Dr. Jonny Bowden's Blog

I've nicknamed the four dangerous processes that age our bodies as "The Four Horseman of Aging." Wherever something breaks down in the body-be it the brain, muscles, circulatory system or immune system, you name it - you don't have to dig too deeply to find the handiwork of one or more of the Four Horseman.

These Four Horseman together are probably responsible for the bulk of what happens to our bodies when they break down.

By now you're probably asking yourself, "what exactly are these horsemen" or more to the point, "why should I care?" Here's the answer -

Anything that happens to your body that you wish were not happening, from the beginning of disease to the breakdown of systems to the loss of functionality, is being driven by the engine of these four processes.

The name of these processes may not be familiar to you, but, guaranteed, they are behind the scenes of every disease of aging ever experienced by the human species.

So, without further ado, allow me to introduce them to you:

1) Oxidative damage
2) Inflammation
3) Glycation
4) Stress

Many of the strategies I talk about in my new book pertain to preventing or combating the damaging effects of these four processes. The four of them, collectively, can damage cells and DNA, wear down organs and systems, deeply damage the vascular pathways that deliver blood and oxygen to your entire body and even shrink the size of your brain.

They're involved in heart disease, cancer diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer's, and cognitive decline, not to mention - a host of "less serious" diseases that can vastly diminish the quality of your well-being.

Even though these four processes often overlap and work together to cause serious damage to both your physical health and your mental well-being, let's break them down into manageable chunks and tackle them one by one.

In a short time, it will be apparent how each contributes to the damage the other does and how the same weapons-whole foods, nutrients, stress reduction, exercise, detoxification, relationship improvement and the many other things we'll be discussing in Part II of this series - actually do double duty, effectively battling more than one of the four processes that effectively shorten your life.

Watch for Part II, Free Radicals, in next week's newsletter.