It's possible to live a very long time without being physically healthy, and to die quite young despite great physical health. And an obsession like this is by definition a sign of poor mental health. There are things you can do to ensure you don't die "early" due to health, but past that it's essentially random genetics that you can't predict or control in any way, and nobody's "secret to long life" will work for everyone and there's no way to know if it will work for you in particular. Just enjoy your life and be a good person so that the years you do get will be worth living.
Silicon Valley weirdo's quest to dodge death – yours for $333 a month
We're born, we work, we die. That biological injustice just doesn't mesh with the Silicon Valley mindset. Take centimillionaire Bryan Johnson, founder of digital payments company Braintree (not the hometown of The Prodigy), who has weasled his way into the mainstream media by virtue of his obsession with not dying. Johnson is …
COMMENTS
-
-
-
-
-
-
Saturday 13th January 2024 05:51 GMT Neil Barnes
That's rather my point. As I approached retirement age I discussed this with my doctor, as to whether I would be likely to need my pension pot for years or if I should just pull it out and blow it on fast cars and fast women. He suggested that with three grandparents who reached a hundred (and one who died of silicosis in his eighties) and two parents going strong at the time in their eighties, I probably had a healthy set of genes irrespective of other issues.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Monday 15th January 2024 09:34 GMT HMcG
Re: You don't measure a life by it's length, you measure it by it's breadth..
Breadth:
1) the distance from one side to another: "The length of this box is twice its breadth."
2) the fact of including many different things, features, subjects, or qualities: "The breadth of her experience is amazing."
-
-
Thursday 11th January 2024 21:49 GMT david 12
Re: Meat
Can't see any meat in the story.
Lentils and nuts.
It's fairly easy to get a complete protein complement is you pay any attention -- certainly when I was young most of Asia and South America lived on almost meat-free diets.
In another 20 years, his protein-utilization efficiency will be dropping, and he may need to increase the protein % in his diet.
-
Friday 12th January 2024 14:32 GMT Snake
Re: Meat
There are plenty of protein sources available in today's society for non-meat eaters, thanks to increased popularity. 37 years ago, when I turned strict vegetarian, it was almost unheard of - now, every mainstream market has readily available plant protein substitutes, available right off the store shelves. It's easy nowadays compared to yesteryear (but don't talk to me about working in the business area of a big city, a vast empty food wasteland).
And, for the discussion, the last time someone guessed my age based upon my body condition (about 1.5 years ago) they pegged me at 35. So yeah, strict vegetarians age slower because we eat lower in the food degeneration cycle. But I'm also a complete gym rat so fitness and food play a big part.
-
Friday 12th January 2024 15:43 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Meat
Well, I am 60, no vegetarian, don't exercise much, and still look like I was 20 years ago but for the hair colour (turned white, but this is because of marital life I bet).
And I appreciate the occasional beef Rossini, good cheese, good wines...
I have nothing against vegetarian diet, as long as it doesn't try to hide in meat look alike (too many chemical products involved in the cosplay)
-
Friday 12th January 2024 16:15 GMT jmch
Re: Meat
"I have nothing against vegetarian diet, as long as it doesn't try to hide in meat look alike"
Absolutely this. Nothing wrong with vegetarian or vegan dishes, many of them are extremely tasty besides very nutritious. No reason to screw it all up to pretend it's not meat, and fail on both counts!
-
Friday 12th January 2024 16:24 GMT Snake
Re: Meat
Yeah, I'm close to 60 myself. 56 when I was pegged for 35 and got "OK, wow!" response from the other guy listening to our conversation. But like I said, I'm a complete gym rat now and do stupid human tricks at the gym (most exercises I'm at 130% to 150% of my body weight, do my pull-ups upside-down) so I'm not typical I guess. Still, I tell all the younger people at the gym when they watch me, "If I can do this, you can rock this!". Keeping active really helps.
-
-
-
-
-
-
Thursday 11th January 2024 19:26 GMT Jellied Eel
Re: Must be a fan of Lady Cassandra
He's not looking very good for someone in their mid-40s.
I think he looks excellent for an NPD diagnosis though, and why people tend to find them irritating. There is a bit of a deadpool on whether he'll make it to 50 though, and a lot of medical types removing cash faster than calories.
-
Thursday 11th January 2024 21:58 GMT Denarius
Re: Must be a fan of Lady Cassandra
Too late for him. Someones been there, done that. I think Dr Mosely interviewed some USA bloke who lived on a starvation diet for most of his life, based on the longevity of starved mice findings. The diet didnt work for longevity, with bloke dying in his 60s. The dieter was reportedly healthier than other USAians in earlier ages. Which, IMHO, isnt saying much.
-
-
Friday 12th January 2024 08:02 GMT Bebu
Re: Must be a fan of Lady Cassandra
She ended up as an A4 size bit of skin stretched over something like an embroidery frame. If I recall correctly the Doctor made a crude allusion to the original location of that skin on her body.
Even The Face of Boe (Capt Jack) eventually shuffled off the mortal.
-
-
-
-
Thursday 11th January 2024 20:45 GMT Throatwarbler Mangrove
Virtual brofist to a fellow slightly-older gentleman who also drinks booze and exercises.
Honestly, the diet doesn't sound too bad, insofar as it contains about the right number of calories and decent nutrients, and if you engage in other healthy habits, you ought to be able to maintain whatever is a healthy weight for you while engaging in certain other vices. You might lose a few years off the end of your life, but aren't those the worst years, anyway? I'd rather have a heart attack in my seventies than dementia in my nineties (not that there's necessarily such a sharp dichotomy).
-
-
-
Friday 12th January 2024 16:23 GMT jmch
Re: Not sure that 1,977 calories a day qualifies as
Also, 'dinner' at 10.00 am and 1977 calories a day seems to imply squeezing all of those 1977 calories into a single breakfast-lunch-dinner single meal. Surely not that healthy. Also AFAIK intermittent fasting works best with a mixed schedule rather than same schedule every day, and to really gain maximum benefit it's better to eat normally some days and completely fast on others (24-36 hours or more).
Our hunter-gatherer and cavemen ancestors evolved while occasionally going a few days without food, and certain body-repair mechanisms (autophagy, gut repair) kick into high gear after many hours without food.
Surely mixing that with a lifestyle more beneficial to mental health would work better overall?
-
-
Thursday 11th January 2024 21:31 GMT heyrick
consuming no more than 1,977 calories a day
Which isn't really saying much when the recommended daily intake for a man of his age starts at 2,200 calories (how much is actually required depends on activity, a middle manager will need less than a brickie, for example).
And why the weird number? Given the vagaries of food, surely it would have sufficed to say "two thousand" rather than being so ridiculously exact.
-
-
Sunday 14th January 2024 08:53 GMT Martin an gof
Re: consuming no more than 1,977 calories a day
Or - and think about this - the original targets were set when more men did more manual work. It's the joy of averages. In fact they were largely based on experience during wartime (WWII) rationing (see p4 & p5) which was itself based on research carried out following the awful experiences across Europe during WWI. These days when the average man is not a steelworker, a miner, a farmer or a shipbuilder - or indeed a squaddie - and does not take large amounts of voluntary exercise, a lower average calorie intake is to be expected. In contrast women were never (wartime aside) big manual workers and still aren't. However, the key takeaway from both the sources I linked is that it's not just the number of calories which counts, it's the makeup of the foods which provide those calories.
M.
-
Friday 12th January 2024 15:34 GMT Andy the ex-Brit
Re: consuming no more than 1,977 calories a day
I'd literally starve. I'm a very healthy weight (161 lb / 74 kg at 5'9" / 1.75 m) and with the amount of exercise I get I'm burning an average of 3000 Calories a day. There's no way he can get enough exercise to keep his cardiovascular system healthy and not lose weight.
-
Saturday 13th January 2024 04:52 GMT biddibiddibiddibiddi
Re: consuming no more than 1,977 calories a day
You'd only need to gain 7 pounds to be considered "overweight" by the American medical system that uses BMI as a Holy Unit of Measurement. If you broke a leg and were laid up while it healed, you'd probably gain that and struggle to lose it for the rest of your life. But he doesn't necessarily have to do a lot of exercising to keep his cardiovascular system healthy. There are very obese people that have healthy hearts and clean arteries and livers because they hit the genetic lottery jackpot, meaning if they had cut their calories down severely early on, they wouldn't have gotten fat and wouldn't have needed to exercise which may be the way he is. He was probably destined to be a healthy weight, with good physical health, no matter what he did. His diet is probably 80% unrelated to his health and biological age, other than just not eating more than he was burning.
-
-
-
-
-
Thursday 11th January 2024 23:07 GMT Michael Hoffmann
Nothing new
Historically, that's what the ruling caste has been obsessed with: after conquering, murdering, pillaging their way to the top, having it all, facing the fact that they can't take it with them.
Sooner or later, they notice the guy who SPEAKS IN ALL CAPS sharpening a big agricultural implement.
Then comes the final step: build some ridiculous structure, fill it with a lifetime results of your rapaciousness - oh, and take everyone around you with you, either via some priesthood with sharp cutlery or a nice refreshing cup of something frothing green.
Waiting for Meta et all to introduce, with much fanfare, a policy of "no lay-offs, ever!". With the fine-print being "you will be entombed alive when Lord Zuck kicks the bucket".
-
-
Friday 12th January 2024 04:20 GMT Benegesserict Cumbersomberbatch
It is true that, even with a full complement of trace elements and essential nutrients, living just this side of malnutrition is associated with longevity. The downside is... you're living just this side of malnutrition.
A centimillionaire is someone with $10000 in their account. I think the author meant hectomillionaire.
-
Friday 12th January 2024 08:43 GMT Bebu
Still the silly season
"standard mix of broccoli, cauliflower, black lentils"
Lost me there - his "emissions" are probably not doing a lot for global warming. Could add brussel sprouts...
The tree nuts, berries and 100% dark chocolate are nice enough if you can afford them and are chockers with antioxidants.
Still after a week or two would become pretty tedious as would fresh truffles and beluga caviar I could imagine (chance would be a fine thing. :)
Variety is the spice of life and I think it was Brillat-Savarin that remarked that all food was poison and to consume a little of a great variety of dishes (presumably to minimize the dose of any particular toxin or one to counteract another.)
The restricted calorie diet, I think, is supposed to slow the loss of telomere but I don't think it can reverse or arrest the process and I think the evidence for calorie reduction in humans is unclear.
He will be pretty pissed if after 40 years of this torture you can buy pills from the supermarket that do the same thing not that 2064 is likely to be a nice place.
When I read the USD333.00/month my hunch is his purported diet is likely theatre and after hours he enjoys a decent cut of wagyu steak and a chilled imported japanese beer. :) You only need a 1000 subscribers and you are in clover. :) Float it, flog it and POQ.
-
Friday 12th January 2024 15:28 GMT Arthur the cat
Re: Still the silly season
Still after a week or two would become pretty tedious as would fresh truffles and beluga caviar I could imagine (chance would be a fine thing. :)
There's a story from WW2: the sailors on the supply convoys to the USSR were treated as heroes and fed the best food the Russians could provide. This led to at least one of them writing a letter to his family complaining about the "crunchy fish jam" the Russians kept on giving them.
-