As we age, our bodies’ process nutrients less efficiently, resulting in the need for us to increase our nutrient intake. For example, Vitamin D is a nutrient essential to the prevention of osteoporosis. Our bodies manufacture vitamin D when our skin is exposed to sunlight, but by our 70s our bodies produce only 40 percent of what they produced in third grade. An adequate dosage of vitamin D for people in their 20s is 200 IU; for people who are older, 400 IU to 600 IU is needed to do the same amount of work. It’s impossible to say at exactly which age you should be getting this much, but because aging is a continuum, you should gradually increase your intake so that by age 60 or so you are up to around 600 IU.

The need for B vitamins increases with age as well. Three B vitamins — folic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 — are essential for keeping levels of a compound called homocysteine low in the blood; if allowed to rise, homocysteine contributes to heart-disease risk and possibly memory loss, according to a study in a 1998 European Journal of Pediatrics. As you age, increase your B6 dose from 2 mg to 5 mg; increase B12 over time from 2 mcg to 10 mcg. Women should take 400 mcg of folic acid daily; pregnant women should take 800 mcg daily (to help prevent neural-tube defects in the fetus).

Women, in particular, should be aware that their calcium intake should increase as they age to prevent osteoporosis: According to the National Institutes of Health, during the middle years, 1,000 mg each day is adequate; 1,200 mg after menopause if you’re on hormone replacement therapy; 1,500 mg if you are not on HRT. (During adolescence, girls should take 1,200 mg to 1,300 mg.) All for your health.

Travel heath

Preparing for a holiday gets you in a light-hearted mood – and the anticipation of having a good time, whether it’s a week at Hawaii or a month trekking the foothills of the Haiiti, is all part of the experience.

Time to get fit…
Maintaining a ‘keep fit’ lifestyle doesn’t have to mean slogging it out in a sweaty gym. Just boosting your levels of general daily activity will reap big rewards in improved health and energy.

The great escape
Don’t let ill health spoil your holiday or interrupt your business trip. Making a great escape to go outside your city!

You are what you eat…
A good diet is central to overall good health. But which are the best foods to include in your meals, and which ones are best avoided? Deciding what kind of food for you to have a good health.

Massage and Spa
Massage is the practice of applying structured or unstructured pressure, tension, motion, or vibration — manually or with mechanical aids — to the soft tissues of the body, including muscles, connective tissue, tendons, ligaments, joints, lymphatic vessels, organs of the gastrointestinal system to achieve a beneficial response. Massage Therapy is performed primarily by a professional Massage Therapist but is often used as a form of therapy by other Healthcare practitioners such as Chiropractors, Osteopaths and Physical Therapists.

Spa can be applied to parts of the body or successively to the whole body, to aid the process of injury healing, relieve psychological stress, manage pain, and improve circulation. Where spa is used for its physiological, mental, and mechanical benefits, it is called “therapeutic massage” or manipulative therapy.