Aardvark Daily

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You are going to die young, unless...

The internet is a trove of information.

It is also a trove of misinformation.

Nowhere else is this more apparent than in the area of health, fitness and longevity.

As we age, these subjects become increasingly important because everyone wants to live for as long as possible while maintaining good health and fitness right up to the end.

Bearing in mind that most of those getting into their "old age" right now are "boomers" who have a good level of personal wealth, it's only natural that there are whole industries out there designed to separate these aging individuals from their money with promises that can never be fulfilled.

Buy this pill, this potion, this training course, this weight-loss program -- those are the relentless pitches from industries that realise just how rich the pickings can be in this sector.

One of the added benefits, for the purveyors of these magic elixors and programs, is that many of those who hand over their money in the vain hope that their lives will suddenly improve, are probably only going to be around for a few more years so demands for refunds are far less likely.

I mean, how often are they going to get a refund request from the estate of the deceased?

A lot of what's on offer comes with references to some small, poorly run study which shows just a statistically insignificant hint that some supplement or other produces a benefit to health or longevity. Building on this study, entire products are developed that offer little short of the elixor of life but carry the disclaimer "results may vary" in 2pt very light-gray text on the very backside of the label.

Personally, I think it's tragic that some build their fortunes on the desperation of others but sadly, that's becoming increasingly common. Once upon a time we only had to deal with Mexican cancer clinics that were doing this, now the interent is full of it and it's a multi-billion dollar industry.

As someone of "advancing years" I've done everything I can reasonably afford to do when it comes to pushing back against the forces of time and keeping the grim reaper at arm's length. However, rather than trawling the dark alleys of the internet for magic pills and potions, I've just read the actual medical studies and tried to join the dots.

So now, at age 73, I'm curling 22Kg dumbells, doing dips on the parallel bars with 30Kg of extra weight hanging from my waist and the number of pull-ups I can manage without a pause goes up every week, at a time when most men half my age can't manage a single one.

Am I slavishly working out in the gym seven days a week and taking every kind of supplement on the planet, as promoted by steroid-bros on the internet?

No, I'm still doing my 10 minute workout at home, three times a week.

The only supplement I take is creatine, and that's as much for the cognitive benefits as it is for the strength ones.

Yes, I do have a tub of protein powder in the cupboard but I don't take it regularly, only when I've run out of time to knock up a protein-rich meal.

Now that my leg is finally starting to come right and the warmer weather is here I'm back to walking every second day and although that's pretty hard work, things are improving. I really would like to get back to my 5-10Km per day of walking plus a 20-30Km walk on a Saturday or Sunday -- but we'll see how that goes.

A fantastic side-effect of getting back into walking is that the excess weight I've been carrying since my accident has started falling off and by Christmas I should be back at my target/comfortable weight without the need for GLP1 medications or batshit-crazy dieting.

It saddens me, as I walk around the local town, to see so many people who are much younger than me but are clearly suffering the effects of poor health -- perhaps due to a lack of awareness as to just how little effort it would take for them to be a whole lot better off.

It's not my intention to sound like a pompus evangalist for health and fitness, I'm simply trying to get people to understand that it's a very short journey from fat and unfit to stronger and healthier. If you don't at least give it a go you're only cheating yourself out of years of far greater enjoyment of life.

I also wonder if a few million dollars of taxpayers' money thrown at raising this simple awareness might save is ten or a hundred times as much cost in terms of the ambulance at the bottom of the hill. Livestyle diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, along with preventable complaints such as chronic or acute sarcopenia rob far too many people of independent, enjoyable years of life.

It's preventable but, given the way our society is moving, perhaps unavoidable.

Carpe Diem folks!

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