A least to me, it seems like we can knock paragliding off of the “keys to longevity” list.
This week’s 7 Things covers – as you can see from the title – some interesting topics.
The insights in this column include some slippery topics like what really helps with longevity, how you can read faster to learn faster, a little running advice and a question to end it all with (not your life, just the column, silly…)
I’m not going to waste any more of your time, so here goes…
1. Can booze, coffee and unfaithfulness lead to a longer life?
This week, I re-read “The Blue Zones” by Dan Buettner.
I’m in the process of information gathering for a new book that we’re working on here at Renegade Health – I might as well tell you the title.
It’s called “Renegade Health.” LOL!
There’s a subtitle and all the other goodies, but it’s an exploitative book into what is possible for your own personal health.
That’s all I’m telling now, but it will give you a little idea of what I’m doing and maybe even get you a little excited about it. (Don’t get too excited though… the book is only a title, an outline and a recently hired researcher to help me out with the details.)
Anyway, I re-read “The Blue Zones” because I wanted to know if there was anything I missed out on the first time around and to see if I could include any of the research or interview any of the experts included in the book.
To be honest, the book doesn’t really match my theme, so I didn’t find too much that was helpful in terms of my book, but I was reminded of some things that were slightly odd to me the first reading around.
You could imagine that eating a lot of veggies and fruits were on the longevity short list.
But there were a few that would catch anyone’s attention.
These involve the consumption of (sometimes maybe too much) wine and coffee, and one sub-culture that is (maybe now – was) routinely unfaithful to their wives.
These are two things that I’ve been very specifically outspoken against here on the blog, and one that I just thought didn’t need to be spoken about at all.
But anyway, it seems these are worth another go around, even if it’s some short coverage here.
The Sardinians of Italy are known to like their wine. So much that Dan Buettner attributes wine drinking as one of the factors in their longevity. The centenarians and elders that he visited drank in the day, the evening, the morning or whenever people came by to visit. He even wrote that they have a rather heavy hand when they pour a glass for a guest. So much for moderation.
The Nicoyans of Costa Rica on the other hand don’t drink booze as much as they drink coffee. They drink it regularly and show no signs of adrenal fatigue, because the pocket of people Buettner and his team studied had one of the largest per-capita number of centenarian in the world. Weird news, right?
Another thing about the Nicoyans that was observed is that the centenarian men of this culture all seemed to have mistresses. Buettner and his team didn’t attribute this as a “key to longevity” for obvious reasons – it would cause an uproar – but there was enough mention in the book during the study of the long lives of the Nicoyans that there was speculation, there was something to this.
For the betterment of relationships all around the world, I think Dan and his team did us a favor by leaving that one alone.
But back to the booze and the Joe.
Why were these working? Were they really working?
I can only speculate, but I wonder if we’re able to separate the social sharing of beverages from the actual health effects of the beverages in order to determine what really is the cause of longer life.
So, for instance, is the wine taken during the day really the cause of longevity or are the family and friendly visits all throughout the day what is helping extend life.
Is it the coffee, or the fact that while drinking coffee, the Nicoyans all get together to talk and be with each other.
We’ll never fully know this answer and Buettner knows it – that’s what the “Blue Zones” are about. The book is about finding commonalities in hopes of drilling down as close as we can to the answer – what did all the centenarian do regularly?
The answers in this type of study, of course, could be helpful to your own longevity practice.
Or maybe not – it depends on how you interpret the information. (Or if you should interpret it at all.)
You can’t just drink lots of wine and sit on the couch. You can’t drink 3 cups of Dunkin Donuts coffee, not eat breakfast and then head off to your stressful job for 10 hours (or more.)
The keys to the longer lives of these pockets of people around the globe come from a collection of things they do – a lifestyle – not an American distillation of one thing or another, take this pill with a special herb, supplement with an isolated nutrient. I can guarantee you that.
(I’m not even going to get into the sleeping around part, there are plenty of public cases in the U.S. that show that’s not ideal for longevity or keeping all your body parts. See Bobbit.)
2. Born to run…
After reading some excerpts, I finally dove into the full version of the book “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall.
Great story.
The concepts, in terms of running, were not new to me.
In 2004-ish, Annmarie and I were taking a ChiRunning course with Danny Dreyer – before Vibrams were popular when the idea of barefoot running was only being experimented with by top college track teams – under secrecy because it was working.
Of course, barefoot running has been around for as long as our existence, but it’s renaissance is certainly welcomed by me.
When we were trainers, I would correct running form by watching gait and having my clients take off their shoes to retrain their feet and eventually their entire chain of locomotion.
I wasn’t formally trained (except for a 2 day course with Danny), but for some reason this stuff just came naturally to me.
It just made sense – we weren’t born with air filled, padded heels, so why should we put shoes on with these adaptations as well?
The book to me, was reassurance that what I had been teaching for years now, had other supporters – some with more science than others (me).
But, in reality, how much science do we need to realize that we should run barefoot – or at least with a minimalistic shoe?
I guess the question is similar to this one – how much science do we need to tell us fruits and vegetables are a good choice?
Do we need science at all?
LOL.
Yes, to convince the skeptics.
But otherwise, I wouldn’t waste too much time with most of it.
One thing I do want to caution you about is this…
3. Overtraining in Vibrams – or other barefoot trainers.
I’m going to do a longer piece on this in the near future, but I wanted to give you a heads up on it now – since it might save you some agony.
A few days ago, I was reading an article on Keith Olbermann. He’s an ex-MSNBC and ex-ESPN newscaster. The article was about his career, where he’s been, where he’s going now kind of stuff. Very uninteresting to the health crowd, except for one quick sentence about mid-way through the article.
He was talking briefly about his fitness regimen and quickly attributed a stress fracture in his foot to running in Vibram Five Finger shoes.
This caught my eye, because unfortunately, this isn’t the first time I’d heard this.
It seems like people are getting a little too far ahead of themselves when it comes to using these minimalistic tools to re-work their natural running form.
The challenge with shoes like these, is that for how ever old you are now, you have that many years of dumbing down and weakening the structure of your feet – so slipping on a pair of Vibrams and expecting to go out and run for 20-30 minutes a day is actually a tall order.
You need to gradually adjust into them.
For instance, before I even knew about Vibrams, I would train on the track at a local high school. My first few laps around the loop would be with shoes on. After I was warm, I’d run a half mile or so barefoot.
Once my feet were comfortable with this, I’d then take more laps shoeless than I did with shoes. I built up, over about 6-9 months, to running about 6 miles barefoot on a track.
(Yes, people did look at me funny. I also would do bear crawls and crab walks across the football field as well – which didn’t take away from the mystery of what I was doing either.)
I bet Olbermann wouldn’t have had his stress fracture if he followed my protocol – or anything reasonable like it. Gradual, in this case, gets you the best results.
Remember this the next time you slip on your Vibrams. Are you training to fast, or to hard in them?
By the way, I think it’s important to note, I’ve grown tired of the Vibrams. The number one reason is because they plain old stink. There’s no smell repellant that can cure them. (Yes, we’ve washed them, etc.)
My two pairs, I believe, since I haven’t seen them for a while, walked their stinky selves into the trash can (maybe with the assistance of Annmarie, but I wonder if she’d even pick them up, since they had such a foul odor.)
I feel, you can get very cheap and minimalistic shoes at a local running store that do the trick almost as effectively as the Vibrams do. They also will be significantly cheaper.
As for helping your feet along faster, I also wear Sanuk shoes (I call them slipper-shoes) on an everyday basis which don’t have any heal support or much support at all to help my feet stay at the top of their game when I’m doing my everyday work as well.
When it comes to your feet, less is better. This is true.
The only adjustment I’ll make to that is that you have to ease into less or else you’ll end up with more… pain, agony and stress (fractures.)
4. Longevity video series!
Dave Wolfe is at it again with some cool longevity videos from the previous Longevity Now Conference.
The latest video in the series is about anti-aging and I’m sure some of you are interested in that topic. (That was an intentional understatement.)
LOL!
Anyway, to get on board with this video series, all you have to do is follow this link below…
After the series is over, David and team will be releasing their Longevity Now DVD set which you may be interested in as well.
We didn’t make it to this event, but the least few have been awesome and it’s totally worth the investment to get the DVD’s for your growing archive of health info.
Here’s where you can go now to check out this video and the others that are coming up this week…
http://www.renegadehealth.com/davewolfe
5. Born to read… (or at least taught how to read faster.)
I already mentioned that I read two books this week.
Would it surprise you to know that I’ve actually read 4?
What’s even more interesting is that I didn’t even have a slow week that allowed me a heap-load of down time.
Four books is 3 more than the average person reads in a year and it’s 8 less than the average CEO reads during that same time. (So for the months of May and June, I’m 3/4 of a CEO… LOL!)
Now, I know you guys are smart and you read this blog, so you probably read more than the average, but to average 4 books a week would allow you to read over 200 books a year.
Imagine how much knowledge your could glean if you were able to do that? You may actually be able to cut through some of the B.S. that’s presented around the web about health, since books tend to be better researched and facts well checked.
I think that’s been my edge.
Not only with reading, but with the ability to interview and talk to so many people over the last 6-7-8 years has really put me in a position to hear the knowledge, distill it and present it – evenly – to you.
I’ve also heard somewhere, that to become an expert in a topic, you really just need to read 7-10 books on the subject. Whether that’s true or not, I’m not sure. There are relatively few “expert” certification boards. LOL.
What I do know, is that if you do read that many books on a subject, you will be able to talk with anyone about it. You may even – likely – know more than them about it. Plus, you’ll also be able to start to form your own theories and opinions to test and explore.
This is where real knowledge and real ingenuity takes place.
It’s my opinion that you either read to come to new conclusions (or interview!) or you don’t come to new conclusions.
It’s as simple as that.
“You’re either learning or you’re dying” – you can attribute this quote to just about any speaker on the circuit.
So my question to you is this…
What are you reading now? What will you read next week? The week after?
(If you want to use the system that I use to read faster, you can check out my friend Jim Kwik’s speed reading – with comprehension – program. Click here to read more.)
6. Vision Board is long overdue.
Annmarie and I haven’t put together a vision board since we lived in our condo in Danbury, CT.
It’s been at least 3 years – maybe 4 now.
We went hiking with a friend the other day up in Tilden Park – which overlooks the Bay – and she was talking about a vision board building session she had with a friend.
The two were like kindergartners in an art class. Giggling, laughing, being creative and most of all – beyond kindergartener conception – they were planning their future.
The curious thing about the vision board (don’t worry, I’ll skip the law of attraction goo) is that what you put on it is likely to come true.
Why?
I have no idea.
Every vision board (or for that matter, list of goals) I’ve ever created seem to spring intentions into life. The majority of everything I’ve written down as a formal goal – or visually represented in a vision board has come true.
So I could do two things here – an maybe you’re thinking about them too.
First, is I could spend all my time researching and finding out why a vision board or writing down goals works – because I do have a little skeptic blood in me.
OR…
I can just make a vision board and trust that usually the stuff becomes reality.
The second option is the shortcut, so we’re making another one this week.
Again, as much as I care how it works, I really just want the results.
If I do the thing, those will come.
7. Do you want advice?
A weeks ago I had a weird thought…
I was on the plane brainstorming the type of content we’d have on the Renegade Health blog in a year or so.
We’ve added commentary by Dr. Williams. We’ve added recipes. (Both by your request.)
And I was thinking about you and who you are and what you may want to be.
I realize that there are a subgroup of people who are practitioners in natural health who are aching for more ways to get their message out there.
If that’s you, I’m talking to ya.
Would you be interested in a once a month blog post – or more frequent – with advice on how to get more clients or how to spread your message wider?
Let me know. I’m interested in finding out, since I think (from my perspective) add more depth to what we cover.
Anyway, to either bump this one up the list or to shelve it, I’ve put together a ONE question survey so your to answer.
It’s either yes or no. This means with one question, I want EVERYONE to answer it.
Yes. No.
Less than 10 seconds of your time.
It’s your blog too.
Let me know if you want this type of content or not.
Here’s where to go now…
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/bizideas
(Thanks in advance!)
7a. A call to survey makers around the world.
I can’t tell you have many times I’ve been asked to take a survey for a company or business only to find that it’s 20-30 questions long and takes at least 10 minutes to answer.
I wonder who thinks this is a good idea.
I wonder who even fills these out – definitely someone who has more time on their hands than me.
I have to admit, sometimes I breeze through these surveys just to get to the other end. I give the wrong answers just to mess with them.
I know my one collection of answers won’t muck too much up, but it’s my way of rebelling from a practice that is – in my opinion – too self serving.
The survey, when long and winded, doesn’t take the customer (or reader) into account. This means the company is only focused on their own benefit.
If they were to focus on the reader or customer, they’d understand that answering every question is by far one of the lowest priorities on the totem poll for the survey-ee.
They’d also only ask questions that would eventually in a direct way benefit the reader or customer directly as well.
Don’t be fooled by the “We want to serve you better” language of a big ass survey. They really want market research for free.
We actually do want to serve you better here and do so, first, by understanding that you probably really like one to 4 questions on your survey and can answer them in about 1 minute and, second, by asking questions that are relevant to helping you get better health – or in this case – help more people get better health.
Need to get that off my chest. Thanks.
Anyway, be sure to take 3 seconds and answer this survey, so I know put my idea into action or put it to rest.
Here’s where to go again…
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/bizideas
I want to know your thoughts: What is your take on today’s 7 Things? Do you think wine, coffee, running barefoot, reading fast or cheating have anything to do with longevity?
Live Awesome!
Kev
Interesting post kevin, I don’t have a pair of vibram five fingers yet but have seen them quite a few times and wanted to try them out… They seem like they are better than other shoes overall. I have a pair of patagonia honeydew shoes which I love but have kind of a weird smell too… They are made out of trees, bark and other amazing “ingredients”? if that’s what you call it? lol… Anyways, they are pretty flexible shoes and really are minimal as far as structure… Maybe i’ll need to make a shoe like mixture of vibram five fingers and the honeydew patagonia that actually smells good and that will be a winner!
Interesting thoughts, and great headline btw! Caught my attention.
Take care,
David King
oh yes please, and thank you
OH NO! You DID skip the law of attraction goo! You know, that’s how I came across you two in the first place. More goo please.
Interesting coloumn, thanks Kevin. With the sex outside the marriage thing I think it’s the same as you summed up the alcohol & coffee thing. If it’s something that’s agreed upon & normal in their cultures, I can see it being healthy. But I’m sure for most people in the U.S. it would be very unhealthy, as it causes a lot of stress on everyone involved. So that’s my theory on that subject.
You have given my memory an amazing jog Kevin! One of the things I learned in college was that I was not a runner—in the first ten feet I would twist both ankles and be sad for a week! Then, after college, I attended a weekly Tae Kwando class. During the course of this class I learned that I COULD run, as long as I was barefoot!
since i read fast and run barefoot I hope so since I don’t drink coffee or wine lol
great post as always
I think you unfairly characterized The Blue Zones book. He never says that you should eat this, drink that in order to live longer. He always says both in the book and in interviews that it is the overall lifestyle that is likely why those peoples live longer — always emphasizing that it seems to be the human contacts, the community, and their strong faith that seem to be the keys.
To look for a food, a vitamin, a substance that will give us longevity and good health completely ignores the fact that we are whole, complex humans. We are made up of more than just our digestive systems. Body, mind, soul, spirit … all must be in alignment and balance for us to be healthy.
I’ve been into coffee lately — not overdoing it, but enjoying it. If you get into it as an experiment, I’ve found that the best is organic, fair-traded, shade-grown, “bird friendly,” and all of these other eco-friendly adjectives. Beyond that, I’ve found that the French Press makes the absolute best cup of coffee in the world. So, you know, a little java, a little raw food… Plus, if you go to the coffee side (not that I’m trying to entice you), just imagine all of the high-raw possibilities for desserts that are raw, but have a bit of coffee flavor — raw tiramisu, raw mochas, etc. I’m definitely going to do some high-raw coffee vids in the future.
i’m sure there’s an environmentally safe way to deodorize footware, should you decide to retrieve those vibrams from the trash. i think there is some kind of enzyme based spray that may do it.
wine?
resveratrol-good.
alcohol-bad- toxic and elevates blood sugar.
but no! its good- lowers inhibitions encourages reaching out to others.
no it’s bad- lowers inhibitions and encourages the expression of negative and mean behavior.
synthesis: alcohol can be a good thing within a good setting.
cheating? short term fun and long term suffering to those
who have pledged to one person. stressful.
being a member of a loving community seems to be important to longevity.
barefoot? good- connect (ground) with creation.
don’t overdo it but definitely do it but don’t forget the occasional parasite cleanse.
good topics.
paragliding would look good on a vision board but not in downtown lima, peru.;)
I want to know more about their sleeping around habbits. How is the socializing for a 100 plus year old man accomplished? A little romance sounds great, especially for the single folks.
Isn’t the whole point of Vibram etc shoes that you make sure you run on the balls of your feet, and don’t slam the heels down on every step? When I saw Olbermann on Letterman saying he was injured, I was pretty sure this was something he was ignorant of, or failed to mention. I’d bet my house he was slamming his heels.
enjoyed the post and thank you for skipping the attraction goo :p
eh no wine, coffee or cheating for me. i haven’t had trouble with my vibrams, but i have always tried to wash them after every use or 2.
Communing with self and others is top of my list for longevity. This includes dropping any limiting beliefs, and definitely dissolving any resistances, which I reckon cause a lot of our physical dis-ease as well as psycholgical dis-ease. If we are growing, we are living, if we are contracting, we are dying. Of course, if we care about our self, we’ll give our ‘self’ lots of healthy food. I’m 63 years old and haven’t needed a doctor in at least 5 years.
All good…BUT!…if you don’t “get” the law of attraction goo, you are at a dis-advantage. Many years ago I cottoned on the belief system that “every-thing” I eat turns to health and beauty”…Seems like this rather controversial belief actually has worked. I’m now 61,have never used my Medicare card..I am a smoker, drink moderately[coupla Vodkas a day average],not fussed about exercise, generally eat “not heavy foods” and do whatever it takes to have a “great day”…MAYBE I’M AN ALIEN…lol…LEE
Yes I do believe that running and yes barefoot (I have been doing it for 10 years) are conducive to longevity . I do think the booz, coffee and carousing are questionable though… LOL
Kevin I really like how your blog is going and I can’t tell you how impressed I am with both you and Ann Marie… I have been following you two from day one and AT FIRST I THOUGHT YOU WERE JUST A COPY CAT OF Matt AND Angela AND SINCE THEY QUIT TOURING THAT YOU THOUGHT YOU WOULD TAKE THERE PLACE WITH NO KNOWLEDGE TO DO SO… I MUST SAY YOU ANSWER EVERYTHING WITH UTMOST INTEGRITY. right FROM THE BEGINNING IF YOU DID NOT KNOW THE ANSWER TO SOMETHING SOMEONE ASKED YOU FOUND OUT AND YOU DID NOT JUST TAKE THE FIRST ANSWER YOU FOUND YOU RESEARCHED IT. fOR ALL OF THIS i AM GRATEFUL AND YOU ARE MY FIRST READ EVERY DAY NOW … kEEP ON KEEPIN ON … : ) i LOVE YOU GUYS. god speed
Interesting. I was just at Mountain Equipment Coop Friday night and I tried the Five Fingers on. They were really comfortable but I wondered about the smell since they are to be worn without socks. Basically the five fingers were designed for water sports and the barefoot community adopted them which pushed the company to make treking and athletic versions of the product but that material mush be “hot” to have over your foot since it’s a bit like wet suit material. Actually it seems many footwear companies are not jumping on the minimalist shoe bangwagon. Nike had brought out the Nike Free a while ago now but it seems every footwear company has its own version now. However, and as Kevin points out, there are plenty of shoes out there which are cheap and don’t have the support and heavy cushioning. There is probably no need to invest in a rather expensive shoe which is not technical.
I do find that all the synthetic materials like Teva sandals etc, seem to stink after a while when in direct contact with the foot.
About Longevity, coffee has some antioxidants (even if we’d prefer to think that this is marginal). I remember the blood type diet (Peter D’adamo) recommending Coffee for Blood type As (maybe others) because those people didn’t produce enough stomach acid and coffee improved this. Who knows hey? But it may also be the enjoyment factor that something brings. My partner Ben always says that you should do what brings you joy and if drinking coffee brings you joy then perhaps it can be good for you. A glass of wine (plus the resveratrol) might do the same…I don’t know about drinking for breakfast but as stated maybe the social factor does more good than the harm the alcohol could do.
I’d love to read faster than I do. i don’t think I read slowly but I do so much stuff and my interests are wide. I currently have these books out from the library:
Earthing (Clinton Ober)
Crazy Sexy Diet (Kris Carr)
Whole Food to Thrive (Brendan Brazier)
The Body Ecology Diet (Donna Gates)
Search Engine Optimization (Jennifer Grappone)
Fatty Liver – You can reverse it (Dr Sandra Cabot)
I never get to read them all in three weeks!
Have a great week
Survey answer: yes
Question of the day: No, no, yes, yes and NO!
i read another book about longevity hotspots by sally beare called “The 50 Secrets of the World’s Longest Living People”. looks at the nutrition and lifestyle mores of the world’s five most remarkable longevity hotspots—Okinawa, Japan; Bama, China; Campodimele, Italy; Symi, Greece; and Hunza, Pakistan. (taken from amazon.com) all the cultures had their form of alcohol. i think red wine has been shown to lower cortisol and even blood sugar levels. having said that, i think the context in which alcohol is drunk is the common thing among these long lived cultures -that is, a social, supportive, laid back atmosphere. and for enjoyment, not for stress relief or escape or addiction. i think they had common lifestyles – active, purposeful, social, spiritual, fun, laid back, connected, etc. oh, and i guess eating healthfully contributed to their longevity too. but as i’ve said before, i’m beginning to think that longevity has MUCH more to do with factors other than food and nutrition. i’ve realized that it’s ok to indulge sometimes as long as you leave the (very harmful) guilt out of it and just ENJOY!!! i’m trying to change my orthorexic ways by doing that. it’s so difficult to not feel guilty but i’m working on it. i’m sure the centenarians don’t feel guilty about not eating perfectly all the time.
cheating – IMHO that’s just wrong period.
running barefoot – don’t know, but i try to just BE barefoot as much as possible. i can see how that would be related to longevity, as it grounds us.
and reading fast – i think just reading anything keeps our brains working, active, and growing, which definitely contributes to longevity.
thanks as always for your great posts!
Well, you sure are courageous Kevin opening up all of these subjects at once and I admire you for that. I will address the “cheating” issue because I believe that many of us cheat ourselves by getting into limiting thought, word, and emotional patterns and one of those patterns possibly is living in co-dependent,imagination-suffocating marriages or relationships which strangely enough give value to limiting their emotional/sexual expression to just one other person. That being said, if someone gives their vows and desires to be response-able, they are best suited to honor these vows like honoring their word. Recognizing that I value enjoying lovemaking with more than one person, I have opted to be single at least my first 67.5 years and with advancements in stem cell therapy, I can just surmise about the next 67.5 years. If I desire to be in exclusive relationships like I have in much of my past, for my own integrity I have respected our agreements of fidelity and abided by equality prevailing for both of us. If I “cheated”, I owned up to my transgression and if my partner “cheated”, for her own integrity, she owned up to her transgression. When saw that we were challenged, we re-defined and re-created our relationship for mutually beneficial outcomes. I believe if you choose marriage, you honor rules which (hopefully) you set up. Another viable option is you have a deep loving and caring partnership and review it daily.
Gotta tell ya, I tried answering the survey several times, but every time I clicked on “yes” there was a pale yellow line, which disappeared when I clicked on submit, and the circle was never checked. I finally gave up……
I personally love my FiveFingers, can’t handle coffee or booze anymore at all, and I think if you throw Qi Gong into the mix, you undoubtedly live to be a centenarian ; ) ..oh and of course you must eat
goji berries! lol
Were you wearing socks with your Vibrams ? Without the socks they just stink ! Phooey !
I think that you have the right idea about surveys. I usually get them from my bank and they are absolutely horrible. Thanks for making a survey that doesn’t suck up all of my free-time.
Barefoot running, a friend’s son has been doing it for years, Bay to Breakers, Oakland Marathon, etc. Go Ephram, Easy Bay Express did an article about him last year.
I throw out my Berkies when they get terminal stink foot after about 3 years. I love Keens for hiking as they have good traction and can get wet, also vents to let the stink out.
Reading, when I’m in my winter funk I can crank out a book or more a day. On my teaching certificates I’m a reading specialist. You just have to train yourself to skip the small words to read faster. You can teach yourself to speed read. I have a thirst for knowledge. The day you stop leaning you die.
Treasure maps, after graduation @ IIN I did a treasure map workshop up at Steve Munn’s. Everyone had fun doing them. I did a repeat at another workshop up there in CT.
COffee I gave it up about 10 years ago. Wine I still like it, part of my Italian roots.
My grandpa said, milk is for babies, water is poison, drink wine, beer, spirits in moderation. He lived to 93, he never over ate. drank very stong coffee. Both sides of my Italian families lived to over 90. They never drove cars either. Olive oil to keep the body supple could be part of it? They ate very little processed food. Much was home grown as well. Dairy, some meats, eggs were also home grown. As a kid I drank raw milk from the cow on the farm in CT. The milk Elm Spring Farm Dairy sold was pasturized but not homoginized (cream on top).
Surveys can be a pain. I used to work in market research; survey designers repeat questions often to keep stats true, annoying for the participant.
Keep up the good work Kevin and Annemarie.
Barbara
Greats comments by virtually everyone here. Lifestyle, while the word is too general and perhaps overused, also happens to be one the few words that can capture both the range of choices and range of outcomes (“good” or “bad”). You’ve definitely helped share the range in this blog and I appreciate that. Thanks Kevin!
I believe reading is an extremely necessary part of a human’s daily systems, to learn and advance critical thinking and/ or analyzation. also for the general content of the book itself, it is important.
I have a question for you, Kevin- Are the vibram shoes (or other shoes you may recommend), cruelty free? that is, without leather, and manufactured without slave labor? my family and I attempt to limit our support of slave labor brands (Nike, adidas, forever 21, etc) by buying organic and slave- free clothing items.
are the items you recommend (on your whole site) cruelty free, or should I just buy similar products from different brands?
I very much enjoy reading your blog, and take your information to heart.
Centenarians who socialize a lot (in a variety of ways) may be far more relaxed and less stressed than typical westerners. Relaxed morality or just not uptight morality may also contribute to a more relaxed lifestyle.
I’ve noticed personally that my digestion is almost 100% better when I’m totally relaxed – mentally, emotionally and physically.
Getting your social needs met is a powerful way of improving your overall health I believe.
I agree with 7a. I hate those surveys that last 10-20 mins. The worst ones are the ones where you don’t have any indication of how long they are, so after 5 mins you have no idea whether you have another 1 minute left or another hour.And it’s all about how the company can make money from you. I also give the wrong answers. But that’s only if I bother at all. Usually after a couple of questions I realise what a con it is and unsubscribe from whoever is sending me this garbage.
If wine, coffee, running barefoot and be unfaithful had something to do with longevity, the entire world would be full of centenarians !
Stinky VFFs! Yikes!
There are definitely lots of options, I personally find it surprising that so many people automatically think VFFs are THE only barefoot/minimalist shoe. But I suppose it takes time for information to spread so I shouldn’t be so critical. Olbermann was definitely heel-striking though. All that money and no sense to do a little research. Moron. I’m no expert, but I definitely think the secret to longevity in running is a forefoot/mid-foot stride and running light. My knees feel amazing and I ran a half marathon w/NO KNEE PAIN after! I was so happy! I was a changed woman after I read Born to Run, and then I had some help from Michael Sandler in his book Barefoot Running (more info http://www.runbare.com) I like the idea of going barefoot and all, but I am bad at having the patience to wait for my skin to thicken/strengthen, so I usually run in my huaraches by Invisible Shoes (only $20 so they are cheap, def worth checking out. http://www.invisibleshoe.com) and my NM Minimus WT10s.
Thanks for sharing all of this info. I don’t know that I even want to be a centenarian someday, but being healthy while I am here would be nice. I like the vino, and once in awhile I do a coffee….who knows what the magic equation is. I think it is a combination of genetics, healthy diet, mental and physical activity and maintaining a healthy level of stress. But I’m no expert
I really can’t drink coffee anymore unless very watered down. It has caused panic attacks and shingles.
Now wine is a different story…. so far so good. And if I had someone to share it with, I would. He left 3 years ago…:(
Have you seen the BBC show The Vicar of Dibley? A character in it had the habit of starting an answer No no no no no no no Yes. So it goes.
Pachamama coffee is organic-fair traded and sold to co-ops. Amy #30 might try cold-water coffee from an excellent source in small amounts.
Cheating: most centenarians are women, probably among Nicoyans too. Were they able to do that because their men were busy elsewhere and not bothering them, or were (some) busy aiding male cheaters? And if a male cheater is cheating with more than one woman (unlikely), who is he cheating on? All?
Wine, coffee, cheating men…I thought of France.
A Turkish study separated drink benefits into the wine part (resveratrol?) and the alcohol part.
Centenarians are now in fashion because the data are coming in, but it’s unfiltered for lying or misremembering. A website for study of super-centenarians (110+) has found quite a few wrong ages, and raw foodists are notorious for that as well.
Special shoes are needed for concrete and glass/tincan-littered earth. Running barefoot while reading fast has quite an effect on longevity, As does phoning/texting while driving.
Try out the Kangaroo skin Vibrams. They retain far less odor.
I am reading a book right now called “The Anatomy of Love” which is a natural history on mating, love, relationships, etc. Apparently “cheating” on partners is in our DNA as it happens more often than not. However, not all cultures consider it to be a taboo and in many cultures is does not come with a stigma.
I believe that the most important aspect in relationships is integrity. If a couple promises one another exclusivity, then honoring that exclusivity is the healthiest thing for that relationship. However, terms of relationships can be renegotiated, as long as there is clear communication, honesty, and most of all, consent.
I have opted for polyamory with my partner and it has been an incredibly enriching experience. Our relationship has deepened since we have been open and seeing other people and we both feel like we are being nourished more through our social network that has grown to include other partners.
Polyamory isn’t for everyone and I respect anyone who chooses monogamy instead. I just wanted to put out there that it is possible to have a “mistress” without it necessarily being “cheating”. It doesn’t have to be choice between a monogamous exclusive relationship and singlehood or promiscuity.
Oh, and regarding PE’s comment: The Vicar of Dibley is awesome! Watch it if you get a chance.
RUNNING BAREFOOT WHILE READING FAST HAS QUITE AN EFFECT ON LONGEVITY, AS DOES PHONING/TEXTING WHILE DRIVING. GOOD LAUGH AND IT PUT A SMILE ON MY FACE WITH A HAPPY HEART!
GREAT blog! I have been quite unhappy for a few months, and I was thinking it was due to the fact that I haven’t been getting much social interaction. Thank you for confirming that!
I have a pair of Vibrams, but don’t wear them much since I have collapsed arches (which I know the Vibrams will help, but like you said.. I need to sloooooowwwwwlllyyyy work into them). They’re fantastic for going out on the river though! (Or hiking up a creek…heheh)
What worked for yesterday and today’s centenarians may not work as well for tomorrow’s…us. Its a different playing field…toxicities, poor food, water & air quality, sedentary jobs, changing family and social structures, etc. Just one of many differences: of the 5 centenarians I’ve known, all lived in the same house for at least 60 years, and had very few relocations the other 40+ years. I’ve moved over 30 times.
Organic coffee, yes. Few times a week with lots of organic spices like allspice, cardamom, clove, vanilla, etc…pure enjoyment great for socializing.
Wine: not into dimmed or blurred consciousness.
Barefoot running, yes. Love it. Connects to all the as yet undocumented life enhancing powers of mother earth.
Fast reading, Yes & no. Depends what you read and how you use it. I love it. It facilitates learning and ongoing improvement in all areas of life. And it can connect us with inspiring, awesome people leading the way, like you guys!
Cheating: never tried it. Might reduce longevity for the one cheated! But agree with earlier comment on cheating ourselves in unhealthy relationships.
Question re. Earthing & Barefoot Running Shoes: I read that rubber soles prevent us from “electrically” grounding to the earth. Anyone know if all grass sandals (no rubber or leather in the sole) would allow earthing/grounding? And if so, where I could get some? Would love to run in them.
Nassim Haramein on synchronicity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VkuqDABTMo
this is the answer for you about why things happen when you do “vision board”…in a scientific way by nassim haraneim.
he call is “the vaccum”. other reffer it to as the “the vortex”…others like your(higher) self and all is one and level of consciouness. 
etc
Papaji – Show me God
http://youtu.be/iqOwPteS_Xg
All we see & seem is but a dream within a dream
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7p5xHD0Bhk&feature=related
Kev, you rock!
RUNNING: I only run if I am being chased. (hehe) I love to hike in the mountains and by a running waterfall here in Lovely Vancouver BC Canada. All the oxygen from the trees and the negative ions from the waterfalls.. fantastic. I now rebound instead of run, rebounding is great. You clean your lymphatic system in 2 minutes and it is good for your eyesight, your cardiovascular, gentle on your joints, good for vertigo, and soo much fun! It is the first thing astronauts do when they land their space craft.. get onto a rebounder to balance and get strength back. I do believe in Earthing though.. we should be more connected skin to skin to the Earth so walking barefoot with my feet in the sand and ocean is also superb for clearing out negative frequencies we carry in our bodies and auric field – we attract negative frequencies from all EMFs. WIFI is everywhere eh?
CHEATING: I have alot of lovers, my heart belongs to one but you can always rent out your other body parts for awhile if you are truly a sensual being. Why not share lovers with your lover too? (If you roll that way)
But at the end of the day, I crawl into bed with the one my heart belongs to. I do not have a jealous bone in my body. I find jealousy a huge character flaw. Open mindedness and exploration is much better. Deceit is more the issue, openness is truly freedom. Can you really possess another being? I don’t think so. What is cheating really? Where is the line if you’re out walking and your partner looks at another person with desire that could be cheating or fantasize about another person while having sex that too? Why not just share your thoughts? I do. I love to hear my partners true thoughts and desires too! That is why he stays with me. I love to know what turns on my lover and allow them to fully express what they absolutely would love to experience in all things. Total freedom of communication and experience. You can honor and love them, and give of your heart but not possess. Power and control kills a relationship. Jealousy is the true issue as well as being deceiptful. I have experimented sexually beyond anyone’s possible imagination and done so with respect, sharing and caring. It is very possible to live in a loving relationship and enjoy sexual exploration with other people too. That is if both parties are absolutely secure in their being, there is no jealousy, no deceipt, comfortable with sharing their experiences full on and confident in the love they have with each other that it is real and lasting. We are beings here to explore and experience all things. If you put sexual limits on your partner what other limits are you putting on them or yourself? You are not a free being. If you find one partner to do so with you that is fantastic! However, you can find a great partner who is open minded to let you explore all things and you so with them. I gather the subject of sharing lovers is not part of this post but I live totally out of the box anyways and loved and adored as I am for being me. I think if we loved each other authentically without jealousy we would all be happier. Just my 2 cents eh?
COFFEE, ALCOHOL, Other substances (Herb), Cigarettes,: I gave it all up in a weeks time. 10 years ago and have not had any since other than to experiment with a sip or a puff and I share my experience… I purchased a book of mandalas, sacred geometric drawings, colored them in and put the intention into these drawings I would be alcohol, coffee (caffeine) and herb / cigarette free – just drawing the mandalas with that intention in them, I colored in all the mandalas in the book and put them up all over the house. They were beautiful. Something shifted in my cellular being. I cannot consume any of those substances – my body rejects them completely! 10 years later I am still alcohol, coffee / caffeine and smoke free… literally if I had a sip of alcohol, my body feels like it is hammered drunk, if I take a sip of coffee it feels like I drank 20 cups, if I smoke herb or a puff of a cigarette I am so anxiety ridden, high and ill I literally cannot do it. Just a thought to try this if you truly want to quit and use the mandalas to shift your bodies cellular structure so you are unable to even ingest any substances. Amazing really. Now, you can download free mandalas on the web, print them off and color them in, listen to some soft music and put your intention in the mandala what you wish to experience or change or become next… try it. It’s better than a vision board, there is something VERY mysterious, ancient, powerful and mystical about mandalas. Instead of coloring mandalas for removing substances, try it for increasing finances or success in your career or weight loss or attracting lovers (wink wink).
Sharing is caring
Blessings to you Kev and A-M. And to all.
Love reading and wish I could read faster AND retain it. Just finished reading Dr. Fuhrman’s Eat to Live and will read The China Study next.
I don’t run. Not unless something with gnashing teeth is coming after me!
I MUST have my coffee but definitely desire to improve upon it. Wish someone would tell me a wonderful, healthy natural substitute for my French Vanilla creamer..
Wine..don’t have it much any more.
Definitely agree that it’s WHAT those things DO for a person that makes one happy because it’s the HAPPINESS that brings the longevity.
Don’t get me started on the ‘cheating’ topic! But, will say this, if someone believes that what they are doing is WRONG, and then does it anyway, it will bring negative health; but if it is accepted and cultural, then refer to the ‘happy’ element already mentioned.
I’ve been single 22 years now and can’t even imagine a partner in my life – it’s been too long; but I do yearn for good company (and am terribly, terribly homesick for my CA) – so the company of likeminded, intelligent people of both genders would be very good for me right now!
I work for a company with a very strict dress code. I CANNOT wear shoes without great pain in my feet and have tried everything. (I have Fibro). I wear a pair of what I call Clark-enstocks (lol) and although not really acceptable, I wear them anyway to get through my day/week. I discovered one day that when I stood barefoot on my hardwood floor at home, that much of my usual discomfort in my body seemed to drain away – in my hips, legs, etc. so going barefoot – there’s something to it!
Love you guys! Oh, hey – how’s your bed doing? Do you still love it? Is it hot? How do you think it would compare to a Tempurpedic (for example)?
Thanks.
Like the idea about marketing tips. Important you explain WHY it works and where your knowledge came from. Interview different people and point out different perspectives. Some people claim to be experts after just a couple of years running their site. Are they? They charge a lot per hour I know that much! Go into details of what worked with actual examples. So rather than saying, “do this it worked for me”, say, “when I did this specific I got so many hits coming in”. THAT is what we need! Too many people are just giving lists and saying “this worked”. Detailed evidence will help. That’s my gut feeling. Always worth trying and see what people think.
There was a guy doing his own detailed analysis into ageing, and I said in a comment to his blog, hang on a minute, a lot of what this has in common is that these people are more happy. He was not impressed, but there could well be something in it I think.
A lot of evidence recently points to good quality fats and ageing. Even this could be largely down to the effect that good fats are known to have on the mood.
Ultimately it is probably a combination of factors, but mood could well turn out to be the biggest one. A lot of evidence converges on it and that is always a good sign.
I noticed Prof. Martin Seligman pointed out evidence for mood’s effect on ageing in his book, “Authentic happiness” which is a read I recommend to anyone interested if they have not already read it.
Each personality is good at something. But not all of us are cut out to do analysis.The sensate personality types will not easily be as good. Some of the best for analysis will be the likes of INTP (e.g. Einstein). I can tell Kev is good at it. He is the perceiver type for sure and uses it well to keep an open mind where needed. He has developed his analysis skills very well I think.
I’ve always been a barefoot person. The few times I hurt my feet I was wearing footware of some sort. Shinsplints from my army boots, sprain from running in crosstrainers, and plantar fasciitis from motorcycle boots. Ironically now, going barefoot too much reactivates the plantar fasciitis symptoms because the bones spread out and pull on the tendon. I’ve been slowely transitioning back to a more barefoot status, but usually I need at least a barely-there canvas sneaker to keep the bones from spreading out. I’m bummed that I’ve lost the ability to walk on a HOT bumpy pavement without pain though, LOL.
I read really fast but don’t seem to find much time for it with 2 kids, 2 cats, traveling husband, a busy household and various hobbies (current obsession: knitting). I should make more time to read books and not just emails, blogs, and web pages
Ok I wanted to put my thought in on Kev’s question about cheating.
Cheating could be an indication of more healthy hormones, as when testosterone is present, other hormones usually are too.
This in turn could be due to a more healthy body fed with the right nutrients, which will in turn makes hormones.
It’s the old cause and effect cycle. Having more sex, cheating, or even injecting testosterone will not make you live longer! Even if more cheaters really do live longer.
It really surprises me how many people fall for this. Any bloggers reading – post a blog up on it if you can!
Longevity to me is living your purpose. Doing what you love and loving what you do.
Also emotions are illusions and they age us. You can see it in a great leaders – they don’t get overly excited or depressed (that’s what I noticed at least – Gandhi, Mandela..). They seem to be balanced. I believe that love is balance of opposites, not just one opposite such as happiness or joy. If you go to the play and they play all night only happy high tunes – how much of that can you take? That’s not real, doesn’t reflect life..
Btw organic coffee is a great thing in prevention for neorological disease – can be seen in latin america.
For stinky shoes as well as all things neoprene (which are renowned for the incredibly bad odor they can acquire), you can try using myrazyme, an enzyme-based odor inhibitor. You wash what stinks, then dip it in a bucket of water with mirazyme added and it prevents the bacterial growth that produces the odor. Has prevented the tossing-out of many previously stinky shoes!