Vilcabamba – The valley of the hundred-year-olds

Today I came across this article about a valley in which people get way older than the world average, have way less diseases and are in general more healthy.

I’m a bit of a food nazi myself and try to eat as fresh and healthy as possible. I also do regular exercise since a few months and did a bit research about those guys in Vilcabamba, Ecuador.

Here is an excerpt from about.com about the valley:

How Do They Stay Healthy in Old Age?

An international conference in 1978 concluded that the Vilcabamba remain healthy throughout life due to their:

* leanness
* diet
* low cholesterol
* high activity level

What Do They Eat?

Vegetables picked fresh from the garden, eaten the same day. They also eat fruits right off the trees. Whole grains, seeds and nuts are also part of the Vilcabamba diet. There are almost no animal products to be found in their diet and no packaged or preprepared food.

Do They Exercise?

There is nothing like exercise as we know it in the Vilcabamba culture — their daily lives are filled with hiking up the slopes to harvest foods, cleaning, cultivating vegetables and picking fruits. There is no such thing as formal exercise, but rather a life full of activity.

How Are the Elderly Treated?

Wonderfully. Aging is seen as a grace and people are given more respect as they grow older. It is said that the Vilcabamba actually look forward to getting old, to become more mature and growing as a person. There is a lot of laughter and joy at the simple things in their lives.

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But this seems to be not all there is. Several other factors are mentioned in this Wikipedia article.

It sounds great, it is a low meat or almost vegetarian diet with vegetables and fruits probably grown without all the chemical fertilizers and much exercise. Good water and the air is probably quite clean too. I constantly try to improve my lifestyle and this is quite inspirational.

It’s a beautiful day

I feel some muscles that I didn’t know exist, the sun is shining and I’m productive. Later I will break in my new running kicks and track what I do and how far I run with Sporty Pal.

Yesterday I spoke with my lovely one about positive thinking and talking a bit less negative (strawberry I swear a lot). I decided to replace the word “f#ck” with “love” and “sh!t” with “strawberry”. So in the future I “Strawberry! Love you, motherlover”. That’s rather weird stuff but makes me smile so it works. Hah!

I also picked up two great books yesterday. One small guide about positive thinking in a nutshell and Focused and Fearless: A Meditator’s Guide to States of Deep Joy, Calm, and Clarity.

The title sounds a bit esoteric and all that but what I have read of it so far is pretty well written, good advice with a touch of Buddhist philosophy. So yeah, life is good and I keep on working on a better version of myself. Guess that’s why life is good.

Continuity Is A Key Of Cardio Training.

You need a minimum of 20 minutes of continued elevated pulse to get the best results at least 3 times a week. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity most days of the week.

Cardio training increases life span. Several studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine, scientifically linked exercise with increased life spans for the first time. A famous study looked at 17,000 male alumni of Harvard University between the ages of 35 and 74. Results show that the physical activities of the men increased, their death rate decreased.

Men who spend at least 2,000 kilocalories per week doing moderate exercises such as tennis, swimming, jogging or brisk walking lowered their overall death rate by 25-33% and decreased their risk of coronary artery disease by an astounding 41% when compared to the more inactive fellow alumni.
Bodybuilding.com