A common anti-ageing goal is to get wrinkle-free skin so botox has become a part of the anti-ageing regime for women, and for an increasing number of men. Botox might create the impression of youth by relaxing muscles, but it is not doing anything for your internal health, which is what keeps us forever young. In fact reactions to Botox can include flu symptoms, headache, fever, neck or back pain and anxiety, and research is starting to investigate potentially more serious long-term effects.

I’m all for health-oriented anti-ageing in which looking young, is a side effect of doing the things that keep you feeling young. Botox might make your face temporarily appear younger, but internal ageing of the organs continues at the same pace as before and this creates symptoms. You don’t feel good and this impacts on how you live and that, in turn, creates dull eyes and skin, and saps vitality. This is the opposite of looking young. So really we want to prioritise anti-ageing for our organs to get the bright eyes, and glowing as well as smooth skin, and supple movement, and the only way to do this is a chi-boosting lifestyle.

Latest natural anti-ageing and longevity tips:

• antioxidants
• medicinal herbs (especially astragalus and ashwagandha)
• gratitude affirmations
• muscle growth stimulation every 24 hours (body weight or weight training),
• positive attitude to life
• constant challenges (new skills)
• intermittent fasting

New research has identified the list above as the key elements for any-ageing. I have been doing all of them for thirty years (except the intermittent fasting) as part of my hands-on practical research into using lifestyle as medicine, and I have a biological age much lower than my calendar age (60), so I know these recommendations work. For me, the intermittent fasting is the only issue, and they missed the ‘chi factor’ which is the most critical for healthy anti-ageing.

Intermittent fasting and your bodyclock

Most people do intermittent fasting by eating an evening meal and skipping breakfast. This is not lifestyle medicine. Rhythm is the path to anti-ageing and following the chi-cycle uses your bodyclock to amp up the results of all the things on the longevity list. So if you really want to skip a meal, make it dinner and always have a hearty breakfast. Or just forget the intermittent fasting idea and eat three nutritious meals timed to the natural rhythm of the day, and have breakfast after your muscle growth stimulation (exercising) between 5am – 7am. Follow the rest of the daily chi-cycle routine and you get the results of an 18 hour fast in a natural 12 hour fasting window from 8pm  to 8am. This way you get the benefits of intermittent fasting every day while still enjoying three nice meals a day, and you won’t get sick of the deprivation of fasting and fall into bingeing.

Yoga, Tai-chi and bodyclock anti-ageing

Now for the big one that the anti-ageing researchers missed: the chi-practice. You don’t need botox if you do a regular chi-practice (yoga or tai-chi) especially first thing in the morning. This activates your lungs and, in TCM, they are responsible for rejuvenating the skin. The more you work with your chi (and the chi-cycle lifestyle), the more you nourish your lungs, they more they rejuvenate your skin. It has elasticity and firmness rather than wrinkles, sagging and age spots. If chi flows freely constantly you can even maintain a physical body with a biological age of around 30, the point at which the body has its optimum repair function. Basically follow the chi-cycle lifestyle and become more youthful by the day. This is how you turn back time with your bodyclock.