Living Longer!!!
For the last few years I have been very interested in the science of life expectancy and the things
the average person can do to live a healthier life. Interestingly, Oprah has discussed this issue quite a bit on her show. If any of you watch parts of her show, you know Dr. Oz is a frequent quest. He has been discussing the things that we can do each and every day to live a long and healthy life. Given my own research, along with the things he mentioned, I have compiled a top 10 list. Well, top 10 + 2 
. Many of his suggestions come from information gathered about the ‘blue zones’ around the world. These are areas where several men and women are living long active lives, to 100 and beyond.
. Many of his suggestions come from information gathered about the ‘blue zones’ around the world. These are areas where several men and women are living long active lives, to 100 and beyond.1) Consume Resveratrol. Ever heard you should drink a glass of red wine a day? Well, its true. Its great for you because it contains Resveratrol, which gives the wine its red color. It also stimulates Sirtuin, which basically tells the body to live longer. Unfortunately, each person would have to drink 1000 bottles of red wine every day to get the benefits! So, the best way would be to get it through pills you can take each day (500 mg/day).
2) Get at least 8 hrs of sleep each night
3) Exercise 3-5 a week; or some form of daily activity each and every day
4) Have a well balenced diet. Low in saturated fats. More fruits/vegatables/nuts/and cheese. Minimize meat intake-focus on a plant based diet.
5) Have a good positive social support network.
6) Reconnect with religion
7) Focus on having the right outlook-know your sense of purpose
8) Connect the right way-invest in your family.
9) Educate yourself. There is a positive correlation between education and increased longevity. Stay informed and read more.
10) Practice preventative medicine.
I would also add a couple others which have been mentioned before as well: Laugh (If you laugh or hug every day in the average life span, you live seven more years!!!), eat dark chocolate!!!!!!!
I would also add (and I have minimized it here for a reason), that calorie restriction is one of the best ways to stimulate Sirtuin and add years to your life. As a bodybuilder, this is a hard one to read and not something I am sure I can partake of at this time in my life (particularly with bulking cycles where I am consuming at least 3000 calories a day).
God Bless~:)
April 15, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Great blog! Everything you mentioned makes sense and would help live a healthy and youthful life. Don’t stress the small things in life.
April 15, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Cool.
If I consumed 3000 cal’s per day, no matter how much I pushed in the workouts, I’d turn into the Michelin Man. Never been able to successfully bulk, except over the long haul.
April 16, 2009 at 2:11 am
I think one major key is the list itself. If you believe in what you wrote down it might help already
Makes you live a happy more carefree life.
The red wine theory is still unproven. And how you wanna practice preventative medicine? I many cases the body becomes resistant to the active ingredients and the medicine will be useless at the point when you’d really need it.
My grandma became 103 yo. Her secret was… I don’t know her secret. She seemed to be happy although having experienced two world wars
April 16, 2009 at 6:49 am
Thanks for sharing! Its not so much the ‘red wine’ itself as it is the resveratrol in the red wine. Also, preventative medicine may very well be one of the top three. Not every person will be resistent to medicine, but the idea is to get it before that point. Yearly checkups, screenings etc lower the mortality rate (naturally). I actually was given the book- Dr. G: how not to die as a gift. I didnt know it, but she actually talks about this issue quite a bit in several of her chapters (in depth too). Do your research and go the extra mile. Dont just visit ALL the appropiate doctors. In our case, have all your supplements written down to give them. Things like that. Taking these steps will keep you from dying a premature death.
April 16, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Okay, yes I definetly agree on the yearly checkups.
April 24, 2009 at 2:39 pm
If you really want to live longer, then I strongly suggest you read this:
http://www.kingmaker.net/DeadDoctorstxt.html
May 5, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Oh, I forgot that I did that…
May 12, 2009 at 6:08 am
thx… good reason to have some wine
cheers!