Therefore, the number of centenarians has jumped to more than 340,000 worldwide today. The highest concentration is in the U.S. with Japan coming in nose to nose (using a racing term) according to the latest information from the Census Bureau. This number is projected to grow at more than 20 times the rate of the total population by 2050. For that reason, centurions are now the fastest growing age segment.

Living healthy as the ‘oldest old’

Since the centurion population is the fastest growing age group, how do we age healthy? At one time I did health physicals on elders applying for long term health insurance. Medical providers become blinded in our practices. Just like a horse with blinders, we are not able to see the peripheral view. For that reason, all we see are the sick and unhealthy population.

Once we take the blinders off, we see a totally different perspective. Now is the time to practice ‘preventive health’ care. I teach prevention to my clients. It’s easier to prevent a problem than it is to cure it.

Putting healthy living into practice

Because people have short attention spans, I will try keep this simple. Generally speaking, and let’s be honest, we don’t like to exercise. We don’t like to take responsibility for our own health, we want to blame the health care providers when we don’t have good outcomes. While it’s easier to make someone else responsible for our health status, our health is still our responsibility. Change your mindset, it’s not that hard. (If you’re having that much difficulty, then you need to schedule an appointment with me for hypnosis.)

Eating habits

Immediately you notice I didn’t say diet. Diet brings to mind a restricted food list and being hungry. Simultaneously, we feel deprived. Take the blinders off and think outside of the box. Take a look at my article on the food pyramid.

Increase your intake of vegetables and fruits. Yes, diabetics can eat fruit.

A. Eat blueberries, strawberries, or any other type of berry because they are packed with antioxidants, vitamins, and fiber, also, they’re low-GI. Tart cherries are also packed with antioxidants, which help fight heart disease, cancer, and other diseases.

B. Adding peaches into your food list is important because they contain vitamins A and C, potassium, and fiber. Peaches are delicious on their own or tossed into iced tea or water for a fruity twist.

C. Eat apricots, four apricots equal one serving. They provide more than 50 percent of your daily vitamin A requirement.

D. An apple a day… Apples provide a good source of fiber and vitamin C. Don’t peel your apples, though, the skins are the most nutritious part, full of antioxidants.

E. Oranges also contain folateand potassium, which may help normalize blood pressure. Don’t forget that other citrus fruits, like grapefruit, are also great choices.

F.  Pears are an excellent source of fiber and a good source of vitamin K.

G. You may not know that the brown fuzzy kiwi peel hides a beautiful bright green fruit. Kiwi is a good source of potassium, fiber, and vitamin C.

Don’t forget to eat your veggies! Eat the rainbow! Remember the more colors you add into your diet, the larger variety of nutrients you will get.Vegetables for diabetics include asparagus, broccoli, green cabbage, Swiss chard, bok choy, spinach, Brussels sprouts, celery, chayote, artichoke, cucumber and kale, along with collard, mustard and turnip greens. You will get a plentiful serving of vitamins A, C, E and K, along with calcium, potassium and magnesium. Green vegetables tend to be low-carb foods.

B. Deep purple color signals a food that is rich in phytonutrients, especially antioxidant-rich flavonoids. Healthy purple vegetables include eggplant, purple cabbage, turnips and rutabaga.

C. Orange, Red, Yellow vegetables include carrots, baby corn, squash, tomatoes and radishes when you want to have fun with bright orange, red and yellow vegetables. Red tomatoes contain high concentrations of lycopene, a powerful antioxidant that helps to ward prevent cancers of the prostate, lung, bladder, ovaries, colon and pancreas.

D. Some healthy white vegetables include cauliflower, bamboo shoots, jicama, water chestnuts, onions, garlic, and leeks and scallions. Having said this, pick vegetables with color over white ones because they have more vitamins and minerals. Purple onion is healthier than white onion.

Meat

The main points with meat are: eat lean meats and remember that a serving is the size of the palm of your hand.

Nuts

The top super fat nuts and seeds for diabetics include almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, flaxseeds, hemp seeds, macadamia nuts, pecans, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and walnuts.

Himalayan Salt

I’ve been asked about Himalayan Salt for diabetics, but I want to expand it to anyone wanting to have salt in their diet.  Make sure you read my article on Himalayan salt.

One of Himalayan Crystal Salt natural benefits includes an extraordinary capacity to balance glucose levels within diabetics.

Table salt contains a stabilizer in the form of sugar, which will raise your blood sugar levels. This makes unrefined sea salt a better choice if you are diabetic, as it does not contain any unnatural ingredients which spike the sugar levels, nor does it contain aluminum.

As always consult with your personal health care provider.