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.