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The Secret to a Long, Happy, Healthy Life…

The Secret to a Long, Happy, Healthy Life…

It’s interesting how people age at different rates.  Some people are active well into their 80’s, while others seem to lose strength and energy in their late 60’s.

It has a lot to do with changes to our body composition. As we age there is a loss of muscle mass and strength. Between individuals there seems to be great variability in this functional decline. Researchers are constantly seeking effective strategies to slow down the age related loss of muscle mass and its associated strength.  It has been identified that an adequate amount of high-quality protein at each meal, in combination with physical activity is important.  More recent findings are pointing to the protein component of breakfast as a significant factor. For many people, and perhaps more so the elderly, it tends to be primarily a carbohydrate meal, but there may now be increased benefits to including eggs, lean mince, cold cuts or fish at our first meal of the day!

In 1750, George Cheyne, a well-known physician of the time, wrote ‘An essay of Health and Long Life’ in which he was emphatic that:

Nothing conduces more to health and long life, than abstinence and plain food, with due labour. Most chronical diseases proceed from repletion… Without due labour and exercise, the juices will thicken, the joints will stiffen, the nerves will relax, and on these disorders, chronical distempers and a crazy old age must ensue… this [lessening the diet gradually with age] is a powerful means to make their old age green and indolent, and to preserve the remains of their senses to the very last.

There are certainly similarities between this extract and todays recommendations.

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