Any other dog lovers out there???

A few of my favorite dog quotes or sayings.

"Wag, and the world wags with you. Howl and they put you outside!"

 "Getting a dog is our only chance to choose a relative!"

In my household we always joke that after we are gone, we would like to come back and have the life of our dog. 

Could be fun. 

The life of our dog.

She wakes up, plays and eats.  She naps frequently throughout the day. As for training, It only took her a few weeks to train us humans about how to care for her properly ; ) Overall, sounds like a pretty good life!!

But the one part of being a dog that I do not like, is that doggone aging in dog years. I am sure you have heard the saying that dogs age seven years for every one year of humans.  Thus a one year old puppy would be the equivalent of a seven year old human child.

I guess it's a good thing that humans do not age in dog years, or do we?

While no one can halt the natural aging process, slowing it down may enable an improvement in your quality and quantity of life.

Genetics play a huge part in aging and disease, and changing your genes is still not possible. If it were, I would be a foot taller and have a full head of hair.

 Which reminds me of another famous saying.

"Always be nice to your children, as they choose your nursing home! "

But let me get back to aging and dog years.

We are what we eat, and eating the wrong foods has consequences.

The most common consequences include Obesity, High Blood Pressure, DIabetes and Heart Disease. These illnesses are like a plaque of our Western diet dominated by many, many processed foods, especially processed carbohydrates. I call these illnesses DRD, or diet related disorders.

A good analogy of the risks of diet related disorders, is that the damage they cause your internal organs and vascular system can be equivalent to your body aging in dog years.

Example:

If you become diabetic at age 50, due to lifestyle and diet, each year your diabetes is left uncontrolled, you are aging closer to dog years than human years. So after three years of poorly controlled diabetes, you may be 53 years old, but your internal organs may now be closer to 71. If you have your Diabetes under good control, or better yet, have avoided  Diabetes altogether, you have slowed down to a normal aging process.

Other illnesses, disease or lifestyle choices that increase the aging process include frequent sunburns, alcoholism, tobacco usage, and too much exercise. I am certain there are many more, but I think you get my point.

At The Institute For Medical Wellness, our goal is to help each individual achieve and maintain their health, and to slow or halt the progression of chronic disease. Not all illness or disease means a lifetime of medications and doctor visits. For the diet-related diseases mentioned earlier, a healthy lifestyle change may be all you need.

If you want to learn how to slow down your aging process, and you have not already scheduled your yearly physical exam, now is the time to do it. It is at this exam that we spend the time to fully evaluate and recommend , if necessary, adjustments to your lifestyle and diet. This is just a piece of what I call the "wellness" aspect of the Institute For Medical Wellness. You will be glad you took the time for better health. After all, even though I have always loved dogs, I do not want to age like them, nor should you!!