My key take-away is that your mindset toward aging is critical to staying healthy as you age. Aging does not mean you are less capable of living a active life.
“People don’t grow old. When they stop growing, they become old.”
Robbins also concludes from the study of these cultures that calories from plants are vastly superior to calories from animals – so touts a low fat, high unrefined carb plant based diet. However, doesn’t dive too deep into the specifics of the diets (e.g. Types of fats they eat, types of fiber…) and also espouses a low calorie diet for longevity.
Part 1: Part 1 of the book looks at four different communities and how their life style, attitudes and diets impact their longevity. Largely based on the research of Dr Alexander Leaf in the 1970s.
-Abkhasia Community: Caucasus, Southern Russian. “Longevity capital of the world”. Claims that numerous Abkhasians reach the age of 150 were proven false, but nonetheless they are a people who age extremely well into their 90s and 100s.
-Traits: Many elders still work, despite their old age. But not too hard. Mostly around the garden or farm.
Daily swims in cold rivers. Joy in life.
Regular exercise. They live in the mountains so think nothing of hiking several miles up and down steep hillsides from one dwelling to the next.
No sense of urgency in daily life, except during a real life crisis.
Elders are revered, aging is looking favorably upon.
Importance of song, music and dance. when someone sick friends and relatives circle around and sing- is music life affirming messages to the cells?
-Children: are never scolded or yelled at. Never critize or punish their children.
Parents express disapproval by withholding praise, which otherwise is very generously dispensed.
Discipline and punishment are now related. Punishment or threat of is ever used.
Diet: Overall: lacto-vegetarian, little meat, or dairy. Dairy is really only in the form of Matzoni – fermented milk drink.
Most meals consist of: green vegetable freshly picked from the garden. Seasonal, watercress, green onions, radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers. Winter salad consists of picked cucumber, tomatoes, radishes , cabbage and onion. Dill and coriander are added, but no dressings are used.
Matzoni is consumed often, which is a fermented goat or cows milk.
Seasonal fruits are consumed- cherries, pears, figs…etc Vegetables mostly are eaten raw and fresh. No fried food.
Nuts play a major role and are major source of fat: almonds, pecans, beechnuts, and hazelnuts are cultivated. Virtually every meal contains nuts.
They consume no sugar, little salt, and almost no butter.
And they eat very little overall. <2,000 calories a day despite their active lifestyle.
All three meals contain a cornmeal porridge called abista.
–Vilcamba Community: small town in the Andes Mountains. No degenerative diseases, healthy in old age. Social especially in times of stress.
DIET: No canned food. Or packaged foods. Vegetables are picked fresh. And diet is almost exclusively vegetarian- whole grains, vegetables, fruits, seeds, beans, and nuts. Once and awhile they will eat milk or eggs. No meat and no butter. Their diet very low in the calorie count. All unrefined carbs. Fats comes mostly from Avocados, seeds and nuts.
Deserts as we know them do not exist in Vilcabamba. When they want something g sweet the eat a FIG or a banana, mango…etc.
Very low stress environment.
And author links a heathy conscience diet like the Vilcabamba to a healthy way of life and thought and overall happiness, especially in old age. And again aging with grace and vitality is expected and not looked elder are looked positively upon.
Ageism is a serious problem as it reduces their own worth. Instead agin should be viewed as a transformational process.
Hunza: The hunza are located in the Northern most tip of Pakistan, where Pakistan meets Russia and China. A very mountainous region. For two thousand years was almost completely isolated from the world. And many in the mountaineering community see the hunza’ as superior to sherpas is the ability to climb and carry heavy gear through the Himalayas.
Again – another culture that celebrates life and community. And despite be a Muslim country, they women have essentially equal footing as men. Women breast feed up three years.
J.L Rodale author of Organic Garnering (the most widely read gardening publication in the world) believes that the legendary health and vitality of the Hunzans grew directly out of the Hunzan soil derived from their agricultural practices. And Jay Hoffman from the American Geriatrics Society calls the terraces that make up the irrigation and growing systems one of the seven wonders of the works due to their engineering sophistication. The powdered rock dust of the Himalayas provides essential minerals to the soil and food of the Hunza.
The one fruit that eat the most is the apricot and in fact they have more than 20 varieties of apricots whose flavor and nutrient value are vastly superior to any grown in the west today – nearly every family has an apricot tree.
Interestingly, Robbins notes that all three of the Hunza, Vilcabamba, and Abkhazia peoples derive 90%+ of their calories from plant foods. And less than 10% and in some cases 0% of their calories from animal food and the majority (65-75%) of their calories from carbohydrates and relatively little (<20%) of calories from fats. And they eat much of the food raw or sprouted.
They also have little to no electricity so sleep according to when the sun sets and rises.
Again mindset important as Hunza’s have the mentality in their society to turn challenges into opportunities; instead of reacting, as many do in our modern world, with distraction and consumption. They believe security in life is a myth, the sooner that is excepted the better.
Okinawa- in the southern most tip of Japan aka as “Japan’s Hawaii” because of its weather and island locations. They are the most studied centarian population on the planet due to being part of modern economy.
Significantly healthy people across the board: significantly less cancer, heart disease, men have higher testosterone.. the list goes on..
So how do they do it: Unlike the previous three cultures these Japanese live at sea level. Again- it is their attitude towards aging and the food they eat:
-They are low in calories
-They are high in good carbohydrates, including whole grains, vegetables, and fruits [may high fat diet has long term detrimental effects??]
-They are all whole-food diets
-They all depend on fresh foods, eating primarily what is in season rather than relaying on canned foods or foods shipped long distances
-All low in (though not super low) in fat. And the data come from healthy sources: nuts, seeds, and fish, rather than bottled oils or saturated animal fats
-They all derive protein primarily from plant sources including beans, whole grains, seeds, and nuts
And calorie restriction is first on the list for a reason: On calorie restriction: modern research has shown that no intervention, including the elimination of smoking, is as important to overall life extension as cutting back on calories while maximizing nutrients. Numerous research studies (in addition to the anecdotal studies above) have show that calorie restriction can reverse the aging process and reduce disease and other age related illnesses.
PART II
Author is not a fan a low-carb diets, as he believes healthy carbs are just that, but he sees the importance of reducing refined carbs, sugar, corn-syrup and the like.
He presents evidence that the Ornish diet (link here) is the best and healthiest diet for losing weight when compared to the Atkins diet, the Zone diet, and a generic weight watchers plan. He says The ocotanaroand listed above all follow a diet that closely resembles Dr Ornish’s.
[My take on this is that, yes an Atkins type diet that relies heavily on meat for protein and fat is not optimal, but a diet that is still low carb, but still abundant in vegetables and healthy fats from fruits and nuts, may even be an improve upon these “ancient” centurion diets, despite being relatively low-carb] However, as the authors of the Okinawa Centenarian Study write: “Never in the history of nutritional research has the evidence been more clear and consistent: a high [unrefined] carbohydrate, low calorie, plant based diet is the best for your long-term health.”
The role of genes: with rare exception, only about 30% of physical agent can be blamed on genes …and as we grow older, genetics become less important. These findings shatter the myth that our course in old age is predetermined.
Weston Price: Price wrote 1939 Book called Nutrition and Physical Degeneration In his work he never mentioned any of the negative aspects of the many people’s he studied and idealized their way of life. He always arrived at the same conclusion – native diets are optimal. And indeed, these fourteen diets he studied from around the world all excluded refined carbohydrates, sugars and process foods, so it does underscores the importance of refraining from those items. However, many of Price’s followers consume a great deal of meat and milk; and because of Price’s admiration of the Masai trifle whose diet primarily consists of blood milk and meat from their cattle, some of Price’s followers believe its acceptable to consume large amounts of meet.
The China Study- the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted. In the early 1970s the premier of China was dying of cancer and therefore intitiated a nationwide survey to collect information about the extent and location of cancer in China. The undertaking involved 650,000 workers and catalogued cancer death rates for twelve different kinds of cancer over a population of 880 million Chinese.
The discrepancy in death rates among the different counties was staggering.
The study sought to discover whether varying diets across china would correlate to the wide variety of death rates.
One of the first findings from the China Study was he underlying cause of the “diseases of affluence” – including diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and many forms of cancer – is not affluence itself, but rather the nutritional excess that usually accompanies affluence.
And the study linked high cholesterol and heart disease [did it look at good vs bad cholesterol??]
China study singled out saturated fats, and hydrogenated fat (mostly found in pastries, cookies, margines, and other processed foods). And in the book called the China Study published in 2005, animal protein is also seen as a major cause of high cholesterol.
And foods that decrease cholesterol are: soy products, while grains, vegetables, and fruits and legumes.
The China Study therefore surmises that the optimal diet is one that maximizes these foods that lower cholesterol and reduce the foods that increase.
So one of the most dramatic findings of the China Study was the strong association between foods of animal origin and cancer. Lower cholesterol = lower cancer and other diseases.
And many other studies have confirmed this correlation – a plant based diet can drastically prevent just about all forms of degenerative diseases.
A common misconception about the Ornish diet is that it is low-fat for everyone. He admits that focusing on fat loss patients should not try to minimize fat in take but focus on consuming healthy fats.
The results from Dr Esselstyn’s twenty year study conclude that “patients become virtually heart-disease proof” while eating a diet with almost no animal products.
Flaxseed vs Fish based Omega-3s
omega 3 critical to immune health, lower, inflammation, helps reverse heart disease, improve mental health.
- Flaxseed: advantage over fish is that they contain lignans, which lower cholesterol, reduce the risk of heart disease and lower colon and breast cancer.
- Flaxseeds also appear to be tremendously valuable in both rediscover PMS and in reducing the unpleasant symptoms of menopause.
- And flaxseeds contain none of the pollutants and heavy metals that are in many of today’s fish [can. Flaxseed go rancid??]
Fish based: they are a better source of long-chain omega 3s DHA and EPA which are necessary for healthy functioning and development. But not really found with enough significance of it is farm raised fish and not wild.
Mercury level checker: gotmercury.org
A lot of research and studies on the vast benefits of excessive, both anaerobic and aerobic exercise – at any age and any current health.
A big section of the book is also dedicated to love and connecting with others and the direct impact that has on you health and wellness. E.g. Women in cancer support groups have materially higher survival rates then those that do not; greater relationship between support groups and survival rates and chemotherapy treatments.
Interesting study by a Dr Scherwitz who taped conversations of 600 men, one-third had heart disease the rest where healthy. What he found was the more then man talked about himself and who used first persons pronoun like I, me and mine, had the greatest chance of a heart attack. The less you open your heart to others the more it suffers [does city living make this more difficult??].
The benefits of relationship for lower cancer and over health are not just interpersonal but also associated with pet owners as many studies have shown a strong relationship between pet ownership and recovery rates.
On the parent-child relationship: verbal attacks on children, like “you’re worthless” can have long lasting impacts on children’s well being.
And studies have show that having a difficult relationship with one’s parents is a greater risk factor for major adult disease than a smoking, and high blood pressure combined.
The last few chapters get a little dark: “We are now witnesses in our times to wars, destruction, plagues, and pestilence on a biblical scale. But what we do with calamity is up to us.” I personally think that is a bit far (as an example ~25% of Europeans died during the Black Plague).
There is a good take way in the last chapter, which is essentially to Relax. We are all going to die. It is better to follow a healthy diet and mindset through your life, but if it’s not perfect 100% of the time, that is absolutely fine and it should not stress you out.
A few chapters on death and making the most of our hours on this planet: Martin Luther King once said, “The worst of all tragedies is. It to die young, but to live until I am 75 and yet not truly have ever lived.” Two most important days in your life, the day you are born and the day we know why we were born.””
At lost of action items at the end such as:
-Give your yourself unlimited permission to be healthy, happy and at peace
-Remember the one that forgets the language of gratitude can never be on speaking terms with happiness
-Talk about what matters to you. Even if your voice trembles, speak trust as you see it.
-Whatever you stage in life, create an affirmation or visualization that reflects your life goals for yourself. Twice a day as you wake up in he morning and as you fall asleep at night, mentally repeat your affirmation or visualization and engage your imagination on behalf of making your goals your reality [see Vibrational book for details].
-If you are faced with a serious health challenge, get the best medical care you can, and make you take the time to honor and care for your mind, heart, and spirit as well as your body. Rather than seeing a crisis as an obstacle to be overcome, use it as an opportunity to discover what is most important in your life. Hold what is frightful, and neglected in yourself with the tenderness and compassion with which you would hold a newborn baby’s. Remember that you do have have to do anything or be anyone in order to be happy and worthy of love.