The secret of longevity Zhang Baotong 2016.8.21

Longevity is a goal that mankind has aspired to since history. Pen~Fun~Ge www.biquge.info Modern science tells us that the factors of longevity depend on genetics and lifestyle. Genetics are predestined and we can't change them, but we can control our lifestyle. So what are the lifestyles that can make us live longer? Let's follow the trajectory of centenarians to find the secret of longevity.

Recently, the secret of the longevity of a 120-year-old Indian monk has been widely reported in the news. Born on August 8, 1896, Sivananda, who lived for three centuries, told an AFP reporter after a brief stay in Calcutta and a two-hour yoga session, "The secret of my longevity is not to be close to women and to do yoga every day." Born in the holy city of Varanasi, this old man with a height of only 158 centimeters chose to become a monk because of his extreme poverty. When talking about his daily diet, he said, "I eat very simple, I only eat boiled food, no oil or spices, generally rice and green pepper pure beans. ”

He has applied for the Guinness Book of World Records. Currently, the Guinness World Record for longevity is recorded by Japanese man Jiro Kimura, who died in June 2013 at the age of 116 years and 54 days.

Sivananda's secret to longevity is "not to be close to women and to do yoga every day". There is no objection to doing yoga every day, but there may still be people who have different opinions if they are not close to women. China has always had a cultural warning of "a knife on the head of the color character". And the admonitions and historical stories of "color is like scraping bones and steel knives" and "indulging in women's sex, dying in sex" are also endless. There is even a famous saying about longevity in China: "If you don't smoke or drink, your wife will be ugly." Therefore, the longevity secret of the old man Sivananda's "not close to women" coincides with the traditional culture of longevity in China.

However, the longevity of Western culture is the opposite of "feminine". They believe that proper sex is precisely what is necessary for a long life. A new study in Australia shows that if a man has sex every day in the week leading up to ovulation, it can improve sperm quality and increase the pregnancy rate of his wife. British scientists followed 1,000 men for 10 years and found that men who had sex twice or more a week were 50% less likely to die early than those who had sex only once a month or less. In particular, those who have a high frequency of sexual intercourse are half as likely to develop coronary artery disease, such as stroke and cerebral thrombosis, than those who are sexually deprived. Moreover, they also say that "marrying a wife who is more than 15 years younger" will greatly increase a man's life expectancy.

This is obviously a theory and result that is contrary to our traditional way of longevity. In fact, due to the differences in race, climate, food, and customs in the longevity regions of each country, some longevity paths are even the opposite of our mainstream and traditional health paths.

For example, the Indian monk Sivananda only eats boiled food, without oil and spices. Jiro Kimura of Japan also maintained a light diet throughout his life. Moreover, studies have shown that the digestive function of the human body will gradually decline with age, and high-oil and high-fat foods are often difficult to digest, which is easy to cause "three highs", which is not conducive to longevity. However, in the special report of "China's Hometown of Longevity" on the Central Channel 4, I saw a 100-year-old woman from Zhejiang, who had to eat big fat pork stewed in white sugar every day and even every meal, and she ate a lot of food at every meal. This is yet another example of a healthy diet that is contrary to the mainstream of the general public.

We all know that it is not good to eat too much pickled vegetables and smoked fish and bacon. However, some centenarians have eaten pickled vegetables and smoked fish and bacon all their lives, and not only did they not get any diseases, but they also lived for more than 100 years. How can this be explained? Smoking and drinking are short-lived and harmful. But centenarians are not without smokers and drinkers. So why do some centenarians live a long life that is contrary to our current scientific research?

In order to clarify this question, I will now give a brief introduction to the longevity of the ten old people who have lived the longest:

Yana Calmante, 122 years old, France

Olive oil + wine + humor

Christian Mortensen, 115, USA

More friends + more water + singing

Mary Louis Manier, 117, Canada

A lifetime of hard work

Sarah Rouse, 119, United States

Less worry + less anger + calm

Edna Parker, 115, USA

Diligent and studious + healthy lifestyle

Jiro Kimura, 116, Japan

Maintain a light diet throughout your life

Bernice Madigan, 115, USA

Optimism + drink a spoonful of honey every day

Suzanne Marchat Jones, 115, USA

Non-smoking + likes to sleep

Gertrude Weaver S., 116, United States

Kind attitude + kindness to others

Misao Okawa, 117 years old, Japan

Eat fish every day + sleep 8 hours a night

We can even give 100 or even 1,000 such examples. However, I think everyone is different. Just as each of us and the other will never be exactly the same in terms of appearance and personality. However, we don't mean that we can't have uniform standards because there are thousands of people. In fact, the "Chinese Dietary Standards" and the physical and mental health standards formulated by various authoritative organizations at home and abroad are all things that we should learn from and follow.

According to the 2016 World Health Organization health report, the average life expectancy of the global population is 71 years, of which 73 years for women and 68 years for men. The average life expectancy of the Chinese population is 74 years for men and 77 years for women. The highest average life expectancy is in Shanghai, where the average life expectancy is 80.2 years for men and 85.2 years for women. And Japan has the longest life expectancy in the world. Life expectancy is the first for women and fifth for men. Japan's health care system is the envy of people all over the world. The Japanese spend half as much on health care as the Americans, but they live longer.

There are two important reasons for why the Japanese live so long? 1. All elementary and junior high school students must drink a glass of milk every day. As a result of this regulation, the height of the Japanese has increased year by year, and now they have surpassed the Chinese. 2. Pay attention to the will and physical training of children and adolescents, that is, strengthen physical exercise and enhance psychological endurance.

Perhaps it is God's favor for women, who live on average four years longer than men. There is not much difference between the genes of men and women, but male hormones are more likely to cause stroke, arteriosclerosis, hyperlipidemia and other diseases due to their explosive power and easy excitability. This is a big reason why men don't live as long as women.

However, there is a man in Chinese history who lived to be 256 years old. This person named Li Qingyun was born in 1677 and died in 1933, living for 256 years. He has married 24 wives in his life and has many children and grandchildren. He believes that there are three reasons for his health and longevity: one is to be a long-term vegetarian, the second is to maintain a calm heart and a cheerful temperament, and the third is to boil wolfberry water as tea all year round. Li Qingyun once said: The heart is as calm as water, sitting like a turtle, walking like a wild pigeon, and sleeping like a dog. This is the health quote he told to the warlord Wu Peifu during the Republic of China.

Every centenarian has his or her own unique habits, some of which we can learn from, and some that we cannot emulate. As I explained in my novel "The Divine Doctor", everyone should establish a healthy and reasonable disease prevention system, health care measures and lifestyle according to their actual situation, and take this system, measure and way as an indispensable daily habit or a necessary practice. In this way, our quality of life and physical and mental health will be guaranteed as they should be. There is a saying, "A high job is not as good as a high salary, a high salary is not as good as a high life, and a high life is not as good as happiness". And quality of life and physical and mental health are the source of our longevity and happiness.