Spring Chicken: Stay Young Forever

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Common sense seems to dictate that we are all going to die one day. As we all get older we crave to keep our youth, and to stay young forever is the ultimate dream. The thought of a possible immortality is just an added benefit. Even though we have strived towards this goal for centuries, have we obtained advances in successfully staying young forever? In Bill Gifford’s book “Spring Chicken: Stay Young Forever (Or Die Trying)” he explores these ideas of life and aging further. In this novel, he goes on a journey to try and debunk the mysteries and questions behind the new science of aging. He gathers information from tests and scientists from around the country to discover what really works to prevent or delay aging and what is just a hopeful …show more content…
Research throughout this book shows that exercising indeed can help turn back the hands of time when it comes to aging. This simple lifestyle modification has been attributed in this book as one of the main ways to delay our aging. Recent statistics show that people who keep a normal weight and exercised only moderately were able to live an average of seven years longer than the non-exercisers. Studies from this have also proven that people who are exercising regularly are far less likely to suffer from heart attacks and other diseases due to age. With exercise and an anti-inflammable diet, Ron Gray, an athlete at the National Senior Games makes a statement, “I woke up one morning last year, and nothing hurt. I thought I was dead. Now I wake up and nothing hurts because nothing hurts!” (176). This is significant because it shows us that even when we think that we have been defeated by old age and its symptoms we can regain our good health again with the right diet and exercise. At this Senior Olympics, it is also observed that all of the people competing were older than 50 all the way into their late 90’s. They were what we could say, aging successfully. These people are performing close to how they were during their prime. When we aren’t exercising or eating appropriately for our health, we gain an excess of fat. In having this excess of fat or visceral fat, …show more content…
Some of the things that we have believed to help us now or in the past have actually been seen to hurt us later on in life. There are still no 100% prevention methods that we know of yet, but there is promising research that is being done. One of the best quotes that elaborates on this theme is from the prominent scientist and researcher Aubrey De Grey, who states “Just because something hasn’t happened yet, doesn’t mean it won’t ever happen.” (30). The essence of De Grey’s simple argument is that we shouldn’t place limits on things and ideas that we do not know for certain. Each breakthrough that we have done, that used to be seen as technologically unimaginable, so why should aging or reversing aging be seen as any different? Some of the most promising research in this field is from caloric restriction. Another is from European scientists have now succeeded in growing a functioning thymus gland, which is the organ that generates our T-cells so that we can fight off infections. Gifford elaborates on this discovery when he states, “In April 2014, European scientists succeeded in growing new, functioning thymus glands in old mice by restoring a genetic mechanism that normally shuts down with age.” (296). In other words, this fact is important because it shows that we are now taking steps forward to restore our bodies, even after we have
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