RC:
Carlos, my wife's former personal trainer is 60, he is from Ireland, he was a former body builder pro, MMA fighter, fit as hell...at least this is what I thought. Until he picked up his medicine. 😜 Looks can be deceiving.
body builder? that says it all... steroids, ridiculous protein amounts in the diet, extreme diet cycles before competitions, abuse of supplements (many untested), joint and spine abuse in the gym, and so on. They never age well even though some may look OK in the outside, its the stupidest thing I have ever seen. Then we go into MMA fighter... musculoeskeletal lesions that degenerate in old age, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (even from sparring), weight cuts, etc...
you wife's personal trainer may "look" fit, but as you said, looks can be deceiving, nothing in what you mentioned about him is healthy, quite the opposite, very unhealthy... some people are more focused on looks than actual health and old age is not likely going to be kind to him IMO.
Two of my wife's friends who had recently breast cancer were the healthiest living persons I ever met. Another one, she has high blood pressure and her varicosis is extensive (poor woman, otherwise she looks amazing at age 49), is a former fitness pro, eats only vegan and takes some serious meds.
Breast cancer can have a high genetic component, you cannot control all the risk factors, only decrease your chances. I may be more fit than you are yet I could get pancreatic cancer tomorrow and not make it to next year. 80% of high blood pressure cases are idiopathic so again, healthy lifestyle doesn't mean you are going to be 100% healthy forever, just that you will be healthier and have better quality of life and for longer than if you don't.
As to the vegan part, well, that is not even the healthiest diet, humans are not a vegan species by nature or evolution, so its going to take you much more effort (and knowledge) with such a diet to be as healthy than with a more balanced omnivore diet. I personally don't associate veganism with a healthy. I know you agree too.
I could give you many examples more since I meet with at least 30-50 patients a day, my wife with even more (we discuss a lot about our patients). Smoking, drinking (even casual one), drugs... already a 50% chance that you're going to have health issues at a certain age.
Yes, you could give more cherry picked "anecdotal" evidence, so could I, but unfortunately that is not how empirical evidence and scientific research works and it is useless as a source of info to go by.
I agree that avoiding all alcohol (even casual I agree, though many don't want to believe it in spite recent studies), and smoking and drugs, you are avoiding some bad habits but that is just passive, doesn't make you healthier, avoiding reckless driving is also a good idea for your life expectancy but that is not going to get you to be healthier and with better quality of life in the later years. You are just avoiding making it worse but you are doing nothing to make it better. Exercise and active lifestyle followed by a "reasonable" diet are what matters most.
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⇒ Carlos - Porsche 991 Carrera GTS