Brett's Blog: 9 Ways to live longer
February 20, 2009 | by Brett Blumenthal | 23 Comments
by Brett Blumenthal
Back in the early 1500s, explorer Ponce de Leon traveled to present day Florida in search for the Fountain of Youth. The idea was that if you drank its waters, you would stay eternally young. Although this might sound silly, it really isn’t so far off from modern day civilization: people are still looking for that ‘magic potion’ that will keep them young and beautiful. Sort of funny when you think about it. No matter how much time passes, we still are in search for the same thing.
Personally, I believe that the true ‘Fountain of Youth’ is found in a healthy lifestyle. No pills. No potions. No magic creams and definitely, no magic fountains. Whether or not you want to believe in Ponce de Leon’s quest, there are indeed places on earth where people live longer and healthier.
In Dan Buettner’s Best Seller, The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest
- Move Naturally: We often think about exercise and fitness as an add-in to our day, but these cultures are naturally active. Whether it be walking everywhere or even harvesting crops, they stay active as a result of their lifestyle.
- Eat Until Full: These cultures don’t live to eat, but rather, eat to live. Food is for sustenance, not indulgence. They eat until they are about 80% full, and then stop.
- Eat from the Earth: These cultures have a very large intake of fruits, vegetables and other foods, like legumes and nuts, which grow from plants. They don’t eat a lot of meat, especially not red. And they don’t eat processed foods. Everything is made at home.
- Red Wine: These cultures drink red wine in moderation. This means two servings or less a day.
- Life of Purpose: Individuals in these cultures have a sense of purpose. They also can see the big picture of life, and don’t get bogged down in the details.
- Stress Management: Relaxation is part of every day life. They take time to laugh, spend time with loved ones and enjoy all that life has to offer.
- Spirituality: These individuals meditate or spend time self-reflecting. This does not necessarily mean they are part of an organized religion or faith, but rather, have a sense of spirituality and tradition.
- Family and Loved Ones are a Priority: These cultures have a strong root and belief in the family unit and in deep friendships and meaningful relationships. Family time is important and they make time for each other.
- Surround Yourself with Like-Minded Individuals: These cultures put an emphasis on incorporating these values into their life. As a result, they seek out other individuals who share those values and who they trust to be like-minded.
These nine traits really are a lifestyle worth living. How many of these traits have you incorporated into your life?
Related Topics:
- There are No Quick Fixes
- Do You Exercise to Look Good or Feel Good?
- Exercise in a Pill
- Diet or Lifestyle: Why to Choose the Latter
- Get the Book Now! The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest
www.helencohen.com
I think these are all wonderful things to bring into your life. I believe that everyone needs to find their own balance. It may be hard to follow these 9 steps to the T so the best thing is to find what works for you. Many studies have been done on many different topics revolving around health and longevity and in my research I have realized that Bio-individuality plays the biggest role. Every person has there own needs and should find there own meaning when it comes to living their life to the fullest.
May you all be healthy, happy & Live long!
Peace & Love,
Helen Cohen- Holistic Health Counselor
http://www.HelenCohen.com
Lucy
These 9 ways to live longer are suggestions by people who know it works for them. its up to you to learn from it.
PoetWithCancer
Once a life exists, there is a unique individual whose life is precious to himself or to herself. Life extension is going to be achieved on a grand scale someday–period. Science can be slowed, but not stopped; yet it can be intelligently and humanely channeled and managed. The question is, will great life extension be generally available? Or will only the top elites, and also pseudo-elites like the puppet-jerk George W. Bush, get to live a fabulously long life-span?
Clearly, population problems comprise the chief thorn. The only two solutions to over-population have ever been one or both of these two: (1) Birth Control. (2) Death control.
Death control is often imposed terribly by nature, in ruthless forms such as famine–which we should remember means individual human beings, much like ourselves and those we love, dying of starvation–and diseases of various kinds and degrees of lethal cruelty.
The hideous means by which certain cruel humans have employed death control on their fellow people are too well known for me to need to scar my post with any such descriptions.
Birth control is the intelligent and humane way. We need more birth control already. Once life extension gets into full swing, it will become imperative, or else many, many otherwise unnecessary deaths will in one way or another afflict our human family, our brothers and sisters, and perhaps our own loved ones and ourselves.
A very dangerous prospect is that of extremely long-living individuals continuing to follow indefinitely that long-ago already-fulfilled injunction to “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.” One thing that is almost certainly going to need to be done, will be to require submission to sterilization as the price for receiving the blessing of greatly extended life. Of course, people who get great life extension should be allowed to have children before being sterilized; just not every year for the next three hundred years.
Opposition to birth control is no longer consistent with a true, lucid love of life.