Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years
Old 10-26-2005, 01:11 AM   #1
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
wabmester's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 4,459
Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years

The discussion of the health effects of wine reminded me of the idea of a "polymeal". Basically, the idea is that if you eat a few of the things that are known to be good for you, the overall effect on your health can be dramatic. Here's an article from last year:

Polymeal

According to the journal study, combining seven food components (dark chocolate, wine, fruits, vegetables, garlic, almonds, and fish) significantly increases the life expectancy of people over age 50 and reduces heart events by more than two-thirds.

Excluding any ingredients caused a slight decline in the overall heart protection benefits. However omitting wine reduced the meal's beneficial impact the most -- by 10%.

The recipe for heart success has the biggest impact on men. Men who dine on the Polymeal program every day increase their total life expectancy by more than six and a half years compared with men not on the Polymeal. They also were able to prevent the onset of heart disease for nine years.


wabmester is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years
Old 10-26-2005, 05:34 AM   #2
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,505
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years

If you're interested in stuff like this, you and whomever else has to check out www.realage.com Its a really cool site where you can enter in all your lifestyle habits and find out your "real age" then it gives you a top 10 or 15 list of things you can do to lower that age.
azanon is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years
Old 10-26-2005, 07:38 AM   #3
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
REWahoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,003
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years

IIRC, one of the items realage.com says will add significantly to your longevity is flossing...

__________________
Numbers is hard
REWahoo is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years
Old 10-26-2005, 07:55 AM   #4
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,505
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years

My dentist actually pushes that too.

There's a term to describe the phenemenon (someone help me), but IMO, that's a case of misassociation. From what i understand, they've sureyed a group of people and found that those who flossed lived longer. But you have to ask yourself, what kind of person flosses every day. The kind of person that goes that extra mile to take care of himself/herself, thus is likely to live longer?

Back on point, no website is perfect. Its a neat website regardless.
azanon is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years
Old 10-26-2005, 08:07 AM   #5
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
REWahoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,003
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years

No doubt those with the self-discipline to floss are likely to take better care of their overall health, but the case for flossing is directly related to cardiovascular disease. From the book "Real Age" by Michael F. Roizen, MD (the same guy who has the website):

"Flossing your teeth daily can make your arteries younger. The probable reason: Flossing helps keep your immune system young... the same bacteria that cause periodontal disease also trigger an immune response, inflammation, that causes the arteries to swell. The swelling of the arterial walls results in a constriction of blood flow that can lead to a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease. Other studies have shown that periodontal disease leads to a higher white blood cell count, which is an indicator that the immune system is under increased stress.... Poor oral hygiene and particularly increased tooth loss are important indicators of your risk. The fewer teeth you have, the greater your risk of gum infections."

I have a dental appointment tomorrow for a semi-annual cleaning.

__________________
Numbers is hard
REWahoo is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years
Old 10-26-2005, 08:19 AM   #6
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,505
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years

Quote:
No doubt those with the self-discipline to floss are likely to take better care of their overall health, but the case for flossing is directly related to cardiovascular disease.* From the book "Real Age" by Michael F. Roizen, MD (the same guy who has the website):
The fact remains though, if they ultimately came to this conclusion by comparing how long those that flossed live, to those that dont, then one has to decide to what degree to contribute that phenemenon.

Personally, i would say at least 75% of that would be explained by simply knowing and realizing that people that live healier lifestyles are going to be those people that tend to floss* (and I would consider that a VERY conservative estimate).* *

This supposed cardiovascular benefit to flossing I bet ranges somewhere between statistically insignificant to hogwash.

If one wants to help their cardiovascular health, start exercising daily particularily aerobic exercise, limit saturated facts, increase your HDL/LDL ratio, and get plenty of rest.* *IMO each of these things will do a lot more than flossing will.* *

Nevertheless, I do floss and my gums thank me for it!
azanon is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years
Old 10-26-2005, 08:32 AM   #7
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Dawg52's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Central MS/Orange Beach, AL
Posts: 9,067
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years

Quote:
Originally Posted by azanon
If you're interested in stuff like this, you and whomever else has to check out www.realage.com* * Its a really cool site where you can enter in all your lifestyle habits and find out your "real age" then it gives you a top 10 or 15 list of things you can do to lower that age.* *
I took the test and came in at a "real age" of 45.7. Not bad considering I'm 51. Gave me some recommendations such as eat more fish, increase my folic acid intake, eat more whole grain products and increase my fruits and veggies. Pretty much the normal recommendations we all see. A pretty cool website though.*
__________________
Retired 3/31/2007@52
Investing style: Full time wuss.
Dawg52 is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years
Old 10-26-2005, 09:16 AM   #8
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
wabmester's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 4,459
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years

Just one caveat on this stuff: some studies are better than others. For example, I think the conclusions about chocolate are based on a study of 12 people, while the effects of wine are based on meta-studies that cover well over 100,000 people.
wabmester is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years
Old 10-26-2005, 09:18 AM   #9
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
greg's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,071
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years

Quote:
Originally Posted by azanon
But you have to ask yourself, what kind of person flosses every day.
Those who are orally retentive.

--Greg
__________________
Compounding: Never forget! Never not remember!
greg is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years
Old 10-26-2005, 09:33 AM   #10
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
wabmester's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 4,459
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years

Quote:
Originally Posted by azanon
If one wants to help their cardiovascular health, start exercising daily particularily aerobic exercise, limit saturated facts, increase your HDL/LDL ratio, and get plenty of rest.* *IMO each of these things will do a lot more than flossing will.
The studies on eating saturated fats are kind of interesting.* *In the old days, researchers saw fatty streaks in arteries and looked at some region-based diets and said "aha! fat is bad!"* * Then they looked a bit closer, and found that it wasn't fat per se, but the way fats mediate cholesterol levels that *might* be bad.* *My understanding is that trans-fat is the only kind of fat that increases your LDL without also increasing your HDL.* *Natural saturated fat (e.g., from meat/dairy) increases LDL and HDL, and the studies I've seen indicate that the effect is neutral -- no increase in mortality/morbidity with saturated fat intake.* *Don't take my word for it, of course.

And one more tidbit on the subject of fruits/vegetables.* *Research has found that high glycemic index foods can be nasty due to the way they raise insulin levels, which can lead to lower HDL and higher TG long-term.* * Most fruits and veggies are fairly low GI (due to the way they bind sugar), but some like potatos and dates, for example, are almost as bad as table sugar.

(The Irish have the highest per capita consumption of potatos in the EU.* *They also have the highest incidence of heart disease.* *AFAIK, no studies have actually linked the two.)
wabmester is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years
Old 10-26-2005, 09:46 AM   #11
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
REWahoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,003
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years

Something else may cut both your risk of dying and somethng else...

Circumcision: Cutting the HIV Rate?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9806505/site/newsweek/

__________________
Numbers is hard
REWahoo is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years
Old 10-26-2005, 09:50 AM   #12
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,375
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years

Quote:
Originally Posted by REWahoo!
No doubt those with the self-discipline to floss are likely to take better care of their overall health, but the case for flossing is directly related to cardiovascular disease. From the book "Real Age" by Michael F. Roizen, MD (the same guy who has the website):

"Flossing your teeth daily can make your arteries younger. The probable reason: Flossing helps keep your immune system young... the same bacteria that cause periodontal disease also trigger an immune response, inflammation, that causes the arteries to swell. The swelling of the arterial walls results in a constriction of blood flow that can lead to a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease. Other studies have shown that periodontal disease leads to a higher white blood cell count, which is an indicator that the immune system is under increased stress.... Poor oral hygiene and particularly increased tooth loss are important indicators of your risk. The fewer teeth you have, the greater your risk of gum infections."

I have a dental appointment tomorrow for a semi-annual cleaning.

I'm getting my arteries flossed next week.

If you're interested in stuff like this, you and whomever else has to check out www.realage.com Its a really cool site where you can enter in all your lifestyle habits and find out your "real age" then it gives you a top 10 or 15 list of things you can do to lower that age.
I took the test, I've been dead for 8.6 years and I Hadn't realized it till now. What am I going to tell my wife?
Danny is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years
Old 10-26-2005, 11:38 AM   #13
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 4,005
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years

Quote:
Originally Posted by azanon

There's a term to describe the phenemenon (someone help me), but IMO, that's a case of misassociation. From what i understand, they've sureyed a group of people and found that those who flossed lived longer. But you have to ask yourself, what kind of person flosses every day. The kind of person that goes that extra mile to take care of himself/herself, thus is likely to live longer?
Confounding variable?
justin is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years
Old 10-26-2005, 12:26 PM   #14
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
cute fuzzy bunny's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Losing my whump
Posts: 22,708
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years

And of course, any study involving diet that doesnt lock people in a room for the duration of the test is suspect. People lie about what they do and dont eat. A lot.

Also in a complex system like a person, there can be a lot of confusion about causation and correlation...
__________________
Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.
cute fuzzy bunny is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years
Old 10-26-2005, 10:39 PM   #15
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Telly's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 2,395
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years

The recipe for heart success has the biggest impact on men. Men who dine on the Polymeal program every day increase their total life expectancy by more than six and a half years compared with men not on the Polymeal. They also were able to prevent the onset of heart disease for nine years.

This immediately triggered my BS detector... HOW LONG did this study go on for those on the Polymeal plan?
__________________
-- Telly, the D-I-Y guy --
Two fools dancing on the hands of time
Telly is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years
Old 10-26-2005, 10:49 PM   #16
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
wabmester's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 4,459
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years

Quote:
Originally Posted by Telly
This immediately triggered my BS detector... HOW LONG did this study go on for those on the Polymeal plan?
I don't think they ever did a real polymeal study.* *The data is synthesized from other dietary studies.

It was sort of a dietary "take off" on an earlier study that came up with the idea of a polypill.
wabmester is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years
Old 10-27-2005, 04:48 AM   #17
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,505
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years

Quote:
The studies on eating saturated fats are kind of interesting.* *In the old days, researchers saw fatty streaks in arteries and looked at some region-based diets and said "aha! fat is bad!"* * Then they looked a bit closer, and found that it wasn't fat per se, but the way fats mediate cholesterol levels that *might* be bad.* *My understanding is that trans-fat is the only kind of fat that increases your LDL without also increasing your HDL.
I'm glad you reminded me of this Wab.* I've been meaning to read up on trans-fat, since i just started to notice it on USDA labels a year ago or so.* *I had college level nutrition (as an elective) in 1991, but this is one of those things that has come out since then.* In 1991, the bad guys were saturated fats, and simple sugars (simple carbs). Simple carbs are still bad, but complex carbs are good despite what many low carb dieters may think.
azanon is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years
Old 10-27-2005, 05:55 AM   #18
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,875
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years

Quote:
Originally Posted by azanon
I'm glad you reminded me of this Wab.* I've been meaning to read up on trans-fat, since i just started to notice it on USDA labels a year ago or so.* *I had college level nutrition (as an elective) in 1991, but this is one of those things that has come out since then.* In 1991, the bad guys were saturated fats, and simple sugars (simple carbs).* *Simple carbs are still bad, but complex carbs are good despite what many low carb dieters may think.
Hello wab and all. This is a complex area. Wab, I'm still on your low carb/
South Beach/Atkins diet (sort of). But I cheat more since my heart scan
came back 100% perfect. After that, I kind of stopped studying this
stuff. An aside: I think DW was surprised that I actually had a heart

JG
MRGALT2U is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years
Old 10-27-2005, 08:11 AM   #19
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,875
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years

Quote:
Originally Posted by Telly

This immediately triggered my BS detector... HOW LONG did this study go on for those on the Polymeal plan?
Until they ran out of parrots.

JG
MRGALT2U is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years
Old 10-27-2005, 09:42 AM   #20
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Lawn chair in Texas
Posts: 14,183
Re: Polymeal: Increase your life expectancy by 6.5 years

Quote:
Originally Posted by azanon
I'm glad you reminded me of this Wab.* I've been meaning to read up on trans-fat, since i just started to notice it on USDA labels a year ago or so.* *I had college level nutrition (as an elective) in 1991, but this is one of those things that has come out since then.* In 1991, the bad guys were saturated fats, and simple sugars (simple carbs).* *Simple carbs are still bad, but complex carbs are good despite what many low carb dieters may think.
Layman (at best) here, but seems two of the worst culprits, increasingly prevalent in the modern diet (noun, not verb) are hydrogenated fats and high-fructose corn syrup...
__________________
Have Funds, Will Retire

...not doing anything of true substance...
HFWR is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Changing the balance of quality of life and financial independence cute fuzzy bunny Life after FIRE 229 06-14-2013 02:17 PM
Social Security Beneift Penalized by Early Retirement? more_or_less FIRE and Money 19 01-27-2007 09:19 AM
Life Expectancy Calculator Buddha44 Health and Early Retirement 24 12-30-2006 06:15 PM
life expectancy JJac FIRE and Money 51 11-26-2006 07:01 AM
Retiring from the Armed Force. 20 to 30 years. Sam Other topics 14 03-29-2006 08:46 PM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:35 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.