I recently interviewed an octogenarian to learn his secrets to healthy living. His comments follow:
Q: Have you always been healthy or have you had previous health issues?
A: I had a troubled time in the ‘80s – ‘cause I had angina pectoris in 1980 and about that time I learned about the Pritikin Diet, Nathan Pritikin of California had written a book because he had had difficulty with heart trouble and he wrote a book called The Pritikin Promise. And at that time, I got that book and did some studying. And later on, in 1986, I was no longer having difficulty with my heart problem, but at that time in 1986 I came down with bladder cancer. And, of course, that really alarmed me much more than the heart condition. And – for several years – well, many years actually, from 1986 until 1994, at which time I had a very serious operation and I was advised at that time that I had no longer just bladder cancer but I also had prostate cancer. So at that time, in 1994, we removed the bladder and the prostate. And it was shortly after that that I really decided I would have to take command of my body and I would have to do some studying – serious studying, so that it would not occur again.
Q: Have you come across or what have you seen to be like the top three or four things that seniors are doing or maybe aren’t doing that sort of prevents them from having a good quality of life.
A: Well, part of the problem that most of us, especially French-Canadian background, we – we eat, you know, the old standard American diet. Which consists of, you know, potatoes and meat, dairy products, white bread. And for many years, that was our main basic foods. And, of course, we have learned since I’ve had my operation and doing an extensive amount of study, we have learned that meat and dairy products and white flour, the processed foods that we eat with all of the steroids and other things that are in the food, are really not the proper foods for us to eat. And we just don’t have the problem until we get on in later life. When you’re younger, your body can assimilate all of these problems and all the wrong foods that we eat. But I did learn, after some time, that we should be eating plant foods, and fruits and vegetables. And, as a result of reading many books by different authors, I’ve learned and – I’ve learned that the proper thing is to eat plant foods and – which consist of the vegetables and the fruits, and the nuts and the seeds. And whether you’re religious or whether you’re non-religious, it really doesn’t make much difference.
To be continued on my next post….
