Eulalee Thompson

The 'long life magic pill' to be taken twice daily after meals with a glass of pure water, unfortunately, has not yet been invented.

But, maybe it's because many people hold onto the hope for a such a simple solution to living longer and healthier that they turned up at the Eden Gardens, St Andrew, in large number, last Friday, to hear visiting US lifestyle medicine specialist, Dr Stephen Aldana. He addressed the topic '10 to 20 extra years of life - the choice is yours'.

He didn't tell them about a magic pill, but he did send them to see their grannies and grandpas.

"The food that our grandparents used to eat provide protection (against free radicals) ... We need to move away from the westernised pattern of eating to the way our grandparents used to eat - the prudent diet pattern. Adopt the diet of your grandparents," Aldana advised.

EHJ's wellness awards

Well, we know that nowadays there are some relatively young grannies and grandpas who might not mind a double whopper with some fries (chalking up more than 1,050 calories in one sitting, nearly the recommended daily calorie intake), but Aldana was talking about the diet of the less hip grand mamas - some ground provisions, fruits, vegetables, whole grain, nuts and the 'watch tower', that small serving of the 'meat kind'.

Aldana, who has published more than 60 scientific articles on preventing and arresting chronic diseases, is the president of WellSteps, a workplace health management company in Utah, USA. His latest book is called, The Culprit and Cure. He was here is Jamaica as special guest of Dr Henry Lowe's Environmental Health Foundation (EHJ). Aldana was among six individuals and entities presented with an EHJ's annual wellness award.

The other recipients were Patricia Fletcher (nutrition scientist), Wisynco, CVM Television, the National Health Fund and Jamaica Wellfest.

Sugary cereals

The 'prudent diet pattern' mentioned by Aldana, however, can hardly stand up to the creative multi-billion dollar food marketing industry plus, fast food is relatively inexpensive, hot, tasty, convenient and just ready to eat without too much hard work in preparation and washing up afterwards. That didn't stop him, however, from hitting out against 'fast food' and the heavily marketed breakfast cereal industry.

"All sugary cereals come with labels - all part of a balanced diet. (But they contain) sugar, chocolate, flavouring ... if you add eggs you would get a cake. Do you say, 'come on kids get cake for breakfast'," quipped Aldana as he tickled the audience to laughter.

Poor eating habits lead to obesity and Aldana said that based on data from the US Center for Disease Control the overweight and obese segments of the population have been trending upward and now stand at about 67 per cent of the population. Obesity, he explained, takes away three to six years from one's average life expectancy and leads to diabetes. Type II diabetes, Aldana said, will cost you another 12 years of life - that means it will further reduce your life span by 12 years.

"We believe there will be a decline in life expectancy by two to five years. So far, this is the first time that we will (be able to) say that our children will die earlier than us," he said.

Poor choices

The propensity to become fat, he said, is largely not genetic but due to poor lifestyle choices. Based on research, poor lifestyle choices also account for 71 per cent of cancer, 70 per cent of strokes, 82 per cent of heart diseases and 91 per cent of diabetes.

Another interesting bit of information - more vegetables in the diet, based on 1997 research, not only lowers lung cancer but stomach cancer and other chronic diseases. Fruits offer protection from disease-causing free radicals and, in turn, from chronic diseases.

In short, you can live longer and healthier, but you will have to work at it. Live 10 to 20 extra and healthier years by making the choice to manage your weight, to eat better, to exercise regularly, to stop smoking or don't start (smoking costs you 13 to 15 years of life) and to manage stress.

"You will pick up 10 to 20 years of high quality life, if you are willing to make behaviour change (and) you have even the ability to reverse disease through lifestyle changes," said Aldana.

eulalee.thompson@gleanerjm.com