Yes, friends, where do you get your fruit and veg from, if that's not a rude question !!!!
Bet it's from area man Dave Robinson, isn't it. Am I right? Or am I right!!! Well, soon, you may have to seek out an alternative supplier, to judge from this Onion News shocker this morning !!!!!
Despite feeling scarred by our activities this morning on local beauty spot Old Man Lowsley's Farm, Lois and I are feeling especially good today as we struggle through Lowsley's fruit bushes, sampling his blackberries - see pictures (!).
We've just booked our next winter-flu-plus-Covid vaccination appointments for October, and we've had a visit already from local Venetian-blinds fitter Sarah P, which should keep the neighbours' prying eyes off us as we gorge on our "spoils" - all that "forbidden fruit" (no pun intended!!!!). And tonight we're planning to watch another Michael Mosley documentary on the so-called "superagers" - the old codgers who defy gravity and become karate black belts or champion leap-froggers in their 80's (!).
[That's enough exclamation marks in brackets (!) - Ed]
[And stop being so bloody smug, pardon my French (!), while you're about it! - Ed]
flashback to earlier today: local Venetian blinds fitter Sarah P
installs a bunch of vertical blinds so Lois and I can have a bit more privacy
20:00 We settle down to watch Mosley in action.
Mine and Lois's fruit-picking gets Michael's seal of approval. Particularly dark fruit such as blueberries, which Lois and I eat a lot of, have been certified as being "good for old codgers" by a Kings College (London) study, which found that they lower the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Some other types of beneficial fruit, however, are not so easy to get hold of, if you live in a place like rural, semi-leafy Liphook, Hampshire, as Lois and I do "for our sins" (!).
The "old codgers" of Okinawa Island off the south coast of Japan, who are the world-record holders when it comes to superageing, eat a lot of goya (bitter melon), but it only grows on Okinawa, and when we asked for it in Liphook Sainsbury's we just got a load of blank looks, which wasn't helpful, to put it mildly! Ditto for sea grapes and for "beni imo" - the Okinawan purple sweet potato. Sainsbury's seemed to be fresh out of those, and say they're not planning to stock them this year at least - a lost opportunity there - wake up Liphook Sainsbury's !!!
flashback to January: Lois - the one with the hat (!)
on the last occasion we tried looking for Okinawan
sea grapes in the fruit and veg, or in the tinned section (!)
Lois and I think there's almost too much advice in tonight's programme, and it's hard to know which to concentrate on first.
Mine and Lois's bones are probably about to start cracking at our advanced age, and on the Faroe Islands, we see Annika (59) who's taken up soccer along with a team of other "soccer grannies", Tron FC, as part of a Scandinavian study on tackling the risk of osteoporosis. It seems that soccer, with its intense activity, changes of direction as you try to dodge opponents, and jolts and impacts when you fail to dodge them, are all very good for maintaining bone structure.
Who knew? It seems to work, however, and according to the study, Annika's bones have "unaged" by 10 years since she started the sport. Also good for bones are activities like just walking, climbing stairs, racket sports, dancing, and energetic aerobics.
A study of Okinawan centenarians and their genes reveals that they are particularly rich in the gene FOXO-3, which seems to help, but diet is important too. Young Okinawans, who have adopted Western diet patterns, may have inherited the gene but don't seem to have inherited their grandparents' longevity, which is a pity.
The Okinawan old codgers' diet is 80% plant-based, but their eating-habits and attitudes may be significant too - "nuchigusui" (medicine of life) encompasses both diet and mindfulness, and "hara hachi bu" means only eating till you're 80% full. We can learn from this, says programme presenter Mosley, but he also takes the opportunity to plug the intermittent fasting idea, which he has showcased in the past - 5 days of nutritious eating followed by 2 days of fasting, which also helps the heart.
It's all very well to praise a diet that's 80% plant-based, but what about muscles, which are also important for anti-ageing, and which need protein more than anything else?
Muscle loss starts in our 40's, and by the time we're 80, we've probably lost 50% of our muscle power. Tonight Michael introduces us to an 84-year-old woman in Yorkshire, who swears by her ballet-dancing. Also helpful, Michael says, are yoga and tai-chi, which help with maintaining your balance, and stop you falling over. Yikes !!!!
A study by academics at Loughborough suggests that hopping on one leg is good for your bones, especially your hip bones, although it comes with a health warning to start gently, holding on to a chair: yikes (again) !!!!
To keep our muscles going we need to take in a lot of protein. even more so when you're old than when you're young - what madness !!!! Old codgers need 100g of protein a day, compared to the younger person's 60g. That would mean, for example, the equivalent of 16 eggs: but you shouldn't have all your protein in one go, because it's better to spread it out through your day. Plus, rather than try to get through 16 eggs, you might want to look for alternative protein sources, to "mix things up a bit", say!
And if all that wasn't enough, you have to have a good social network of friends with shared interests - what ageing Okinawan cardiologist Dr Suzuki calls your "moai". This was crucial factor for him personally, Suzuki says, when he was trying to cope with the recent sad death of his wife of many years.
a typical Okinawan "moai" group of friends with shared interests
And finally don't forget to have some ikigai or other in your life (Japanese for "the activity that keeps you going"). Suzuki's ikigai turns out to be looking after his patients. which is nice!
For Lois and me, tonight's programme is all a bit "information overload", but we decide to start with just the hopping for now, at least, and perhaps with the help of that, we'll survive another year haha !!!!!
22:00 We think about "hopping" into bed, but for now, we think we'll just collapse into it like we usually do (!). It's our "ikigai" as well, so that's all good !!!!
Maybe next week we'll try to do it hopping, we promise!!!! So watch this space, and above all, for your own safety, make sure you get out of our way haha!!!" !!!
Zzzzzzzzz!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment