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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Dan Buettner
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September 29 - October 26, 2023
Scientific studies suggest that only about 25 percent of how long we live is dictated by genes, according to famous studies of Danish twins. The other 75 percent is determined by our lifestyles and the everyday choices we make. It follows that if we optimize our lifestyles, we can maximize our life expectancies within our biological limits.
this information will do you no good unless you put it into practice.
Most vitamin requirements are best achieved by eating six to nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
The other thing that helps a lot of people is doing something they feel is either interesting or worthwhile.
“We have 46 chromosomes, half from our mother and half from our father,” he explained, hands flying about like those of an orchestra conductor. “That means that for each gene we receive two copies, one from each parent, and these two copies interact. This is not true for two small pieces of our DNA: the Y chromosome, inherited from male to male (the females do not have it), and the mitochondrial DNA, inherited from female to female (the males do have it, but they cannot pass it to their offspring). This peculiarity makes it much easier to trace back the history of a population through the
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“The laws of evolution dictate that a species will not evolve in a comfortable, isolated environment where reproduction is easy. By contrast, a species will evolve quickly in a tough environment where individuals of different backgrounds and conditions interact.
I asked Pietrina how her mother had managed to live so long, and she gave me a one-word answer: grandchildren. “It’s about loving and being loved,” she said.
A salt-heavy diet may contribute to high blood pressure and weaken cerebral arteries,
Before each meal she takes a moment to say hara hachi bu, and that keeps her from eating too much.”
‘Eat until you are 80 percent full.’
It took me a long time to realize that beauty is within. It comes from not worrying so much about your own problems. Sometimes you can best take care of yourself by taking care of others.”
“Eat your vegetables, have a positive outlook, be kind to people, and smile.”
“Roles are very important here in Okinawa. They call it ikigai—the reason for waking up in the morning.
“It’s much easier to go through life knowing there is a safety net.”
“But eating junk food also creates chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. The inflammatory response is good if we have an infection, but triggering it all the time by eating bad foods causes the body to produce chemicals that wreak havoc on our organs and arteries.
Turmeric is one-fifth as powerful as cisplatin, which is one of the most powerful drugs in chemotherapy. Turmeric is an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer.
“You know, you don’t just wake up one day and have cancer. It’s a process, not an event. And prevention is the same way; it has to be a daily activity.
without enough vitamin D, bones become brittle, key hip and leg muscles become weak, and the chance of falling and breaking bones soars.
I sensed neither the frailty nor the wistfulness of impeding death but rather serenity—a certain satisfaction with a life now free of the ambition and commitments that dog younger years—a life achieved.
Why relive misery when better times have arrived? I’ve lived those hardships, and now they serve me well because they allow me to enjoy today.”
You can’t generalize about a whole population from a few stories.
“But meat remained a consistent contributor to heart disease, which isn’t that surprising, because it has a high level of saturated fat.
most of the fat in nuts is unsaturated fat. And when we looked at that data, it was really so clear: The Adventists who consumed nuts at least five times a week had about half the risk of heart disease of those who didn’t.
consuming fruits and vegetables and whole grains seems to be protective for a wide variety of cancers.”
women who consumed tomatoes at least three or four times a week reduced their chances of getting ovarian cancer by 70 percent over those who ate tomatoes less often.
Eating a lot of tomatoes also seemed to have an effect on reducing prostate cancer for men.” “Colon cancer also,”
“Not eating meat is clearly important, and our studies have shown us it is because it seems to have an impact on heart disease and some cancers.
a lot of the very active chemicals that relate to inflammation probably have some impact on increasing the likelihood of cancer developing,”
But religion has provided Adventists with the extra nudge that seems crucial for turning intentions into habits. We’ve all heard the phrase, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” For Adventists, healthiness is next to Godliness.
“Being healthy has always been a fundamental part of the Adventist message,”
So the things you do to impair your thinking and impair your health are cutting you off from God’s revelation.”
can have whatever I want,” said Marge. “There isn’t anything you can eat that can’t be made out of something healthy.
A stranger is a friend we haven’t met yet.
I think the Sabbath gives you peace, and that contributes to your health.”
“It is meant to be a sanctuary in time for rest and rejuvenation, and I think it accomplishes that on a number of levels.
“Ellen White had this whole-health emphasis that you should use the time to value exercise, get out in nature, and move around. Another way it is healthy—I don’t have any studies or hard numbers for this, just a lifetime of observing it myself—is as a pure stress reliever that allows some peace to occur.”
When you have that as a pattern in your life 52 times a year, it can make a big difference. Some call it a ‘sanctuary in time.’ Another part of Adventist beliefs is that the Sabbath reminds us we are creatures and not creators,” he said. “It reminds us that we don’t need to have all the answers, that we recognize our finite capabilities, and that we are dependent on God.
those who were vegetarians had better arteries.”
“They said even the amino acids in vegetables were not adequate. But we began to find out that much of these were old wives’ tales. With the exception of lack of B12 being of some concern, you aren’t going to become deficient in protein and all these things. I use soy milk, and as far as eggs are concerned, my wife knows suitable substitutes.
A combination of four types of exercise will keep the body balanced and strong. Endurance: Activities like walking, hiking, swimming, and cycling improve the health of the cardiovascular system. Strength: Lifting weights builds up and maintains muscles. Flexibility: Stretching keeps us limber and flexible. Balance: Practicing balance through activities like yoga will help avoid falls.
But there are simple things everyone could be doing right now that would save so much money and suffering—like drinking enough water every day, exercise, and eating healthy food. But hey,” Wareham said, suddenly catching himself in his fervor, “everybody has his own idea about these things—it’s their lives, after all. You can tell somebody what to do, but it’s up to them whether they do it. But you can tell them how good you feel.”
The fact that God is in control of their lives relieves any economic, spiritual, or well-being anxiety they might otherwise have. They go through life with the peaceful certitude that someone is looking out for them.”
“When people have too much time they get involved with vices. Here we have enough to do. We stay busy enough to keep the Devil away, but not so much that we get stressed. It’s a clean, pure life.”
Humans have succeeded as a species because we are social creatures with the capacity to cooperate. In the same way that we get pleasure from sex and eating, socializing brings us a fundamental satisfaction.
health habits are as contagious as catching a cold.
If you want people to adopt a healthy lifestyle, you need to build an ecosystem around them.
Research shows that if you dedicate yourself to a new practice for as little as five weeks, the practice is more likely to become a habit.
Don’t try more than three secrets at a time. If you work on all nine once, you’ll be more likely to fail. Start with three that have the best chance of success, and then gradually add more as a pattern of success emerges.
We emphasize changing your environment to help shape good habits. See where you can make small changes that will help create your Blue Zone. It’s much easier to maintain healthy habits if your environment is set up for them.
they engage in regular, low-intensity physical activity, often as part of a daily work routine.
