How to live a longer life

Well! Quite a bit of news this week about how to live a longer life and none more surprising than the results from a decade-long research project led by Winthrop Professor Leon Flicker at The University of Western Australia. Professor Flicker and his team assessed 9,200 men and women for their health and lifestyle as part of a study into healthy ageing. They found that adults aged over 70 years who are classified as overweight are less likely to die than adults in the normal weight range. Published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, the study sheds light on the situation in Australia, ranked the third most obese country after the United States and the United Kingdom.

This of course is going to be great news for many of us who struggle to lose those spongy areas around the middle and just don't see ourselves in jogging pants and singlets at the gym.
Personally, I'll stick with the "healthy and lean" school of thought. I remember the advice of a great US tennis player from way back called Gardner Mulloy. He played at top level well into his 40's and attributed his fitness to the fact that each year he would reduce his daily food consumption. Just a bit. This  corresponds with what most of us  generally believe, that as we age our metabolism changes and we need less food. And speaking as somebody who as a 16 year old enjoyed six rolls for lunch each day...I would concur!
So despite the pain in the knees and elbows I'll be carrying on with the daily weight training, especially since hearing that it improves our cognitive functions. Yes that's the case, according to a study at the University of British Columbia  into the effects of weight resistance training amongst 65 to 70 year olds.

Then there is the research that shows that red wine is good for us. Apparently it contains an ingredient that is a proven anti-ageing agent. Again I was swayed by anecdotal evidence. Especially as it came with divine support from a dear old cleric I knew. He explained how the clergy benefited from a low incidence of cardiac problems due to their habit of finishing off the communion wine!!     Yes. I was swayed towards the red wine idea!!

Then there was the other good news that high cocoa chocolate is good for the heart. So a slab of Sainsbury's finest was duly placed amongst the red wine when shopping yesterday. And finally I read that good old leafy green veg... spinach, broccoli etc., are not only good for iron intake as we already knew, but also do wonders for our cognitive and memory systems. Apparently we get more synaptic flexibility.  So the broccoli will be coming out of the freezer today....better make a note so that I remember.

Actually that isn't the final news to share. This comes from that article about the research in Australia into the overweight. It seems that women are twice more likely than men to suffer the adverse consequences of a sedentary life style.
So chaps....next time you're asking "who's getting up to make the coffee?" ...be considerate and let your "other half" do it!!