Lana Zakocela is a longevity and detox health coach, as well as fashion model from Latvia. She joined us for our Women in Wellness Wednesday’s to share her knowledge and experience with aging, detoxing, and her wellness routine since the pandemic.
What are telomeres and how do they help with longevity?
Lana: “Telomeres is the compound at the end of your chromosome that is protecting your cells from deterioration. It determines how long your cells will live and when they will die. Aging is a very complex puzzle that is made out from many things and many pieces. Telomeres is one of the pieces that scientists have been researching from the past for many years.”
Can certain foods help with telomeres?
Lana: “Nobody can exactly say and pinpoint the foods exactly that can prolong the telomeres, but there are, for sure, certain things that you definitely can do. There are incredible studies that came out from Elizabeth Blackburn and Elissa Epel that it turns out that telomeres are listening to you, and they absorb the instructions that you will give them, which is good news and bad news. Good news is that now, from today, you can do something about it, and the first thing that is incredible for that is going to be mind body work, so you can start doing meditation and letting go techniques that are going to be really good for your telomeres and for your well being.”
Ages 40-50 years
Show the aging signs on your skin
Ages 60+
When you get older, illnesses will come up to you faster than the people that the telomeres are longer and will start its aging process a little bit later on, or it’s not going to be as visible.
Genetics
An incredible study that also came out is that, for all of you mothers out there, that you can pass telomeres to your newborn.”
What to avoid that are not good for telomeres
Inflammation can come from your lifestyle, from the food that you eat, and obviously again, we’re going to come back to the stress.
Oxidative stress is when your body has too many free radicals. It doesn’t have enough antioxidants in your body, and again, antioxidants can be helped with certain supplements. The best for telomeres, particularly, is going to be your lifestyle and what you eat, so very important foods like vegetables and fruits. Less animal foods; more vegetables and fruits.
Insulin resistance really determines your aging, and it’s one of the most important things actually. To protect and prevent that, avoid any processed sugars.
Suggestions
• Omega Oils
Omega is actually going to protect your telomeres, which is incredible news, and it’s also going to be a very strong anti-inflammatory.
• Vitamin B Complex
B complex is going to be amazing for prolonging the life of your telomeres.
What does detox mean to you? Do you follow trendy detoxes such as juicing and intermittent fasting?
Lana: “Detox for me is basically giving rest to your body. Imagine if we eat constantly so many times a day, with snacking. If we don’t eat, we put toxins on our skin, and through the soaps that we’re washing our clothes with, or washing the floor with toxins, and we step over it, we are surrounded by bad components that actually can leak into your body. Thank God you have a liver that is working on protecting you, but also, it would be incredible if you can take it into your hands and start protecting your body.”
Importance of water
Another thing is you have to drink a lot of water, not soda, not coffee, not tea; you have to drink water.
Intermittent fasting
Lana: “I do intermittent fasting, and I used to eat so much that I really don't notice that I don't eat in the morning. Of course, you have to listen to your body; In the morning, I wake up, and I drink lots of water and some of my herbs that I love, and I probably don't eat until lunch, but there are days, of course, if I ate a carbohydrate dinner, I would say, or more sugar the night before, I will get hungrier earlier.”
Juicing
Lana: “Green juices are amazing, but you have to know how to drink them. Green juices are good especially when your stomach is empty, and when your body is only receiving those vitamins that are from green juice. If your body is already working on digesting that meat and cheese and whatever you ate, green juice is irrelevant. In fact, if you have fruit and that juice, it's going to give you a sugar rush, and it's actually not good.”
Juice Detoxing
Lana: “If you want to do a juice diet, try mostly vegetables, make sure it's organic, and make sure the vegetables are clean out of anything that is on the skin because you're injecting it and concentrating. Juices are amazing; your body, without doing the hard work of digestion, is getting all the nutrients, which is incredible.”
How has your routine changed since the pandemic?
Lana: “It's a very sensitive subject; I must admit, before the pandemic, I was much more strict to myself, and during the pandemic, it was such a stressful time already that I didn't want to give more stress to my body. In fact, I was more caring to my body, and I was trying to listen to it. Of course, if there's so much stress, negative, and bad energy happening around us, why would you give insane stress to your body by not eating good and yummy food? Of course, you want to have that happiness in your life; so, that's what I was doing.”
Mindbody work
Lana: “I must admit I did add some incredible things to my routine, and that's going to be mind body work and meditation. I've been doing more therapy and it’s honestly saved my life. It really helps you to work on very important things of letting it go and accepting yourself and really digging into the little things that happened to you in your childhood that are affecting you and making who you are right now.”
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Nina LaBruna
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