More Than One Path to Longevity

A number of years ago, when I was writing one of my later books, The Next Step to Waking Up the Financial Genius Inside You, I decided to bring up a subject that I knew some might find surprising to be in such a book.

In that book I wrote about how impressed I was by the work of both Dr. Roy Walford and his daughter, Lisa Walford. They both wrote books on longevity. It’s a subject I’ve long been very interested in.

Doctor Roy Walford, who you may know, was the attending physician in the famous Biosphere experiments and was probably one of the world’s leading experts on longevity. One of his books, Beyond the 120 Year Diet, really grabbed my attention when I found it. The book by Lisa Walford that really sparked my imagination was The Longevity Diet. There is so much great information and advice between those two books.

They just seem to be so dead on accurate about the keys to great health and longevity. However, as I read and reread these books and learned about the strategies and practices they suggested, I realized that we really could dramatically increase our chances of excellent health throughout our lifetime, possibly pushing the maximum lifespan to well beyond 100. The thing was though, I came to understand that it was likely to be very difficult to do what they recommended.

Did I want to be super healthy? Did I want to live a superlong life? The answers to those questions are easy – yes! However, I had to seriously think about whether I could follow these suggested practices and stay with it. And I just wasn’t sure.

Because I wasn’t sure, I kept looking for more answers. And what I did learn was that there are several different ways that I could increase my longevity and enjoy excellent health. I will share what I’ve learned with you on my next week’s blog.

I have to say, it’s really working as I approach my 80^th birthday, on my way to 105 and maybe 120 or more!

A Better Health List

To continue with the ideas from last week’s post, I want to share with you a list of great health and longevity methods from Joel Fuhrman’s book Eat To Live, and from Lisa Walford’s book The Longevity Diet, as well as from my own experience.

1. Try to keep your daily calories intake to 30-40% less than average (for me, that’s 1500 to 1750 calories per day)

2 Know that your body, over time, will adjust to fewer calories.

3. Raw vegetables are the biggest anti-cancer foods that exist.

4. Make a written contract with yourself as to your health and eating habits and review it monthly.

5. No more than 10% of your diet should come from animal products. Meat, poultry, dairy, and eggs are all linked to arthritis, depression, and other diseases.

7. Studies show that as fruit and veggie consumption increases, chronic diseases, and pre-mature death decreases.

8. A poor diet can be connected to depression. Many times, a highly nutritious diet can help overcome depression.

9. Make a point to eat foods that help boost dopamine such as fish, turkey, eggs, beans and legumes, soy, coffee, green tea, seeds and nuts as well as those that boost serotonin such as whole wheat, brown rice, fresh vegetables (especially root crops and squash, apples, bananas, and other fresh fruit), chocolate (in moderation), ginseng, and peppermint. Turkey and eggs are linked to some nasty stuff though so keep your consumption of these two limited.

10. Regular cheese is one of the most dangerous foods in the world–only eat low-fat cheese, and very small portions.

11. High fiber foods prevent cancer (but it must come from foods not fiber supplements).

12. There are many huge benefits to eating broccoli.

13. People with cholesterol levels lower than 150 almost never have heart attacks.

14. Leafy greens are the most nutrient rich foods that exists.

15. The best advice for life is to use no oil because of its high calorie content per tablespoon.

16. There are great benefits to fasting (fast for 1 or 2 days twice a month–drink water only).

17. Ground flax seeds are much better than flax seed oil.

18. Try to eat one pound of greens per day.

19. Try to eat 100 grams of natural fiber per day.

20. Eat lots of strawberries, blueberries, and melons–these are great anti-cancer food.

21. There are virtually no heart attacks for vegetarians or people who get 10% or fewer calories from animal products.

22. Drink lots of water–1 1/2 to 2 liters per day.

23. Challenge yourself to try a six-week diet without any animal or dairy products except fish and Egg Beaters.

24. Don’t buy or bring foods into your house that are not healthy. Why tempt yourself?

25. Leave trays or bowls of fresh fruit and vegetable out on your desk or kitchen counter.

26. Last, but not least, your life will be greatly empowered in everything you do if you firmly set goals for great health.

I am so very happy that I came across these words of wisdom from these two great books because I had been out of the great health habit. As soon as I finished with this list I went to the kitchen and placed a cup of fruit and some veggies on a platter and starting eating. We all need big reminders of what is good for us since it’s so easy to change good habit into a bad one. I hope it hits you the same way and you take some good healthy actions for a long healthy life!