I have recently conducted something that I had programmed for a while – a pre 30’s MOT (Health Screening clinically speaking) – which consisted in 3 hours of various tests, including blood analysis, ultrasound scans, ECG, vision, body fat…

Happy to find I was free of any traces of cancer (you do always wonder under the pressure of the clinical environment if you are going to get the worse news) I was distressed to find out that my levels of sugar and bad cholesterol were higher than normal.

The levels of bad cholesterol were almost double the limit of what is considered normal, and the level of fasting glucose was borderline normal.  Technically I was on my way to pre-diabetes and to develop hard disease.

Obviously these conditions do take years to develop or lead into serious forms of disease, and the good news are that, at my stage and in general it is all reversible and I was recommended for now lifestyle and diet changes, together with also being made aware of the consequences of non-action. Any plaques of fat disappear throughout the months and years from your veins and arteries, given that you conduct the correct diet and lifestyle.

I have got a list from the doctor of food I must not eat, I’ve exercised more, increased omega 3 intake and I feel much better after 14 days and have lost 3kg.

How could this have happened to me?  Although I was aware I increased weight (more 8 kg than 1 year ago) around March last year, I run a marathon and completed various half marathons at around 1h.50m and I did feel relatively fit for my age.

Reality is, in modern society, we should overall be more fit that we all currently think we are, I have been having a poor diet for over 9 months, it has been a cold winter and I have exercised very little and working from home I am constantly nibbling – it a nutshell of conditioning factors.

Researching on the subject, I was impressed to find that 57 million of American were pre-diabetic, (and my levels of fasting glucose are not even within those levels) and that cardiovascular disease has become the number one killer in USA and in many European states.

Basically, the majority of us are leaning towards being part of those stats, and others since they lead to other complications.

Many of us are already suffering some mild symptoms, and remaining un-diagnosed (get checked from time to time) until things go wrong and older you are worse it gets to regain health.

Obesity is something that is becoming normal amongst modern 1st world society, and we seem to be slowly forgetting that it actually indicates that we are at risk of various conditions and is a sign of potential decreased longevity.

Further researching on disease and longevity, it seems that most of human problems are self-inflicted by:

1) Diet

2) Life-style.

Now that I sort of raised a wake-up call, and do take it seriously otherwise, trust me, you won’t be happy when you get those results or even worse,  I will share information on some interesting discussions on the subject and in the common facts and habits of people that live until 100 and beyond. 

Firstly, I would like to share 4 TED videos, which you will find interesting to watch on your own time.

Dan Buettner: How to live to be 100+

 

Aubrey de Grey says we can avoid aging

Dean Ornish says your genes are not your fate

Dean Ornish on healing

Secondly, I have summarized below several traits and facts about people that live longer, that I found on several other sources:

1.       Purpose

  • Having a purpose, something to wake up for every morning.

 

2.       Involvement in society

  • Being involved and having a respectful place in society.

This does not mean really to be a famous person; you can be someone respectful within your village or family.

3.       Family, friends and care

  • Love.
  • Sex.
  • Having children and grandchildren
  • Having pets.

 

4.       Living area

  • Live close to green areas.
  • Leave in mild climate (i.e. 20 degrees Celsious)

 

5.       Physical/Mental activity and rest

  • Moderate sport.

Most 100 year olds don’t do sport, but remain active by walking a lot, go up and down stairs constantly,  beat the dough for a bread of cake manually and so on – basically they burn calories in another ways and in activities they feel happy conducting.

  • Continuous learning and mental activity.
  • Being well rested.

 

6.       Humour, positive outlook towards life and others

  • Being positive, humorous and having a great outlook towards life is a common fact.

 

7.       Diet

  • Eat small portions (eat just enough basically)
  • Keep hydrated.
  • Avoid alcohol and drugs.
  • Low consumption of fat, meat, salt, sugar and refined flour.
  • Plenty of complex carbs, nuts vegetables and antioxidants.

(Not a long list and pretty simply rules - what’s wrong with most of us???)

8.       Stress

  • Avoid stress.
  • Avoid bad emotional states.
  • Avoid depression.

 

9.       Other

  • Do not smoke (we all know this)
  • Good teeth.

This one I find a bit arguable and most probably related to the fact that if someone looks well after his/her teeth also looks well after his/her diet and health in general. Bear in mind that it seems that also many infections get in our bodies via bad teeth.

  • Breathe correctly.

I would like to add one myself, which would be probably one common fact for the 100 year olds in 50 years – do health screenings regularly. Play smart and prevent – if a problem is find at an early stage it is much easier to correct.

Long, healthy, happy and fulfilling are my wishes to you dear readers.

David