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Viejos, Los: Secrets of Long Life from the Sacred Valley
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160 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1976
About the author
Grace Halsell
28 books33 followersThe daughter of writer Harry H. Halsell, she studied at Texas Tech from 1939 to 1942, at Columbia from 1943 to 1944, at Texas Christian University from 1945 to 1951, and at the Sorbonne (Paris) from 1957 to 1958.
She worked for several newspapers between 1942 and 1965, including the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and the Washington bureau of the Houston Post. She covered both the Korean and Vietnam Wars as a reporter, and was a White House speech writer for President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1965 to 1968. Halsell wrote thirteen books, the best-known of which was Soul Sister (1969)
She worked for several newspapers between 1942 and 1965, including the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and the Washington bureau of the Houston Post. She covered both the Korean and Vietnam Wars as a reporter, and was a White House speech writer for President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1965 to 1968. Halsell wrote thirteen books, the best-known of which was Soul Sister (1969)
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 20, 2010
I picked this book up for free and was instantly a little embarrassed to have it - I feared it was a mystical new-age pile of poppycock grabbed in a momentary weakness, hoping for secrets to longevity. Actually, it's a cultural anthropology book. *WEW*
In this one village high in the Ecuadorian Andes, more people per capita live past 100 than anywhere else in the world. The author traveled there with a medical expedition to see if they could figure out why.
And a quick read, too. In fact, my main complaint is I wanted more detail of these people's daily lives and habits. Reading anthropology is largely a vicarious thrill for me - an almost guilty pleasure, to peek into the homes of people so far away. My other complaint is that the author made me want to smack her with her frequent asides wherein she put words like "civilization" and "facts" in quotes - because clearly the rough, hard simple peasant life is so much better than our modernity and science. *throttle throttle throttle* That said, she's a bit disingenuous, because she peppers her accounts with quotes from doctors detailing then-current medical knowledge. (The book is from the mid-70s, so I mostly skimmed past that stuff with a sense of smug superiority.)
For obvious reasons that there's nothing to gain if it is so, the book strongly argues against genetics as a factor. The author's conclusions are simply that their natural, whole-food, low-meat diet, their daily vigorous exercise, and the strength of purpose that comes from still being needed and still having daily challenges keeps them young. She also blathers on about spiritual stuff, but I'll ignore that since I'm sure the lady doesn't actually deserve to be throttled.
In this one village high in the Ecuadorian Andes, more people per capita live past 100 than anywhere else in the world. The author traveled there with a medical expedition to see if they could figure out why.
And a quick read, too. In fact, my main complaint is I wanted more detail of these people's daily lives and habits. Reading anthropology is largely a vicarious thrill for me - an almost guilty pleasure, to peek into the homes of people so far away. My other complaint is that the author made me want to smack her with her frequent asides wherein she put words like "civilization" and "facts" in quotes - because clearly the rough, hard simple peasant life is so much better than our modernity and science. *throttle throttle throttle* That said, she's a bit disingenuous, because she peppers her accounts with quotes from doctors detailing then-current medical knowledge. (The book is from the mid-70s, so I mostly skimmed past that stuff with a sense of smug superiority.)
For obvious reasons that there's nothing to gain if it is so, the book strongly argues against genetics as a factor. The author's conclusions are simply that their natural, whole-food, low-meat diet, their daily vigorous exercise, and the strength of purpose that comes from still being needed and still having daily challenges keeps them young. She also blathers on about spiritual stuff, but I'll ignore that since I'm sure the lady doesn't actually deserve to be throttled.
July 31, 2015
I went through a spate of reading a series of books on longevity (Healthy at 100, The Longevity Project, and Roadmap to 100). The first book mentioned this book, then highly romanticized the communities that have a large number of centenarians. I followed up by obtaining Halsell's book. She lived among them for a few months, and she wrote that these people are dirt-poor, half-starving, and have a horrible life in which they can never stop working. Most of the centenarians work for big landowners and earn just a plot of land to work for themselves (ie, no money). Since they live in a temperate climate, they manage to not starve by eating the plentiful vegetables and fruits that grow year-round.
Their lives sound awful. Halsell herself said that she'd never choose to live like them, even if it meant extending her life by 10 years. She also confessed to romanticizing the "pure nature" of these people, but her idealism was nowhere near as ridiculous as that of people who have cited this book. Furthermore, the centenarians in the valley routinely lied about their age, and most were probably around 20 years younger than they claimed. This book is a must-read for anyone who is interested in healthy aging and is thinking of following the (potentially misleading) advice contained in more recent books.
Their lives sound awful. Halsell herself said that she'd never choose to live like them, even if it meant extending her life by 10 years. She also confessed to romanticizing the "pure nature" of these people, but her idealism was nowhere near as ridiculous as that of people who have cited this book. Furthermore, the centenarians in the valley routinely lied about their age, and most were probably around 20 years younger than they claimed. This book is a must-read for anyone who is interested in healthy aging and is thinking of following the (potentially misleading) advice contained in more recent books.
February 2, 2008
This was good. It put a human face on all of those things we know we need to do for good health and longevity, such as eat fresh produce and forgo sugar, exercise more, not stress over things we can't control, etc. But none of it was earth-shattering or new, which is why I only gave it 3 stars.
It was interesting to read about people who were isolated from popular culture, who did, healthwise, what was natural because it made sense or was the only option or was what people had always done instead of because "research" told them to. It was like a mini-vacation just to be exposed to that.
Sobering that newer generations of Valcabambans are turning to modern ways, though. And telling that their health is already showing it.
It was interesting to read about people who were isolated from popular culture, who did, healthwise, what was natural because it made sense or was the only option or was what people had always done instead of because "research" told them to. It was like a mini-vacation just to be exposed to that.
Sobering that newer generations of Valcabambans are turning to modern ways, though. And telling that their health is already showing it.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews