Strength training has now been proven to actually reverse aging -- at the cellular level -- so if you want to stay young yet dismiss the vital importance of exercise, a recent study by the Buck Institute may give you the needed impetus to change your ways.

Healthy seniors performed strength-training exercises for one hour, just twice a week, for six months. After analyzing muscle-cell biopsies against a control group of 20-something’s, they were astonished to find radical cellular changes. The genetic fingerprint of the seniors had reversed course and was now more similar to those of younger people than old people.

The specific changes were related to the mitochondrial function, which is involved in age-related loss of muscle mass and functional impairment. Mitochondria process nutrients into energy, and because of this muscle-cell rejuvenation, the participants experienced a newfound boost of overall energy, as well as a 50 percent increase in muscle strength.

Starting an exercise program (regardless of your age!), eliminating unnecessary pharmaceuticals from your life, and eating the right foods for you, based on your nutritional type, has the power to not only keep you strong and healthy -- but the power to turn back time.

PloS One May 23, 2007

Buck Institute for Age Research May 2007

Newsweek May 22, 2007

ABC7/KGO-TV/DT May 22, 2007