Sally Beare - 50 Secrets of the Worlds Longest Living People

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Copyright 2003 The Live Longer Diet by Sally Beare

Copyright 2006 by Sally Beare

Originally published in the United Kingdom as The Live Longer Diet by Piatkus Books in 2003. This is a revised, expanded edition and published by arrangement.

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ISBN: 978-0-78673-760-4

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Note: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. This book is intended only as an informative guide for those wishing to know more about health issues. In no way is this book intended to replace, countermand, or conflict with the advice given to you by your own physician. The ultimate decision concerning care should be made between you and your doctor. We strongly recommend you follow his or her advice. Information in this book is general and is offered with no guarantees on the part of the authors or Da Capo Press. The authors and publisher disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book. The names and identifying details of people associated with events described in this book have been changed. Any similarity to actual persons is coincidental.

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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

For my parents, for everything they have done for me and for eating their greens

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK

F ive years ago I was sitting chatting in the back of my friends car as she negotiated a tight parking spot. Glancing in the rear view mirror, she commented on the whiteness of my tongue. It was truemy tongue had been growing an increasingly thick white coating over the last two years or so, and, as three different G.P.s had been unable to offer any advice other than to take some aspirin and come back when I had a more concrete illness, I had started talking out of the corner of my mouth in public.

After the parallel parking incident, I knew it was time to do something. My friend suggested that I visit a nutritionist, and I duly made an appointment. The woman who opened the door to me radiated vibrant good health, energy, and mental well-being. She bounded up the stairs before me, and as she massaged my foot I explained to her that not only did I have this unpleasant fur on my tongue, but I also sneezed about twenty times a day; I had a pain somewhere down near my appendix; I frequently had a bloated, uncomfortable stomach; as soon as I was over one cold, I seemed to catch another; and I felt so lethargic it was often hard to get out of bed in the morning.

The nutritionist told me that all of my symptoms were related to a malfunctioning digestive system, and said that I needed to radically overhaul my diet, which was based mainly on pasta, sandwiches, wine, and inadequately sized salads. She didnt tell me what I couldnt eatshe just gave me a list of what I could eat, which included all kinds of delicious fruits and vegetables that I didnt normally bother with (avocados, asparagus, fennel, and papaya, for example), legumes, and wheat-free whole grains. I set off for the supermarket with my mouth watering.

Within a couple of months, I was bouncing out of bed in the mornings, the pains had gone, the sneezing had stopped, I hadnt had a cold, my mood was better, and my tongue was getting steadily pinker. I had also shed several pounds, despite enjoying my food more than ever and eating plenty of it. Friends were full of superlatives about the dramatically different before and after me, and started asking me for dietary advice. I began reading about nutrition; the books often contained testimonies of amazing recoveries from incurable illnesses through simple changes in diet.

At about this time, I had started work developing a television series about the process of aging and some of the most cutting edge work being done in this field. As I ate my salads of brown rice and lightly steamed sugar snap peas, seasoned with garlic and soy sauce, I read about the huge U.S. biotech companies eternally searching for expensive, complicated cures for aging and the diseases that accompany it. Meanwhile, it appeared, certain isolated pockets of people were already enjoying superb health and long life, in a way that the biotech companies can only dream of, simply through their dietary and lifestyle habits.

Soon afterward I gave up my television career and began training as a clinical nutritionist at the British College of Nutrition and Health. I found that the more I knew about nutrition from reading books and experimenting with my own health, the more friends sought my advice on the subject. Nutrition was clearly a valuable area of expertise that could be of great use to many people. Inspired by my findings on aging, I also started to write this book. I hope you will derive as much pleasure and satisfaction from the secrets described in it as I have. I firmly believe that the secrets described here should be shared with everyone who cares about health and quality of life.

If I had known I was going to live so long, Id have taken better care of myself.

Eubie Blake, celebrated ragtime pianist, 18831983