How would you be eating if you follow your healthy long-lived relatives ?

[Anonymous]

One set of grandparents were farmers in South America in the early 20th c. Lots and lots of rice. Fresh meat, (made their own) cheese and produce. Grandpa died in his 70’s from heart issues. Grandma was younger and died from complications from type 2 diabetes. She also had 11 children. Seems that some of it is genetic. My dad, her son, developed diabetes in his 50’s even tho he was never overweight and always exercised. Also has major heart and cholesterol issues. He’d happily eat rice with every meal if he could but it just doesn’t work with his body.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One set of grandparents were farmers in South America in the early 20th c. Lots and lots of rice. Fresh meat, (made their own) cheese and produce. Grandpa died in his 70’s from heart issues. Grandma was younger and died from complications from type 2 diabetes. She also had 11 children. Seems that some of it is genetic. My dad, her son, developed diabetes in his 50’s even tho he was never overweight and always exercised. Also has major heart and cholesterol issues. He’d happily eat rice with every meal if he could but it just doesn’t work with his body.

I’m also the pp with the 93 yo velveeta and Mayo loving grandma. Guess you just can’t bet on diet.

[Anonymous]

My DH's grandparents lived to be 94 and 90. Both lived through German occupied WWII France, so had serious reservations about drinking water (because in the 40s the Germans made it dirty so you couldn't drink it). This meant they never drank water, and only drank beer and wine, at all times of the day (even for breakfast). They didn't trust bottled water either.

They also both smoked, him unfiltered hand rolled cigarettes and her mini cigars.

[Anonymous]

My grandmother lived to 102. She believed her longevity was the result of the grapefruit she ate every morning. She ate pretty much all unprocessed foods.

[Anonymous]

My grandmother is almost 90, no sign of failing mental faculties, and was a chronic fad dieter. Has spent the last 2 decades eating dirty keto. I don’t think there’s any real lesson there for me.

[Anonymous]

I wish I could say whiskey and fries. Or biscuits and butter. But in honesty: baked chicken, frozen vegetables, rice no spot or butter.

My relatives who had fun and indulged didn’t make it to 80.

Me, I indulge but also exercise and eat lots of salad. Maybe that balances out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Almost nothing processed, everything made from scratch. Minimal desserts.

That's how my long living grandparents ate too. But also a drink almost every day with the dinner. And a drink with the lunch on Saturday.

[Anonymous]

107. Tea with sugar. Fruit, often with sugar. Potatos almost every day. meat. Butter. White Toast with butter and jam. Dessert every single day, typically twice a day, usually home made. Not large portions of anything.

[Anonymous]

My paternal grandpa died at 89 and my paternal grandma died at 92 so not terribly long lived, but mostly meat and potatoes (lots of ham, lots of bacon, lots of grease) and home grown vegetables. Both of them had a sweet tooth but a little seemed to satisfy them (though Grandma would have a little bite of something sweet several times during the day). Grandpa would have a drink a day.

Both of them had very difficult childhoods and one of them almost definitely did not have enough to eat. Both of them worked on farms for decades doing fairly difficult jobs.

[Anonymous]

A lot of white potatoes. And cafeteria food. And hot dogs every Sunday night.
Grandmothers lives to 99 and 101.

[Anonymous]

My little Italian grandma lived until 96.

She ate eggplant parmigiana, crusty Italian bread, Italian bean soup, chicken parmigiana, all types of pasta with red sauce, big pots full of braised beefs and sausage all in red sauce. Difference being every single thing she made was from scratch. She had a hand grinding pasta maker attached to her kitchen counter. There was never not a pot of red sauce cooking on the stove. She was 5 foot nothing and weighed 90 lbs soaking wet.

We went to farms and picked our own of whatever was in season. Then we made jam of the fruits, canned the vegetables, made fresh pies/cakes for that week out of whatever was fresh. At Easter we made Italian Easter pie and spaghetti pie. At Christmas we had the feast of the 7 fishes.

She was an amazing cook. She grew up on a farm, her mother died when she was 10, and she took over all the cooking and everything else. Hard life, and an evil step mother to boot who came in later, leading to an unfortunate very young marriage to escape her situation. But a heart of gold despite it all and a wonderful grandmother. Even my mother would tell you she had the best MIL ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DH's grandparents lived to be 94 and 90. Both lived through German occupied WWII France, so had serious reservations about drinking water (because in the 40s the Germans made it dirty so you couldn't drink it). This meant they never drank water, and only drank beer and wine, at all times of the day (even for breakfast). They didn't trust bottled water either.

They also both smoked, him unfiltered hand rolled cigarettes and her mini cigars.

This is amazing to me, considering how "drink water" has become some kind of unquestionable mantra for the health crowd. But then again, many people, particularly western europeans, were drinking fermented alcoholic beverages for millennia, so maybe it has some merit. Plenty of water isn't actually great for you

[Anonymous]

My paternal grandmother lived to 103 and my grandfather lived to 95. She was not a cook. I can't remember her ever cooking for me. She lived off sandwiches on white bread, bologna was her favorite, canned soups/chef Boyardee and baked goods. She did walk a lot.

My mother's parents lived to 90 (grandmother) and 81 (grandfather). This grandmother was Italian and a fabulous cook and would make us home made pasta. So much for carbs being bad..lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My little Italian grandma lived until 96.

She ate eggplant parmigiana, crusty Italian bread, Italian bean soup, chicken parmigiana, all types of pasta with red sauce, big pots full of braised beefs and sausage all in red sauce. Difference being every single thing she made was from scratch. She had a hand grinding pasta maker attached to her kitchen counter. There was never not a pot of red sauce cooking on the stove. She was 5 foot nothing and weighed 90 lbs soaking wet.

We went to farms and picked our own of whatever was in season. Then we made jam of the fruits, canned the vegetables, made fresh pies/cakes for that week out of whatever was fresh. At Easter we made Italian Easter pie and spaghetti pie. At Christmas we had the feast of the 7 fishes.

She was an amazing cook. She grew up on a farm, her mother died when she was 10, and she took over all the cooking and everything else. Hard life, and an evil step mother to boot who came in later, leading to an unfortunate very young marriage to escape her situation. But a heart of gold despite it all and a wonderful grandmother. Even my mother would tell you she had the best MIL ever.

She sounds like my sweet little Italian grandmother.

When she made homemade pasta she would cover the entire kitchen table rolling it out by hand as thin as she could.

[Anonymous]

Grandma lived to be 98 and was from Eastern Europe. She drank tea and ate a lot of soup and foods common in that region (cabbage, borscht, sour cream, sauerkraut, pickled and fermented vegetables). She never cooked fish but loved it - she would order it whenever we went out to eat. She used to drink a glass of white wine on a holiday or special occasion but didn’t drink regularly.