Longevity Part 2: Living to 130. Is it possible?

So the eldest person on record to date to have lived is Jean Calment aged 122 years 164 days, but that’s still over seven years shy of what we’re asking. Although Sakhan Dosova, of Kazakhstan is reported to have lived as long as 130 before her death in 2009, insufficient birth records could not verify her as the world’s oldest woman. However, there are still only around 90-100 known people to have exceeded 110 of a population of almost 7 billion worldwide so statistics are against us. Facts aside, could it really be done by the current batch?

There is something to say about this. Imagine if those who did exceed 110 actually were on a much healthier diet, such as The Paleo Diet. I find this to be deliberate advertising of the PALEO brand but it’s simply true and I don’t really think many people had the same kind of dietary information as we all do today – so imagine how far we could go.

Furthermore, I reckon that most super centenarian were not particularly athletic or even hardworking to the point where they’re running themselves into the ground; as I believe an athletic youth can be counterproductive when in “super” old age.

We could also draw inspiration from the animal kingdom namely the tortoise. Tu'i Malila was the world’s oldest tortoise at 188 years old. It doesn’t take a genius to work out tortoises live a looooong and slooooow life. Ever heard the phrase “live fast, die young?”

So while I remember reading in “The New Evolutionary Diet” by Arthur de Vany that one person said it was possible and also someone else had uttered this, though I can’t remember any names unfortunately, I reckon it is very much possible with science and technology improving all the time, whereas human dietary needs have remained more or less the same for millions of years, but let’s not get too hung up on longevity and make sure we seize the life that we have. Let’s stop living our pessimistic lives and pour some more wine into the glass, someone will get there.

The disputed claim of Sakhan Dosova reaching 130, though I believe such an age is not too distant a possibility...

Longevity Part 1: Running the Marathon at 101

As I write this article on longevity I listen to the wise words of Buster Martin, formerly the UK’s oldest employee who got “bored in retirement” to become a van cleaner at Pimlico Plumbers.

In my opinion, one can be as Paleo and diligently strict as they like but I always believe a positive mental attitude is a must for carrying oneself into old age, particularly beyond the golden age of 100 and that’s exactly what Buster shows; the fact that he doesn’t really give a sh*t what anyone around him thinks “I’m not like you people – normal” he beams and maybe that’s the little bit extra that one needs to make it to such an advanced age. It seemed that his wellbeing was fuelled by lack of boredom, still working and active while his sedentary counterparts are sat in relative boredom in the local care homes.

Let’s delve a little deeper into Buster’s diet. “I like to have a pint. I like to smoke.” He continues: “I’ve always been fit. I don’t eat fish, I don’t eat dairy products, but I do like my red meat, veg, I don’t drink tea, I don’t drink water. No I don’t drink any water in a marathon. Give me a beer, yeah I’ll have that.” So he likes his meat and vegetables, fairly healthy wouldn’t you say – fairly PALEO? He’s got a laid back and refreshingly free outlook on life. The fags and the booze seem to be his secret weapon, though I detect by 101 he’s learned to take it in moderation. So it is key to note no matter how strict we are, some times we’ve got to learn to take a step back and enjoy life a bit and admire the wonderful fruits which this world bears us.

However, whatever the outcome, it seems Buster was one of those who didn’t come around very often. Just see him in action and talking tactics http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt_KcJYy36Y, prior to his marathon.
Buster seemed like such a character. He sadly died on 13th April 2011 aged 104 years.

Tomorrow I’ll continue with another article on longevity and the possibility of just how far our bodies can last us.'

Getting clean without the soap

I’ve really been trying to embrace these cold showers. What I’ve found is that when I take a relaxing hot shower is that I get too relaxed and don’t focus on washing myself so I then waste water. With cold showers however, I can’t wait to get out yet I feel remarkably better when I get out; well it’s really not that bad once you get past that initial pain period. It’s great for those sluggish mornings – which should be almost non-existent now I’m Paleo – but there still will be those days when duty calls and we’ll surrender to the shower and after counting to a hundred of ice breaking on my back I’m ready and raring for action.

Since I’ve had acne, I’ve learned that its acidic foods that tend more to cause it. The strong acidic foods are soft drinks, alcohol, sugar and white bread – funny how they’ll all non-paleo. Legumes, nuts, dairy, meat and fish are all mildly acidic. But we need a bit of acid in us right? Yes, I didn’t bother skimping on the meat and fish of course – but dairy was moderated as that has been a sure sign of acne for many.

But where have my last few paragraphs actually related back to the title at hand. Well, I’ve been building up to that. Soap is acidic, so why not cut out another acidic agent; after all I don’t need to consume any soap whereas meat and fish are mandatory – because if I’m abiding by keeping my foods too alkaline I might as well be vegan. But even they have legumes. Anyway, the point is, the acquittal of soap from my cabinet has saved money and improved my skin and hair. I know the diet may have a role to play – but the last few weeks or so have been soap free and I intend to keep it that way. No one has noticed, so why revert back to my former modern ways.

So if our skin responds better to alkaline in most instances, why not just ditch the acidic soap. It will save a quid here and there too.

Who’d you rather be – Usain Bolt or Keneninsa Bekele?

Here’s an article dedicated to athletics fans. Typically athletes don’t have the best diets, Usain Bolt has been quoted as regularly dining on chicken nuggets – though I find this to be a slight exaggeration – however, let’s compare two of athletics’ finest icons of all time.

Usain Bolt, muscle bound and the dominant king of the sprints. By contrast, Keneninsa Bekele is diminutive, he still rules over long distance and is Bolt’s equal in long distance running, but the reality is, so many more people have heard Bolt’s name than Bekele’s even though as athletes they are more or less synonymous in their greatness – though of course this is debateable.

Let’s not beat around the bush. Both are relatively lean specimens, but any man would prefer Bolt’s muscular physique than Bekele’s muscle depleted version. There’s also something evidently more masculine about sprinting as opposed to endurance running and it’s true as sprinting once in a while will create far better gene expression than chronic cardio believe it or not. It will raise testosterone whereas long – distance running will decrease testosterone levels.

I suppose that’s why our fitness should not be geared towards cardio. Why spend ages doing cardio, when we can get better results in a fraction of the time. Similarly with bodybuilding, its excessive exercise which is in fact detrimental to health in the long run and the Paleo diet is all about optimizing health and besides (you’ll still get a ripped and toned physique) I don’t think those over exaggerated Michelin style figures are necessary neither are they particularly aesthetically pleasing. Remember Arnold Schwarzenegger’s steroid use has led to heart problems in later life – I’m no doctor but it doesn’t take in expert to know it’s much harder for the blood to get pumped to all those muscles and thus provoke health problems.

Perhaps the debate between the two sprinters may be open to scrutiny and debate. So I ask you again; given the choice, who’d you rather be Bolt or Bekele?

Usain Bolt below and Keneninsa Bekele bottom.

Paleolithic men alive in today's society

So here's my second blog post and as promised coming on the second day as I will keep it up every day. For me personally I don't really see the Paleo Diet at all as a diet, but more so as a lifestyle and later on I will discuss various lifestyle choices I have made to be more in touch with the Paleolithic lifestyle and how you will be able to implicate the diet into your life.

As the Paleo Diet is a lifestyle so to speak, let’s take a look at some modern hunter gatherer societies or Nomadic people. Hunter gatherers obtain between 5 and 80 per cent of their food from gathering according to Wikipedia so there lifestyles do vary. Moreover, so will yours, so each and every one of us has to make the lifestyle unique to ourselves.

These modern day hunter gatherer societies will typically still have very little influence from the outside world and are still prevalent in Western Australia such as the Spinifex people or the Pila Nguru as well as many others.

Okay so the fact that there are still a few hunter gatherer societies around in Australia and a few Adivasi people of India or maybe the indigenous South Americans, it’s nice to know but does it’s not really relevant to our modern day lifestyles, right? Wrong.

Observe these guys lifestyles and you’ll see they don’t suffer from “Western” diseases; diabetes, Alzheimer’s, even the common cold – it has been reported that Arthur de Vany who is now in his seventies hasn’t contracted so much as a cold from his “new evolutionary” way of living so I think it’s important and albeit interesting to look at the hunter gatherer societies of today as well as yester-yester-yesteryear for inspiration.

While reading the Paleo Diet for Athletes, the authors Joe Friel and Loren Cordain mention Captain Cook on his travels to Australia, who is quoted as saying that he did not “perceive the slightest eruption on their skin.” Yes diet does clear up acne in my opinion as I’ve tried it and it really works; however lapses into the biscuit tin or reaching for the chocolate do seem to worsen my condition.

The Paleo Diet for Athletes also charts that skinfold thickness is thicker among Westerners and we have lower volumes of VO2 max (than any of the following groups stated) – which basically reflects your physical fitness. So from the Aborigines, Eskimoes, !Kung (from Namibia, Botswana and Angola), Pygmies (basically defined as any ethnic group whose men are less than 4ft 11 inches) to finally the modern Westerner, it’s clear to see who is healthiest – well as far as diet is concerned. So much for McDonalds eh.

I leave you with a picture of some of the African Pygmies and a European explorer and I’ll be back tomorrow.