Living Longer Tips

We recently returned home from doing ministry work in Ireland and wanted to share excerpts from an article in the Irish Independent newspaper written by Carol Midgley about research done by Jamie Oliver and Dan Buettner.

Apparently Jamie visited places around the globe where people live the longest and identified 14 Hero foods that help to keep you healthy and apparently extend your lifespan.

In the article it mentions that your gene pool only dictates about 20% of your longevity with lifestyle and environment accounting for the rest. I read that as saying don't blame everything on your genetics. As an example just because your Mom or Dad were overweight, does not necessarily mean you will be overweight. It is more likely that if you follow their exercise and eating habits, that will result in being overweight (vs.) a genetic predisposition to being overweight.

Studies and research was done in Ikaria, Greece /  Ikinawa, Japan / Barbagia region of Sardinia / Loma Linda in California and Nicoya in Coast Rica indicate logevity of live for many people in these regions.

Apparently the root cause of the longevity is not strict adherence to lots of physical exercise, lifting weights, running and staying away from caffeine, alcohol etc. etc.

It is based more on the fact that they live in cultures that seem to make all the right choices without any fanfare. It is not that there is a concentrated effort to live to be 100 years of age. It is more that these people are a product of their environment.

Here are the basics:

• They eat very little meat with the average being maybe 5 times per month with serving size similar to a deck of playing cards
• They eat lots of beans of almost every variety including fava, lentils, soy, black etc. (TO THAT I would add, lima beans, navy beans, kidney beans etc.) The beans provide lots of protein, essential fiber and micro-nutrients.
• They drink wine in Moderation
• They walk a LOT as opposed to running 5 miles a day, climbing Mt Everest, pumping iron at the gym etc. (I am not opposed personally to pumping iron, running or mountain climbing).
• They eat a LOT of plant based foods and tend to stop eating when their stomach is 80% full. (I have kept my weight off for two and a half years by simply using portion control, NEVER going back for seconds, avoiding the high carb deserts or cutting what is presumed to be a normal sized slice of pie or cake in half. If there are 15 different deserts on the table at your Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner decide which one you like the most and ONLY have one slice of it and do not go back for seconds.
• The longevity folks drink strong coffee and apparently is does not hurt.
• They don't smoke.

Here is a list of the 14 "Hero Food" listed in the article:

Eggs, Goat's milk, fish, tofu, walnuts, sweet potato, wild greens and herbs, Black beans, fresh fruit, seaweed, wild rice, garlic, prawns and chillies.

OTHER advice:

95% of your food intake should be from plants or plant products
Cut way back on meat
Cut way back on Dairy products
Dramatically slash sugar intake
Snack on nuts
Use extra virgin olive oil
Drink more Water

God Bless,

Dan