Living To 125 - Just Eat Right

[weinoo]

Frank Bruni wrote an article recently in which he interviews an 87-year-old billionaire and said billionaire's quest to live till he's 125 years old. He's already 87, and my hat is off to him for that.

Said billionaire, David Murdock, is quite an interesting character. First of all, he owns a majority stake in Dole, the world's largest producer of fruits and vegetables, according to the article.

He has financed and built a huge research center, stocked with equipment that even the finest universities don't have. And many of the researchers are from some of those same universities.

All in the quest to live to 125. Murdock's diet is not one of those calorie restricting diets that seem to be helping lab rats to live another 30% longer...and I'm glad the rats in NYC aren't on any such diets. It's actually close to 1,800 calories a day. And it's practically mainstream, in that while it is a plant-based diet, it doesn't eschew protein. However, he does grind up the banana and orange peels, which evidently go into his smoothies.

Fine and dandy. While we know no one can be assured of living till any age, much less 125, my question is this:

If you were guaranteed, say, 87 or 95, would you eat like this guy?

Could you eat like this guy? Do you?

[abadoozy]

No way. I read that article, and frankly, living to 125 but not eating most of the things I love to eat (not to mention drink!) doesn't sound fun at all.

[Simon_S]

I don't want to be in either tail of the distribution.

[gfweb]

Gotta choose your parents right if you want to live to 100.

[weinoo]

Gotta choose your parents right if you want to live to 100.

No choice in that matter. And this guy's mom died when she was in her early 40's, so...

[Mjx]

Although I'm willing to take reasonable measures, and not eat like a fool, this doesn't attract me any more than Norman Walker's all raw veg. diet. Mind you, I tried that, and felt unbelievable, but all I could think about was the sort of food I wasn't eating... I could walk past a construction site at lunch time, and not really hear the pervy comments, because I was wondering whether any of them would part with one of their sandwiches (my experiment with raw foods lasted not quite a month, before I fell victim to a chocolate cake). I figure that my genetics make me likely to live well into my 80s or 90s anyway, which is pretty good innings.

[Shelby]

Hell, NO I wouldn't eat like that just to live to 125 years old. I'd completely lose the joy in my life if I couldn't drink red wine and eat homemade pasta.

Not to mention the fact that I don't want to see my boobs at age 125.

[Blether]

Ha ha, Shelby ! In this context, I don't think it makes sense to talk about diet without talking about exercise regime. Live long by eating alone ? Nah.

Then if you believe what's said about the present long-lived Japanese generation, the key is deprivation: so the best diet is "quite a bit less than you want".

[Jenni]

There are two problems with devoting yourself to a strict diet with the sole aim of living longer:

1. You could get hit by a bus tomorrow.

2. We all know someone in our family or a friend who is 93 years old, smokes like a chimney and eats nothing but bacon sandwiches.

So, eat that way if you enjoy it. But if you're only doing it to live longer...maybe it's time to reconsider.

[djyee100]

Does Murdock expect to keep his mental faculties for the long haul also? A friend and her husband are now caring for his parents, well into their 90s and living in a rest home. His parents were always very careful about diet and exercise. Their doctors say their physical health is excellent. The problem is, they have alzheimer's and don't recognize or remember anyone, including their own children. My friend said that observing her husband's parents has changed her mind. She said, "I'm not going to be so obsessive about what I eat anymore. What kind of life is it when you have no mind? I'm going to eat what I like, and I hope my family's cardiac gene takes me out in my 80's."

A tip of the hat to David Murdock, for his ambition. But that's not necessarily how the rest of us want to live, no matter how long.