>It’s very clear that the more meat you eat, the earlier you die. Cut out as much meat as you can.<p>Absolute nonsense. The only thing that has a clear relationship with extending lifespan is calorie restriction. The rest is very very unclear.<p>This guy finds a population, finds one thing they do that supports his preconceived notions of what makes you live longer, and then says that this population's behavior in this respect proves that this action makes you live longer.<p>So he finds a vegetarian culture that lives long and says OK vegetarianism makes you live longer. He finds a culture that drinks a lot of alcohol and says OK, alcohol doesn't limit longevity.<p>He finds a culture that eats a balanced diet, a culture that exercises a lot, etc. etc.<p>None if this is really any type of proof, and if you examine many different cultures, you will find his evidence is contradicted by other cultures (meat eating cultures that live longer and have fewer health problems than nearby vegetarian cultures, for instance).<p>Our knowledge of what helps humans to live the longest possible life is, sadly, very limited still.
<i>OK, educate: I don’t want to die at 50. What do I do?<p>The first step is to think about who you hang out with.
There’s no silver bullet for longevity. I’m not gonna tell you to take a pill. If your three best friends are obese, there’s a good chance you will be. Surrounding yourself with people who don’t smoke or drink too much and who have a spiritual component in their lives has a profound impact over time. Cut out the toxic people in your life and spend time and effort augmenting your social circle with people who have the right values and a healthy lifestyle.</i><p>I don't know why, but this snippet brought Robert Greene's The 48 Rules of Power to mind: "Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky" (Rule 10). Of course, Greene's approach can be interpreted as a tad Machiavellian. But the message is still the same: watch who you're hanging out with. I've noticed that many of one's peculiar behavioral habits can be directly attributed to friends and acquaintances. It's interesting to see longevity talked about in the context of the people you spend time with.
Could you please warn if you're going to link to a page that will launch a print dialog?<p>I appreciate not having to click through pages, etc. a little warning would just be nice.
Re: all the deficiencies of this article: It's journalism(-ish). Not even science journalism. The NG heading says it all: "Adventure Travel - National Geographic Adventure Magazine" ...not even the <i>main</i> NG site, but the "adventure" subdomain.<p>More suitable for pondering than analyzing, IMHO.
> the more meat you eat, the earlier you die<p>Then why have lifespans gone up and heart disease declined all around the world in lockstep with animal protein consumption? Why do the two longest lived groups in the US (Mormons and upper upper Midwest whites) have high meat consumption?