In my capacity as a chiropractor, I have seen many patients in the past 48 years. I have seen people from all walks of life: top executives, the unemployed, drug addicts, thin people, others obese, some on the verge of death and still others with world-class fitness.
I started to observe that people who appeared to exhibit severe health issues and looked to be on the way out kept surviving and living beyond my expectations. Others, who were in tip-top shape, seemingly with the flip of a coin, were suddenly deathly ill. It didn't seem to follow the existing health and longevity paradigm, and I realized that we can't assume Anything.
Smoking
One of the things that I found annoying was the narrative concerning smoking. As an ex-smoker, I am not a fan of cigarette smoke around me, and I don't think it's a particularly healthy habit. However, I always felt that perhaps we were not getting the whole story. For one, the label on cigarette packets stating that "Smoking Causes Lung Cancer" is erroneous. Otherwise, everyone who smoked would die of lung cancer. It turns out that only 6% of smokers die of lung cancer. Perhaps the labelling needs to be, "Smoking Increases Your Risk Of Lung Cancer."
To further confuse the issue, many people live to a ripe old age despite smoking all their lives.
Billy Wilder, famous Hollywood director of "Sunset Boulevard" and many other films, was a lifetime smoker and died at 95. George Burns smoked 20 cigars a day and died at age 100. Britain's oldest man in 1997 smoked 20 cigarettes a day and lived to 108, dying in his sleep. Buster Martin smoked 20 cigarettes a day, ran the London Marathon at age 101, and he lasted until 104. There are, of course, many others. So what is going on?
Is it at all possible that for some people, smoking actually assists in relieving tension and stress? When I smoked in my late teens and early 20s, a cigarette and a cup of coffee felt very relaxing. Now I am not advocating smoking, but perhaps for some people, the toxins in cigarette smoke are just a minor irritation which the body handles quite effectively.
Vegetarianism vs All Others
Conventional wisdom says that eliminating meat from the diet has positive health benefits and that people on a vegetarian diet are healthier. The vegetarian lifestyle is being promoted by those who espouse the "Climate Change" emergency. Some of the climate change zealots want to ban all meat in the name of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, what does the science say?
Several studies have been done comparing longevity in vegetarian versus non-vegetarians. In the Australian state of New South Wales, an extensive survey of 243,096 adults––mean age 62––found that there was absolutely no difference in the incidence of early death, whether vegetarian or not. (Source: Journal Preventive Medicine 2017 April).
In another study in the United Kingdom, there was no difference in the mortality figures between the different diet groups. (Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Jan 2016).
What about the effect of veganism on bone density? You may think that these individuals may have a calcium deficiency in their bones. It turns out that studies back this up. In the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a total of 34,696 people were followed over many years. The researchers classified the individuals into risk fracture categories. They found that vegans have a 15% greater risk of fracture due to lower calcium levels. They even found that vegans, even with calcium supplementation, were at a slightly higher risk (Source: European Journal of Clinical Nutrition Dec 2007). So are vegans healthier? You be the judge.
Stature and Longevity
Conventional wisdom says that people who have a better food supply are healthier, resulting in growing taller. However, many studies show that the opposite is true. It appears tallness confers some specific illnesses in those individuals.
In 2013, Dr George Kabat of the Einstein College of Medicine published a study of 144,701 women who were followed for 12 years. What he found was that women above 5-foot-6 had a greater risk for many cancers. The taller the person, the greater the risk.
A Finnish study compared cross-country skiers who were 6 inches shorter than their basketball counterparts, and it was found that the skiers lived seven years longer. The Nordic people who average 5-foot-10 have twice as many deaths due to cardiac arrest as those on the southern Iberian Peninsula, where the average height is 5-foot-5. Similarly, in Japan, those who reach 100 average 4 inches shorter than those who die at 75.
So the moral of the story is to have short children. Though I complained in my childhood for being short in my class, I suppose I should be thankful as I am 5-foot-6. There are always exceptions to the rule, but I like my odds.
When it comes to our health and longevity, make no assumptions. You just never know when it's going to be your last 24 hours, but don't live in fear. The political-medical bureaucracy thrives on inducing fear. What you can do is eat right, exercise, keep your mind active, be passionate about something, and just enjoy life.
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