Participants: Margot Marshall (Host), Dr. Eddie Ramirez
Series Code: HL
Program Code: HL000016A
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00:14 Welcome to "Healthy Living!"
00:16 I'm your host Margot Marshall. 00:18 What are the secrets of the longest living people on earth? 00:23 And what can you do now to improve not only the chances 00:26 of reaching 100 but getting there with less disabilities. 00:30 Stay tuned for the answers! 01:09 Life is very precious and quality of life is 01:12 equally important! 01:13 My guest today has first hand experience in helping 01:17 people to lead longer, healthier lives. 01:20 Welcome Dr. Eddie Ramirez! Thank you! 01:22 Tell us the secrets that you have for us today. 01:25 Well, there is a lot of research today trying to find out 01:30 what we can do in order to reach 100. 01:34 One of the latest principles that have come out, 01:42 at the University of Florida, (there is a hospital there 01:45 that is called "Celebrations," you can Google it if you're 01:48 interested on the topic), have come out with word 01:52 "CREATION" that talks about those eight principles, 01:56 and every one of those letters has something to do with 02:00 a good principle. 02:02 Like an acronym. That's right! 02:03 So the "C" would be for "choice;" 02:07 the "R" would be for "rest;" 02:10 the "E" would be for "environment;" 02:12 Oh I was thinking you were going to say "exercise" 02:15 actually, so environment, yes. 02:17 "A" for "activity;" the "T" would be the "trust;" 02:22 and then we have "interpersonal relationships;" 02:26 then "outlook," and then "nutrition." 02:29 Wow, that's beautiful! 02:31 A really good lineup of things that all play a role. 02:34 Some of those are interesting, you know - the interpersonal 02:36 relationships and that's very much what we like to 02:40 promote in this program because mental, physical, 02:43 and spiritual health- that's all of who we really are 02:46 and they all blend in together and they impact on each other. 02:49 So it's really good to come from different angles 02:53 for whole person health, that sounds beautiful. 02:56 If you notice, the very first one was about choice, 03:00 and whenever we have choice, we need to make 03:04 a decision, so all change needs to start with a decision. 03:11 You have to decide and I say this in the clinical practice. 03:14 I know that if there's a smoker there, if he says, "Well, 03:19 maybe I'll quit smoking," it's not going to happen. 03:22 It needs to be with all your heart, then change can 03:27 happen in you. 03:28 And what happens is that sometimes we human beings 03:31 are a little bit reluctant to make changes, yet we need 03:35 changes to be prosperous. 03:37 And you know, the part of the brain that plays a very 03:40 important role regarding your decisions - it's called the 03:45 "frontal lobe" of your brain. 03:47 Before you go on with that, you're talking about 03:49 decisions and choices and so on, and change, and I remember 03:54 reading somewhere once that two laws of change; 03:58 change is inevitable and change will be resisted, 04:01 even a change for the better. 04:03 That's right! Strangely enough. 04:05 That fascinated me that we would resist a change that was 04:08 going to make life better, but we do. 04:11 After working for 23 years in lifestyle centers in Europe, 04:17 in Africa, in America - I've seen that with my very own eyes. 04:23 And you know, we actually have 04:25 the hardware to make good decisions. 04:28 For example, a cat has only 3.5 of his brain is frontal lobes. 04:34 A dog is 7%, who does more tricks, the cat or the dog? 04:42 Definitely the dog! 04:43 Now, who can do more tricks, a monkey or a dog? 04:48 I haven't really seen a monkey doing tricks. 04:52 Well maybe because you don't have too many here in Australia. 04:54 Well no, we don't but I do love them. 04:57 Seventeen percent of the chimpanzee is frontal lobe. 05:02 That's why monkeys can actually do more complex things 05:06 than a dog, but you know... 05:09 And the frontal lobe is the executive part of the brain. 05:11 Executive part of the brain where you 05:13 take the choices and so forth. 05:15 And whenever people say that "You came from monkeys 05:19 and so forth - well there's actually a huge difference 05:24 between what a monkey is and what a human is. 05:28 A human has 33% of the whole brain is frontal lobes. 05:35 So you have the hardware there to make good decisions. 05:42 The physical part is there. 05:44 You just have to decide to make the change, then it can happen. 05:50 Right and so the other part of the brain that tends 05:53 to want to take charge is the feeling-part of the brain, 05:56 (that's right), the emotional part of the brain and we 05:58 often say, "I don't feel like doing that," 06:01 and that then takes control, that's not a good thing. 06:05 So you have three parts of your brain that play a very 06:08 important role - you have your frontal lobes, that one 06:10 asks the question - "Is it correct, yes or no?" 06:14 Then you have the other part of the brain that is not 06:16 frontal lobe, that is that limbic system - that one asks 06:19 the question - "Is it logical, yes or no?" 06:23 And the limbic system asks the 06:25 question - "Do I like it, yes or no?" 06:28 Yes and that's it, that's all it does. 06:30 And see, you need to use those three parts of your brain 06:34 to make good decisions. 06:36 Sometimes there are things that you may like, 06:38 yet you need, so we have three counselors which are 06:43 called, "Judgment, Reason and Conscience." 06:46 So judgment has to do with the question: 06:51 "Is this the best for me?" 06:54 See, when you go to the store, don't ask the question, 06:58 "What's wrong with this?" No, that's the wrong question. 07:00 Ask the question, "What is the best? I want the best 07:05 for me." In that way, judgment will work properly. 07:09 Then you have reason. Reason has to do with taking 07:13 into account all the different factors and then you make 07:18 a decision - that's why you need to be very careful 07:21 what kind of information you put in your head. 07:24 I see this very often in medical consultation. 07:27 People go to the internet and start reading all kinds of 07:32 pseudoscience and they believe it's true. 07:36 Be very careful - use reason properly because 07:42 bad information will give bad behavior. 07:48 And as I recently saw in a doctor's office, 07:50 it said, "You will be charged an extra $20 for 07:55 diagnosis found on the internet." 07:58 Self-diagnosis found on the internet. 08:00 Be careful, use your reason correctly. 08:05 And finally, we have the conscience part. 08:08 Conscience has to do with the moral and ethics side of things. 08:14 For a Christian, this would be the question - "Is this 08:18 the will of God or not?" 08:20 So that will was a special gift that God gave to human beings 08:26 at the very beginning. 08:27 And what happens is that when you have true love, 08:32 you have to decide if it's related to something 08:38 related with love. 08:39 You have to have the possibility of saying, "No." 08:43 For example, I've never seen a couple that tells me 08:46 how he proposed to his wife; he didn't get his hand 08:50 and twist the hand of the future wife and say, "You have to 08:55 say "yes," you have to say "yes." 08:56 It doesn't work like that, you know, it doesn't work like that. 09:00 You have to have that ability of choosing, 09:04 and God in His infinite love provides us with 09:09 that reflection of His love in us so that we could 09:13 take decisions and love. 09:16 And the thing is that, you know, if there's no love, 09:19 there's no happiness and that's why we need to have 09:24 love in our lives. 09:26 Love others and have the ability to let others love us. 09:30 Yes, and it's interesting, I mean, sometimes when we think 09:34 of love, we think of fluffy feelings and that's 09:38 from a different part of the brain and that's nice, 09:40 that comes, but the Bible also talks about what love is. 09:44 It gives a beautiful definition in Corinthians - it's patient, 09:48 it's kind - all those lovely things and it doesn't do 09:52 any harm and it doesn't keep a record of wrongs. Yes! 09:56 You know, all those sorts of things and that's really 10:01 more about what love actually is and it brings with it 10:04 some fluffy feelings too. That's right! 10:07 But that's not the basis... 10:09 And that's not the basis, you know, it is a decision 10:12 that you need to take. 10:14 And you know, God made human beings and put them 10:17 in a perfect environment; everything was nice; 10:20 air was fresh; food was healthy; relationships were great, 10:25 but still human beings needed to take a decision. 10:30 And you know, that decision was based on two trees. 10:35 You had the tree of life which actually today could be 10:39 representing all those good decisions that you need to take; 10:44 everything that is good for you, that is life-giving. 10:47 But then you also have the decision of the tree of 10:52 knowledge of good and evil. 10:55 And you know, that represented those poor choices that 10:58 sometimes we take that unfortunately have negative 11:02 consequences, unhealthy consequences and life-destroying 11:07 practices. 11:09 And God never wanted us to partake of that. 11:15 And as we went ahead and disobeyed the will of God, 11:20 we got ourselves in big trouble. (Really big trouble!) 11:24 And sin was introduced in the picture. 11:26 I can illustrate this with you; as a mother that bakes 11:31 some good-smelling cookies and she puts them in a jar, 11:35 and she says, "Johnny, I need to go out of the house 11:39 for a minute, please don't eat the cookies." 11:42 So the mother goes out and it's taking longer, Johnny goes 11:45 and starts to open the jar and as he is starting to put his 11:49 hand in the jar, he hears the door being opened. 11:53 Question - Where does Johnny want his mom 11:57 to be at that moment? Laughter! 11:59 In the North Pole or if possible, on the moon, 12:03 isn't it? Probably one of those. 12:05 That's what sin does to us. 12:08 Sin creates separation and that's why God never 12:14 intended that door to be opened. 12:18 It was not that God didn't want to give us something 12:21 special and so forth, God never intended that 12:25 door of pain; of suffering; of pollution; of death; 12:31 of sickness to be opened. 12:34 That's why we need to be very careful on the decisions 12:38 that we take because our choices do have consequences. 12:43 They do. Good or bad. 12:46 In the same way, you don't want to base your life 12:52 on bad decisions because - as I tell my patients, sooner 12:56 or later, the bill will come to you and especially 13:01 sometimes young people they feel indestructible and 13:05 their behavior and practices may testify of that, 13:09 but I can tell you, sooner or later the bill comes. 13:12 I'm surprised to see sometimes people that are my age, 13:16 my friends, some of them so sick taking all kinds of 13:21 medications and feeling tired and so forth - there is 13:24 no need for that. 13:26 You look remarkable for your age and I think it's alright to say 13:31 you're 43 but you look absolutely amazing, 13:34 and that is a credit to your lifestyle and to 13:37 all the good choices that you have made. 13:38 As I tell my patients, "I don't want to be a hypocrite." 13:41 If I'm telling you to do sometime, it is because I am 13:45 doing that thing in my life. 13:47 So when sin gets introduced in the picture, spiritually we know 13:51 we separated ourselves from God; physically, disease 13:55 came on; emotionally, stress and anxiety, 14:00 and relationship problems came on. 14:03 The relationship fell down as soon as it happened, didn't it? 14:06 They started blaming each other, it's like, "Oh, not me, 14:08 it's not my fault, it's their fault." 14:10 And that was an immediate thing, so yes, it does 14:14 and all of those things are affected - the relationships 14:18 and our physical health, our mental health and, of course, 14:21 just like, you know, Johnny didn't want his mom 14:24 to be there, they hid from God. That's right! 14:26 So all of those aspects of our being impact in one event 14:32 they're all mixed in together and we can't do one 14:35 and not have them all affected for good, as you said 14:38 or negatively. 14:40 So our goal should be to try to understand what type of 14:44 lifestyle was taking place at the very beginning and try 14:49 to pattern our lifestyle as much as possible 14:53 on that - regarding diet; regarding exercise; 14:56 regarding rest; regarding relationships and so forth. 15:01 There are blessings in that! 15:02 That's what I like about the Bible - as you read its 15:06 pages, there are good examples and bad examples. 15:11 The bad examples are there so that you can avoid falling 15:14 in the same pits that certain people fell, 15:17 and there are good examples. 15:18 For example, in Genesis, we see the negative consequences 15:24 of uncontrolled anger resulting in the death 15:29 of the first human being. 15:31 Also, Psalms talks about what happens with uncontrolled 15:36 passion - how relationships were affected in the case of 15:40 David and pain and even death resulted as a result of that. 15:47 So bad consequences... 15:50 But you're talking about when he saw Uriah's wife, 15:53 you know, he committed adultery and then she got pregnant, 15:57 and he tried to hide it and couldn't, so he had the husband 16:00 killed (That's right!) and then, of course, it all came back 16:05 against him and it was a very bad experience. 16:09 Or Judas - you know, uncontrolled greed took him 16:13 to the point that he actually traded Jesus 16:16 for just some pieces of metal called "silver," you know. 16:20 But also the Bible also has examples of people 16:25 that even had pathological families in the example of 16:29 Joseph, you know, a very pathological family, 16:33 yet the choices that he took sooner or later they gave 16:38 good consequences and you can see that he became one of the 16:43 highest officials in Egypt or Daniel, you know, he purposes 16:49 in his heart that he would not defile himself with the wine 16:54 or the food of those Babylonians and God blessed them. 16:59 I think that's the absolute key, he purposed in his heart 17:03 and he made that decision that choice before he was ever 17:07 confronted with the temptation. 17:09 And I think that's a big secret, if you wait until 17:12 the cookies come out or whatever it is, whatever it is, 17:16 it's very difficult but if ahead of time you think, " this is 17:20 what I am going to do; this is what I'm not 17:22 going to do," and that's your line in the sand - in your mind, 17:25 and you just draw that line. That's right! 17:27 And I believe that's the secret, whatever it is... 17:31 So remember, all change starts with good decisions. 17:35 Now some people will say, "Well it's because I have bad 17:38 genetics, doctor, you don't understand this." 17:40 "My father died of heart disease; mother died of cancer; 17:43 there's a lot of disease in my family." 17:45 Well, we're realizing that genes actually account only for 17:50 20% of your health. 17:53 You know there's a study that took place actually not too far 17:56 from where I'm currently living, it's called, 17:59 "Alameda Longevity Study," and we can see that on the screen. 18:04 They found out that people that follow these habits - you 18:10 actually predicted their longevity: 18:24 And let me share with you a very interesting graphic. 18:28 That graphic tells you how you can actually 18:31 predict that longevity. 18:33 In this graphic, for example, you can see that a 20-year-old 18:38 that has zero to 2 habits, (you see it on the red), 18:42 he is not 20, he is actually 34 and if you notice, 18:46 the older you get, the more the implications. 18:49 Somebody that is 70 years old that has 5 habits, 18:54 he is going to have about 71, but if he has the 7 habits 18:58 that I've just mentioned, he's actually going to be 19:01 52 years old in real age. 19:05 Compared to someone who doesn't have any,...7, 19:09 that's a 45 year differential. 19:12 That is a huge effect! A massive difference. 19:16 And the older you get, the bigger the effect that 19:19 it has for good or for bad. 19:21 And this is just in you quality of life. 19:24 And really, that becomes so important, and unfortunately, 19:29 Eddie, sometimes we have to lose some measure of our wellness 19:32 before we really appreciate quality of life, so that's huge. 19:36 I mean a 45 differential is terrible. 19:38 I know what some people may be thinking right now. 19:41 They may be saying, "You know doctor, what were those 19:44 7 habits - I didn't copy them." 19:46 So let's show them on the screen, those 7 habits again: 20:04 They are actually very common sense when you think about it, 20:06 but not all that common. 20:10 So "National Geographic" was interested in finding out 20:14 where the longest living people on earth were. 20:18 And, in fact, you can actually Google that article for free. 20:21 That's actually a nice, little, short video that I 20:23 recommend you watch. 20:24 If you type in your Google, "Living Longer National 20:29 Geographic," it will bring you to that online version 20:34 of the article - "Living Longer National Geographic." 20:39 And there, it talks about three cultures of longevity; 20:43 in Japan - in Okinawa, Japan; also in Italy - way in the 20:50 mountains - not the whole island but there's a small population 20:54 there in the island of Sardinia; and finally they were surprised 20:59 that in America, in the Western world, in the east of 21:05 Los Angeles, there's a small community there of 21:09 "Seventh-day Adventists" in Loma Linda, California. 21:13 You can go to the "National Geographic" page, 21:14 I'm not making this up and Dan Buettner, the author 21:20 of this research, he wrote a whole book called, 21:24 "The Blue Zones." 21:26 And the interesting, fascinating thing about those 21:29 "Seventh-day Adventists" that live in Loma Linda, 21:31 I do lots of research and actually met a researcher of 21:36 the environment in America and he told me that Loma Linda 21:41 is one of the most polluted places in America, 21:44 the reason being is that Los Angeles is close to the ocean, 21:49 and as the winds push all that smoke, Loma Linda is surrounded 21:54 by mountains, so all that smoke stays in Loma Linda. 21:59 You have one of the most polluted places in America 22:02 yet you have one of the longest living people in America. 22:08 So universities and governments around the world 22:13 wanted to know what are they doing that is causing 22:17 that amazing longevity. 22:19 And you know, today there's more than 50 years of 22:23 research, and you can actually find this - it's called, 22:25 "Adventist Health Studies." 22:27 And they have found out that there is, nowadays, in the 22:32 database, more than 100,000 people that have 22:36 been studied and this is what they found out. 22:39 They found out that these "Seventh-day Adventists" 22:43 live 10 years or more than the average American. 22:48 The ones that also live in the 22:50 area, yes. That's right, that's right! 22:52 You know they are not isolated from all of the 22:55 temptations, all the availability of other choices. 22:58 So it's a choice that they make. 23:01 Yes and as my professor said when I was studying medicine, 23:03 going to an American market can be harmful to your health. 23:07 You have all kinds of access there - sugars and white flour, 23:12 whatever you want is there in those markets. 23:15 So yes, you know, they are exposed to those types 23:19 of temptations. 23:20 And you know, back in the 60s, they did a study, 23:23 one of the first Adventist mortality studies and they 23:30 found out that males were living 6.2 years more 23:35 than the average American. 23:37 But then, the latest, latest study and, in fact, 23:41 if you are somebody that watches the news or reads the newspaper, 23:45 you have seen the results of these studies. 23:48 CNN, Fox News, NBC, Australian Outlets and newspapers 23:54 and all over the world have reported the amazing 23:59 results of these studies. 24:00 So let's go through some of the fascinating facts that 24:04 these studies have shed on the lifestyle of these Adventists. 24:10 We can see, for example, that mortality in all cancers 24:13 among males is 60% LESS, you know, compared to the 24:17 average population. Fantastic! 24:19 Mortality on all cancers among females 76% less. 24:24 Also, they found the importance of eating whole grains. 24:30 Eating whole grains decreased the risk of a fatal heart attack 24:34 in 45%. 24:37 That's a huge reduction! 24:39 That is fabulous! 24:41 It's almost half, isn't it? 24:42 And also drinking water has an effect. 24:46 Five or more glasses of water reduced the risk of 24:51 a heart attack by 50%. 24:54 What a simple product, I mean. That's right! Water! 24:57 And it's just so valuable. 24:59 And then tomatoes - the males that ate the most tomatoes 25:04 reduced their risk of prostate cancer by 40%. 25:08 And if you replace your dairy for soymilk, 25:11 among males, you reduce the risk of prostate cancer 25:15 by 70% - a cancer that is extremely common here 25:21 in Australia, unfortunately. Yes, very common. 25:24 And you know, if you analyze this group of people, 25:29 they're not just one race - you know, you cannot just say 25:32 "Oh it's just white," no there are Hispanics, there is Asian, 25:36 there is African - all kinds of people composed the 25:41 Seventh-day Adventists. 25:43 And not all the Seventh-day Adventists grew in the same way. 25:47 There are some that didn't grow as Adventists 25:50 and later on chose to become an Adventist and if you eliminate 25:55 those people that were eating lots of cheese, lots of dairy, 26:00 lots of meat that in the past, they partook of lots of 26:03 alcohol or drugs - that actually the longevity goes 26:07 to 10, 12 or even more years compared 26:10 to the average American. 26:12 So what are they doing, these Adventists? 26:14 They're not smoking; they follow a plant-based diet; 26:18 they consume nuts; they do regular exercise, 26:22 and they keep a healthy weight. 26:24 And one very important factor, they found out, 26:28 is that the way that the faith they live - having faith in God 26:36 as they crunched the numbers, they realized that is 26:39 actually a huge factor in longevity. 26:42 Yes and that doesn't surprise me at all because 26:44 in the last 100 years there's been - oh, I think it's about 26:48 1,200 studies that show the beneficial effects 26:52 to our physical health from spirituality - you're probably 26:56 aware of all that too, I'm sure with all the 26:58 research that you do - yes, it has a really amazing impact 27:02 on our overall health - tapping into spirituality. 27:05 So if you want to have that longevity, I invite you to 27:09 tap into those spiritual resources. 27:12 In fact, in "National Geographic," one of the 27:16 characteristics of those three groups is that they 27:20 had faith in God which is fascinating, isn't it? 27:23 Yes it is actually because they weren't all identical 27:27 like the factors that helped each of the groups 27:29 weren't entirely identical, but that was one 27:31 that was a common one that they all had. 27:35 I'd like to teach a Bible verse for those patients that 27:38 would like to overcome a certain habit - I teach them: 27:41 Philippians 4:13 which says, "I can do all things 27:46 through Christ who strengthens me." 27:49 So focus on a few things, start making those changes, 27:53 decide for the change and harvest the good results! 27:57 That's tremendous and, you know, the Bible - actually 28:00 the same creative power that brought this world 28:03 into existence is in actually in God's Words, 28:05 so it's really, really powerful. 28:08 So we wish you a very long and healthy life! 28:11 And remember that you can view our programs on demand, 28:15 just visit our website at 3abnaustralia.org.au 28:20 and click on the watch button. 28:21 And we just hope that this has been a really helpful 28:24 thing for you and I hope that you take onboard 28:27 something that you heard and even think of one thing 28:29 that you could do right now to give yourself 28:33 a long and healthy life. |
Revised 2019-10-03