Day 155 -- Interesting Factoid #1

I was recently browsing the Vegetarian Times website, one of my favorite sources for recipes, can came across this article -- Why Go Veg?    The article lists all the reasons why we might want to eat a plant-based diet.  Of course, I've known a lot of these things all along.  People who eat a plant-based diet are healthier and live a longer life.  But how much longer?

Accordnig to Michael F. Roizen, MD, if you switch from the standard American diet to a vegetarian diet, you can add about 13 healthy years to your life.  That's a lot of years!  Who wouldn't want another 13 healthy years.  According to Roizin ”People who consume saturated, four-legged fat have a shorter life span and more disability at the end of their lives. Animal products clog your arteries, zap your energy and slow down your immune system. Meat eaters also experience accelerated cognitive and sexual dysfunction at a younger age.”

Want more proof of longevity? Residents of Okinawa, Japan, have the longest life expectancy of any Japanese and likely the longest life expectancy of anyone in the world, according to a 30-year study of more than 600 Okinawan centenarians. Their secret: a low-calorie diet of unrefined complex carbohydrates, fiber-rich fruits and vegetables, and soy.

Roizin's book, The RealAge Diet: Make Yourself Younger with What You Eat, looks like it would be a good read.  And a with a visit to his website, RealAge.com, you can take the RealAge test.  I did and with my health as it is now, my real age is 57.9.  My actual age is 57 years and 10 months, which is almost spot on.  So, from this, I can see that the loss of weight and the improvement in diet has pretty much stopped the downward spiral.  There's nothing left to do but get a little younger!