RebuiltU #55 Aging Gracefully...Part 5: 100 years of wisdom

Rebuilt U: A show about unlearning

Would you like to be Healthy, Wealthy, Well respected, and Well loved? If that sounds like a life you’d like, then this email will have a profound impact on you and the people around you.

Can you imagine skiing down a mountain at 100 years old?

Here in Salt Lake there is a local gentlemen who is still skiing at 101. Would you want to be water skiing, climbing mountains, and lifting weights at 100 years old? It’s possible. First, we need to get you into a blue zone.

What’s that? A blue zone is a designation by Dan Buettner and his crew that studies populations with a high percentage of centenarians (people 100 years old).

The researchers found populations all over the world, then traveled there and studied the people, what they ate, how they lived, who their friends were, etc. They wrote a book about it if you want more. It’s called the Blue Zones.

In a strange twist of fate, when they launched their project to improve the health of the US, it was across the street from my office. That’s were I saw the pictures from his travels, and of healthy centenarians.

The presentation was a big media event. They had all the local news organizations and hospitals represented and speaking about their roles.

According to the CEO of Allina hospitals, the U.S. healthcare system costs 2.5 times more than any other country and we get to be #24 on the list of countries for longevity.

Basically our medical money is wasted. The nice thing is he recognizes the problem and wants to do something. They are looking to �focus upstream on wellness because according to the CEO, 60% of the resources are wasted in chronic diseases.

Here are some of my notes from the book BlueZones.

The 4 BlueZones are Loma Linda, California; Okinawa, Japan; Saldinia, Italy; Northwest corner of Costa Rica.

In Sardinia, the cheeses were very high in omega-3 fatty acids (decreases inflammation and pain) compared to our cheese which is higher in omega-6 fatty acids (pain, inflammation). Why? Because their animals are still grass-fed. Most of ours are grain fed. Products from grass-fed animals are healthier for you. They also drink wine regularly.

In Okinawa, they have a saying they say before every meal, kind of like our Grace. I couldn�t repeat the Japanese, but this was the rough translation. �Stop eating when your stomach is 80% full,� they say that before each meal. It takes 20 minutes before your stomach realizes what you have eaten, so the message here is...eat slowly. If you remember to stop at 80% you will consume about 400 calories less per day which = about 8lbs. a year.

Also, they have a social circle that is setup when they are 5 years old. Basically, given friends that they are expected to take care of for life. Dan had slides of a group of ladies that had been getting together regularly for 96 years. They all were 101.

They also have an �ikigei�. The rough translation is �why I wake up in the morning?� Their purpose. What is your purpose?

Off the cuff, he said the longest lived people sleep 7 hours a day.

In Loma Linda, they were only the 7th day Adventists. They took their diet from the bible.

Grains, seeds, nuts, green plants, no meat, and some fish. They had regular routines they followed and they focused on keeping the sabbath. They focused on God, family and going for nature walks together.

In Costa Rica, they had a special diet, very hard water, family focused, a light dinner, dry climate, strong social network, worked into older age and had a strong PURPOSE in life.

Dan Buettner summed up his findings for living to 100 and beyond in a few simple terms.

#1 Move naturally. They didn�t run marathons or any other extreme. They all lived in walkable communities.

#2 They had the right outlook. They had positive attitudes and lived a downshifted life. They either prayed everyday, or napped, or meditated.

#3 They didn’�t diet. They ate wisely. They also ate a lot of plants. They followed the 80% rule and ate slowly. This may surprise some of you. They had a few alcoholic drinks / night. Mostly wine.

#4 They put their family first. All of them. Grandparents on down.

#5 They had a strong sense of belonging. All but 5 of them believed in God. Being religious adds 4-7 extra years to your life.

#6 They hung out with the RIGHT people. Positive people like them. He noted that you are your peer group. Smokers tend to be with smokers. Overweight people cluster together or influence others in the group to gain weight.

There is a lot of wisdom in these few things. Read the book or just take and apply these few things.

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P.S. Bonus for you if you want a better life as you age. I’ve talked to a few patients about this and it fits well in to todays email. I was listening to an interview with Darren Hardy, publisher of success magazine, about who had the most impact on his life. Darren has interviewed the most successful people over the last 20 years for his magazine. Just Goggle him.

By pure happen stance, he learned of a centenarian who was very private, very wealthy, well respected, and well loved. He did not want to be in the magazine, but Darren interviewed him for his own personal knowledge. The interview is short but fascinating and here is what 100 years of wisdom has to say about success in anything you do.

#1 only a few things matter — to anything.

Find those few things, stick to them, then master them.