From The Economist - April 2016cience and technology
Earthquakes
Preparing for the Big One
LOS ANGELES, MASHIKI AND QUITO
Big earthquakes on either side of the world cause concern about budding protection
THE giant tectonic plates which make up Earth's outermost layer are always on the move, sliding past and colliding with each other. This creates plenty of seismic activity, especially in the area around the Pacific Ocean known as the "Ring of Fire", which accounts for some 90% of the world's earthquakes. On April 14th a magnitude 6.2 tremor shook Kumamoto prefecture on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu. Then, in the early hours of the morning on April 16th, a magnitude 7.0 quake struck the same area. On the same day, on the opposite side of the ring, a coastal region of Manabi and Esmeraldas provinces in Ecuador was shaken violently by a magnitude 7.8 quake - 15 times stronger in terms of the energy released than the second Japanese quake. In Japan more than 40 people died; in Ecuador the death toll is expected to exceed 525.
The greatest risk posed by earthquakes on land comes from buildings collapsing. Whether or not they fall down depends both on circumstance and on how they are built. This was evident in both disasters. In Ecuador, traditional homes made largely from bamboo withstood the quake better because of their flexibility. The more affluent, living in buildings made of concrete, were less lucky as walls, floors and roofs collapsed (as pictured above). In Mashiki, a town hard hit by the two Japanese earthquakes, dozens of traditional wooden homes collapsed, along with the community's Buddhist temple and Shinto shrine. But among them stands a more recent house that remains unscathed, rather like a gleaming tooth among otherwise rotten gums. Inside, recounts its relieved elderly owner, her cups and saucers were flung around but the house stood firm.
Last one standing
That solitary house underlines one of the most successful ways to protect against seismic activity. The most important part of Japan's approach remains its stringent building code, says Naoshi Hirata of the Earthquake Research Institute (ERI) at the University of Tokyo.
For decades Japan has tightened its construction codes-by now the world's strictest - and supported other innovations in quake-proofing construction methods. All buildings constructed after 1981 had to be sturdy enough to withstand collapse in an earthquake with an intensity of "upper 6" or higher on the scale used by the Japan Meteorological Agency (which measures shaking at individual points whereas magnitude measures the size of an earthquake). The regulations were strengthened again after the quake that hit Kobe in 1995, which had a magnitude of 6.8.
Those building regulations have sharply reduced both the rate of collapsed structures and the risk of fires spreading. When the March 2011 earthquake struck off the Pacific coast of Tohoku it was the ensuing tsunami that wrecked the coastal region, setting off a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power plant. Most newer buildings withstood the shaking, which was somewhat attenuated by the time the seismic waves reached land.
Ecuador introduced stricter seismic regulations of its own after the Haiti earthquake in 2010. But there are problems. Hugo Yepes, a geophysicist at the National Pofytechnical University in Quito, complains that builders and developers have been largely ignoring them and that local officials have effectively "legalised" informal new neighbourhoods without insisting on anti-seismic standards. When visiting the area, Rafael Correa, Ecuador's president, said building standards had to be applied with greater rigour to avoid a similar scale of destruction in the future.
Yet, as the scene in Mashiki shows, even the world's centre of excellence in earthquake technologies can still suffer a lot of damage. Around a fifth of buildings across Japan predate the stricter codes introduced in 1986. It was chiefly such buildings that collapsed in Kumamoto prefecture, many of them in the first quake.
The loss of life will inevitably direct attention towards the deadly consequences of a giant earthquake striking the Tokyo area. Another fearsome scenario is a shock from the Nankai Trough, a large offshore fault. A magnitude 9.1 earthquake and a resulting tsunami could kill 323,000 people in the very worst case scenario, Japanese government scientists said four years ago.
In the mid-1970s experts were also convinced that a large quake would hit part of the Nankai Trough in a region known as the Tokai area, stretching from Nagoya to Shizuoka. There, an elaborate system of seismographs and devices to measure minute swellings and shrinkage of local bedrock are still testament to a belief that reliable earthquake precursors can be found. Some experts even call for levels of wells to be monitored, since tectonic friction is thought to drain water from their depths.
Japan is not the only place to worry about a "Big One". In Los Angeles, computer simulations of a magnitude 7.8 quake on the southern end of the San Andreas Fault suggest the city centre there would shake for 55 seconds, causing some 2,000 deaths and 50,000 injuries. The Los Angeles blueprint for survival, announced in 2015, seeks to solve what is that city's greatest vulnerability: a lack of progress in reinforcing buildings. But determining who pays for the work is making just as little progress.
Quake watchers
Better building is not the only focus of activity. Japan has spent billions of yen in the Tokai region and elsewhere trying to forecast when and where quakes will hit, so as to be able to evacuate areas beforehand. The ERI, for example, forecast in early 2012 that a powerful earthquake had a 70% likelihood of striking under Tokyo within four years. (The Ecuadorean government is reportedly funding research by an "earthquake whisperer" who claims to be able to detect quakes at least three days in advance; there have been no published studies to support this remarkable feat.)
Many scientists are sceptical about the prediction business. All of Japan's recent big earthquakes have occurred in regions other than the Nankai Trough zone or under Tokyo, which are said to be at greatest risk according to the government's official models of earthquake-hazard areas. Government researchers' models missed the 2011 Tohoku earthquake despite the fact that quakes and accompanying tsunamis have frequently struck there in earlier centuries. The Japanese government's hazard map tends to lull people in supposedly lower-risk areas into a false sense of security, says Robert Geller, a professor of geoscience at the University of Tokyo.
The map assigned a relatively low probability to the likelihood of an earthquake on Kyushu. That may be one reason why the first nuclear plant in Japan to start operating since the very last one was shut down in 2013 following the 2011 disaster is located at Sendai in Kagoshima prefecture. This week the nuclear regulator declined to shut down that plant, which is nearly 100 miles away from the earthquakes' epicentre, despite calls from citizens' groups to do so. Yet if the system eventually succeeds in predicting just one big earthquake, argues Yukitoshi Fukahata of the disaster-prevention research institute of Kyoto University, the gain would be immense.
A well-functioning part of Japan's regime is its real-time warning system, which sounds after a quake occurs but before seismic waves arrive at more distant places. It can give seconds or even over a minute for people to react and it too has significantly improved since 2011, scientists say. In the recent quake it meant that the Kyushu railway company was able to stop or slow nine shinkansen high-speed trains just before the ground began shaking (only one empty train was derailed). The limitation of the system is that it gives little or no warning to those directly above an earthquake. At sea, much effort has also gone into building ISO new ocean-floor monitoring stations to detect tsunamis forming.
For now, a minute or so of warning is about the best anyone can expect in an earthquake zone. Designing buildings to be flexible enough to survive the violent side-to-side swaying that a tremor brings is therefore the priority - although, as Ecuador shows, the real difficulty is enforcing construction rules. Living on the Ring of Fire will remain a precarious business. ■
Music is a potent form of communication. It conveys emotion — oftentimes far more effectively than words alone. When you hear music, many areas of your brain light up, including your nucleus accumbens, a part of your brain that releases the feel-good chemical dopamine and is involved in forming expectations.
The amygdala, which is involved in the processing of emotion, and the prefrontal cortex, which makes abstract decision-making possible, are also activated.1 Certain hormones are also released. Oxytocin, for example, a bonding hormone released during interactions with loved ones, is released when singing together.2
Many evolutionary biologists believe music was fundamental in our ability to function as humans and hold together large communities of people, as music is capable of producing oxytocin, i.e., bonding and sharing emotions, on a massive scale. Over the past decade, researchers investigating treatments for dementia and Alzheimer’s have discovered the benefits of music as therapy. The 2014 documentary “Alive Inside” demonstrates the remarkable benefits music can have on patients with dementia.
Personalized Playlists Improve Behavior and Reduce Medication Use
To evaluate the effects of the kind of music therapy featured in “Alive Inside,” researchers implemented the “Music & Memory” program3in 98 nursing homes, and compared the results with 98 nursing homes without the program.4,5,6
Endpoints evaluated included the discontinuation of antipsychotic and/or anti-anxiety medication, reductions in disruptive behavior and improvement in mood. They found dementia patients who listened to music personalized to their tastes did in fact require less psychotropic medication to control their behavior. Over the course of six months:
Over 20 percent of patients receiving music therapy were able to discontinue their antipsychotic medication, compared to an average of 17.6 percent prior to the implementation of the program. In nursing homes without the music program, discontinuation rates remained stable
The proportion of residents with reduced dementia-related behavioral problems increased from 51 percent to 57 percent; behavior problems in the comparison group remained unchanged
“The individualized music program designed for nursing homes … didn’t improve mood problems, but patients who listened to music tailored to their tastes and memories did need less anti-anxiety and antipsychotic medication, researchers found.
‘Alzheimer's disease and related dementias can result in aggressive or other difficult behaviors, which affect people's lives and take a toll on their caregivers,’ said lead author Kali Thomas, an assistant professor at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. ‘We think that familiar music may have a calming or pleasurable effect and reduce the need for caregivers to use medications to control dementia behaviors’” …
A similar study called “Classical Connections,” commissioned by the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, is investigating the therapeutic benefits of live classical performances compared to recordings.8 Lead researcher Lori Sunshine, a music therapist, talks to the participants before and after each performance, and compares their reactions to recordings of the music.
Overall, it appears live performances have even greater benefits, in large part because of the social interaction that takes place. Interestingly, the benefits go far beyond mere improvements in mood and behavior. It appears music has the ability to actually trigger or reactivate memory, and even helps improve physical mobility.
How Music Helps Reignite Memory
Some of music’s benefits appear to be rooted in its familiarity. That is, a person’s favorite music, or songs they associate with important events, can trigger a memory of the song’s lyrics, the related event and even the feelings and experience of it. The reason for this is because music strongly activates brain regions involved in memory, such as the amygdala — in a sense unlocking memories surrounding or associated with that particular piece of music.
“It brings upon all four quadrants of the brain to be activated. So all the neurons are being stimulated. The brain is enlivened and more activated. So, you’re more inclined to hear a person who can’t remember something, remember something,” Sunshine explains.9
Music also activates your medial prefrontal cortex, a brain region behind your forehead thought to be selectively involved in the retrieval of both long- and short-term memories.10 This is one of the last brain areas to atrophy among Alzheimer’s patients, which helps explain how music can help reactivate memories even in patients with Alzheimer’s, which is the most severe form of dementia.
As noted by Petr Janata, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at University of California (UC) Davis’ Center for Mind and Brain, who has mapped brain activity of subjects as they listened to music:11
“What seems to happen is that a piece of familiar music serves as a soundtrack for a mental movie that starts playing in our head. It calls back memories of a particular person or place, and you might all of a sudden see that person’s face in your mind’s eye … Now we can see the association between those two things — the music and the memories.”
In the video below, the late Dr. Oliver Sacks, neurologist and author of “Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain,” explains how listening to familiar music may allow Alzheimer’s patients to access memories that have otherwise become inaccessible.
Regaining a Sense of Identity
The recollection of music can also help revive a dementia patient’s sense of identity, and help them reconnect with family members over shared memories. The success of the technique depends on nursing staff being able to figure out a patient’s musical preferences, which is why you may want to ask your aging relatives about their favorite songs now (or relay yours to your caregivers) just in case.
It’s also dependent on a person’s interest in music throughout life. You don’t have to be overly musical to appreciate music emotionally, as virtually everyone does, but as noted in the World Journal of Psychiatry:12
“[Music therapy] would not be appropriate for a person who did not have an appreciation for music prior to the onset of cognitive impairment. A positive correlation is expected between the degree of significance that music had in the person’s life prior to the onset of dementia and effectiveness of the intervention.”
Music and Your Brain
Another documentary illustrating the power of music and the success of the Music & Memory program for dementia patients is “Music on the Brain,” an ABC Catalyst production. As noted on Music & Memory’s website:13
“[M]usical favorites tap deep memories not lost to dementia and can bring participants back to life, enabling them to feel like themselves again, to converse, socialize and stay present … The results can be nothing short of miraculous.”
The goal of Music & Memory is to train care professionals on how to set up personalized playlists for dementia patients in their care, and there are hundreds of Music & Memory certified care organizations14 throughout the U.S. and Canada. If you would like to contribute to this cause, feel free to make a donation to Music & Memory.15 You can also donate your old iPods to the program.16 All Apple music players in working condition are accepted.
“Music on the Brain” also illustrates how music can be used for other neurological conditions that don’t involve dementia. In addition to activating areas involved in memory, music also activates brain regions that control movement — a finding that has led to music being used to help people with diseases like Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, stroke and other neurological disorders.
Emerging research suggests music may be an effective non-drug intervention for these conditions.17,18 People who ordinarily are unable to control their movements are suddenly able to follow the beat of a song and dance. The music seems to provide an external rhythm that bypasses the malfunctioning signals in the brain.
The Rise of Psycho-Acoustic Medicine
In all likelihood, you’re bound to hear more and more about psycho-acoustic medicine, a term describing the practice of using sound to affect physical and psychological health. As noted in a recent The Mind Unleashed article:19
“[T]he practices of using sound and frequencies to impact the physical and emotional health of the body has been used since the beginning of time. From Gregorian chants in churches, to the chanting of Tibetan monks, to Native American drumming, song and sound have been a catalyst in stimulating health and healing for the body and mind in all cultures.
The definition of psycho-acoustic medicine is the science of how music and sound impact the nervous system, psychologically and physiologically. Simply, how it is how sound impacts the mind and the body.”
In summary, sound frequencies are the internal communication system for your brain. Different frequencies activate different brain regions, thereby affecting neurotransmitters and hormones. When it comes to memory, by tapping areas of your brain linked to both emotions and memory, music can act as a back door to help you access past events that would otherwise be lost. As Music & Memory put it:
“Even for persons with severe dementia, music can tap deep emotional recall. For individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s, memory for things — names, places [and] facts — is compromised, but memories from our teenage years can be well-preserved. Favorite music or songs associated with important personal events can trigger memory of lyrics and the experience connected to the music.
Beloved music often calms chaotic brain activity and enables the listener to focus on the present moment and regain a connection to others. Persons with dementia, Parkinson’s and other diseases that damage brain chemistry also reconnect to the world and gain improved quality of life from listening to personal music favorites.”
If you’re a caregiver to someone with dementia, creating a personalized playlist for him or her is a simple way to help them reconnect with the outside world and feel like themselves again, even for a little while. On a larger scale, if you have a loved one in a nursing home, you may want to suggest they consider the use of individualized playlists for all of their residents. The Music & Memory organization can help.20
Other Strategies to Help Prevent Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease
It’s important to realize that dementia, including Alzheimer's, is largely a preventable disease, predicated on your lifestyle choices to enhance mitochondrial function. This is good news, as it puts the power into your hands. Diet is paramount, and the beauty of following my optimized nutrition plan is that it helps prevent and treat virtually all chronic degenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease.
Considering the lack of effective treatments, prevention really cannot be stressed strongly enough. The following suggestions can help protect your brain health well into old age:
Eat real food, ideally organic
Avoid processed foods of all kinds, as they contain a number of ingredients harmful to your brain, including refined sugar, processed fructose, grains (particularly gluten), vegetable oils, genetically engineered ingredients and pesticides like glyphosate (an herbicide thought to be worse than DDT, which has already been linked to the development of Alzheimer’s).
Ideally, you’ll want to keep your added sugar levels to a minimum and your total fructose below 25 grams per day, or as low as 15 grams per day if you already have insulin/leptin resistance or any related disorders. Opting for organic produce will help you avoid synthetic pesticides and herbicides.
Most will benefit from a gluten-free diet, as gluten makes your gut more permeable, which allows proteins to get into your bloodstream where they sensitize your immune system and promote inflammation and autoimmunity, both of which play a role in the development of Alzheimer’s.
Replace refined carbohydrates with healthy fats
Your brain does not need carbs and sugars; healthy fats such as saturated animal fats and animal-based omega-3 are far more critical for optimal brain function. Healthy fats to add to your diet include avocados, butter, organic pastured egg yolks, coconuts and coconut oil, grass fed meats and raw nuts such as pecans and macadamia.
Avoid all trans fats or hydrogenated fats that have been modified in such a way to extend their longevity on the grocery store shelf. This includes margarine, vegetable oils and various butter-like spreads. Contrary to popular belief, the ideal fuel for your brain is not glucose, but ketones. Ketones are what your body produces when it converts fatinto energy.
The medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) found in coconut oil and MCT oil are a great source of ketone bodies. Also make sure you're getting enough animal-based omega-3 fats. High intake of the omega-3 fats EPA and DHA help by preventing cell damage caused by Alzheimer's disease, thereby slowing down its progression and lowering your risk of developing the disorder.
Optimize your gut flora
To do this, avoid processed foods, antibiotics and antibacterial products, fluoridated and chlorinated water, and be sure to eat traditionally fermented and cultured foods, along with a high-quality probiotic if needed. Dr. Steven Gundry does an excellent job of expanding on this in his new book “The Plant Paradox.” I will be interviewing him later this year, but his innovative approach has great potential to help your health.
Intermittently fast
Intermittent fasting is a powerful tool to jump-start your body into remembering how to burn fat and repair the insulin/leptin resistance that is a primary contributing factor for Alzheimer’s.
Move regularly and consistently throughout the day
It's been suggested that exercise can trigger a change in the way the amyloid precursor protein is metabolized,21 thus, slowing down the onset and progression of Alzheimer's. Exercise also increases levels of the protein PGC-1 alpha. Research has shown that people with Alzheimer's have less PGC-1 alpha in their brains and cells that contain more of the protein produce less of the toxic amyloid protein associated with Alzheimer's.
Optimize your magnesium levels
Preliminary research strongly suggests a decrease in Alzheimer symptoms with increased levels of magnesium in the brain. Unfortunately, most magnesium supplements do not pass the blood brain levels, but a new one, magnesium threonate, appears to and holds some promise for the future for treating this condition and may be superior to other forms.
Get sensible sun exposure
Research shows people living in northern latitudes have higher rates of death from dementia and Alzheimer's than those living in sunnier areas, suggesting vitamin D and/or sun exposure are important factors.22
Sufficient vitamin D is imperative for proper functioning of your immune system to combat inflammation associated with Alzheimer's. If you are unable to get sufficient amounts of sun exposure, make sure to take daily supplemental vitamin D3 to make your blood level at least 40 to 60 ng/ml. This is typically about 8,000 units of vitamin D for most adults.
That said, it’s important to recognize that sun exposure is important for reasons unrelated to vitamin D. Your brain responds to the near-infrared light in sunlight in a process called photobiomodulation.
Research shows near-infrared stimulation of the brain boosts cognition and reduces symptoms of Alzheimer’s, including more advanced stages of the disease. Delivering near-infrared light to the compromised mitochondria synthesizes gene transcription factors that trigger cellular repair, and your brain is one of the most mitochondrial-dense organs in your body.
Avoid and eliminate mercury from your body
Dental amalgam fillings are one of the major sources of heavy metal toxicity; however, you should be healthy prior to having them removed. Once you have adjusted to following the diet described in my optimized nutrition plan, you can follow the mercury detox protocol and then find a biological dentist to have your amalgams removed.
Avoid and eliminate aluminum from your body
Common sources of aluminum include antiperspirants, nonstick cookware and vaccine adjuvants. For tips on how to detox aluminum, please see my article, “First Case Study to Show Direct Link between Alzheimer’s and Aluminum Toxicity.” There is some suggestion that certain mineral waters high in silicic acid may help your body eliminate aluminum.
Avoid flu vaccinations
Most flu vaccines contain both mercury and aluminum.
Avoid statins and anticholinergic drugs
Drugs that block acetylcholine, a nervous system neurotransmitter, have been shown to increase your risk of dementia. These drugs include certain nighttime pain relievers, antihistamines, sleep aids, certain antidepressants, medications to control incontinence and certain narcotic pain relievers.
Statin drugs are particularly problematic because they suppress the synthesis of cholesterol, deplete your brain of coenzyme Q10, vitamin K2 and neurotransmitter precursors, and prevent adequate delivery of essential fatty acids and fat-soluble antioxidants to your brain by inhibiting the production of the indispensable carrier biomolecule known as low-density lipoprotein.
Limit your exposure to non-native electromagnetic fields (cellphones, Wi-Fi routers and modems)
The primary pathology behind cellphone damage is not related specifically to brain tumors, or even to cancer. The real danger lies in damage from the reactive nitrogen species peroxynitrites.23 Increased peroxynitrites from cellphone exposure will damage your mitochondria, and your brain is the most mitochondrial-dense organ in your body.
Increased peroxynitrite generation has also been associated with increased levels of systemic inflammation by triggering cytokine storms, autonomic hormonal dysfunction and mitochondrial dysfunction.
Peroxynitrite is an unstable structural ion produced in your body after nitric oxide is exposed to superoxide, and this complex chemical process begins with exposure to low-frequency microwave radiation from your cellphone, Wi-Fi and cellphone towers.24,25
Challenge your mind daily
Mental stimulation, especially learning something new, such as learning to play an instrument or a new language, is associated with a decreased risk of dementia and Alzheimer's. Researchers suspect that mental challenge helps to build up your brain, making it less susceptible to the lesions associated with Alzheimer's disease.
At a time when half the population in the U.S. is struggling with chronic illness and life expectancy is on the decline, the idea of living to 100 may seem like a pipedream to most. Yet, in many other areas, life expectancy is actually rising, and centenarians are far more commonplace than you might imagine.
In 2015, there were 679 people at or over the age of 100 living in Wales. Sardinia, which boasts the highest number of centenarians anywhere in the world, has 6 centenarians for every 3,000 people. That is literally 10 times more than in the U.S., where the ratio is 1 centenarian per 5,000.1
In the featured BBC Health documentary, “How to Live to 100,” presenter Michela Chiappa investigates what it takes to make it to that ripe old age in a world struggling with more or less lethal health issues.
While you’d think most centenarians — people who have lived a century or longer — would advocate a certain diet, their longevity secrets typically center around social and emotional factors, such as expressing love, nurturing strong family and social ties, and being involved in your community. Centenarians also overwhelmingly cite stress as the most important thing to manage.
Centenarians Age Slower — But Why?
As previously noted by Israeli physician Dr. Nir Barzilai of the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine:2
“The usual recommendations for a healthy life — not smoking, not drinking, plenty of exercise, a well-balanced diet, keeping your weight down — they apply to us average people. But not to them. Centenarians are in a class of their own.”
The majority of centenarians do not feel their chronological age; on average, they report feeling 20 years younger. They also tend to have positive attitudes, optimism, a zest for life and a good sense of humor. As cheerfully noted by a centenarian in Sardinia, the secret to living to 100 is to “not die before then.”
Or as Doris, 105, says, “Living is easy — if you’re willing to do it. People [say] life is awful to live. I don’t think so. It’s what you make it. If you want to make it a good life, it’s up to you.” Could it be that personality characteristics and world views play a more significant role than genetics, diet or exercise? Based on years of data from studying centenarians, Barzilai reports that when analyzing the data from his particular pool of centenarians, at age 70:
37 percent were overweight; 8 percent were obese
37 percent were smokers (for an average of 31 years)
44 percent reported only moderate exercise and 20 percent never exercised at all
Despite this, centenarians as a population have lower rates of heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure. Depression and other psychiatric illnesses are almost nonexistent. Barzalai is quick to emphasize you should not disregard the importance of making healthy lifestyle choices (such as keeping your insulin level low). He explains:
“Today's changes in lifestyle do in fact contribute to whether someone dies at the age of 85 or before age 75. But in order to reach the age of 100, you need a special genetic makeup. These people age differently. Slower. They end up dying of the same diseases that we do — but 30 years later and usually quicker, without languishing for long periods."
Food Then, and Now
It’s well worth noting that our diet has undergone enormous changes just in the past 50 years or so. An individual celebrating their 100th birthday today was raised on a very different diet than a child born now, or even a few decades ago. I believe these differences are a major reason why people in their 30s and 40s are struggling to stay alive today while centenarians seem more or less impervious to health issues that plague the rest of us.
Public dietary guidelines, issued for the first time in the U.S. in 1980,3 have also done a great deal of harm by leading the entire population down the wrong path, diet-wise. The guidelines have even had international ramifications, as nations that don't have the resources and scientific expertise to duplicate the process simply model their own guidance after the U.S.
In 1965, Americans ate about 40 percent of their calories as carbohydrates, and another 40 percent of their calories came from fat.4The first edition guidelines issued in 1980 called for a diet lower in fat and higher in carbohydrates, and by 2010, Americans had brought their fat consumption below 35 percent, and increased carbohydrates to 55 to 65 percent. The advice to eat a carb-based diet low in saturated fats has been followed ever since, and the results have been devastating.
Skyrocketing obesity and type 2 diabetes rates are a direct result of following these recommendations, as are rising rates of heart disease. Today, overwhelming amounts of evidence show sugar, especially fructose, and hydrogenated vegetable oils are primary drivers of metabolic dysfunction and disease — the very ingredients we’ve been told to load up on for the past 37 years.
What Are You Eating, Really?
To that you also have to add the rise of genetically engineered (GE) food, which started with the Flavr Savr tomato in 1994.5 The first insecticide-producing crop was approved in 1995, followed by the first herbicide-resistant crops in 1996,6 after which pesticide use skyrocketed and health statistics took a nosedive.
In terms of diet, today’s centenarians have had a clear and distinct advantage. To put it bluntly, they were not raised on artificial crap. For the first 50 or 60 years of their life — the majority of a lifetime for most of us — they ate real food, and when it comes to creating a foundation for health, I can think of little that can compete with a whole food, unadulterated, non-GMO diet.
Perhaps this is why so few commonalities in terms of specific food choices can be found among centenarians. As noted in the documentary, most say they eat a bit of everything, including home-baked sweets and foods commonly shunned, like cheese and eggs (which are actually really healthy for you).
In Sardinia, which has the highest percentage of centenarians in the world, there are to this day no major grocery stores selling processed food and no takeout or fast food restaurants. Households grow their own fruits and vegetables, and food is always prepared fresh, from scratch.
This is what you would call a major clue. Another clue: The locale forces daily walking, and lots of it, up and down steep, sloping cobbled streets and hills. The Sardinian culture also favors socializing, which is another major, if not the most important, longevity factor.
What About Limiting Animal Protein?
Although the above video does not go into this, Dr. Steven Gundry’s new book, “The Plant Paradox,” has some compelling information about the value of limiting your animal protein intake to 2 to 3 ounces a few times a week to increase longevity. I believe this is solid advice and this is my typical strategy. I am convinced most of us eat far too much protein and it’s wise to replace most animal protein with safe fish like sardines and anchovies, and even then limit total protein to 30 to 60 grams depending on your lean body mass.
Gundry reviews how cattle, pigs and sheep all carry a sugar called Neu5Gc, which your immune system recognizes as foreign when you eat their meat. There is significant data suggesting that when your immune system is exposed to the foreign sugar molecule Neu5Gc from red meat, you develop an antibody to the lining of your own blood vessels, A radically reduced intake of animal protein could explain some of the longevity advantages.
An Active Life and Social Support — Keys to Longevity Gleaned From Centenarians
Failing to find any specific dietary influence (aside from the fact they’ve been eating real food for most of their life), what have researchers found when mining the minds of centenarians for clues to their longevity? In interviews and surveys with centenarians, including the ones interviewed in “How to Live to 100,” the following themes dominate: 7
Keeping a positive attitude and a sense of humor
Strong social network of family and friends
Exercising moderately but regularly (walking, biking, gardening and swimming, for example)
Clean living (such as not smoking or drinking excessively)
Living independently
Faith/spirituality/having a sense of purpose in life
Staying mentally active and always learning something new
An active lifestyle with (often hard) physical work and/or lots of walking
Indeed, the importance of social support, which most centenarians give credit to for their longevity, has been scientifically verified. As noted in the documentary, an American meta-analysis of published studies found strong social support is the No. 1 factor that determines longevity and survival. The influence of social support on mortality is so great, it surpasses the influence of weight and even eclipses the influence of smoking!
Rx for a Long Life: Joy
Happiness is another factor. Research confirms happy people live longer8,9 — about 35 percent longer, according to one study.10 So it’s no surprise that centenarians are a happy and optimistic lot. Positive thoughts and attitudes seem to somehow do things in your body that strengthen your immune system, boost positive emotions, decrease pain and provide stress relief.
In fact, it’s been scientifically shown that happiness can affect your genetic expression. A team of researchers at UCLA showed that people with a deep sense of happiness and well-being had lower levels of inflammatory gene expression and stronger antiviral and antibody responses.11
Indeed, while part of your longevity may depend on the DNA you were born with, an even larger part depends on epigenetics, over which you have a great deal of control. Your diet, physical activity, environmental exposures, thoughts and emotions all exert epigenetic influences every minute of the day, playing a central role in aging and disease.12
What Does Money Have to Do With It?
As noted by Chiappa, a common belief is that money has an influence on longevity. If you’re more affluent, you can afford to buy all the things that bring you health, right? Wrong. There’s not a shred of evidence to suggest this is true. On the contrary, living a “hard” life, meaning a life of physical activity, if not hard labor, preferably outdoors, is something most centenarians have in common.
Growing and/or eating fresh food, socializing with family and friends, appreciating life in general and cultivating a sense of purpose — a reason to get up every morning — are other commonalities that centenarians share, no matter where they live.
For many, the 21st century lifestyle is working against us, which means if you want to live to 100, you have to take proactive steps to not always take the easy way out, because “convenience” is largely what’s killing us — from processed foods that (presumably) cut our time in the kitchen to elevators that let us skip the stairs, to cars that transport us from point A to point B, even if the latter is mere minutes away, to social media that gives us the illusion of socializing while ignoring the person sitting right in front of us.
The tools to live to 100 are available to everyone, everywhere, and they’re really not complicated. But as Chiappa says, you have to implement them.
