Husband's uncle is now officially a centenarian!

[Suzanne]

He has all his marbles, can read without glasses, and is fully mobile. He's deaf, which may be due to riding roaring tractors while not wearing earplugs. No diabetes, cancer, or heart disease. He looks set for another century...

Funny story:
I told a friend about Uncle Nick. She asked, "What does he eat?"
Answer: a shot (or two) of grappa every morning with his bacon and eggs. Wine with lunch and dinner. Eats red meat, butter, eggs, tons of cheese. Doesn't care much for sweet stuff. Likes salads doused in olive oil.

My friend said "Good God. What's his cholesterol like - it must be awful!?!"

[kib]

No, it must be Wonderful, doing its job of supporting his nervous system and immune function, like maybe at 260! Did you write this just to make me pull my hair out?

[Suzanne]

Nope! Just wanted to share the joke! Seriously, I was left gasping like a goldfish for several seconds.

[iris lily]

oh yeah? well get this: my father in law can't go out on dates alone with his squeeze because her father is always chaperoning them. My FIL is 80 years old. This chaperone is 103.

[Suzanne]

Slapping thighs, shrieking with delight! Thanks, IL!

[Mrs-M]

Incredible! Super-fantastic genes, you either have 'em or you don't...

[Glo]

DH's father died in December at age 101; his mother died in November at age 97. It drove me crazy because they ate whatever they wanted (MIL practically lived on cake!) and never had any kind of problem. And, they never got any exercise! DH should make it to at least 200; he eats right and goes to the gym at least three times a week.

[Suzanne]

DH's family is long-lived. I've met several of his relatives in Croatia who're in their 90s, but look like 60s. His father died of end-stage renal failure resulting from diabetes. He was full brother to Nick. FIL was very thin, about 105 lb, and short, 5'2". He was very active; for most of his life he walked 7-10 miles a day. MIL hates meat and eggs, so he didn't get those. He ate a lot of fish and boneless skinless chicken, as well as low-fat cheese (MIL is terrified of sat fats). So far it sounds healthy, doesn't it? Alas, FIL had 32 sweet teeth in his mouth, just like MIL. Breakfast for Walter: Eggo waffle, with chopped fresh fruit, syrup, and often fruit conserve as well. Mid-morning: coffee and a piece of fruit and a pastry. Lunch: cold cuts, low fat cheese, a tomato, lots and lots of bread - he insisted on wheat bread, but that stuff hotches with sugars! Mid-afternoon: coffee, scoop of icecream, probably with a cookie or a slice of pie. Dinner: white fish (MIL loathes anything that might harbour any flavour) or chicken, white potatoes, token amounts of greens boiled to death, pasta, and bread. Dessert - a slice of cake, or some icecream, or pie. All these sugar bombs are store-bought, and MIL is very proud of always choosing low-fat or fat-free versions! FIL developed diabetes in his early forties. His kidneys went down very fast, so he had one surgery before he was 50 and another when he was 55. He took metformin. Usually his fasting blood tests showed sugar around the low end of the high spectrum, so he was told he was doing okay. He could eat his treats as long as he took his pills. Then his eyes went - diabetic neuropathy. He got savage itching and pains in his extremities as his capillaries collapsed. But he took his pills and he ate his treats...and he wasted away, losing muscle so that he was barely more than skin and bones when he passed away. The irony is that had he been eating meat, eggs, and fullfat cheeses, while cutting back very hard on the treats, he might still be with us, competing with his brother. I was very sorry for Walter, as he loved meat and eggs, and would sometimes beg me to make him beans with smoked ham hocks, or a chunk of steak. Sometimes he'd come into our apartment and eat a boiled egg on the sly.

MIL, now, has what I think is an appalling diet. Breakfast, instant oatmeal with fruit conserve on top. Then she has dessert, usually one of those pudding cups, followed by a couple of slices of white toast. Mid-morning, pie or cake, cookies, and white toast. Lunch, cold cuts, skim cheeses, lots of that ghastly sugar-laden bread, and then a dessert. Mid-afternoon, another dessert. Dinner: white fish or skinless boneless chicken, pasta, bread, white potatoes and a very token amount of vegetable boiled to death then placed under the cold tap because she doesn't like her food to be hot. After dinner, dessert! She's 88, sharp as a tack, eyes and ears in great shape, still mobile. Never exercises for the sake of exercise, but does a lot of housework, including beating rugs hung over the deck rails.

FIL's cholesterol was very low, MIL's is very high. Her triglycerides are often too high to measure. FIL's blood pressure was very high, MIL's very low.

It's an endless puzzle, endlessly fascinating.

[JaneV2.0]

I'm always happy to hear about healthy old people; hope to be one some day.