Adam’s Journal
My son Theo should live to be 100. That’s the conclusion I drew after I saw a recent report on life expectancy projections. The report, published by the British medical journal The Lancet, looked at how life- expectancy has increased since 1900, when the average American lived to the ripe “old” age of 47.
Drawing on these statistics, the study authors predict that more than half of the children born since 2000 in wealthy countries should live long enough to blow out 101 candles — one for good luck, of course — on their birthday cakes. That’s great news for Theo (born 2001) and also for his brother Will (who missed being born in the 2000s by a scant nine months).
Still, as the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation’s motto says, the goal is not just longer lives, it’s longer, healthier lives. Can you offer a few tips for optimizing my boys’ chances of seeing the year 2100?
Dr. Prescott prescribes
I, too, would love to see all that 2100 will deliver. Think oxygen-powered vehicles. MAPS 13. An artificial sweetener that actually tastes like sugar. Alas, at age 151, I fear I’d enjoy none of it.
Yet for today’s youngsters, the secrets to long life are not really secrets at all. There’s plenty of good data about how to boost the odds of reaching a healthy old age.
The problem is that most of us choose to ignore that information.
What we put in our mouths has a huge effect on our health. The diet most closely linked to a low risk of heart disease, cancer, dementia, stroke and diabetes is low in saturated fat and red meat. It stresses plant-based foods — vegetables, fruits, beans and whole grains — over animal byproducts and processed foods.
Now, I’m not saying it has to be a vegetarian diet. It’s simply one that’s long on naturally nutrient-rich foods and short on sugars and artery-clogging fats. And studies indicate that we can’t make up for missing nutrients in our diets with a simple pill or powder; supplements of antioxidants such as vitamin E fail to deliver the same results that a diet rich in deep-colored fruits and vegetables seems to.
The other side of the equation involves burning energy. It should hardly come as a news flash that daily aerobic activity pays a multitude of dividends for your body. But it may surprise you that regular aerobic activity also feeds your mind — literally.
Researchers studied the brains of people ages 60 to 79 who walked briskly three times a week for 45 minutes a day. During the course of the study, the scientists found that the walkers’ brains — particularly the regions involving planning, multitasking and memory — grew.
So, my advice can be summarized in five words: Eat right and exercise regularly. Saying it is easy. Doing it? Well, if it were that simple, we wouldn’t need New Year’s resolutions.
Here’s to a healthy 2010 (and 2100)!
[ask-drp]
