I hope this one works out; I've been ignoring everyone and living off of almost entirely animal fats and carbs for ya know, my whole life.
I'm either gonna die in the next couple of decades (I'm in my thirties) or live forever. Also, maybe this is why my BMI is so low (I am very lean and always have been)? Who knows! Could be that, or it could be a thyroid condition!
A lower carbohydrate diet is key to improving mental and physical health. More fat, less sugar. Read Big Fat Surprise [0].
Social interaction also seems to be key to healthy longevity, frailty can be a barrier to socialisation, as can be hearing loss.
However, your parents are their own people. You won't be able to force them to do anything they don't want to do, but you still need to love them even if they won't listen.
Sitting kills you, saturated fats kill you, disposable chopsticks kills you, sugar kills you... We're so concerned about how to extend the time we have, that we're neglecting the time we actually do have.
Here's me: I haven't eaten vegetables since I was 8 years old. I sit down in front of a computer screen for multiple hours a day. I eat any junk food I want, as long as it tastes good. I drop a ton of water weight before a fight for weighing purposes. I've learned the physically straining technique, Needle through Glass (throwing a sewing needle through a pane of glass), and I do a lot of binge training.
Although I'm perfectly healthy right now, is it possible that I'll die when I'm 60? Yeah. But at least I'll have fully enjoyed my life. It beats the hell out of half living for 90 years. Not to mention, it's also possible your life will be cut short by a rampaging bus... and that has nothing to do with preventable measures.
I've survived for 48 years eating too much steak, drinking too much beer, and exercising too little. In your opinion, does this give us useful information that tells us that I should keep doing these things, because obviously, I will live forever?
Man I have to lose weight and get healthy. I'm young enough (28) where I probably have enough time for things to recover but I'm out of time and excuses to start doing something.
Need to halve my mass by the time I hit 30. Never had a healthy relationship with food. Parents were always stuck on yoyo diets :(. They're still here, thankfully.
I just, you know, don't want to die before them. My siblings would kill me. I'd also love to fit on rollercoasters again.
I had the same reaction. I minimize oxidative stress on my body by being selective about what I eat: having a bit less of some delicious things and eating a bit more of some boring foods that I know are good for me.
Also, fuck 'longevity.' The population of the world has doubled during my lifetime and this is a Bad Thing which is wiping out vast numbers of other species. Call me misanthropic if you like but humans are overrated and the maximization of our species' footprint is not a desirable outcome. I expect to live for a shorter time than my parents have (partly due to my own choices, partly environmental factors) and while that's disappointing in some ways I've been fortunate enough to enjoy reasonably good health and resultant quality of life. My idea of biological success is no living to the greatest age possible but having sufficient fitness and autonomy to be physically and mentally active while I'm alive. I have enough experience of injury and near-death situations to know that I'm OK with dying, and have no intention of begging to escape the inevitable.
Half of the west eat and live as if they were attempting a slow suicide. Take care of your body and you'll be healthy well into your 60s, unless you're afflicted by outlier events but you can't do anything about these, maximise what you can, fate will do the rest
I'm actively planning and working towards living to 110 years old - I think it's going to be quite possible. The path is about gradually increasing healthy behaviors and decreasing unhealthy behaviors while looking to eliminate them.
So far I've quit cigarettes, recreational drugs, drinking, coffee, pork, beef, and other mammals.
I did this in waves - I have a two-fold plan. I quit or seriously cut back on something bad, and/or look to add something equivalent but better to my consumption. So you can't just quit all the foods/drinks you consume without getting used to having new stuff. For instance, I'm working on cutting caffeine, so I axed coffee (and I loved coffee, by the way) and am working to moving to lower caffeinated drinks - green tea, white tea, and herbal teas ideally. Will I quit entirely and go herbal teas, or continue to drink green tea? Not sure, but I'm looking in that direction.
I'm working on quitting fructose and sucrose except when they come with a significant amount of fiber and nutrients (so, fruit) - and maybe a possible exception for right after exercise. This means eating more fruit and adding decent snacks and fiber to my diet instead of just quitting and then wondering what the hell to do. Also, I spent all of 2009 trying all kinds of sugar and dessert - I wanted to have those experiences before quitting, and I know I'd need time to prepare for this one since it's such a big thing.
I'm working on stretching and fitness programs to my connective tissue, bones, and joints in good shape - especially important for me since I have bad joints. My fitness is light weights focusing on core and large muscle groups, less worried about the "beach muscles" and more about core strength, flexibility, and mobility. Also, cardio for the heart.
Then taking care of my teeth and skin and constantly looking into how to improve my lymph system, immune system, digestion, and other vital systems in the body.
Now, sometimes if I mention this to somebody, they say, "Man, why bother living if you're having no fun?!" And I don't really know what to tell them - my happiness/meal I reckon is right around anyone who isn't a serious gastronomical foodie type. I eat fresh fruits, yogurt, nice teas, rice, noodles, chicken, fish, vegetables with nice spices and sauces. Sandwiches and stews and other nice things - do I miss steak or Monte Cristo cigars and Chimay Blue beer sometimes? Yeah, occasionally. But I reckon my happiness/pleasure/consumption of things stacks up nicely with anyone else's.
And I plan on having a healthy sex life in my 50's and 60's, and maybe afterwards, I plan on being able to really run around and play some sports with my kids and grandkids, and I plan on being healthy and active for my great-grandkids.
I talk to older people and ask them what they'd wished they done when they were younger - they all have regrets, "I should have taken care of my back... should have taken care of my teeth... should've quit smoking... should've quit drinking... it wasn't worth it..." And it's like, hey, that's going to be me! I'm going to be that old person with those regrets unless I take action now.
Who knows, I do some dangerous stuff, I snowboard, I travel to dangerous parts of the world, maybe I'll catch a bad break and that'll be the end of me. But I tell you, just knowing that I'm planning on living to 110, with good mobility and health and cheer for most of those years, that is worth it for it's own sake even if I don't last that long. I'm planning on living a long, healthy, productive life. That it's own reward - being able to have sex 20 years longer than most people my age will be a bonus, being able to play a decent game of football with my pre-teen grandson will be a bonus, getting 30 to 50 more years to read books, and watch world events unfold, and play with all the cool and amazing new technology that comes out - it's a bonus. The lifestyle is worth it on its own.
I am very healthy for my age. People look at me and they tell me I look 12-15 years less. I am not strong but I am lean. I don't smoke, drink, do drugs, I eat 'well'(?). My blood tests are great, I 'move' a lot. I do squats and push-ups every day (irrespective of going to the gym)
I don't fear for my body, that thing will take me to 110. I fear that my mind will give out at around 80(?) and I will live 30 years pissing and shitting myself in some 'home'.
So I starting considering my 'exit plan' in case I start losing my marbles. I don't want to be a burden to anyone, and waste any wealth to a nurse wiping my butt. I prefer to give as inheritance and/or donate anything I got, and then call it a day/night/life.
That's my plan. I've got the gym membership and use it often.
I struggle mightily with eating less crap, though. (Especially chocolate.) Food is one of the great pleasures in life, and I haven't found really healthy food to be a good replacement for tasty junk.
Maybe advances in food production will bring hope?
Given all of your replies in this thread, I assume quasi-trolling on HN is an exciting thing for you to do.
Life is indeed short. My diet, which I wouldn't consider at all restrictive as I can eat as much as I want, allows me to live it to its full potential.
This is a really good article, not least for the list of ways that you will be kept medically alive.
As for the premise of the article, it is definitely getting easier to die. We had the plumbers and the rubbish collecting workers clear up our communicable chronic diseases, we de-industrialised and cleared up the air, we quit smoking, put on our seat belts and reigned in the alcohol. So far so good.
But, if you look at the physiques of people, the levels of car dependency and the predominance of the Standard American Diet, it seems that people are going the way of Joe Biden in old age, to have what you might call a loss of cognitive abilities, yet able to be preserved near indefinitely. The President isn't unalive, but he isn't really there. Millions are in the same boat, functionally alive but only from the eye-sockets down, and probably with bits of their colon or bladder removed due to cancer that they have bravely fought with a diet of highly processed food and a sedentary lifestyle.
When it comes to how to live a healthy life, there is so much misinformation that we are all an experiment of n = 1. There is no realm of information that is anywhere near as confusing as diet. Really you are forced to join one tribe or another if longevity is your game. Either you are going to go all in on 'everything in moderation' or go fully ketogenic meat only carnivore, or the other way, full on vegan.
The Google confirmation bias is strong with the whole topic, and I am sure that I could look up 'can I get omega three fatty acid things from eating goat hair' and somewhere there will be an article or 'scientific paper' promoting the eating of goat hair, with a study from some goat herders living in Outer Mongolia, thousands of miles away from any fish, with excellent omega three things going on. There will also be an 'adsense' advert for where you can get goat hair online and Reddit threads on whether you need yak shavings instead.
Carnivore is FOOLISH. There is no Scientific evidence whatsover that it benefits anything aside from short term weight loss, at the detriment of your health. I would get my whole genome sequenced and get a genetic counselor. Get a personal trainer and an expert on human performance (Get tested from athletic labs you can measure your VO2 max, RMR, Body composition and create a workout routine optimizing for longevity and health) Eat a varied diet rich in Vegetables like Broccoli, spinach, Kale..Carrots (8 servings every dinner 365 days a week), healthy fats like Extra virgin olive oil, Wild Salmon, Sardines, avocadoes, ALmonds, nuts seeds. Spend 1000-1500 a month on groceries if you have to. Get enough sleep, reduce stress, keep purpose and and social connection. Keep up to date with your screenings (Blood test measure Hemoglobin h1c, LDLc, HDLc, get a NMR lipoprofile if you want to), get a private doctor if you have to that is more like a personal trainer and optimizes health rather than just treat disease. Also consider getting on Metformin, Rapamycin and possibly Statins if your LDL Triglycerides etc are high. Avoid too much sun exposure, toxins, polluted air. Get a air purifier...And consider GLP-1 agonist.
Sorry to hear that. I was very lucky that I can walk, think and code. My dad was a doctor and he died because of lung cancer. I wish I could be a doctor in the childhood but my health said NO to me. Nutritional Biology is a great subject. I wish you all the best.
I'm either gonna die in the next couple of decades (I'm in my thirties) or live forever. Also, maybe this is why my BMI is so low (I am very lean and always have been)? Who knows! Could be that, or it could be a thyroid condition!
Nutrition and medicine are fun.
reply