If you want to experience longevity and live a long and healthy life, there are nine secrets to doing so. And whatever your age, whether you’re young, middle or elderly, or young at heart, if you take these nine secrets into account, you will have found the Fountain of Youth.
In today’s article, I will give you three of the secrets to longevity. In tomorrow’s article, I will give the next three secrets, and then I will conclude the series on the following day with the final three. So make sure you read them all, so that you can live long and prosper, as Mr. Spock always said.
The Secrets to Longevity
Secret #1: Be Active, But Move in Natural Ways
It’s not a matter of being an Olympic hopeful or competing in triathlons. You just need to move in ways natural to your body rhythms, and to make it part of your daily work routine. Gardening, hiking, walking and bicycling all fit into this, along with countless other movements that can be part of a daily routine.
Obviously exercise is important, but it should be done to accentuate flow. You need different types of exercise, and these should include aerobic, balancing, flexibility and muscle strengthening. Yoga and Pilates fit this bill, but these are not the only ones. Further down the road, in a future article, I’ll talk about the LDL (that’s short for Low Density Lifestyle) Flow series of movements, which combines everything you need effortlessly and seamlessly.
Secret #2: Eat Less
Longevity studies have shown that if people cut their caloric intake by 20% they will live longer. In Japan there is a saying that you should only eat till you’re 80% full. Furthermore, the Japanese believe that if you chew your food really well, about 50 times per mouthful, you will get full much quicker and will need to eat less.
Contrast that with most people, who keep eating even when they are full. Studies have shown that eating less causes less cellular damage in the body because there are less free radicals floating around. Another thing that eating less will do is cause you to lose weight, and having excess weight on your body will not allow you to live a long and prosperous life.
Secret #3: Right Diet
Eating the right diet is an important key to longevity. Patients and clients often tell me that they eat well, but I always find that to be a meaningless comment. Instead I ask them to tell me what their five favorite foods are, and that tells me much more, especially if they tell me ice cream, lasagna and frozen broccoli.
So what constitutes eating well? A diet that emphasizes plant foods, and contains no or only lean meats–and if meats are eaten, it should be only as a supplement, not as the main dish. Studies show that if you restrict meat intake, you live longer.
Furthermore, eating well also means eating few, if any, processed foods, including junk foods, sugars, and foods laden with preservatives and additives.
I’ll be back next time with the next three secrets to longevity and living a long and healthy life. See you then.