How to Live Beyond Age 120 Part II

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By The Eismans (And we should know as we are doctors)

FOOD

We are deluged with recommendations regarding which foods are good for long lives and which foods will kill us in a matter of weeks. It seems that these instructions, from those who know, change every week, and they make us nuts.

The problem is the science, and what kind of studies area acceptable in our civilization, and what kind of studies would be acceptable under Hitler’s world. An optimum study would be to take a large group of people, and isolate them in a giant barracks. They would all have the same daily activity, and food would be carefully controlled. Nobody would have the option to confuse the study, by having alcohol, smoking, etc. They would be assigned to large groups. Group A would be required to eat Polish sausages for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Group B would be restricted to red vegetables for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Another group would be restricted to green vegetables etc.

“Wait,” you say! “We can’t do this. Why not use rats? Nobody likes rats.” Rats are not people. Not only are they smaller than the average person, but they have a different metabolism. For example, there is no such vitamin as vitamin C in a rat. The definition of a vitamin is that it is a chemical necessary of life, that the animal cannot manufacture (yes, we are animals – although we are much bigger than the average rat). The rat can manufacture, in its body, what we consider vitamin C. We have to use a factory to manufacture vitamin C. In this one factor, rats are superior to humans, and are certainly different. If we are to do the study right, we must use humans, but I’m afraid the law would frown upon us if we designed the study to give reliable results. This is not to denigrate the importance of rat research. Already there are remarkable studies that have greatly improved rat health, and greatly prolonged their lives.2 It is likely that the authors will share the rat Nobel Laureat.

As a result, every year a study is published that contradicts the study done in the previous year. So, all we can do is let you know what the current belief is, and you must be ready to change your ideas next year.

Eggs:

I don’t know how to advise you regarding eggs. Eggs are high in cholesterol. We need cholesterol to manufacture hormones. Without some cholesterol we could not survive. Excess cholesterol is the chemical that tends to line arteries, and thereby decreasing the lumen. This decreases blood flow. With decrease in blood flow organs get starved of oxygen and that is how we get strokes and myocardial infarctions. So, doesn’t that mean that eggs are bad for you? Well, eggs are high in cholesterol, but our source of cholesterol that lines our arteries is that cholesterol manufactured from saturated fat. In the past, we told our patients that they can eat eggs every day. Now, data suggests, and I should underline suggests, that maybe they should be limited to a few, if any, each week. Some advise us to buy the egg white only. It is the yolk of the egg that has most of the cholesterol, and perhaps we should confine ourselves to egg whites. Most say that it is food that is high in saturated fat, i.e. the red meats that cause the cholesterol that decreases blood flow.3 So that leads to our next topic.

So what should our level of cholesterol be? Don’t pay any attention to your total cholesterol. You see, there is good cholesterol, and there is bad cholesterol. HDL (high density lipoprotein) is your good cholesterol. For every one percent you increase your HDL, you decrease heart attacks (myocardial infarction is the medical term) and strokes by three percent. Where can I get a medication to increase my HDL? Well we have developed several, but they tend to share the same side effect, death. So they are not on the market. What about the bad cholesterol. The bad stuff is LDL or low density lipoprotein, and for every one percent we lower the LDL, we drop myocardial infarction and stroke by two percent. So it is good to lower LDL and we have meds for that, but to raise your HDL you will have to take up long distance running.

How low should the LDL be? In 2018 and before, we wanted LDL to be less than 135. The recommendation now is that it should be below 100. The problem is, there is no such thing as too low an LDL, and I’m sure the Feds will lower the standard even lower next year.

Steaks and hamburgers:

This seems to have been unchanged over the years. Although, when I was a child, the teacher would show us a food pyramid, published by the feds, but under the guidance of the cattle industry. It showed meat at the very peak (I guess that meant that meat was important) of the diagram. Our feelings have changed markedly. For years we have felt that even lean red meat is loaded with saturated fat, and was deadly to our coronary arteries. This is unchanged this year, but in addition, red meat has another poison. The latest studies show that red meats cause the bacteria in our gut to manufacture a chemical called trimethylamine N-oxide. Trimethylamine N-oxide also increases atherosclerosis in our arteries. I stopped eating steak and hamburger years ago. I used to enjoy a nice rare steak. Now, when I taste steak, it does not taste good to me.3

Vegetarians:

So, protein is important. Animal protein is avoided by vegetarians, and in spite of this they live a long time and perhaps even longer than those that eat meat. You see, there is such a thing as vegetable protein, and this seems to do quite adequately. To be a healthy vegetarian, you must have a good knowledge of nutrition. Some of your vegetables should have complete protein. What is a complete protein? Well, there are certain amino acids that are “essential. What we mean by “essential” is that these amino acids are necessary for life, but the human body is not able to synthesize them. A complete protein has all nine essential amino acids. On a vegetarian diet there is a problem of getting enough vitamin D and B12. It is imperative that you get blood studies to make sure you have adequate levels.

Recently, veganism has become popular. A vegan not only restricts his diet to vegetables, but will not eat food that comes from an animal. That means no milk, no cheese, no eggs etc. Now, if you think that this an extremely unwise diet, many athletes have adopted this diet, and that includes Arnold Schwarzenegger. These athletes claim that the diet has markedly improved their abilities.

Fish:

So far fish appears to be good for us. There is a caveat. I love sushi. Don’t eat uncooked fish from the Great Lakes. The fish in the lakes carry a tape worm (diphyllobothrium latum). The bright side is that the worm competes for food and will help keep your weight down. The down side is that it eats your B12 and you end up with vitamin B12 deficiency. This causes dementia. Diphyllobothrium latum is almost epidemic in Jewish women who utilize fish from the Great Lakes to make gefilta fish. The problem is they taste the fish raw when adding spices. Salmon spends part of its life cycle in rivers, so uncooked salmon is a problem. Although it is still rare, there is an increase in worm infestation from ocean fish. As I said, I like sushi, but there is another price. There is one major side effect from a diet rich in fish. It is called bankruptcy (fish, especially sushi, can be expensive).

Chocolate:

It can’t be good for you. It tastes toooo good. Surprise! There are a lot of good things you can say about chocolate. Also, there is chocolate that is good for you, and chocolate that is bad for you. Good chocolate is not loaded with sugar. Dark chocolate is the best, and it helps to lower blood pressure in those suffering from hypertension, it improves your memory, and it improves physical performance. Chocolate will even improve vision, and lower blood sugar. There has got to be a downside to chocolate. Heavy metals such as cadmium, arsenic and lead are commonly found in chocolate. Cadmium is the big problem and this element is toxic. The brand with about the highest cadmium is HERSHEY’S. If you are looking for data, ConsumersLab, available on the internet, is a great source. So, choose the chocolate carefully. Some chocolate is loaded with sugar. The feeling now is that all that sugar is not good for you. Dr. Diane prefers 95% or 99%. We have not met anybody else that can tolerate almost solid chocolate. Don’t eat white chocolate. White chocolate is merely the fat of the chocolate, with the good brown stuff removed. Now, chocolate is loaded with caffeine or chemicals related to caffeine. If coffee keeps you awake, go easy on the chocolate at bedtime.

Dr. Eisman is the author of Bitter Medicine. To purchase a copy, click HERE.

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