The excerpt below came from the NY Times "mini-article" - 12 Tips for Living a Longer Life. Compiled by TIFFANY FRASIER. These tips come from "longevity expert" Dan Buettner.
"1. Drink coffee. “It’s one of the biggest sources of antioxidants in the American diet.”
2. Skip the juicing. “The glycemic index on that is as bad as Coke. For eight ounces, there’s 14 grams of sugar. People get suckered into thinking, ‘Oh, I’m drinking this juice.’ Skip the juicing. Eat the fruit. Or eat the vegetable.”
3. You should also skip the protein shake.
4. Go for long walks.
5. It’s O.K. to drink red wine. “A glass of wine is better than a glass of water with a Mediterranean meal.”
6. High-impact exercise winds up doing as much harm as good. “You can’t be pounding your joints with marathons and pumping iron. You’ll never see me doing CrossFit.” Instead stick to activities like biking, yoga and, yes, walking.
7. Cook mostly vegetarian meals that are heavy on fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, 100 percent whole-grain bread, oatmeal and avocados.
8. Hold the butter. “My view is that butter, lard and other animal fats are a bit like radiation: a dollop a couple of times a week probably isn’t going to hurt you, but we don’t know the safe level.” Use olive oil instead.
9. Eat meat and fish only sparingly.
10. Try to stay away from cow’s milk. Use soy milk instead.
11. There’s no need to avoid carbs if you add freshly baked loaves of bread to a meal. “A true sourdough bread will actually lower the glycemic load of a meal. But it has to be a real sourdough bread.”
12. Eat in good company. It’s not just about what you eat, but how you eat, and how much you and your friends enjoy a meal together: “The secret sauce is the right mix of friends.”"
What I find intersting is his advice to lay off of meats and cow milk. Growing up we were told to have our diets be rich in these two aspects as well as our greens. Milk made your bones strong and meat was the optimal source of protein.
I also found the fresh bread bit intersting because I would have never thought that could make an impact on longevity. Honestly though apart from those three I employ the nine other tips daily-ish and that's encouraging.
However, I did notice he didn't say anything about beer, but I think I already know what effects that can have on the body and life span. Maybe cutting down on my beer intake wouldn't be such a bad idea.
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