site logo

Diet For A Long, Long Life

Categories: Vitamins and Other Food Supplements
Sources: How And When To Be Your Own Doctor

Some people not only want to be healthy, but they want to live in

good health long past the normal life span projected by statistical

tables for Homo Sapiens. Dr. Roy Walford, a well-respected medical

research gerontologist who has been actively studying longevity for

many years, is one of those. He has scientifically demonstrated with

accepted studies that a qualitative life span up to at least 115

years of age is rea
onably attainable by the average person if they

start working on it no later than about 50 years of age, though

earlier is much better.



Walford's principles of extending life are very simple. All you have

to do is restrict your caloric intake to about 1,500 per day, and

water fast two days a week. Or alternatively, reduce your caloric

intake to 1,200 per day and fast only one day a week on water. And

make sure that every single bit of food you do eat is packed with

nutrition, every single calorie, without exception. You continue

this program for the rest of your life along with moderate daily

exercise and high but reasonable dosages of vitamins, minerals, and

also take a few exotic food supplements. The supplement program is

not particularly expensive nor extreme, Walford's supplement program

is more moderate than the life extension program I recommend for all

middle-aged and older people. The best foods for this type of

program is a largely raw food diet (80%) with a predominance of

sprouts and baby greens, some cooked vegetables, and raw nuts and

seeds. And make sure you get 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise

every other day.



While Dr. Walford's focus is on caloric reduction while maintaining

sufficient nutrition, most other life extensionists focus on

increasing the nutrition side of the equation for health without

bothering to reduce caloric intake. This approach is much easier

because essentially, it involves gobbling nutritional supplements by

the handfuls without requiring self-discipline, though it can get

quite expensive. I'll have more to say about this approach in the

next chapter, which is about vitamins.



In this book I can't explain all the aspects of prolongation of life

through conscious life-style choice. Those who are interested are

referred to the Bibliography.



More

;