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This site is for people who want to take steps now to extend, perhaps greatly extend, their lives. For all who want to live a long time, maybe forever, this page is for you. For the very latest in dietary supplements, including the popular "life extension mix," CoQ10, and Melatonin, go now to the website of the Life Extension Foundation. The Life Extension Foundation has been a leader in anti-aging research and therapy for many years. Be sure to use the "back" key at the top of the page to return to this site for further life extension information. If you are interested in life extension through cryonic suspension, as in the movie Vanilla Sky, go to the webpage of American Cryonics Society ("ACS"). ACS has been freezing humans, in the prospect of eventual revival, for many years. For books and information, with the great Amazon discounts, go to our selection of life extension books and literature. We present a general selection on Health, Mind & Body, with many good choices. We also have specific recommendations for people with a narrow interest in life extension, anti-aging (also sometimes spelled "anti-ageing") and longevity. |
WEBSITE CONTENTS ● Life Extension Foundation ● The World's Oldest Man Tells All! ● Excerpts from Art of Living Long
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Living Longer ● Books at Amazon.com
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The World's Oldest Man Tells All! Louis Cornado (1464-1566) was probably once the oldest man in the world. He lived for a long-long time back when the average person was considered "old" at 40, and many people did not live past their third decade. Louis Cornado, who lived in the country in Northern Italy near Venice, was an educated man who recorded for us his own ideas on diet and lifestyle, which he believed was responsible for his long-life and the fact that he was healthy and strong even into a very old age. Did Louis Cornado discover the fountain of youth? Mr. Cornaro was a bit like Roy Walford living in the time of Columbus! One of Cornaro's strategies is the same as that of Mr. Walford: calorie restriction. This is also a psychological element to Sr. Cornaro's formula. He lived a quiet but active life, made sure that he got plenty of sleep and rest, involved himself with projects to benefit society (such as the draining of swamps and the improvement of agriculture), was a man of unquestioned religious conviction, and had a tranquil and happy home life. Cornaro was also an advocate for "moderation" that is translated as "temperance". His diet, for much of his life, consisted of eggs, wine, bread, and bread soaked in wine. If he were writing today he would, no doubt, include more details of that diet. For example, how were the eggs prepared? Did he use salt in his diet? Did he use any other seasonings? What were the ingredients of his bread? What kind of wheat or grain was used? What kind of shortening or oil? We can make some assumptions about such things, based on what we know of the culinary practices of Northern Italy at that time. For example, olive oil was used extensively in cooking so it is likely that both the bread and sometimes the eggs, made use of olive oil in preparation. Cornado consumed only "new wine," and apparently went through a period of semi-fasting each year when the new wine had been used up but a new crop of grapes not yet pressed. Newly made wine differs from aged wine in several respects. For one thing it contains a much higher level of tannin from the grape-skins giving it that "harsh" taste lamented by wine connoisseurs. However, such harsh wine can be expected to have more anti-oxidants than does wine that has been aged. New wine is highly complex chemically. Does new wine have some of the health-giving properties claimed for wine vinegar (also a very chemically complex food)? We don't know because no studies, that I have been made aware of, attempt to test the effects of new wine on health, vigor and longevity. It seems like a fairly simple hypothesis to examine. One colony of mice are given Cornaro's diet, the other colony are fed rat-chow. The feeding continues until both colonies have died of old age. While new wine can't generally be purchased in the US it is fairly easy to make your own. There are wine and beer making shops all over the country, with web sites for mail-order customers, that will sell you the equipment and teach you how. Some of these shops will also bring in grapes at the time of harvest and assist their customers to press out the grape-juice. Canned grape concentrate, from which new wine may be made, is available all year long. It is anyone's guess whether new wine from concentrate would have the same health benefits as that coming from freshly pressed grapes. Generally though, modern discoveries in diet and longevity support Cornaro's diet, and the proof in the pudding is that it worked! The argument that his long life was not just happenstance or resulted from inherited traits is countered by the fact that his wife also lived a long time (he doesn't say so, but it may be that his wife followed all or part of Cornaro's diet). His descendants and ancestors did not live particularly long. Cornaro's diet is not one that many people could or would want to follow. For one thing, most of us want more variety. However, the elements that seem to be born out by modern discoveries could well become the cornerstone for our own eating habits: calorie restriction; new wine, bread, olive oil (my assumption). If this regime were supplemented by a variety of fruits and vegetables and occasional lean meat or fish would the benefits of health and longevity still be there? Cornaro's life-style formula is easier to follow: moderation in all things, plenty of sleep and rest, stay away from highly stressful situations, live a happy life, follow a faith (if it comforts you), exercise (Cornaro rode horseback even into very old age), and find pursuits that are intellectually stimulating. Interestingly, Cornaro's remarkable life and his suggestions for living long are not well known in modern times. This is partly because there is not any modern movement or affinity group which takes comfort from the way Cornaro lead his life. The vegetarians don't like him: he consumed eggs. The temperance movement doesn't like him: wine was a prime ingredient of his diet. He did not follow the varied diet high in fiber and bulk advocated by many modern dietitians. He had a very strange diet, but he lived a healthy life for a very long time! Go figure!! |
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