Run Run Away

Question:

Death absolutely STOPS aging. <heh Teresa

Response:

And Jackrabbit Johansen, who passed away after a peaceful, happy life, at the age of 102.

I remember the Jackrabbit. He was still skiing cross-country at 102. I thought he was 103 when he died. Whatever, he lived a long and active life. I should be as fortunate. Rob Remember to remove "mypants" before e-mailing me.

Response:

I have seen  65 year old sedentary folks, and 65 yeard old marathon runners – and I know what I want to be when I am 65. I cannot believe someone who exercises moderately throughout their life will live any less longer than the average sedentary fat person (at least in the States the average is fat). I’ll take my chances and keep on running.

Geez, yeah. One of my role models is George Turner, who has been a bodybuilder since he got out of the service, in 1946. Another is Walt Stack, who needs no introduction. Hey, and Sister Marion Irvine, God’s gift to the roommate list at the Olympic trials. And Jackrabbit Johansen, who passed away after a peaceful, happy life, at the age of 102. And Jim Fixx, who beat the average for men in his family by several years, and enjoyed those years. and a bunch of others I’ll think of after I’m offline. BobMac

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As the main man, Neil Young said in Rust Never Sleeps, "It’s better to burn out than fade away " I know which I would rather do. Steve – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The followings are summation of the information I’ve gleaned from news articles, web sites and so on. ( I don’t know whether they are scentifically proven or not. I don’t even remember where they came from.) 1. The less you eat the longer you will live. ( at least this is true for the mice) 2.  Food intake and digestion cause inevitablely oxidation of human body cells. 3. This accelerates aging. 4. Excercise on regular basis is beneficial but in extreme, excercise can over-oxidate your body.( such as professional athletes. ) 5. Even worse, extreme excerciser needs more calories. this means more food intake. and see No. 2. I used to run 40 ~ 50 miles a week. ( this is winter so I slow down a little bit… 20 ~ 25 miles a week) I know many poeple in this NG run over 60 miles a week. That’s not the distance that the ordinary poeple usually run , I guess. So…. Are we ( tens of miles a week runners) getting extra wrinkles on our faces and the shorter longevities? I hope we are not. What do you think? nj.

– http://www.woldsvets.20m.com Running Club based in Grimsby, N.E.Lincs, England.

Response:

I have seen  65 year old sedentary folks, and 65 yeard old marathon runners – and I know what I want to be when I am 65. I cannot believe someone who exercises moderately throughout their life will live any less longer than the average sedentary fat person (at least in the States the average is fat). I’ll take my chances and keep on running. -josh – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The followings are summation of the information I’ve gleaned from news articles, web sites and so on. ( I don’t know whether they are scentifically proven or not. I don’t even remember where they came from.) 1. The less you eat the longer you will live. ( at least this is true for the mice) 2.  Food intake and digestion cause inevitablely oxidation of human body cells. 3. This accelerates aging. 4. Excercise on regular basis is beneficial but in extreme, excercise can over-oxidate your body.( such as professional athletes. ) 5. Even worse, extreme excerciser needs more calories. this means more food intake. and see No. 2. I used to run 40 ~ 50 miles a week. ( this is winter so I slow down a little bit… 20 ~ 25 miles a week) I know many poeple in this NG run over 60 miles a week. That’s not the distance that the ordinary poeple usually run , I guess. So…. Are we ( tens of miles a week runners) getting extra wrinkles on our faces and the shorter longevities? I hope we are not. What do you think? nj.

Response:

Listening To Runners’ Thinking: The Useful/Useless Knowledge A Runner Gathers c.2001 Austin "Ozzie" Gontang, Ph.D. & Yunkyu Kim Archived at:  http://www.themestream.com/articles/333752.html

The following  is a summation of the information I’ve gleaned from news articles, web sites and so on. (I don’t know whether they are scientifically proven or not. I don’t even remember where they came from.) 1. The less you eat the longer you will live. (At least this is true for the mice) 2.  Food intake and digestion cause inevitably oxidation of human body cells. 3. This accelerates aging. 4. Exercise on regular basis is beneficial but in extreme, exercises can over-oxidate your body. (Such as professional athletes.) 5. Even worse, extreme exerciser needs more calories. This means more food intake. See  #2. I used to run 40 ~ 50 miles a week. (This is winter so I’ve slowed down a little bit… 20 ~ 25 miles a week) I know many people in this newsgroup (rec.running) run over 60 miles a week. That’s not the distance that the ordinary people usually run, I guess. So…. Are we (tens of miles a week runners) getting extra wrinkles on our faces and a shorter longevity? I hope we are not. What do you think? nj. Dear nj, I’m one of those people you like to have on your team in Trivial Pursuit or Tribond. There is a quote that I’ve liked because it makes me feel that I have some value: The value of a man can be measured by the amount of all the useless information his mind contains. Mine contains a lot. I derive that thinking from my readings of Taoism especially the stories of Chuang Tzu. I don’t profess to understand much.  I do know that wisdom and knowledge can block one’s understanding.  One reason all I can share is my folklore.  If it works use it.  If not, move on. One story that touches the mark of how people respond when asked what they think is the story of The Useless Tree. Hui Tzu, who loved to debate and one up Chuang Tzu, said to him: There’s a large ailanthus tree on my property You know the one I mean: the "stinktree." The tree’s trunk is so grotesque Misshapen and full of knots A master carpenter couldn’t cut A straight board with all his skill. It’s branches so gnarled and twisted You can’t align them with a square In any way that would be orderly. Let it grow by the roadside. No carpenter, not even a master craftsman, Would give it a thought or consideration. Your teachings are just the same – Big and utterly useless So everyone disregards them. Chuang Tzu thought a moment and replied: Have you ever observed a wildcat or weasel As it lies in wait? See it hunch, Half hidden eyeing its prey – Then in a flash it pounces Jumping this way and that Springing high and low, until it is Snared by the net, caught Soon to be killed and skinned Ah, but look at the yak? Mighty as the roiling clouds of a thunderstorm He stands powerful, a sign of strength. Big?  Yes. But it doesn’t know how to catch rats. About that "stinktree" you have. Useless? Then go out and plant it in the badlands In the barren desert. Leisurely relax against its trunk, Use its shadow to rest under A haven for all passing by. No saw or axe plans its demise If there’s no use for it, How can it come to any grief? Useless, you say.   {i.7.} 1.  The researcher (Woldrop, Walthrup at UCLA or was it USC?) who studied the mice allowed the control group to eat freely and the experimental group was fed every other day and diet was controlled.  At the end of the study, the experimental group of mice were more healthy, more active and didn’t seem to have aged as much as the control group which where fat and happy. Happy here being a relative term.  In the end I believed they were all sacrificed for the sake of science. That same researcher was involved as part of the crew that went into the Biosphere to live for a year. 2 & 3.  Tom Bassler back in the early 80’s was writing about free radicals, transfatty acids, and marathoners being immune from death by heart attacks for up to 8 years after running a marathon.  Tim Noakes and Tom had a great discussion back in 1976 at the New York Academy of Sciences Marathon Symposium.  Tim drew from his experiences with the deaths of marathoners that contradicted Tom’s hypothesis.  Tom arrived at much of his findings and hypotheses from his work as a pathologist, experiment-of-one and avid runner. 4. The research at the Cooper Center under the guidance of Steve (Last name begins with B, I think) showed that even with minimal exercise heart attacks can be reduced by as much as 50%. Also regular exercise is beneficial based on (a) cardiovascular health, (b) lowered percentage of unnecessary body fat, and (c) an increase, maintenance or slowing down of the loss of bone density. a. Heart is a bloody muscle.  Work it out and exercise it through aerobic activity and it is healthier b. Normal or ideal percent body fast keeps one away from the diseases caused by obesity: e.g. diabetes which is one of the fastest growing diseases among US children today. c. Think about it. Muscles pull on tendons. Tendons pull on bone where tendons attach.  When you pull on a tendon, it pulls on the bone. The bone receives a message: Hey, the tendon is trying to pull away from me. I’d better lay down some more cartilage, put down a little more calcium so that it won’t pull away.  So that continual stimulation of the muscles pulling on tendon and tendon on bone stimulates the body to put down more calcium in the bone to make it stronger so that the tendon won’t pull away. 5.  Regarding the extreme exercise. Young women who stop their periods because of extreme exercise lose their bone density at a fairly high rate. Bone scans has shown women in the 20’s and 30’s who were without their periods for several months to several years can have the bone density of women in their 70’s and older. I know that if someone overtrains to the point of exhaustion they will sustain more injuries.  They will tax their immune system and be more open to getting sick.  Once someone has gone over the edge, it often takes 6 months to a year or more for them to recuperate. Once over the edge it is a long journey to get back to their level of peak performance. Their climb back contains much agony and soulful pain to get back to the level where their mind and body had formerly been.  This says nothing about the state of their psyche/soul/spirit.  This is an area where over the years I have been privy to the inner journey or dark night of the soul of many of these overachievers. I have been honored to attend or be present as they recovered their sense of being that was destroyed by their overdoing. For some the recovery was never to happen. We individuals are only small echoes of what myth and history have given us.   Pride, arrogance, challenging the gods and denying the limits of humanity,  being swept away, going unconscious are the shadow and dark side of ourselves we wrestle with all the time. Adalanta, Prometheus, Odysseus, Sisyphus, Samson, Richard M Nixon, William Jefferson Clinton are our teachers and our coaches and our mentors. Positive or negative they are here to teach us about ourselves. It makes one wonder about James Hillman’s concept that in the acorn is contained the mighty oak. Did Manolete hide behind his mother’s apron as a child knowing he would be facing a 1200-pound bull?  Did Winston Churchill have trouble as a child speaking knowing that he would have to inspire with words a country on the edge of total destruction? I always come back to the same point where I started my run.  No matter how far I run, in a sense I never get anywhere.  It is about non-judgment. Reality always wins, our only task is to get in touch with it. When queried about being useful or useless, good or bad, right or wrong, positive or negative. I return to where I started.   It’s not useful or useless It’s not right or wrong. It’s not positive or negative. It’s not good or back. It just is. So I am neither valuable or valueless since I don’t know if what I have in my mind is useful or useless. And what did you think about on your run today? Marathon Psyching Series Accepting The Marathon Challenge http://www.themestream.com/articles/179628.html Marathoning: A Path, A Direction, A Lifestyle   http://www.themestream.com/articles/179669.html Hints for Marathon Success http://www.themestream.com/articles/179688.html Some Wisdom From the Marathon Psyching Team What To Say When Talking To Yourself   http://www.themestream.com/articles/179697.html Marathon: The Week Before/The Month After http://www.themestream.com/articles/183159.html Learning to fall again: Running is falling and catching yourself gracefully a step at a time.                   GAPO The Running Theory of GAPO http://www.themestream.com/articles/183188.html — In health and on the run, Ozzie Gontang Maintainer – rec.running FAQ http://www.faqs.org/faqs/by-newsgroup/rec/rec.running.html Director, San Diego Marathon Clinic, est. 1975 Mindful Running http://www.mindfulness.com/mr.asp

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The followings are summation of the information I’ve gleaned from news articles, web sites and so on. ( I don’t know whether they are scentifically proven or not. I don’t even remember where they came from.) 1. The less you eat the longer you will live. ( at least this is true for the mice) 2.  Food intake and digestion cause inevitablely oxidation of human body cells. 3. This accelerates aging. 4. Excercise on regular basis is beneficial but in extreme, excercise can over-oxidate your body.( such as professional athletes. ) 5. Even worse, extreme excerciser needs more calories. this means more food intake. and see No. 2.

        I would argue that it is the difference in energy intake and expenditure, thus #5 would not mean anything since although I eat more, I exercise more and expend more energy.         The link between free radicals and disease is tenuous at best.         We also age because the cells in our bodies seem to be able to replicate a finite number of times and after so many copies are made, we just cannot make as good a copy or as many. I used to run 40 ~ 50 miles a week. ( this is winter so I slow down a little bit… 20 ~ 25 miles a week) I know many poeple in this NG run over 60 miles a week. That’s not the distance that the ordinary poeple usually run , I guess. So…. Are we ( tens of miles a week runners) getting extra wrinkles on our faces and the shorter longevities? I hope we are not. What do you think?

        Wear sunscreen when running to reduce the risk of wrinkles.         Exercise will make you live longer and improve the quality of those years (even if you die young one could argue you die happier).  Also, if a person who exercises has a heart attack, he/she tends to rebound quicker.         I will take my chances with exercise and await the literature on free radicals (although they seem to be dying with the recent death of Khalid Mohammed). – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – nj.

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This is the reason why you’ll never find me in a marathon or triathlon. However, I think we all have to be very skeptical when "science" is reported in the public press. Very often, conclusions are drawn beyond what the research is able to support; Also, conclusions are often manipulated to  the political orientation of certain publications (don’t expect to see research on the health advantages of high fat diets–yes, the research is out there–in the Diabetes Association nutrition publications, or the negative effects of high mileage in RW, any time soon). Learn how to use medline if you don’t already know, and check it out for yourself! Comments: (1)  There is a fairly large amount of research linking very high volume training with oxidative stress.  Most of the research uses trathletes (particularly) and marathoners as subjects.  Oxidative stress is measured by markers of free radicals in the blood stream or plasma concentrations of antioxidants, such as Vitamin E. However, note: (a) The link between oxidative stress and cancer is widely suspected but unproven; (b) there is no link between oxidative stress and aging as far as I know; (c) research suggests that the presence of free radicals can be eliminated by supplementing with 700 IU of natural Vitamin E. (2)  Experiments on rats with caloric restriction are oriented toward minimizing fat mass and maximizing fat-free mass.  There is no evidence of a link between food in general and oxidative stress or aging, although the link with atherosclerosis is well known.  However, there is evidence of a link with particular foods (fish oil in the direction of long life, beef consumption trigering colon cancer in the direction of short life). (3)  There is some evidence on the link between masters track athletes and aging.  Masters track athletes that have been at it for a long time have biomedical markers that are significantly "younger" than their actual age; There is also gerontology research on the effect of weight training in the aging that draws similiar conclusions.   Payton Jordan (he once ran 10.3 in the 100 when that was the WR set by Jesse Owens and he continued to race into his mid-80’s) does not look anything like 80+.  But, note, we are not talking about high mileage here;  This group of people run low-mileage but very intensely and lift weights to failure.  These are not fitness "runners." (4)  The research mentioned in RW on the benefit of high mileage was limited certain markers like LDL and VLDL and to 50 miles per week.  It is not valid to draw conclusions about 75-100 miles/week and long life, particularly in light of contradicting research about high mileage and oxidative stress. In general, if you run moderate mileage (<50 mpw) and do some intense weight training and/or fast running on the track, you should look younger than your years.  But older marathoners look "old" to me. Lyndon "Speed Kills….It kills those that don’t have it"  — Brooks Johnson

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The followings are summation of the information I’ve gleaned from news articles, web sites and so on. ( I don’t know whether they are scentifically proven or not. I don’t even remember where they came from.) 1. The less you eat the longer you will live. ( at least this is true for the mice) 2.  Food intake and digestion cause inevitablely oxidation of human body cells. 3. This accelerates aging. 4. Excercise on regular basis is beneficial but in extreme, excercise can over-oxidate your body.( such as professional athletes. ) 5. Even worse, extreme excerciser needs more calories. this means more food intake. and see No. 2. I used to run 40 ~ 50 miles a week. ( this is winter so I slow down a little bit… 20 ~ 25 miles a week) I know many poeple in this NG run over 60 miles a week. That’s not the distance that the ordinary poeple usually run , I guess. So…. Are we ( tens of miles a week runners) getting extra wrinkles on our faces and the shorter longevities? I hope we are not. What do you think? nj.

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Get fat and see what happens. When a fit person’s heart rate is measurably less half the norm, wouldn’t the conclusion be that the heart would last longer?

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so what if it does? If you knew you could live a few months longer, if you just sat around and did nothing, and I really mean nothing, not even watch TV, would you do that? Not me. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The followings are summation of the information I’ve gleaned from news articles, web sites and so on. ( I don’t know whether they are scentifically proven or not. I don’t even remember where they came from.) 1. The less you eat the longer you will live. ( at least this is true for the mice) 2.  Food intake and digestion cause inevitablely oxidation of human body cells. 3. This accelerates aging. 4. Excercise on regular basis is beneficial but in extreme, excercise can over-oxidate your body.( such as professional athletes. ) 5. Even worse, extreme excerciser needs more calories. this means more food intake. and see No. 2. I used to run 40 ~ 50 miles a week. ( this is winter so I slow down a little bit… 20 ~ 25 miles a week) I know many poeple in this NG run over 60 miles a week. That’s not the distance that the ordinary poeple usually run , I guess. So…. Are we ( tens of miles a week runners) getting extra wrinkles on our faces and the shorter longevities? I hope we are not. What do you think? nj.

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This is why folks who exercise should be sure to include anti-oxidants in their diets. Vitamins A, C & E are vitamins that work as anti-oxidants. You have to eat to survive so the real question should be "How much more food should one eat in order to reduce their life spans by a significant amount?" For example if an extra 100 calories a day means a 1 day reduction in my expected life span then I’d be sure to eat less. However if it takes 10,000 extra calories per day to reduce my expected life span by 1 day then I’m fine with that. Since our average life spans include the factor of oxidation reduction I don’t believe the argument that eating reduces one’s life span. Then there is also the factor that you never know what your life expectancy is. I know of daily smokers who have lived to be over 100 years and healthy eaters who have died at what is considered to be a young age. I believe that the health benefits of running far out weigh the risks (joint problems, muscle problems and oxidation of cells). Andy – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The followings are summation of the information I’ve gleaned from news articles, web sites and so on. ( I don’t know whether they are scentifically proven or not. I don’t even remember where they came from.) 1. The less you eat the longer you will live. ( at least this is true for the mice) 2.  Food intake and digestion cause inevitablely oxidation of human body cells. 3. This accelerates aging. 4. Excercise on regular basis is beneficial but in extreme, excercise can over-oxidate your body.( such as professional athletes. ) 5. Even worse, extreme excerciser needs more calories. this means more food intake. and see No. 2. I used to run 40 ~ 50 miles a week. ( this is winter so I slow down a little bit… 20 ~ 25 miles a week) I know many poeple in this NG run over 60 miles a week. That’s not the distance that the ordinary poeple usually run , I guess. So…. Are we ( tens of miles a week runners) getting extra wrinkles on our faces and the shorter longevities? I hope we are not. What do you think? nj.

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I "heart"-ily agree with Roger – QUALITY of life is what is important to me. You’re supposed to have freakin’ wrinkles when you’re old, anyway! ) — David (in Hamilton, Ont) —

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – so what if it does? If you knew you could live a few months longer, if you just sat around and did nothing, and I really mean nothing, not even watch TV, would you do that? Not me. The followings are summation of the information I’ve gleaned from news articles, web sites and so on. ( I don’t know whether they are scentifically proven or not. I don’t even remember where they came from.) 1. The less you eat the longer you will live. ( at least this is true for the mice) 2.  Food intake and digestion cause inevitablely oxidation of human body cells. 3. This accelerates aging. 4. Excercise on regular basis is beneficial but in extreme, excercise can over-oxidate your body.( such as professional athletes. ) 5. Even worse, extreme excerciser needs more calories. this means more food intake. and see No. 2. I used to run 40 ~ 50 miles a week. ( this is winter so I slow down a little bit… 20 ~ 25 miles a week) I know many poeple in this NG run over 60 miles a week. That’s not the distance that the ordinary poeple usually run , I guess. So…. Are we ( tens of miles a week runners) getting extra wrinkles on our faces and the shorter longevities? I hope we are not. What do you think? nj.

Response:

Begin Quote  1. The less you eat the longer you will live. ( at least this is true for the mice) End Quote     I don’t believe that is what the study proved.  I believe it proved that if you eat more than you need you will live less long.  No study that I know of looking into that "need" level and how it might change based on activity. Begin Quote  2.  Food intake and digestion cause inevitablely oxidation of human body cells. End Quote     I have never seen anything on this one.  Where did you get it? Begin Quote  3. This accelerates aging. End Quote     Again what study.  I have seen some studies that have connected oxidation with aging, but I have not seen one indicating a cause and effect connection. Begin Quote  4. Excercise on regular basis is beneficial but in extreme, excercise can over-oxidate your body.( such as professional athletes. ) End Quote     I am not sure if it is "over-oxidate" problems but there does seem to be a connection of extreme exercise and shorter life. Begin Quote  5. Even worse, extreme excerciser needs more calories. this means more food intake. and see No. 2. End Quote     See # 1 and # 2 — Dia ’s Muire duit Joe M

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[responding to summary of a "study" that claims high levels of exercise accelerates aging] 3. This accelerates aging. End Quote    Again what study.  I have seen some studies that have connected oxidation with aging, but I have not seen one indicating a cause and effect connection. Begin Quote 4. Excercise on regular basis is beneficial but in extreme, excercise can over-oxidate your body.( such as professional athletes. ) End Quote    I am not sure if it is "over-oxidate" problems but there does seem to be a connection of extreme exercise and shorter life.

[snip] What study? (More than one can play this game.) Actually, to hell with studies. If the only valid way to respond in this newsgroup were via full academic citation, then reading this forum would become as tiresome as reading the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. That has its place, of course; but personally, I read this ng to get away from academic rigor. Hunches, hearsay, anecdotes, and distillations from personal experience are what most readers of this group have to offer. I can see nothing wrong with such things as long as they are clearly labeled. My own anecdotal evidence follows: I’ve known very few people able to maintain 70+ miles per week on average for very long periods of time. There are a few. I know of one couple who’d feel any week of fewer than 70 miles not worth recording in their logbook. They are ready at any given time to run a marathon, and do so at least once a month. Unfortunately, I’m not at all impressed by their general state of health. Both of them look 10 years older than they are. They are frequently ill. They sound tired when they speak. I bet they are tired! On the other hand, I’ve heard mention here of studies that claimed to show that there are health benefits (longevity, e.g,) from extremely high milage over long periods. My hunch is that the matter is still undecided. The fountain of youth has always eluded those who searched for it. If you run, run for other reasons. — Terry R. McConnell   Mathematics/304B Carnegie/Syracuse, N.Y. 13244-1150

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Possibly accerlates aging.  Doesn’t reduce longevity according to several studies. Dr. Cooper of the Cooper Institute, initiator of the current running boom and coiner of ther exercise term ‘aerobics’ agrees with you, but has almost no outside support.  Several of his papers on his Institutes web site. Some people have looked for medical evidence via count and quality of mitochrondial in cells.  Old people may have more junky looky ones. Extreme athletes- those over 5-10,000 kcal a week may have an increase overall and more junky ones. Running may reduce overall oxygen consumption. Say you run 50 minutes a day, tripling your metabolism, have an hour warm down at normal metabolism, and the rest of the day at 80% previous metabolism because you are som much more efficient.  That is (3 x 1 + 1 x 1 + 22 x 0.8) / 24 = 0.9 previous.  You don’t become efficient for 5-10 years in my experience. ON the other hand, many people run in sun and age their skin. Many long time runners in Runners WOrld look older than than age and a bit like lizards.  —–  Posted via NewsOne.Net: Free (anonymous) Usenet News via the Web  —–   http://newsone.net/ — Free reading and anonymous posting to 60,000+ groups    NewsOne.Net prohibits users from posting spam.  If this or other posts

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Begin Quote  What study? (More than one can play this game.) End Quote     Frankly I don’t remember.  That does not mean it does not exist anymore than the studies I requested information do not exist if nitgjogger can’t remember them.  I asked because I was interested. (Sorry nite if it sounded like I was questioning you personally.) — Dia ’s Muire duit Joe M

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Hi NJ, Although most of us appreciate and enjoy the benefits of running,  I believe that most people on this NG run simply for the pleasure of it, to get a rush. "Train hard win easy"      Bernard – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The followings are summation of the information I’ve gleaned from news articles, web sites and so on. ( I don’t know whether they are scentifically proven or not. I don’t even remember where they came from.) 1. The less you eat the longer you will live. ( at least this is true for the mice) 2.  Food intake and digestion cause inevitablely oxidation of human body cells. 3. This accelerates aging. 4. Excercise on regular basis is beneficial but in extreme, excercise can over-oxidate your body.( such as professional athletes. ) 5. Even worse, extreme excerciser needs more calories. this means more food intake. and see No. 2. I used to run 40 ~ 50 miles a week. ( this is winter so I slow down a little bit… 20 ~ 25 miles a week) I know many poeple in this NG run over 60 miles a week. That’s not the distance that the ordinary poeple usually run , I guess. So…. Are we ( tens of miles a week runners) getting extra wrinkles on our faces and the shorter longevities? I hope we are not. What do you think? nj.

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1. The less you eat the longer you will live. ( at least this is true for the mice)

This only applies if you’re trying to live a really, really, long time and are willing to go on a starvation diet. 2.  Food intake and digestion cause inevitablely oxidation of human body cells.

Perhaps…not quite sure what you mean by oxidation of cells. 3. This accelerates aging.

Again, perhaps it accelerates aging beyond what it would be had you gone on a starvation diet, but otherwise you’re fine. 4. Excercise on regular basis is beneficial but in extreme, excercise can over-oxidate your body.( such as professional athletes. )

Probably.  Believe me the 20-30 miles a week a lot of people run isn’t going to hurt them.  I would venture to say that it wouldn’t hurt unless you run over 100 miles a week and do this for an extended period (like years). 5. Even worse, extreme excerciser needs more calories. this means more food intake. and see No. 2.

Well not necessarily.  A big part of the starvation diet=long life (estimates of 150 of more years) is being really lean and basically scrawny. You can eat more and still be really little if you run. I used to run 40 ~ 50 miles a week. ( this is winter so I slow down a little bit… 20 ~ 25 miles a week) I know many poeple in this NG run over 60 miles a week. That’s not the distance that the ordinary poeple usually run , I guess.

Again, that’s not that much.  Excessive running has got to be somewhere over 100. So…. Are we ( tens of miles a week runners) getting extra wrinkles on our faces and the shorter longevities? I hope we are not. What do you think?

20 miles is not going to hurt.  Furthermore if you’re not doing the starvation diet thing 1200-1500 calories for a 145 pound person then it’s not going to matter anyway.  Your biggest threat to ending your life would be disease or accident anyway, so you might as well run to make yourself more resistent to at least the first. -jeff – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –

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