Would You Like to Live to a 'Ripe Old Age'?

How to live to a ripe old age:

• Choose ancestors that do/did not die of natural causes in young adulthood or middle age (sorry, too late to choose);

• Never, ever inhale tobacco smoke life-long;

• Maintain a body mass index within a "healthy range" using a variety of tools;

• Maintain a blood pressure within a "healthy range" with or without medications; and

• Maintain a low resting heart rate,

and you will likely live to a ripe old age. Those actions alone may suffice.

We all die. Dust to dust. Just a matter of why, when, and how.

As a journalist, husband, father, and grandfather, I probably care most about quality of life. As a physician and forensic pathologist, I care a lot about length of life and quality of death.

We can each control a lot about our quality of life and both our length of life and parameters of dying, by our volitional actions.

Here are some details along the way that could help (on average) us to "ripen" slowly and nicely and may be decisive (with many individuals and situations). I have not added references or links, although there is solid evidence supporting most of my assertions.

Food and Drugs