13-04 Holy Moly

When my grandkids see something interesting or special they say “cool”. But back in the 1950s we would say “holy moly”.
In this chapter I am describing some “holy moly” moments when I visited nations where its citizens are long-livers. These are some of the things that stood out for me that might account for their health and longevity.
You can only begin with Japan, which has the largest number of centenarians in the world and people who are the world’s longest livers. Great photo of Japanese seniors living an active life.
They certainly eat well with lots of fresh fish, vegetables and fruit. But the first thing I noticed is the combination of quality and small quantities in all their meals. I just never saw obese Japanese citizens. They are also great walkers.
And of course, they have a quality public health system.
The bulk of the nations that enjoy longevity all seem to be developed societies where people eat well and have access to excellent health care.
But it was of special interest visiting Spain and Italy, where they have what is called a Mediterranean diet. Olive oil instead of butter and lots of fresh fruit and vegetables.
You just don’t raise cattle in their hot summer weather and I am sure diets with less saturated fat is part of their longevity secret.
Then when I look at nations like France, Sweden and say Singapore, what can you say. The only magic bullets seem to be good diets and outstanding public health systems.
In Sweden they boast about their clean environment. And our guide took a glass and drank water from the Stockholm harbour. Not sure that helps you live longer. But it can’t hurt.
Hong Kong is another nation with longevity and the only thing I notice when I was there were people exercising in front of their apartment buildings and offices. I think they call it Tai Chi. So again, good food and exercise, works.
I love the fact that both Monaco and Luxemburg rank high on the longevity scale, but the only thing they seem to have in common is lots of billionaires. So, affluence must translate into healthy life-styles and good medical care. Unfortunately, I am too old to try to become a billionaire.
Interesting when travelling how you compare how people live to your lifestyle at home. In Canada and the United States people eat a lot of processed foods that are full of chemicals.
But in the high-ranking nations in terms of longevity you just do not see what we call junk food in their diets.
It was amusing to me that nations like Israel, Switzerland and Iceland have great longevity records essentially because their men live longer than those of other nations. Not sure how that works.
With tongue in cheek, I asked about this phenomenon during a visit to Israel. It is simple, my Israeli colleague replied. “We let our wives do the worrying.”
During a 2009 visit to Iceland, I took a special interest in how people lived and whether their longevity is about health care and diets or are there genetic factors. Ask an Icelander why they live so long, and most will say it is their Viking genes.
Anyways, Iceland is a great place to live if you can stand the cold weather. And they eat mainly fish. So, their diets must be a big part of their story. Although I did see ram’s “privatey-parts” on the menu of a restaurant. I passed on that item.
Not hard to sum up what I have learned over the years travelling to nations with a top longevity ranking. Eat fish rather than cows. Eat less rather than more. Live in a society with a public health system. And stay active as you age.
Picking parents that are long-livers also helps.