An article on longivity & the fountain of youth!

[Guest guest]

A really interesting article.

 

Regarding the part about wine - out of the blue - one of my Chinese

Medicine teachers one day asked the class: " Are you taking Vinifera? "

 

He mentioned a study where the lifespan of rats were extended 3X by

the taking doses of concentrated grape skins.

 

This is especially interesting to me since I think the Greeks have

known about this for thousands of years. Consider the mythology

surrounding Dionysos, the Greek god of wine. Bachus to the the

Romans. He doesn't die, but is the master of regeneration. Even when

he is injured, he naturally regenerates through the power of the vine.

 

And no, there is no need to lose money over this. Or to get drunk on

3 bottles of wine every day. Concentrated grapes are cheap. I am just

looking for more and better sources.

 

VanWagner

 

On Dec 28, 2008, at 6:47 PM, docspeed2001 wrote:

 

> MINNEAPOLIS – If you are looking for a Fountain of Youth, forget

> pills and diet supplements. Adventurer Dan Buettner has visited four

> spots on the globe where people live into their 90s and 100s and

> outlines how they add years of good life in his new book, " The Blue

> Zones. "

>

> The answer, Buettner says, includes smaller food portions, an active

> lifestyle and moderate drinking.

>

> " If someone tells you they have a pill or hormone (that extends

> life), you're about to lose money, " Buettner says.

>

> Buettner identifies four hot spots of longevity: the mountainous

> Barbagia region of Sardinia, an island off the coast of Italy; the

> Japanese island of Okinawa; a community of Seventh-day Adventists in

> Loma Linda, Calif., about 60 miles east of Los Angeles; and the

> Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica, in Central America. (The term " Blue

> Zones " takes its name from the blue ink Belgian demographer Michel

> Poulain used to circle an area of long-living Sardinians on a map.)

>

> What Buettner found in his seven years of research and travel were

> common denominators among the vigorous super-elderly — close family

> relationships, a sense of purpose, healthy eating habits. He distills

> them into what he calls the Power Nine that readers can use to create

> their own Blue Zone.

>

> " Picking half a dozen things off of this al a carte menu, and

> sticking to it, is probably worth eight to 10 (extra) years for the

> average American. And you'll look younger and feel younger on the

> way, " says Buettner, a tall and lean 48-year-old who says he hopes to

> live until at least 100.

>

> Buettner turned to probing the secrets of the longest-living cultures

> after leading three long-distance bicycle expeditions — from the tip

> of North America to the tip of South America; across the United

> States, Europe and the Soviet Union; and across Africa — in the 1980s

> and 1990s. He also used the Internet to take classrooms on

> interactive quests to solve everything from the collapse of ancient

> Mayan civilization to human origins in Africa.

>

> Buettner made his first expedition to Okinawa in 2000 and eventually

> wrote a National Geographic cover story, " The Secrets of Long Life, "

> in November 2005. That led to National Geographic publishing " The

> Blue Zones " this March. The book debuted at No. 15 on The New York

> Times' list of advice book best sellers but has since dropped off.

>

> Living long — even forever — is a human desire throughout history,

> says Dr. Robert Butler, president and CEO of the International

> Longevity Center-USA in New York. But Butler says he's skeptical of

> claims of places of long-living people.

>

> " There's always been these rumors but they've always turned out to be

> inaccurate, " said Butler, who appears in " The Blue Zones " but has not

> read it.

>

> Buettner is aware of the skepticism, but says he and his team of

> demographers, which included Poulain, scrupulously checked birth and

> death records and vetted the ages of Blue Zone residents in his book.

>

> " We have the numerical data that shows that these places (in 'The

> Blue Zones') are living longer. It's not just anecdotal, " Buettner

> said.

>

> While ranking populations by average life expectancy is nothing new,

> Buettner has " done a nice job putting faces to it and looking at some

> of the special characteristics — be it diet or happiness — that

> typify some of these regions, " said Dr. Thomas T. Perls, director of

> the New England Centenarian Study and an associate professor of

> medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine. Perls also

> appears in the book.

>

> Because of obesity and smoking, Americans are living about 10 years

> less than they should be, said Perls, co-author of the book " Living

> to 100. " He said if Americans embraced the healthy habits advocated

> by Buettner, the impact on public health " would be huge. "

>

> Buettner found long-lived people have a sense of purpose and a strong

> support network. In Okinawa, women gather in social networks known as

> moais.

>

> " Even at age 100, they're all getting together in their moai ... at 5

> o'clock every day. They sit around, they drink a couple glasses of

> sake, they gossip, they talk about sex. If one doesn't show up to the

> afternoon gathering, the other four sort of hobble over to see if

> she's fallen down or if she needs help, " Buettner said.

>

> Women in Okinawa also tend to be spiritual leaders, which imbues them

> with a sense of purpose, or " ikigai, " Buettner said.

>

> Regular attendance at religious services also is a factor, Buettner

> said. Seventh-day Adventists observe the Sabbath on Saturday, which

> gives them a weekly break from stress.

>

> " There's no question but having a spiritual sense — a sense of

> belonging, a sense of personal value — enhances a person's ability to

> follow good health habits. Out of that arises the longevity, " said

> Dr. Richard Hart, president and CEO of Loma Linda University

> Adventist Health Sciences Center.

>

> Limiting food intake and eating healthy also are key, Buettner said.

> Elderly Okinawans follow a maxim to eat only until their stomachs are

> 80 percent full, Buettner said. Centenarians in Sardinia, Okinawa and

> Nicoya rarely ate meat, and some Adventists stick only to a plant-

> based diet. Adventists frequently eat nuts while Okinawans eat tofu.

>

> Drinking in moderation can help, Buettner said. Sardinians drink a

> dark red wine that's loaded with antioxidants, he said.

>

> Exposure to sun — a source of vitamin D — also is common in Blue

> Zones, where the residents are tan, Buettner said.

>

> " We shouldn't be burning ourselves, we shouldn't be frying. But 20

> minutes a day, in the climates or the latitudes that have quality

> sunshine, it's probably a good takeaway, " he said.

>

> Buettner also advocates low-intensity physical activity. After years

> of biking, Buettner has switched to yoga for his main exercise. He

> lives on Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis, where he can skate around

> the lake in the summer and cross-country ski across it in the winter.

>

> " You identify what you like to do, and you do it, because you're

> likely to do that over the long run, " Buettner said.

>

> Buettner also recommends " de-conveniencing " your home — getting rid

> of the TV remote or the power lawnmower. Buettner moved up to the

> third floor of his spacious home " so every time I need a shirt I walk

> three flights of stairs. "

>

> Modern life is threatening the Blue Zones' reputation for longevity,

> Buettner said. Obesity rates have soared in Sardinia, where young

> people are eating chips and drinking soda pop, he said.

>

> " The phenomena of longevity is disappearing in all places, except for

> maybe among the Adventists, and the purpose of this book was to

> capture it and observe it before it disappeared, and measure it, "

> Buettner said