By: Dr. Ben Lerner

Women have been taught that they cannot go quietly into old age. Instead, the are raised to expect osteopenia, osteoporosis, night sweats, day sweats, painful menstruation, swelling, weight gain, broken hips, hump backs, and all sorts of different cancers.

Instead of accepting your fate, I say fight back! By fight, I mean taking cooperative and conscious control of your health! Yet, what exactly does it mean to "take care of yourself" these days?

Some would say that a glass of orange juice for breakfast, accompanied by a slice or two of wheat toast and a walk could keep these symptoms from creeping into any woman's life. Others swear that taking an aspirin a day and scheduling regular trips to their doctor for checkups contributes to their well-being. It might shock you to know, however, that none of the above necessarily helps your health, and more than likely it is contributing to your premature and uncomfortable aging. To understand this we have to look at the preconceived notions about health:

1. ORANGE JUICE AND WHEAT TOAST FOR BREAKFAST: As far as physiology is concerned, this is a breakfast of all sugar. Sugar is the anti-hormone food. Hormones like insulin and leptin are negatively affected, increase aging, and lead to all of the unwanted maladies associate with all of that.

2. A WALK 3-4 DAYS/WEEK: Long duration, low intensity exercise is not an effective way to build up cardiovascular health, increase muscle mass, or decrease fatty mass. This too, in fact, leads to unhappy hormones.

3. AN ASPRIN A DAY: Studies showing the benefits of an aspirin a day are unable to show any better then a 2% improvement for those that have already had a heart attack. What has also been determined is the enormous negative effects on the intestinal lining as a result of regular aspirin use.

4.GOING TO THE DOCTOR REGULARLY: It's been proven that with enough check-ups you'll be tested, poked, and prodded until there are enough false positives to label you with a "condition" or "syndrome" and end up with surgery and/or on multiple medications the rest of your life. All medications have dangerous side effects and should be avoided at all costs unless there is a life-threatening condition. (No one but a medical doctor knows if a finding or symptom requires medicine or is in fact urgent -- AND THEY ALWAYS SAY "YES")

5. RELATIVELY TRIM BODY: Simple weight or size is not an indicator of good health. To know if you're at a healthy size or weight, you need a body composition analysis that tells you your Fat Free Mass vs. your Fat Mass. A high Fat Free Mass to Fat Mass ratio is an important indicator of good health.

6. NEVER TAKES CARE OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM: ALL glands, hormones, organ, and cell functions are under the control of the spine and nervous system. With time, gravity, small and large traumas - the spine slowly deteriorates and damages or destroys the nervous system. This would ultimately have to lead to any number of imbalances including hormone.

Research shows that if you develop a hump back, a forward head shift, or lose your normal spinal curves, severe organ malfunction, a loss of quality of life, and more rapid mortality ensues. You're not healthy until you've had your spine checked to assure Essential #2: Maximum Nerve Supply.