peterants

So how do we put this all together? What do we reasonably do to live a long and healthy life?

Let’s review what we’ve covered so far. First, exercise.

The benefits of exercise are extremely well studied. At least a half hour a day, at least five days per week. If this seems like a lot, look at it this way. Exercise could easily add 3.5 to 5 years to your life (per the Framingham heart study). That’s between 30,660 and 43,800 hours. Three hours per week is about 150 hours per year. If you exercise for 50 years, that adds up to 7500 hours of exercise. In other words, you gain between four and six hours of extra life for each hour you exercise. Or put another way, that’s a 300% to 500% return on your time invested exercising! And, you’ll feel better, with fewer health problems, for your entire life.

Then diet. It is now basically indisputable that there is a direct relationship between the amount of animal protein we eat and the chances of getting heart disease and cancer. This has been shown over and over again, but the most comprehensive study is The China Study. The findings? “People who ate the most animal-based foods got the most chronic disease … People who ate the most plant-based foods were the healthiest and tended to avoid chronic disease.”

Another study, commonly called the Loma Linda Study, followed Seventh Day Adventists because of the vegan diet recommendations of their faith. That study showed that the average Seventh Day Adventist who followed the dietary recommendations of the church lived 13 years longer than the average non-smoking American.

Of course, just cutting out meat and dairy isn’t all that’s necessary. We need fresh fruit and vegetables, not refined sugar; whole grains, not refined flour; in short, wholesome food, not junk food.

Here’s one more thought about diet. There’s a recent study in which aging rats were given blueberries which were the equivalent of an adult human eating one cup of blueberries per day. These rats were about 65 in human terms. They received the blueberries for two months. They were then compared to young rats and control group old rats on several tests of mental and physical function. One test was typical of the overall results. In it, the young rats were able to balance on a rod for 14 seconds. The control group aged rats, who didn’t get blueberries, were able to balance for only 6 seconds. Their counterparts who received the blueberries were able to balance on the rod for 10 seconds-not as long as the young rats, but a considerable improvement over the rats not getting blueberries.

In short, what you eat matters-a lot.

Calorie restriction is the third prong of life extension. It’s thesis is-how much you eat matters a lot, also. Many studies have shown that reducing calorie intake by a significant amount, like 40%, will substantially extend life span. The problem with calorie restriction is that its impossible for all but the most dedicated, strong willed individuals to eat 25 to 40 per cent fewer calories on an ongoing basis. One way to get some of the benefits of calorie restriction is to do intermittent fasting, on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis. (Before you undertake more than a one day fast, please see my fasting post for important information.)

An NIA study indicates that intermittent fasting may be more beneficial than cutting calorie intake. The researchers fed one group of mice 40% of the calories given to a control group. A third group was fasted for 24 hours, then permitted to free-feed. The fasting mice “didn’t cut total calories because they ate twice as much on days they weren’t fasting. Both the fasting mice and those on a restricted diet had significantly lower blood sugar and insulin levels than the free-fed controls. A toxin that damages hippocampal cells was injected in all of the mice. Hippocampal damage is associated with Alzheimer’s. Interestingly, the scientists found less damage in the brains of the fasting mice than in those that ate either a restricted or a normal diet.

Supplements are another way to extend life, and to maintain good health, notwithstanding the flawed studies run by people with ties to the drug and medical industry trying to prove the contrary. One study of supplements gave average human-equivalent doses of 31 vitamins and minerals to mice, while a control group got no supplements, but the same diet. This study was performed on mice with over-espressed growth hormone, and on normal mice.

The results were dramatic. Supplementation extended the life span of the growth hormone mice by 28 percent, to 431 days. In normal mice, supplementation extended life span by 11 percent on average, from 688 days to 765 days. How does this 11 percent increase in longevity in normal mice compare to caloric restriction? Other investigators have reported that a 40 percent restriction in calories increased survival in the same strain of mice about 19 percent.

One cutting edge thought for longevity. Resveratrol, a compound found in red grapes and red wine seems to exhibit some qualities for extending life. Here’s a quote from my June 4, 2007 post on resveratrol:

In numerous studies, resveratrol has demonstrated effects that mimic those of caloric restriction, the best-documented anti-aging strategy to date. In all animals in which it has been tested, caloric restriction—the practice of restricting calorie intake while maintaining good nutritional status—improves multiple aspects of age-related decline. Caloric restriction does this, in part, by producing changes in gene expression that are associated with long life and a slowing of the aging process.

So supplementing with resveratrol, and eating red grapes would be a good idea. And when you drink that daily glass of red wine, your toast should be to a long life.