Over 110 years old and still going

Sacramento man defies odds by turning 110

In the USA, George Rene Francis of Sacramento, California, turned 110 on 4 June 2007 — despite his supposedly 'unhealthy diet'. UPI and the Sacramento Bee said that 'many partygoers were simply aghast at the 110-year-old's ability to survive a history of unhealthy eating habits. " If you look at his eating history, he's lived a long time for all the wrong reasons ," his son, Tony Francis is quoted as saying. " He drank tons of milk, ate tons of eggs, lard on bread and pork-salt sandwiches. "

Adding to the mystery, the Bee said, is Francis' unwillingness to visit a doctor for much of his life and his love of cigars, that he only gave up when he turned 75. "Smoking don't hurt nobody," he said.

Victory party for oldest WWI veteran

Two days later, in England, Europe's oldest man, Henry Allingham , toasted his 111th birthday on the warship, Victory, with Vice-Admiral Adrian Johns, Air Vice Marshall Peter Dye and Veterans' Minister, Derek Twigg.

Henry Allingham is Britain's oldest First World War veteran and the last founding member of the Royal Air Force. He fought at the battle of Jutland in 1916 as a member of the Royal Navy Air Squadron before it became the RAF in 1918.

The milestone birthday celebration took place on board the warship Victory in Portsmouth, Hants, with a special flypast by RAF squadron 111 and a performance of Happy Birthday by the Royal Marines band. Mr Allingham said: "I feel young today and I cannot believe it really. I was hoping for a motorised wheelchair but at least I got a card from the Queen."

Henry Allingham puts the secret of his long life down to cigarettes, whisky, wild women and a healthy sense of humour.

COMMENT: In the Sacramento story, they say of George Rene Francis's achievment that: "Diet certainly isn't the secret of his longevity." This is because his way of eating goes against the current perceived low-fat, carbohydrate-based paradigm. It seems to be a paradox. But it shouldn't as there are many other paradoxes of not just individuals but whole populations who eat 'unhealthy' diets but live long, healthy lives. The obvious examples are the peoples who live along the coast of the Mediterranean and eat the high-fat, 'Mediterranean Diet'. See The Spanish Paradox for an example, and there are many more.

The point is that the American idea of what constitutes a healthy diet is way off base. Which is why health in the USA is now among the worst in the developed world. In fact, what they call an unhealthy diet may well have had a great deal to do with why men like these two have lived as along as they have.