“A body in motion remains in motion, while a body at rest, rest in peace.”

“You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old”– George Burns

ACTIVE LIVING

According to the Danish Twin Study, about 10% of people’s longevity is determined by genetics. The other 90% is a combination of nutrition, environment, social activity, and physical activity.
Physical activity plays a vital role, not only on longevity but in aging actively. The story by Dan Buettner, “The island where people forget to die” illustrates the lifestyle of the people in Icaria, Greece, where life expectancy is over 11 years more than in the USA. A very low-stress living, proper nutrition, strong social connections, and physical activity seem to be the magic recipe for such achievement. 

THE ANTI-AGING MYTH

Nowadays, we find a commercial for anything. Aging is quite the topic to make money, from anti-aging therapies to age-reversing pills; unfortunately, none of those claims is true, or even eventually achievable. The more years we live, the more things will happen to our bodies: if we deprive the brain of oxygen for just a few seconds, some brain cells will die, to never come back, if we spar too hard, we can tear a muscle that, despite being repaired, it won’t be new again. Every single minute, every cell in our body deteriorates a little, simply because that is what the body is designed to do… born, grow, reproduce, age, and die.

THE REGENERATION PROCESS

It is a fact that many cells in our body regenerate after a particular time. They all get replaced with a new cell, but each one at a different pace. Bone cells get replaced every ten years, while it takes fifteen years for the muscle cells, and never happens to the brain cells. But here is the catch: they are not replaced with a “brand new cell”, but instead a slightly defective copy of the previous one.

People over 30 may remember making a cassette copy of their favorite playlist, then a copy of that copy, and so on…after a few copies, the product was practically useless.
That is pretty much what happens to our body; we start making copies of the cells until the cells are not useful anymore. The quality of the new copy depends, to some degree, of the quality of life we live.

THE DREAM OF RETIREMENT

A significant number of people talk about retiring and being away from everyone. They dream of being able to do whatever they please with their time. Possibly, there is a slight discrepancy between what people dream and what would make them happy, allowing them to live longer. Some elements places with high longevity rates, like Okinawa, Sardinia, Nicoya, Loma Linda, and Icaria, have in common are strong social bonds, regular physical activity, a purpose in life (or “a reason to get up and live.”)
In some instances, people need to get up to do any activity with their friends, from gardening to playing dominoes.

A MAN WITH A PURPOSE

There is an interesting story about a gentleman named Ellsworth Whareham. When he was 97 years old, with good health and vast wealth, he asked for an estimate to build a fence. It came down to $6000, and he replied: “For that kind of money I’ll do it myself.” So, he worked his way around concrete and poles, to finish his fence in three days… on the fourth day, he was on the operating table…performing open-heart surgery on a patient.
His purpose in life is saving lives. 

QUALITY ABOVE QUANTITY

Whenever we talk about longevity, it’s easy to conclude that it’s not about adding years to our lives, but rather adding life to our years. Those with a purpose in life, eating a healthy diet, low-stress routine, and regular physical activity, tend to live much longer than their counterparts who deal with a busy and stressful lifestyle, with no time for social life, eating healthy, or a walk in the park.

AN INADVERTENT GUINEA PIG

I rescued Pinky when she was 7 months old. Since then, she has been playing frisbee every single sunny day, for at least 20 minutes, despite the temperature.
At 14 years old, most dogs are already slowing down, having a hard time walking, and unable to run or jump.
This video is proof of what consistent physical activity can do, even for an “old dog.”

If it works for Pinky, it will also work for you.