A Short Guide to a Long Life

[st.cronin]

Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever

I have read most of Kurzweil/Grossman's book Fantastic Voyage, which claims that somebody of my age should, with proper maintenance, live long enough to enjoy medical miracles that will prolong life indefinitely. The implications of this are interesting but not the subject of this thread. This will instead be a hopefully long-lived journal of my efforts to investigate and take up as many of their suggestions as possible.

We start with a self-assesment, using a template from the book:

5'7", 170 lbs. Body fat is, at a guess, 20%. It may be lower, I'd be surprised if it were much higher. I'll see if I can get that measured at my next doctor's visit (Dec 17). My diet is not terrible, but neither is it at all deliberate, and is actually pretty erratic. I eat pretty much what I like when I like. Sometimes I eat a lot of junk food, sometimes I eat very healthy, but it is based more on whim than any sense of what's good for me. I drink a lot of coffee, I enjoy the occasional alcoholic beverage. I don't eat a lot of red meat. I eat a lot of vegetables, a lot of bread, a lot of sweets, some fruits. I don't think I even really understand what a proper diet would be like for me right now.

I do not have a regular exercise program. I do the occasional walk around the neighborhood with my dog, and it seems like there are always household chores that require some physical effort, but I have not had a planned exercise regime since I was in the service.

I have a fairly low-stress life, but I also have a low tolerance for stress. I have a very easy job, my relationship with my girlfriend has its ups and downs (currently mostly ups). I am not close to my family and I do not have a lot of friends. I have in the past dabbled in meditation, with uncertain results. One area which I am particularly bad at is sleep - I do not sleep properly (although there has been some improvement with some medication recently).

I use my brain often, and in a variety of ways.

I do not know much about toxins.

My blood pressure is on the high side of normal (122/76...116/81...114/86 are the last three readings). Resting pulse rate is also on the high side of normal.

I have not had any other generic medical tests.

First step: Ditch coffee, replace it with green tea. This is accomplished as of three days ago. I am also resolving to vastly reduce the amount of sugar I consume.

[st.cronin]

From Chapter 4:

- Avoid soft drinks and other acidic drinks, particularly colas (which have an extremely acidic pH of 2.5).

Done. I don't drink cola.

- Replace coffee, which is also quite acidic, with less acidic beverages such as tea (particularly green tea).

Done.

- Drink one-half fluid ounce per pound of body weight of alkaline water (pH between 9.5 and 10) each day. A 140-pound person should drink about nine 8-ounce cups per day.

I don't drink this much water. At 170 lbs, I should drink 85 ozs of alkaline water. This is something to investigate.

- In general, unfiltered tap water should not be drunk. Filtered tap water or ideally filtered, alkalinized water should be drunk instead.
Purified alkaline water can be produced from tap water by using an alkalinizing water machine (see recommended products listing).

I use a Brita filter to get my water. Will investigate the alkalinizer.

[st.cronin]

Over one week of coffee-free, soda-free living. I have also replaced sugar with stevia, and begun adding vitamin supplements to my diet.

I'm trying to figure out the ideal diet in terms of overall calories, carbohydrate and fat levels.

[Lorena]

Very cool, good luck with it cronin.

[st.cronin]

Here's what Ray/Terry recommend for me for daily supplements:

Vitamin A (IU)		5,000	
Vitamin D (IU)		600-2,000
Vitamin E (IU)		400-800
Vitamin K (mcg)		90-120		
B1 (Thiamine) (mg)	10-200		
B2 (Riboflavin (mg)	10-100	
B3 (Niacin) (mg)	20-100		
B6 (Pyridoxine) (mg)	50-100		
B12 (Cobalamin (mcg)	10-25		
Folic Acid (mcg)	400-800		
Vitamin C (mg)		500-2,000	
Calcium	 (mg)		1,000-1,200
Magnesium (mg)		400-600		
Iron (mg)		0
Zinc (mg)		15-30		
Copper (mg)		0.5-4		
Selenium (mcg)		100-250		
Manganese (mg)		2-5
Chromium		120-200	

Coenzyme Q10		30-100 mg 2/day
Grapeseed extract	50-100 mg 2/day
Alpha lipoic acid	50-100 mg 2/day
Carnosine		250-500 mg 2-3/day
Resveratrol		200 mg 2/day

Lutein (eye health)	6 mg	
I3C (prostate cancer)	200 mg
Lycopene (prostate)	10-30 mg
Saw palmetto (prostate)	320 mg	
Garlic ext. (heart/bp)	1,600 mg			
Arginine (heart/bp)	6,000-9,000 mg
Vinpocetine (memory)	10-20 mg
Ginko biloba (memory)	80-120 mg 2/day	

[st.cronin]

I'm not bothering to count calories or anything like that, but I've been making sure I eat at least two pieces of fresh fruit a day - tangerines, oranges, apples, or bananas. Also I am eating at least one salad a day.

I hope to keep this up through the holidays and beyond, when my life settles into a more predictable routine.

Also when grocery shopping, I am making it a habit to read the ingredients.

[st.cronin]

From wikipedia:

Stevia is a genus of about 240 species of herbs and shrubs in the sunflower family (Asteraceae), native to subtropical and tropical South America and Central America. The species Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, commonly known as sweetleaf, sweet leaf, sugarleaf, or simply stevia, is widely grown for its sweet leaves. As a sugar substitute, stevia's taste has a slower onset and longer duration than that of sugar, although some of its extracts may have a bitter or licorice-like aftertaste at high concentrations.

With its extracts having up to 300 times the sweetness of sugar, stevia has garnered attention with the rise in demand for low-carbohydrate, low-sugar food alternatives. Stevia also has shown promise in medical research for treating such conditions as obesity[1] and high blood pressure.[2][3] Stevia has a negligible effect on blood glucose, even enhancing glucose tolerance;[4] therefore, it is attractive as a natural sweetener to diabetics and others on carbohydrate-controlled diets.[5] However, health and political controversies have limited stevia's availability in many countries; for example, the United States banned it in the early 1990s unless labeled as a supplement. Stevia is widely used as a sweetener in Japan, and it is now available in the US and Canada as a dietary supplement, although not as a food additive.

$5.99 for a box of 100 packets at Trader Joe's.

[Lorena]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

Also when grocery shopping, I am making it a habit to read the ingredients.

Ahh that's good. Is there anything in particular you're avoiding?

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

Here's what Ray/Terry recommend for me for daily supplements:

Vitamin A (IU)        5,000    
Vitamin D (IU)        600-2,000
Vitamin E (IU)        400-800
Vitamin K (mcg)        90-120        
B1 (Thiamine) (mg)    10-200        
B2 (Riboflavin (mg)    10-100    
B3 (Niacin) (mg)    20-100        
B6 (Pyridoxine) (mg)    50-100        
B12 (Cobalamin (mcg)    10-25        
Folic Acid (mcg)    400-800        
Vitamin C (mg)        500-2,000    
Calcium     (mg)        1,000-1,200
Magnesium (mg)        400-600        
Iron (mg)        0
Zinc (mg)        15-30        
Copper (mg)        0.5-4        
Selenium (mcg)        100-250        
Manganese (mg)        2-5
Chromium        120-200    
 
Coenzyme Q10        30-100 mg 2/day
Grapeseed extract    50-100 mg 2/day
Alpha lipoic acid    50-100 mg 2/day
Carnosine        250-500 mg 2-3/day
Resveratrol        200 mg 2/day
 
Lutein (eye health)    6 mg    
I3C (prostate cancer)    200 mg
Lycopene (prostate)    10-30 mg
Saw palmetto (prostate)    320 mg    
Garlic ext. (heart/bp)    1,600 mg            
Arginine (heart/bp)    6,000-9,000 mg
Vinpocetine (memory)    10-20 mg
Ginko biloba (memory)    80-120 mg 2/day    

just curious what this is based on. Is it a general regimen or based on age, weight or fitness level?

[st.cronin]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

just curious what this is based on. Is it a general regimen or based on age, weight or fitness level?

Its based on gender and age, and risk factors.

[st.cronin]

Originally Posted by Lorena

Ahh that's good. Is there anything in particular you're avoiding?

Sugar, mainly.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

First step: Ditch coffee, replace it with green tea. This is accomplished as of three days ago. I am also resolving to vastly reduce the amount of sugar I consume.

I fail at Step One.

Good read so far, st.cronin - good luck!