Megalungs Health Week - Monday

Doctor George Mabeza

     Our Monday evening meeting, at All Souls Community Centre in Radford, Nottingham, looked at what made old people live longer as Dr. Mabeza introduced the concept of 'Blue Zones' to a good sized audience.

      The 'Blue Zone' idea came as Gianni Pes and Michel Poulain looked for people groups who lived long and healthy lives. The current blue zones have been well documented and publicised in Dan Buettner's book, "The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from people who lived the longest."

     The keys to longevity are common to the regions we looked at. The older people in the communities are physically active, and have been throughout life. They live simple lifestyles eating a variety of wholefoods, in the process choosing to eat lo.w fat and small amounts of meat in the diet. A key principle also includes the idea of keeping within a supportive community. As one commentator puts it, "loneliness kills'.

     One group, the Seventh-day Adventists in Loma Linda, California, are noteworthy in that they are a not a simple tribal or national group. The Seventh-day Adventists are a heterogeneous group. They are people from different cultures whose bond is a common religious faith which places a high value on good health principles. Hulda Crooks, a mountaineer and long distance runner is one of the people who lived and thrived in the community while Dr. Ellsworth Wareham, a heart surgeon from Loma Linda is a resident featured as an example of good health and happiness.

     We heard about these groups from Dr. Mabeza and learned that these lifestyles are attainable in a normal western society. The advice was, aim to take 30 minutes of exercise 5 times a week, live a life with moderate and sustained activity that includes balancing exercises. A sensible decision is to set out to lose weight and to cut calorie intake. Relationships are extremely important. Dependance on diets as short-term assaults on weight are useless - the balanced and sustained lifestyle is the way to go for long-term weight loss and continued health. An emphasis on simple wholefoods is a great idea. Following the Biblical advice of fruit, nuts, grains and vegetables is a wonderful helpful idea.

     We have resources from the event. The pictures from the PowerPoint used during the evening are in our Gallery while the PowerPoint itself is available Here