USA currently has an average life expectancy of 77 years of age. However this does not equate to a high quality of life for american senior citizens. It is in fact one of the poorest in the world.
There are many reasons for this weird anomaly considering all of the resources and technological advances we have in the west.
There are many other cultures who actually live a lot longer but also have far better quality of lives and today I am going to discuss all the positive things we can take from these cultures.
The culture’s with the longest life expectancies enjoying a high quality of life are:
Some accounts state 90+ years of age for these 4 super longevity cultures:
• Andorra—the mountainous region between France and Spain
• Vilcamba Valley—the Andes mountains in Ecuador
• Himalayas—the Hunzas in Pakistan.
• Abkhasians and Georgians live in a mountainous region near the Black Sea in Russia
Here are several others enjoying long and happy lives:
• Macau in Southern China 82.1
• Japan 82.7 – a region called Okinawa is famous for having the longest life expectancy in the world
• Singapore 81.6
• San Marino, a nation state in Italy – 83.2
• Hong Kong 81
• Australia – 81.5
• Switzerland – 82.2
• Sweden 81.4
These cultures do have some things in common regarding their diet and lifestyles:
Variety Of Foods
Long living cultures tend to eat a wide range of foods everyday. Japan recommends eating 30 different varieties of food daily. Macau and Singapore have some of the worlds largest ports providing a richly diverse range of cuisine from around the world.
There are over 80,000 different edible species of plant foods identified worldwide. Out of this only 3000 have been used commonly thoughout our human history. Interestingly only 3 out of this 3000 are cultivated on a mass scale – corn, soy and wheat and these account for over 60% of the worlds food supply.
These foods are also mass produced, cross bred for durability, processed and refined making food allergies a major problem worldwide.
Gluten intolerance is one example of this happening. Wheat has been cross bred so many times that the gluten has become almost indigestible by everyone. IBS, IBD, celiac disease and many other digestive problems have risen dramatically over the years.
Humans were never supposed to eat such a small range of foods and doing so has affected not just our own health but also the environment due to mass farming of a small range of crops.
Plant Based Foods
In the West we consume a lot of plant based foods but unfortunately due to over farming the soil quality can be low and so the nutrient content can be low too. Also mass farming requires more pesticides and chemicals, and even worse there is a big emergence of genetically modified crops where the long term safety of consumption is questionable. Long-living people eat natural, organic foods that are free from pesticides and herbicides and definitely not modified by scientists in a lab!
In the West we tend to consume processed and refined grain products that are high in calories and low in nutrition. In Japan, noodles tend to be made from nutritious buckwheat and cultures like the Hunza’s have nutrient rich grasses in their diet. Pulses, sprouted and fermented grains that provide high nutrition and are easy to digest are part of these long living cultures diets.
Long living cultures have fish as a common staple part of their diets. They would also eat mainly wild caught fish, not farmed like we do in the West.
Animal Protein & Fats
There is a wide misconception that living long means avoiding non veg foods. The longest living cultures in the world infact eat a large quantity of plant based foods but also animal products such as meats, cheeses, yogurts and dairy are staple parts of their diets. The animals on the other hand are grass fed, live freely not in battery farms and are well respected and cared for.
In the West we have another misconception that animal fat is bad. This is actually very wrong. The Japanese actually ordered their citizens to consume more animal fat, after they realised that a low fat diet led to more strokes and heart disease!
The bad fats that causes problems are actually the manufactured fats from margarine, processed butter, and heavily processed foods that are deep fried in low quality highly processed vegetable oils.
Fermented dairy products such as Kefir that is rich in probiotics are a staple part of the northern Cacaus cultures. Dairy products consumed by the long living cultures are also not pasteurized or processed in anyway like we do in the West.
The longevity masters all have fermented products rich in probiotics in common. Pulsed grains, fermented drinks, fish sauces, yogurt, pickled vegetables or cured meat provide a regular source of probiotics. In the West however we consume many things that kill our natural flora of good bacteria such as antibiotics, sweets, fizzy drinks and processed foods. The new emergence of probiotic containing foods in the West is also misleading because many of these heavily marketed products are high in additives and sugar that cause more harm than good!
Tea is also another universal part of traditional diets. Herbal tonics using fresh organic ingredients can be rich in health protecting antioxidants. In the West however we tend to consume high caffeine drinks with generous helpings of refined sugar instead!
Meditation + Regular exercise
Meditative practices such as prayer and rituals are common amongst all the longest living cultures. They also enjoy an active lifestyle right through to old age where regular exercise is a natural daily habit for them. They also have very close family bonds and strong social interactions. In the West it is not uncommon for kids to sit in front of their play stations all day, and their parents to be divorced and never utter a single word to their neighbors!
Action Steps We Can Learn From These Cultures
1. Try to source locally grown crops and foods from your local farmers that is organic and free from pesticides.
2. Try to grow your own food in your gardens if this is possible.
3. Eat a rainbow diet that contains foods and vegetables that make up all the colors of the rainbow. Longevity expert Bo Rinaldi is famous for his rainbow salad recipe that provides a large variety of antioxidants essential for great long term health.
4. Remove refined grains from your diet, especially wheat where possible. Quinoa and buckwheat are good alternatives.
5. Try to consume more probiotic rich foods and drink such as Kefir. If this is not possible, a high potency probiotic supplement will do.
6. Switch from daily coffee to green tea, or a variety of herbal teas that is without added sugar of course!
7. Try to do regular exercise daily, such as walking, dancing or even swimming. Even just 15 minutes a day will make a big difference.
8. Spend more time having fun! Playing with your grandkids, children or just simply talking or planning fun things with your loved ones, friends or neighbors more of the time.
9. Try to make meditation a regular part of your lifestyle. Just simply letting your thoughts go and letting your mind clear the clutter does wonders for your health and wellbeing!
The Alpha Mind System is a powerful system that will help you to learn how to meditate deeply and also is packed with many simple lifestyle improvements you can make that may help extend your life and make it richer and more interesting too.
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