The first time I heard Leonard Nimoy say the words in the title of this post I thought it was someone trying to sell me long-term care insurance or a condo in Florida. No I guess that was Captain Kirk, and it was hotel rooms in Baja rather than condos.
Anyway I guess living long and prospering is something we'd all like to do. I don't worry too much about prospering but I've been thinking a lot lately of lifespans, the things people do to try to lengthen them and the things to which long-lived people attribute their longevity.
Maybe it's because I whined at my wife a few days ago about leaving the upstairs bathroom window open when it got down to nearly forty degrees that night. She said that her dad always keeps the window open at night and he claims the fresh air is one of the things that has helped him make it into his nineties. To strengthen her argument she pointed out that the next-door neighbors always have their bedroom window open, even if it snows. I have to admit that that's true, but they're usually out only when it's dark and probably aren't even in the room when it gets that cold in the middle of the night. I think they're vampires or something. Judging by the contents of their recycle bin on trash pickup day they drink a lot of red wine and I've heard that's a sign. Besides, they're younger than we are. So I'm not buying the fresh air – longevity connection.
The things that people assert have made them live longer than average or that some proclaim will make you live longer are sometimes pretty bizarre. I read an article about a 72-year-old Japanese broadcaster , Shiro Suzuki, who loves the game, Resident Evil, and believes it is responsible for his lifespan which, frankly, doesn't seem all that long to me. I read another article that claimed that rich people live longer. That one I can believe. At least, I think that those with more money than average can probably have the best medical support and that seems as though it would make you live longer. As soon as I think about that, though, several celebrities and other rich people who died young come to mind. I guess Steve Jobs is the latest example. So maybe that “rich live longer” thing doesn't pan out either.
A lot of people assert that your diet is what makes the difference. I guess that's sort of a “you are as old as what you eat” philosophy. I kind of like this article from Scientific American that is just one of many that claim positive results for drinking alcohol. Of course most folks aren't content just to drink in order to prolong their lives. Other food groups play a part in this too. In some cultures this emphasis on eating right in order to achieve happiness and long life starts out with the first meal of the new year. At least that's what I got from this article from the west side of the Pacific. I'm not sure that works here on the gulf coast though. Quite a few people on this side of the pond seem to follow diets like the Mediterranean diet or the South Beach diet or whatever, and some of them adamantly oppose anything that doesn't fit their dietary convictions, as this Sydney Morning Herald story about Loma Linda, California demonstrates. Interesting that the decision of a relatively small town in the US could become international news, but that just shows you how much faith people put in diets as a vehicle to make them live long. I have older relatives that get these ideas about nutrition from articles in the paper or wherever and then make dietary changes based on them without ever trying to determine if they are true or not. So my wife and I hear “I never eat beef” or “I never eat anything from outside the US” or “I have shrimp and grits for breakfast everyday” and the folks that tell us that are sure that that is what has made them live so long. I'm not buying it.
There is no dearth of studies that claim to provide the answer on how to live long and prosper. This story in the LA Times which starts out talking about Betty White lays out the findings of a study that has been underway since 1921. A slightly different set of guidelines can be found in this article about a group that has divided the world into sort of longevity zones. I guess if you don't live in any of those places then you better start whipping through that bucket list right now.
I'm not an authority on aging, gracefully or otherwise. I'm just someone who realizes that there has been a lot more road pass under the tires than there is left to travel; but I kind of like the viewpoint of the 104-year-old woman interviewed for this article. Her parents both died in their sixties so she discounts the “it's all in the genes” theory of long life and, when it comes to the “I never drank, smoked or chewed” theory her response is that she did it all. She never followed any particular diet but just ate “plain food” and didn't take any more medicines than she absolutely had to.
That fits in real well with what I have always suspected and have mentioned more than once in this blog: It all boils down to balance. I'm surely no expert but I think if a person gets a reasonable amount of exercise, eats a balanced diet and keeps his mind occupied that's about all he can do to live a long and happy life; and I suspect that if you make it into your nineties you don't even care about prospering. Well, that's my two cents worth anyway.
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