Michael Hodge on Aging,
Anti-Aging, and the Aging Process

Note from Chet: I first encountered Michael Hodge's work when I discovered his wonderful eBooks on natural techniques to slow down and even reverse the ravages of aging at his website. Though we've never met in person, I appreciate Michael's attention to detail and his mission to share the natural health message. After you read this interview, I'm confident you'll feel the same way.

Michael, please describe your Internet health-related business.
At my website, I currently offer two related antiaging eBooks backed up by email help. The first eBook describes a unique and effective facial-exercise system, the other a broad based and practical antiaging strategy, based around diet and lifestyle. The natural facelift book differs from other facial workouts in the type of exercise techniques used and the potential scope for re-sculpting the facial features, while the antiaging book gives readers an insight into how far diet and lifestyle can reduce and reverse the effects of aging.

How, why, and when did you start your business?
I started trying to earn a living from my business about eight years ago when I retired from my job as a laboratory analyst. Since then I have taught my facial exercise and antiaging system on both a one-to-one basis for those who wish to benefit personally from my techniques and in seminar form to those who wish to become practitioners of my facial renewal system. I also started writing the books about the same time and finished them two years later.

When did you first get interested in health and antiaging?
I was 18 when a traffic accident damaged the nerves on one side of my face. There was no disfigurement, but I was amazed how different each side of my face looked purely because of the varying pattern muscle development. I became interested in muscles and physiology as a direct result of the accident and eventually invented some exercises to restore the nerve and muscle control to the injured side of my face -- these exercises became the basis for my natural facelift techniques. My interest in physiology led me into the sport of natural bodybuilding and the science behind muscle and tissue regeneration. Researching Natural Regeneration has been my main interest since then.

What's been the most interesting part of your work online?
The greatest kick is communicating with people from all over the world. Without the Internet I would never have been able to do this.

What's been the most disappointing part of your work online?
With instantaneous access to my books on the Internet, some people expect instantaneous results. Physical renewal takes time - it's a biological fact. Living tissues need time to adapt and change. True regeneration is a relatively slow process. Repairing and rebuilding the aging damage of maybe tens of years does not happen overnight.

What will Health & Beyond Online readers find to benefit their health when they visit your website?
I plan to expand the free content of my site to include articles and features dedicated to my theme of natural regeneration and insights into antiaging research. My books provide a genuine and low-cost alternative to cosmetic surgery and antiaging creams plus practical strategies for boosting the body's repair and defense systems. The first thing people notice is how much better they feel when they incorporate my ideas into their lives and how their general health and resistance to illness improves.

What are your plans for the future for your work online?
I have several books in the pipeline that I want to make available, including a muscle and fitness manual; natural breast-augmentation techniques; and a scientific look at hair loss/alopecia remedies and "cures." Besides the eBooks I want to expand on the personal advice area to provide individually designed facial programs.

Who is your favorite health guru and why?
There are so many able and knowledgeable writers that it is difficult to choose a favorite, though I enjoy Jean Carpers broad and readable approach. My background is in chemistry so most of my reading is non-popular research papers and books. I also admire the work of the late Carl Sagan. His books skillfully bring the wonder of science to a large audience and never fail to inspire me whenever I reread them.

What are the five most important things people can do to enjoy better health?
Our most precious biological assets are our immune systems and our much more ancient enzyme repair and defense systems. Anything we can do to boost these systems tends to improve our general health and slow down the aging process. My ideas on natural regeneration involve practical ways to influence the hormones, enzymes and cells that enable our defense and repair systems to function as they do when we are young. Several simple steps, which I fully detail and explain in my eBooks, will maximize these systems.

1. Avoid exposure to toxins in food and the environment; avoid excess exposure to sunlight.
   
   
2. Adequate and regular sleep. The hormone systems that govern our sleep patterns help to regulate and maximize our defence and repair systems.
   
   
3. Be positive about life. Happiness and contentment help to offset the effects of stress in modern life. Stress produces hormones that screw up our immune and enzyme systems.
   
   
4. Adequate and correct diet can go a long way to maximizing the bodies defense and repair systems, but I disagree with some of the traditional healthy menus. Most of our staple foods, for example, are recent additions to our available menu (introduced only within the last 30,000 years or so) and we did not evolve with these as part of our natural diet. Unless we manage our menus correctly, such foods can actually deprive the body of crucial nutrients that allow our enzyme systems to function properly. The body knows when it is well nourished and appetite is the mechanism for ensuring this. Lack of nutrients can result in increased appetite and reflect in unhealthy weight gain. A healthy diet should acknowledge hidden deprivation of nutrients.
   
   
5. Exercise really does keep us young. The body is incredibly adaptive and responds biochemically to everything we do. Exercise tells the body to stay young. The jury is still out on the optimum levels of exercise, but my view as always is balance -- excess exercise can be just as bad as no exercise.

Is there anything else you'd like to tell my readers about your work? If you have a newsletter, please tell us about it and be sure to give how to subscribe directions.
I hate the idea of people being conned by quick-fix antiaging products, often fuelled by beauty industry hype. I am not against people pampering themselves with beauty products, but millions of dollars are wasted on antiaging creams etc. The amazing recent discoveries about the biochemical basis of aging shows that health and appearance depends on the incredible chemistry within the body. I like to think that I play a small part in making people aware of this. I plan to make a newsletter around these themes available in the near future.