Have you ever stopped to think there might be a difference between aging and getting old? Some ancient texts declare old age a virtue and a blessing, commanding the elderly to be respected for their wisdom, regardless of their scholarship. When your cheese gets old, it’s time to dump it; but when it ages, it reaches perfection, right? When things get old, they might no longer be useful or in style.

Well, if you have half a mind, you have a whole hippocampus. It’s the part of the brain in charge of long-term memory (Where are the car keys?) and spatial relations (Will this car fit into that parking space?). It’s shaped like a horseshoe and straddles both of the brain’s hemispheres.

The human skeleton offers shape and protection to the body. It supplies a place for organs to attach or to be supported. It comprises 206 bones, the largest of which is the thigh (femur). It makes up about 15% of your body weight, part of which is water. This fifteen percent refers to ideal body weight, not to a 400-pound behemoth who is less than six feet tall.

Botanically a fruit and culinarily a vegetable, the tomato belongs to the nightshade family, a group that includes potatoes, eggplants, paprika, chili peppers, tobacco and petunias. These plants are known for possessing a wide range of chemicals called alkaloids, some of which have medicinal or toxic properties. Among the common alkaloids are nicotine, cocaine, morphine and quinine.

The inveterate coffee drinkers among us will appreciate the good news about one of our favorite beverages. After all the flak we took about the vices of coffee, now’s the chance to respond. After water and tea, coffee is the next most popular drink on the planet, having a starring role in the history of several cultures. It came from the Muslim world, travelled to Italy and then to the rest of Europe, finally landing in the New World. At one time, it was limited only to religious observances.

If you read—and were enlightened by—the newsletter about aging and omega-3 fatty acids, you’ll likely be interested in this one about zinc and its relationship to aging and disease. For a long time, zinc has been associated with a strong immune system, but its connection to aging is a relatively new exploration.

It’s a sad commentary on current events when you notice that every other infant you meet seems to have GERD, gastroesophageal reflux disease. You know the scene by now. Almost everything the baby swallows gets regurgitated, which, by the way, is not quite the same as vomited.

For many years cholesterol has been denigrated as a factor in heart disease, when all along it was only a spectator at the scene of the accident. Although it’s been the topic of many conversations throughout its public life, cholesterol is misunderstood by many people… who don’t really know what it is. Because it isn’t soluble in water, but only in organic solvents, cholesterol is classified as a lipid.

The title of this may be misleading because, although it’s about AGE, it isn’t actually about age. The two—the acronym and the word—are related, however. AGE is the acronym for Advanced Glycation End-products, substances that have something to do with aging, but that are part of a bigger picture.