14 September 2000, 809 words
Ponce de Leon came to the West Indies searching for the Fountain of Youth. Idiot. He'd have done better to search in the Mediterranean where he was born. Most of the notable Spanish explorers and conquistadors, including old Christopher Columbus himself, made their major journeys, fought their most important battles, and even began their families, well after their fiftieth year. And this was at a time when men rarely lived beyond 40.
We know now that the Mediterranean diet - plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, olive oil and red wine - is one of the healthiest in the world. And, not having discovered tobacco yet, these men didn't smoke. Just as importantly, being sailors and soldiers, they got regular exercise.
Even so, they were still unusual men, genetically. Nowadays, the average person in the Western world can expect to live till 70 as a matter of course. Living a healthy 70 years, however, is a somewhat different matter. In fact, if you can do so, you can reasonably expect to live another 10 to 20 years quite happily.
Indeed, living happily may actually be the main cause of living long. Scientists have done countless studies showing the importance of regular exercise for a long and healthy life. But my own observations suggest that such studies exaggerate the need for anything more than moderate exercise.
In one study of healthy centenarians, scientists could not find one physiological factor in common. When they did the psychological profiles, however, they discovered the following commonalties: interest in current events, adaptability to change, a sense of purpose, and lack of worry.
The last factor may the most significant one, at least for men. One Trinidadian man in his early 60s, who doesn't look a day over 50, said he worries for only five minutes every morning, when he's in the toilet. Another youthful-looking 60-year-old, whose 30-something wife is now pregnant with their second child, says, "What's the point of worrying? If you can't change something, put it out of your mind."
All the young-looking women I spoke to, however, said they do worry sometimes. But all of them were confident and cheerful individuals. Most of them exercised fairly regularly. The men exercise moderately or not at all, although all of them had played a sport regularly up to their 30s.
The definitive study on this topic has been done by British aging expert, Dr. David Weekes spent ten years studying youthful-looking people and listed the characteristics they all had in common. The most significant factors were these: they were more likely to be truthful and not give a false impression of themselves (lying causes stress, which is why most politicians look older than their actual age); they are extrovert and outgoing (this means that good relationships, not party-going, is crucial for staying young); they have long-lived parents (good genes); they read more and watch less TV than couch potatoes (an active mind keeps the brain young); and they are romantic, passionate people with healthy, robust sex lives (no explanation needed, I hope).
It is noteworthy that all of the persons I spoke to, despite differing educational levels, have good vocabularies. Verbal ability is the most reliable indicator of intelligence and, in a recent WHO study, researchers found that men who were given weekly injections of testosterone improved in verbal fluency.
There is an obvious evolutionary logic behind this: once humans began acquiring language, males who gave better lyrics naturally got more women and therefore produced more offspring. And, although stress weakens the immune system, men's testosterone levels are raised in the short-term by sports matches or an exchange of insults.
This shows that aggression is biologically necessary for men in a way that is not true for women. (It is also why women usually outlive us.) Stupid men express their aggression by taking uncalculated risks or getting into fights. Smart men channel their aggression into work and play. (This, by the way, is a major reason why there are more men than women in politics.)
An active brain seems to be the true fountain of youth. I observed a long time ago that humorists often seem to enjoy extraordinary longevity - P.G. Wodehouse, 93, George Burns, 99, Bob Hope, 97. Humour, of course, requires intelligence, language skills and aggression. (So imagine that: reading my columns might actually help you stay young-looking.)
It is clear from all this, however, that a youthful appearance is something like happiness: chasing it is the best way of ensuring you will never get it. Instead, youthfulness seems to be a by-product of living life to your fullest physical, emotional and mental capacities. Poor Ponce. He travelled all this way looking for the secret of youth, and all the time the answer was there, literally, within himself.
Copyright ©2000 Kevin Baldeosingh