxiety, anti-depression. And now I'm seeing this new subspecialty of nutritional psychiatry, which is so opposite what I had always seen in my career. It's good, of course, that it's good that maybe there are, there are the whole changes that we can implement with improve nutrition in our, in our mental health.

So that's, well, we've always evolved as a, as a species. So yeah. Yeah. Hopefully the evolve of the, the evolvement is going to be beneficial. I think what you offer your clients in terms of the card decks and, and really keeping people imaginatively involved, that's such a contribution you're personally making. I admire and compliment you for it.

Oh, thank you. Thank you, Jim. Yeah, I think it's a way to dispel and combat some of those ageist attitudes and Let's start thinking about the upside of getting older, not the downside. Yeah.

That's exactly right.

Yeah. Yeah. So how can people contact you if they have questions and, and wanna buy your book?

Well, we have on our website, we have not only our podcasts, but we have things about books, blogs that are helpful from a health standpoint. I think that coming to the website can be valuable because we have, we've had some great guests on it that can give you some good, you know, nutritional fitness, stress management advice, even with Alzheimer's and things of that nature. But our website's very simple. If you remember how to spell my name, which is not simple. James is easy, but it's jamespolakoff.com. Polakoff is P-O-L-A-K-O-F-F. So, jamespolikoff.com is my website where people can come to and hopefully discover a bit more. And then my book is, as you mentioned, very— I thank you for it— is Live Healthy Longer with Dr. Jim. And that's available in most places, but certainly on amazon.com, where most people are going for their books today, apparently. So, yeah, those are the two sources, you know, And we really appreciate you, uh, giving some, shining some light on that for us.

Sure. Yeah, no, happy to do that. Well, uh, just to summarize, uh, jamespolakoff.com and Live Healthy Longer with Dr. Jim, a lot of good information. I, I've been to your website. You have some great podcasts too, and a lot of resources. So that's great. Yeah.

Well, I, I look forward to you being part of our podcast also.

Oh, good. Yeah, that's, uh, that's coming up. I'm looking forward to that as well. Well, uh, Jim, it looks like we're out of time for today, but before we wrap up, I just want to remind my listeners to visit my website, livingto100.club. Sign up for my email list, and you can download a free copy of my 9 Tips to Make Living Longer Enjoyable. And if you're affiliated with a senior living setting or community, be sure to look for my new training manual, Better, Longer, and Happier. Dr. Jim Polakoff, thanks so much for being a guest on our program today.

My pleasure. It's been enlightening.

Great. You're welcome. And thanks to our listeners for tuning in. Hope to see you next time.