I'm not entirely certain what I think of the idea of growing old gracefully. I probably haven't really given it enough thought to decide exactly what I would like it to mean for me. I would, however, prefer that it doesn't mean all that much to me just yet. Instead, before I bow to the inevitable, I think I'll contest the aging thing for a little while and to begin, I'd like to try to better understand what I can do to help me drag every possible good day out of my body. It brings me to look at some of the different theories of aging.

I'm not entirely certain what I think of the idea of growing old gracefully. I probably haven't really given it enough thought to decide exactly what I would like it to mean for me. I would, however, prefer that it doesn't mean all that much to me just yet. Instead, before I bow to the inevitable, I think I'll contest the aging thing for a little while and to begin, I'd like to try to better understand what I can do to help me drag every possible good day out of my body. It brings me to look at some of the different theories of aging.

Two theories that deal with aging that are of interest to me focus first on the amount and type of water that is a part of our bodies and secondly with free radicals. I was first exposed to free radicals when I was in my 30's and started to wear copper to address some inflammation problems in my hands. As for water.... since I can enthusiastically down a gallon in an average day, I'm happy to hear that it might help me deal with some issues of aging.

Here's a layman's explanation of the free radical theory of aging. Free Radicals- which are unstable molecules that are missing an electron or so will replace the electron at the expense of their neighbors, which immediately do the same thing. This creates a chain reaction, that if allowed to continue will damage the cell. Damaged cells accumulate in our organs, eventually cluttering them up and impeding their functioning. Everything degenerates and it accelerates our aging.

Anti-oxidants, which we manufacture in our bodies and also ingest when we eat properly, can stop the Free Radical chain reaction through their ability to donate the necessary electrons and remain stable. Most people have heard of Vitamins E and C which we can replace through our diet. We're mostly exposed to CoenzymeQ10 in skin care commercials - since it does have powerful anti-aging properties. Few people though, have actually heard of Glutathione, which is one of the most important antioxidants and certainly among the most powerful and sadly, one whose production slows as we age.

Another plausible aging theory is connected with water and compares the volume cell water turnover with our metabolic rate. More turnover, faster rate and as the turnover slows, so does our metabolism and that slowed metabolism has been connected with general levels of health and with aging. Rather than our bodies starting to deteriorate because they are cluttered up with free radical damaged cells, everything starts to slow down as we get - shall I say - more prune-like?

Apparently, water molecules also have a shape, as do groupings of water molecules which either form pentagonal or hexagonal groupings. Dr Mu Shik Jhon wrote a book that explains his research into the importance and movement of hexagonal water in and out of our cells. Aging, he writes, in ""The Water Puzzle and the Hexagonal Key", is not just about the movement of water through our cells, is about the decreased movement of hexagonal water.

I tried drinking hexagonal water and it was given to me by a person I trust who "spun" it himself. Doing the before and after test personal, I can tell you that there is something that is texturally different about it. Even though I don't believe (and no one is claiming by the way) that either antioxidants or hexagonal water will stop the aging process, we need water and we need antioxidants. So I'll make sure that I get lots of both, because they're already an important part of my life.