Anyone know anything about the Valley of Youth?

[African Tiger]

I read about this place on herbschina.com. I think it's called Laochang village or something.

Any info out there? Location? Map? It seems like a groovy place, and I'd love to travel there, if the locals don't mind strangers with big 'fros :D

[Sharky]

According to you missus, you been neglecting her "valley of youth" for some time now.

[Sharky]

Sorry. My bad.

[African Tiger]

No, I always leave your mom quite satisfied :D

Just kidding, sharky!

[Sharky]

Thanks dad :)

[Leonidas]

Whats the average age at death in this valley. There are similar places all over the world like that, not necessarily Valleys. I know of one in Japan, Russia, Central America, Some other place in Eastern Europe etc. They all live to like 90-110 or 115 and the good news is they don't do Chi Gung or Tai Chi, so it's possible for everyone. It all about the diet, they dont eat the same things of course but whatever they have access to is extremely healthy. One of the things they do in Russia is eat Royal jelly from Bees which is considered the "perfect" food. Something about having all the nutrition humans need. I dont about the other places though.

[Budokan]

Yes, diet plays a not unappreciable part in their longevity, but genetics plays more. Remember, these places are already somewhat isolated and were settled by small groups of people long ago. They likely had the necessary genetics to insure long life regardless of what they ate. As they interbred they only strengthened this trait.

These people live longer because they are genetically disposed to live longer. In the face of that it matters little how much honey or yogurt they eat.

[JWTAYLOR]

Diet and physical activity mean allot, but genetics is the ultimate ruler here. The people who live to be a 100+ are people who's immune system simply kills every thing that is a danger to them. That's the wonderful thing about human beings, you got it, or you don't.

JWT

[African Tiger]

I should take this as a no?

The main reason I'm asking is that there are herbs there that the people consume that contributes to their longevity.

[Leonidas]

So your saying the rest of us are doomed to end up old, decrepid, petrified, 90 pound, smelly, cancer filled, diseased, mentally deficient corpses. I'm not so sure about that. I dont buy into genes having the "secret" to long life. It's possible for everyone. People are always searching for something special to explain why people live to 100, whether it's in the genes or because of strong chi, becoming one with nature or whatever else. Genes do play a small part because people are susceptible to certain things, but the major causes of deaths in America are preventible. Of course there are freak cases of when someone drank bacon grease there entire life but didn't die at 40 somehow. Everyone is downplaying the importance of diet and air and water quality. Of course you shouldn't expect to live to even 90 if you live in a city.

[JWTAYLOR]

Your genes are your ulimate limiter. If you have a great, natural diet, great, natural environment, and you are genetically predisposed to say, a disfuctional kidney and a totally screwed up renal system, the likelyhood of you living as long as someone who does not have nearly as healthy of a diet as you have, but has no such predispositions is pretty much nill.

Same thing goes for the imune system. One in a thousand people's immune system just kill everything. It has relatively little to do with their diet or environment. When that person comes in contact with Strep at the age of 90 their immune system quickly destroys it and no damage is done. Whereas the rest of us get sick. All there is to it.

Al men are not born equal.

JWT

[Leonidas]

You bring up good points but i dont still dont buy into it totally Good immune systems dont equal long life, it helps you immediately yea but it's not guaranteed. Alot of people go their entires lives without going to the doctor up until they day they die. Most people die from preventable diseases. Heart Disease (eating improper foods), Obesity (the same as before), Lung Cancer (smoking) and every other cancer possible etc.. 1 out of 1000 in America may escape that, but for people living in the valley's of youth the ratio is more like 1 out of like 20 making it to 90+ and the others still go to 80+. I can't believe that its just genetics. Okinawans for example live well into there 90's and they said so themselves. "Theres no secret to it, it's food and excercise". Everyone on Okinawa doesn't have superhuman genes. People are limiting themselves by believing it's not possible for them to achieve old age. Most people when they retire just sit on there a$$es thinking there life is over. The way people think in America versus there is that old people are helpless and useless and when they reach 40 they start going through a "midlife crisis". The age limit for humans are around 120 so your still youngster comparatively.

[JWTAYLOR]

I agree, it's not JUST genes, but make a point that both of the populations you have mentioned were reletaively ****genus populaitons, thus making the "genetic superiority" argument all the stronger.

JWT

[Budokan]

Unfortunately, the "it's not all in the genes" is akin to whistling past the graveyard, if you don't mind me mixing my metaphors that way. Genetics, like it or not, play a very large (I would argue HUGE) role in how long a person might live. Your statement that "most people go their entire lives without going to a doctor until the day they die" supports that supposition.

To pooh-pooh the importance of genetics re: long life too often means a counter argument that there is some magical bullet in the way of diet or lifestyle that would add years to your life that you otherwise wouldn't have. Sorry, but our bodies are not built that way. They have internal clocks that begin the countdown to dissolution the moment we are born--and probably a good deal before that, too. Like it or not, we are predisposed to clock out after a certain time, and all the honey and all the yogurt and even all the exercise in the world will NOT allow you to live significantly longer than your genes are programmed to. It does, however, allow you to change the *quality* of your life, but that's an whole 'nother arguement.

And I don't know where you got that info that the normal human lifespan is 120yrs, but it's simply not correct. Maybe in another 40 years, with improved medicine that works on a cellular level, but not now, alas....

[Leonidas]

Your right i said most, which is not 1 in 1000. Do people really expect to fight off even a cold eating fast food every other night. The only thing that separates them from us is their diet. We just mapped DNA and found out that a person living in Europe could have closer DNA with someone living in Asia than someone in their own town. Someone on this forum stated that a white female could have DNA resembling a black male, (dont remember who though) so i dont think that their DNA is that ****genous or they might have not survived this long.

About the bio clock thing. (I thought that was only applied to sleep). Even if (like i said before), about 80- 90% of the worlds population dont die from old age. Dying in your sleep is not a common thing. People get taken out from cancer, heart problems and a thousand other diseases. very few of these are tied to genetics. If you have it your pretty much screwed but 98% of the population wont even come in contact with person who has a genetic disease. None of the Top 10 killers in the world have a thing to do with genes but with sanitary problems. How would you know if someone has a chance at 100 if they had a heart attack. People even cured cancer by changeing diet. It doesn't happen alot but that goes to show how important it is. Most people dont even realize processed sugar and salt are poisonous, yet they wonder why their livers and kidneys go to heII

[Budokan]

While I pretty much agree with your take on processed sugar, where did you ever get the idea that salt is 'poisonous'? This just in: Humans need salt to live. In fact, in ancient times it was more precious than gold in some societies and was also used to classify some people in a sort of caste system. Hence the saying: "Sitting above/below the salt."

It all comes down to moderation. Of course too much salt will kill you. So will too much water and too much air, come to think of it. But neither of these compounds are 'poisonous' to the human body.

I think you probably meant it would be considered so if someone ingested too much of it (some people heavily salt their dinner but do little or no exercise and subsequent perspiration to warrant that use of an electrolyte) and in the wrong way re: salty snacks...?

[Colin]

Most living creatures have approximately the same amount of heart beats in their lives, roughly 1 Billion.
This being said it can be seen that a mouse or vole that lives a hurried nervous life will live only a short time. While an animal such as a elephant or a human lives a much longer life.

Free radicals in the blood and oxygen posioning are the main cause of tissue damage, and cell ageing.
Therefore an increased intake of anti-oxidants will dramitically reduce the number of free radicals, and the damage caused to body cells by oxygen.

Reduce the amount of food we eat by about 50%.
As the absorbtion of food, and the burning of sugars to make energy creates free radicals.

Therefore to extend life we need to:
Take very little excerise.
Eat only a vegetarian diet.
Lots of green vege, and fruit to get as many vitamins like A, C, E. (these are anti-oxidants)
Never eat more than 1500 calories per day.

Basically if you live like a tortoise you will live for a very long time!

Remember the saying "Live hard die young"

The choice is yours!

regards
Colin..........

[Leonidas]

I was just using those as an example of processed foods being bad for you. It's come to the point that you can't even get a whole chicken that hasn't been pumped full of steroids and hormones? I doubt any companies actually dig up there own salt like ancient people did and if it is, it goes through it fair share of chemical changes. It about organic and inorganic. Sea Salt for example is usable. Humans need the Iodine, not a bunch of other stuff