Longevity and "Unhealthy" Diet

[waywardsis]

This one's (http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/110-plus.html)for Whoa ;) Who knows, maybe his calories were low too.

Sacramento man defies odds by turning 110

http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/images/george-rene-francis.jpg

In the USA, George Rene Francis of Sacramento, California, turned 110 on 4 June 2007 – despite his supposedly 'unhealthy diet'. UPI and the Sacramento Bee (http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/204734.html) said that 'many partygoers were simply aghast at the 110-year-old's ability to survive a history of unhealthy eating habits. "If you look at his eating history, he's lived a long time for all the wrong reasons," his son, Tony Francis is quoted as saying. "He drank tons of milk, ate tons of eggs, lard on bread and pork-salt sandwiches."

Adding to the mystery, the Bee said, is Francis' unwillingness to visit a doctor for much of his life and his love of cigars, that he only gave up when he turned 75. "Smoking don't hurt nobody," he said.

[HairOnFire]

This guy was born in 1897! What blows my mind is all of the changes he has seen - socially, politically, in technology, all of it. Unbelievable.

[MandalayVA]

I think longevity is genetic more than anything else. And he looks GREAT.

[Squarecube]

This guy was born in 1897! What blows my mind is all of the changes he has seen - socially, politically, in technology, all of it. Unbelievable.

Not that many changes. You see, in 1920, if you wanted to lose weight they told you to lay off the potatoes, the bread, the beer, the cakes, etc. In 2007, diet studies show us that if you want to lose weight, you should lay off the potatoes, the bread, etc. :lol:

[OtherCher2]

LMAO! I also remember when my grandmother (who was born in 1905) would get a little pudgy, she would quit eating bread, potatoes, and sweets until she had gotten her weight back down. Aaahhhh....progress!

[Nancy LC]

Someone posted this in the Paleo forum the other day, it's an overview of what we know about longevity and... the surprising thing is, it probably isn't all that genetic.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/31/health/31age.html?ei=5070&en=516a1b81f4172526&ex=1183089600&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1182964019-M/drVsJz6tNkGWKu/k4dgA

[ceberezin]

Rosedale points out that in many species, longevity is determined by insulin levels, the higher the insulin, the shorter the lifespan. Here's a snippet of an essay I wrote on the subject.
Human beings, as a species, have one strategy when resources are plentiful and another strategy when they are not. We know that the preferred macronutrients for the human body are protein and fat. So resource-rich conditions means lots of available protein and fat. When protein and fat were less available, the proportion of carbohydrates in the diet would rise, so resource-poor conditions would mean less protein and fat and more carbohydrates. The evidence suggests that Paleolithic people had, for the most part, a resource rich environment. But all that changed with the advent of agriculture, some scant ten thousand years ago. A diet based on processed grains meant that carbohydrates were now the largest portion of the diet. Despite having abundant food, agriculturists created, in essence, an artificial resource poor environment.

Strategy #1

The important thing from the point of view of species’ survival is to defend the strength and diversity of the gene pool. Under resource-rich conditions, the species can defend the gene pool with fewer, long-lived, larger individuals with high metabolism rates. Bodies have little need for long-term fat storage, since fat is plentiful. There is less survival pressure for individuals to reach reproductive maturity early and less pressure for these same individuals to expire soon after reproduction.

Strategy #2

Under resource poor conditions, this strategy makes no sense. Defending the gene pool under resource poor conditions would require a larger number of smaller individuals with lower metabolism rates so that more people could get to the age sexual maturity using fewer resources. Our bodies would need to create and store fat since dietary fat is less available. People would reach sexual maturity earlier and die sooner to conserve resources for those who have not yet passed on their genes.

Insulin is the toggle switch between these two strategies. We know that pre-agricultural hunter-gatherers had a low carbohydrate diet and low insulin levels, while agriculturists dramatically increased their insulin levels with their grain-based diet. Everything that happens to us in strategy #2 is spurred by insulin resistance and the accompanying hyperinsulinemia. Metabolic syndrome, caused by hyperinsulinemia, is an efficient way of culling those of us who have already passed on our genes and so are no longer necessary to the survival of the species. So after ten thousand years of resource poor conditions, we have massive overpopulation and massive misery.

[Azlocarb]

ceberezin,

Good Post :thup:

[LStump]

At the bottom of the article, underneath the article of the WWI vet in England it says this in blue letters:

"COMMENT: In the Sacramento story, they say of George Rene Francis's achievment that: "Diet certainly isn't the secret of his longevity." This is because his way of eating goes against the current perceived low-fat, carbohydrate-based paradigm. It seems to be a paradox. But it shouldn't as there are many other paradoxes of not just individuals but whole populations who eat 'unhealthy' diets but live long, healthy lives. The obvious examples are the peoples who live along the coast of the Mediterranean and eat the high-fat, 'Mediterranean Diet'. See The Spanish Paradox for an example, and there are many more.

The point is that the American idea of what constitutes a truly healthy diet is way off base. Which is why health in the USA is now among the worst in the developed world. In fact, diet may well have had a great deal to do with the longevity of both these men."

DUH!

[Whoa182]

Well the guy did have a BMI of 16 ! when he was younger ;) lol

Congrats to him though, an amazing achievement however he got to his age.

I think longevity is genetic more than anything else. And he looks GREAT.

Its estimated only 25-30% can be accounted for a persons longevity. Genes also matter very little until you're well passed middle age! Sure genes are important, but it doesn't mean that you can't USE your own genetics to your advantage. We all have *longevity* genes (like SIRT1), its just about how to change the expression of those genes using diet, supplements, exercise, mild stressors, and whatever else... As is already known, you can put two groups of rodents with the SAME genes and feed one group less... you get a doubling of lifespan (some living equivalent to 167 human years!, with almost ALL passing 120 human year equivalent). So you see, its not completely about genes. We know much more now about how diet influences genes and longevity. As said above, keeping fasting insulin levels really low is an important step to achieve good health. I think we can all agree on that! -- I think the normal fasting insulin reference range for humans is around 6–27 µIU/mL. Luckily the average CRer is around 1.4µIU/mL ;0


So whos the OLDEST person in the world now then... lets see...

[waywardsis]

Whoa, I knew you'd like this! :)

[Whoa182]

List of super centenarians.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_living_supercentenarians

[Whoa182]

That guy may have no had a great diet BUT others have, this guy for example. Looks well for his age too!

"Mr Tanabe added his customary explanation of how he has managed to reach such a ripe old age: “Not drinking alcohol is the best formula for keeping myself healthy,” he said.

Other residents of his village attributed Mr Tanabe’s long life to a diet that consists chiefly of vegetables and very little fried food. "


With Japan’s welfare system buckling under the demands of an ageing society, the world’s oldest man apologised yesterday for his longevity.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article1951133.ece
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00178/tanabe-385_178273a.jpg

As Tomoji Tanabe, 111, received his certificate from Guinness World Records, the former engineer, who never touches alcohol, said that his feat of survival was nothing special. “I have been around too long,” he joked, “I am sorry.”

Mr Tanabe added his customary explanation of how he has managed to reach such a ripe old age: “Not drinking alcohol is the best formula for keeping myself healthy,” he said.

Other residents of his village attributed Mr Tanabe’s long life to a diet that consists chiefly of vegetables and very little fried food.

Related Internet Links
Read Richard Lloyd Parry's Asia Exile blog
His explanation fuels a continuing mystery about the ideal formula for longevity – as each new holder of the title is crowned, each attributes his or her success to diets, lifestyles and habits that differ widely. Some have said that fresh air is the key, others have been heavy smokers. Some have taken vigorous exercise, others have sworn by periods of inactivity.

The Mayor of Miyakonojo, the village where Mr Tanabe lives with his family, presented the certificate to its famous resident after nearly five months of birthdate verification by the Guinness World Records team.

Mr Tanabe unofficially inherited the title when its previous incumbent, Emiliano Mercado del Toro, of Puerto Rico, died in January, aged 115.

The crowning of Mr Tanabe, who was born in the southern island of Kyushi in 1895, brings the coveted “double trophy” back to Japan. Yone Minagawa, who lives in the same prefecture, is 114 and holds the title of world’s oldest woman.

Japan’s population of centenarians is the largest in the world. Most of the 28,000 Japanese who have made it beyond 100 are women and the highest concentration of the very elderly is in the southern part of the archipelago. The area around Hiroshima and the island of Okinawa are especially rich in former “world’s oldest” title holders.

The number of centenarians has risen 160-fold since records began in the 1960s. Although Japan is proud of its record-breaking longevity, the success of Mr Tanabe comes as the country is running short of ideas for how to solve its ageing crisis. With the fertility rate still at record lows, government and private sector efforts to stimulate the birthrate have met with little success. As the number of children dwindles, the future welfare burden for working-age Japanese may become intolerably large.

The problem is already acute in the very rural areas where the likes of Mr Tanabe and Ms Yone have grown so old. The few children who are born in those regions move quickly to the big cities when they grow up, pushing the average age of some villages above 50.



Senior citizens

— The highest confirmed age reached by a man is 120 years, 237 days. Shigechiyo Izumi of Tokunoshima Island in Japan worked until he was 105, drank barley wine and took up smoking aged 70

— The longest confirmed lifespan on record was that of Jeanne Louise Calment of France. Aged 14 when the Eiffel Tower was built, she also met Vincent van Gogh. She died in 1997 aged 122 years, 164 days

— Fred Hale Sr of Maine, US was 113 when he died in 2004. The world's oldest holder of a valid driving licence as well as its oldest man, Hale had nonetheless stopped driving because “slow drivers annoyed him”