HUMANITY HIKER

Someone recently asked if I am stressed. Considering I refer to my situation as a stressful one that is a fair question, one which needs clarification. Though most people would consider the situation of a long term caregiver for a loved one stressful, I have not felt stressed in a long time. I am mindful of this now as some folks are confessing to be stressed over the price of eggs.

The last time I experienced unhealthy chronic stress was when the combination of mortgage and maturing home equity payments almost equaled our total fixed income. That was an unsustainable problem that would have ended up with losing the house and my ability to care for Cindy. Some folks reading this may remember my grasping at straws to remedy the problem. Fortunately, the bank manager lived two houses up the street at the time and persuaded the bank board to make an exception to their rules for refinancing a home.

From the time of the refinance up until the pandemic our total monthly debts and income were about equal. Friends and family also came to the rescue over the years with donations, providing an occasional cushion and opportunities to give local eateries some business. Then came the pandemic.

The pandemic benefited us financially. Global inflation rose dramatically during the post pandemic due to a variety of factors that included supply chains, lagging work force and even war in Ukraine. Our country provided helpful stimulus checks while still keeping inflation well below the global average, partly because we stimulated resumed production of the work force better than any other advanced country. In addition to that, Social Security is indexed to the inflation rate, which meant our monthly income went up significantly during the post pandemic years.

During the post pandemic we even had enough of a cushion to engage in some much needed home improvement projects. However, our situation differs from the next household. The lower the household income and the less that income keeps up with inflation, the combined consequence of people who earn minimum wage, the more that something like the price of eggs matters. We receive well under the median household income, but people receiving the minimum national wage earns less than us, even with two people working full time.

You read that right. Two people working full time at the national minimum wage receives less than half the median household income. Another way to look at this: four people in a household would need to work 40 hours a week at the national minimum wage to approach the median household income for this country. While people with our household income or greater should have the means to avoid unhealthy stress from the price of eggs, I am not insensitive to the plight of the lowest wage earners in our country.

Political pandering and news media increase the stress felt by the price of eggs even for those who have the means to mitigate that. People who watched one type of news media was more stressed by the price of eggs during this past election year; people who watch another type of news media may be more stressed this year. Inflation turns out to be a reliable issue for stress-inducing pandering, since our investment economy ultimately depends on growth and a small amount of continuing inflation for everything except minimum wages.

You read that right as well. In a shareholder driven economy a modest level of inflation is viewed as a necessary corollary to investment growth, though shareholders are not wage earners and the “inflation” of minimum wages is considered counterproductive. Since modest macro inflation is a desired goal for a corporate economy, the micro inflation of goods such as eggs almost always exists as a political issue. Much of the same demographic that views macro inflation as necessary finances the stressful pandering over micro inflation.

The more that politicians or news media can stress their base, the more they gain their support. The why and how of this is something my ten year Unenlightened Wisdom Project focuses on, though I realize my modest platform does not compete with these national panderers. For now allow me to make two observations which may make a difference in stress for you as a caregiver, or just a household striving to get by.

Alleviating stress requires the ability to act on what matters most. Costs such as housing, health care and education far exceeds the price of eggs. Global factors do not inflate these costs as much as a shareholder driven economy, a reason why panderers focus on getting us angry over the price of eggs instead. The electorate has a little more ability to act in regards to shareholder inflation, though the way our system works makes this difficult as well.

Community helps us to act against a stacked deck, like the bank manager who lives two houses up the street, or the friends, family and neighbors that help in a variety of ways. Maybe you are not in the situation we were once in, maybe you are not a caregiver for a loved one, but in well functioning communities everyone assumes a caregiver role to some extent. Being a neighborly caregiver provides a double benefit, since the biochemicals released by “helper’s high” enhances brain health. Resist the stressful messaging by national panderers and tune in to your most important needs and those of your local community.

What is the price of eggs in Norfolk? I do not know. I look at my overall grocery bill each week and reflect on whether or not the cost remains within our means. Thanks to the inflation of our “fixed income” and the help of others we are fine and relatively stress free, immune to the pandering on the national stage. I hope you find the way to be relatively stress free as well, for the sake of your brain health and the well being of those around you.

For those feeling stressed about the amount of snow we are getting lately, here is a photo of our house from 2011.

Sleep cycles involve two main functions.  The brain is still active even during the deep sleep phase, but that activity is geared towards detoxification.  During the dream or REM phase the brain processes life experiences and rewires the synapses accordingly.  Elders tend to sleep less at night, nap more during the day, but as long as these two functions still occur we get what we need.  The main impediment to proper rest is a hyperactive mind at bedtime, with concern for getting enough rest contributing further to the hyperactivity.  The best routine to overcome this problem starts way before bedtime.

Afternoon Before Bedtime (BB)
Exercise that is strenuous enough to produce the euphoric “runner’s high” releases neurotransmitters beneficial to the brain.  People who exercise regularly tend to need less sleep, but that sleep is deeper.  However, neither mentally nor physically strenuous activity should occur close to bedtime.

Four Hours BB
We aim to finish our last meal of the day at least four hours before bedtime. Three hours BB is recommended to start the overnight fast and shift away from glucose metabolism.  As I mentioned in the previous entry, my last meal of the day has more fats and proteins in order to urinate less at night.  Salt would have this same effect, but I limit salt intake for the sake of blood pressure. 

One hour BB
This is when I end my “screen time” with all electronics.  I put on calming  instrumental music while I wrap up evening chores.  When the chores are done I turn off the music and read a little to Cindy if there is time, otherwise I play my classical guitar right up until bedtime. 

Bedtime
Bedtime is not when sleep starts, but rather when I climb under the sheets and read until I lose focus.  I find the best reading material for this are cartoon anthologies such as “Calvin and Hobbes.”  The problem with an engaging book is being too engaging, focusing the mind until the next chapter ends or beyond.  Each cartoon in an anthology is only three or four panels of lighthearted fluff.  When my mind drifts in the middle of one of these short entries I know I am ready to turn off the light.

After Bedtime
Only on rare occasions do I sleep through the night.  Typically I wake up once to urinate and drift back to sleep.  If this does not happen I engage in deep breathing.  This usually gets me back to sleep before I reach a count of twenty, but even if I go way beyond that I am comforted with knowing I am calming and refreshing my mind as much as possible without deep sleep.

Though I have a naturally hyperactive mind, whether I am thinking about my caregiver situation or the plight of humanity, this routine works for me. If the tricks you have tried at bedtime are not working, go farther back in the day for a more comprehensive approach towards getting the rest your brain needs.

My friends in college tagged me with the nickname Hoover, not because I kept my dorm room meticulously clean, but rather because of how I sucked down food at the dining hall.  For much of my adult life I told folks I adhere to a quantitarian diet, eating large quantities of food at meal time.  My body tolerated such a diet because of extensive physical assertion.  Now I see the sense in what I once scoffed at, senior citizen food portions and discounts.

My diet suits the elder phase of life for a person focused on brain health, blood pressure and staying physically active.  The physiological and experiential differences between people means what one person eats might not be best for another.  I am sharing my diet to provide general guidelines rather than specific meal plans.

What Not to Eat
A wide range of foods can satisfy our nutritional needs.  I am more stringent about staying away from the foods most likely to erode my health.  The big three that I avoid are high fructose corn syrup, trans saturated fats and processed foods.

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is both the most ubiquitous yet easily avoidable of the three.  As a sugar substitute, one can find HFCS in foods such as bread, cereal, ice cream and soda.  People turn to diet soda as an alternative, but artificial sweeteners have problems as well, plus diet soda does not effectively curb calories.  Our bodies tell us to stop eating for one of two reasons:  we have been fully nourished or our bellies are busting.  Since diet soda possesses zero nutrients, losing calories means either drinking large quantities or eating nutrient packed food apart from the soda, which one should be doing anyways.

You can find justification for anything on the internet.  Lately I see articles “debunking” the bad rep high fructose corn syrup gets as studies reveal little caloric difference from other sugars.  That is not the point.  Unlike other sweeteners, HFCS contains the inflammatory C-Reactive Protein (CRP).  You avoid HFCS not to curb obesity, but conditions such as arthritis.

Inflammation also provides cause to stay away from processed and trans saturated foods.  For my situation I am most concerned about impacts on brain health and arthritis, but there is a wide variety of illnesses caused by inflammation.  Though my routine diet avoids these foods, they are not as easily avoided when eating out, which gets to my next guideline.

When to Eat
The 5:2, 14:10 and 16:8 fasts have been popularly recommended for losing weight.  The 5:2 fast refers to days out of the week, as in eat for five days and fast for two.  I do a variation of eating my routine diet for five days, then treating myself to something different once a week, which might spill into two days with leftovers.  Some dietitians recommend letting loose once a week as a way of being better motivated to stick to an overall diet.  That strategy always sounded good to me!

The 14:10 and 16:8 refer to fasting for either 14 or 16 straight hours overnight.  You might try this for losing weight, but for the sake of brain health alone I usually fast for 12 hours overnight, with no food for three hours before bedtime.  This allows enough time for the body to flush toxins from the glucose metabolism that fuels the brain.  After burning through sugars our energy thirsty brains shift to ketones during the night.

For this reason I concentrate the sugars in my diet mainly at breakfast.  I might eat birthday cake during the time of the celebration, but will partition out all sugary leftovers for my morning meals to kickstart the brain I starved from its preferred source of energy overnight.  In contrast, I consume most proteins and fats during my last meal of the day.  Carbohydrate metabolism releases water, fats and proteins bind with water, meaning I urinate less during the night with this strategy.

What to Eat
Once again, I am not here to tell you what to eat, but as we get older we have an increased need for antioxidants relative to other nutrients.  Antioxidants curb inflammation.  Chia seeds are the main antioxidant I use, which adds crunch without affecting the taste of any food.  Chia seeds also absorb moisture, which helps fix the texture of any food prep that came out too runny.

For my routine diet I prepare big batches of what I call brain health soup and smoothie.  The soup contains our daily nutrients from vegetables and chicken, along with savory spices good for brain health, namely black pepper, turmeric and ginger.  I also sprinkle walnuts on top of the soup, similar to how people add croutons.  The smoothie contains daily nutrients from fruits, including the powerful antioxidant provided by blueberries, along with cinnamon, kefir and flaxseed.  Kefir is a probiotic that maintains a healthy gut.

A Special Note on Coffee
Caffeine enhances brain performance, but too much increases blood pressure and erodes brain health.  After experimenting with different approaches, I have settled on drinking coffee four mornings a week, on the days when I have the most coverage and might accomplish the most things.  The other three days I allow for a mini detox.

Those are the main guidelines for my elder diet.  Next up: elder rest.

As we get older we shed layers of invincibility. We injure ourselves more easily while taking longer to recover. Getting healthy at a younger age was a goal that, once reached, we tend to let slip. This is especially true for dieters who have to resume dieting after cycles of losing weight. At a certain age we have to be wary about letting things slip, as we get closer to when we can no longer recover. Septuagenarians approach that age when we must pursue health strategies that are more about a permanent lifestyle than reaching a goal.

Variety is the spice of life and is one of the key ingredients for maintaining a permanent lifestyle of exercise. In my case the variety of the four New England seasons correspond with four exercise seasons as well. By the time one season and exercise regimen concludes I am ready for the next one.

During the spring months of late March through May I am able to jog with Cindy in the adult stroller for 5-8 miles. From June into early August the deerflies become brutal the further we stray from the village center. I park Cindy at Robertson Plaza as I “run” stair repetitions, or at the village green as I “run” intervals around the perimeter, or at Yale’s summer school campus where I can run either hill reps or intervals without deerflies spoiling my exercise. From late August into early November I return to jogging with Cindy for 7-10 miles, while periodically alternating distance workouts with hill reps or intervals. From mid November to mid March I am unable to go out with Cindy and I either do a stair workout inside the house, or go for a trail jog when coverage is available.

In the past I mentioned how superb the stair workout is for maintaining fitness, while also being the most tedious. I doubt I could do my inside stair workout for a whole year, but because of my changing exercise seasons I do not have to. For that matter, I would even find my favorite exercise during fall season to be tedious if that was my routine year round. I actually look forward to my winter exercise regimen by the time that happens.

Efficiency becomes another important consideration as our remaining life expectancy shortens and what septuagenarians do with our time becomes more precious. This is doubly the case when, as a caregiver, I spend four plus hours each day just with meal time and the efficiency of an exercise frees up more time for other endeavors. This contributes to why I actually look forward to running up and down stairs in the winter. During these months I have a little more time for other projects that keep me sane.

One ingredient for an exercise becoming efficient is providing short bursts of anaerobic activity. This amounts to exercising vigorously enough to be gasping for air. I also include strength training in the form of sit ups and pushups with my efficiency exercise. Strength training provides brain health benefits, in particular the release of brain derived neurotropic factor (BDNF), a neurotransmitter that facilitates and maintains neuroplasticity.

In regards to this and other health matters I advocate you follow the principle and not my actual practice.  You can do anaerobic workouts in more varied and enticing ways than sit ups, pushups and stair reps. At a gym you can use rowing, cycling, elliptical or treadmill machines, as long as you intersperse anaerobic bursts. Most gyms also provide a variety of options for strength training.

Sustained aerobic exercise provides the most important benefit of mindfulness, similar to yoga or meditation.  With aerobic exercise you are not gasping for air, though you should be exerting yourself at least to the extent that you would not be able to belt out a whole song.  As we progressively age the more difficult efficient exercise becomes, as well as varied exercise, but mindfulness exercise may continue.

A leisurely stroll in the woods also calms the mind and benefits the brain, even though the blood flow benefits are not as great.  There may come a time when that is all an elderly or disabled person can do … or less.  Cindy is not a septuagenarian yet has not been able to stroll on her own for years.  Her continued will to live results in part from still getting out in the calm of our scenically pastoral town even without the benefit of exercise.

Variety, efficiency and above all mindfulness are my keys to a permanent lifestyle of exercise to maintain brain health and longevity.