will exercising and eating right make you live longer ?

Question

What solid proof is there that eating right and exercising will make you live longer ? I know alot of old people that say they smoked 40 - 60 ciggerettes a day and eat a full english breakfast a day (2 sausages, 2 fried eggs, bacon, black pudding & so on) yet there still live and kicking at the age of 90+ with next to no exercise. Can anyone clear this up?

thanks jessi g exactly what iv been trying to get to the bottom of, alot of football players have died over in england recently too and they live a perfect diet training rageem, i'm sick of being told what to eat and what not to eat.

Answer 1

Athletes sometimes don't have a perfect diet and exercise balance. They can get into performance enhancing drugs, skimp on diet to meet weight criteria for their sport, over-exercise to a point that is unhealthy. These things aren't always going to be in the public domain after they die for various reasons.

Genetics plays a role in what diseases you are predisposed to, how long you live, etc.

Diet and exercise DO play a major role in longevity and quality of life. What you seem to be missing is that you don't have to run a marathon to be active. You can walk to school every day, or take the stairs rather than elevator, or clean teh house. These are all activites that we don't really think of as exercise, but they count. I mean, the lady that smoked at 90+ could have been a really active person in younger years or maybe she did alot of the stuff people don't consider real exercise.

There are so many different factors that influence longevity that it just makes sense to eat right and exercise so you can have the best possible outcome.

Maybe when it becomes standard practice to get a blood test that will tell us our genetic predisposition to various diseases, then we can better tailor our diet, exercise and smoking habits to fit. It may not be that far off.

Answer 2

Genetics play a HUGE role in how long we live and what diseases we get. Those smoking and eating crap stories, while true, are exceptions to the rule, rather than the norm. For every one of those 90-years old, smoke, boozed and ate horribly all my life stories you hear, there are probably 400 people who had similar lifestylesbut died younger of cancer, heart disease, etc.
Eating right and exercising can indeed help us live longer (though it's hard to say how much longer, as this seems to be majorly influenced by our genes), but eating well and exercising mainly seems to improve our QUALITY of life. We can stay healthier and active for much longer, rather than being "an old man" or old lady by 60 or so.

Answer 3

there is no proof that this is true.
ok so doctors tell you .. you have to work out for 30 minutes a day and to follow the food guide right>?? but in canada there has been many runners and extreme athletes have died lately so there point is wrong there. and i use to volunteer in a hospital and there was a 70 year lady who has smoked for 50 years .
so its really hard to tell what one is rght and wrong .. you kinda gotta use your own judgement .. on ths one .. i would cut down on the eggs and greasy bacon and try and cut down on cigarettes .

Answer 4

That is an interseting question and one i have thought about. If you live your life denying yourself things you like such as burgers and beer and doing things you dont want such as exercise then its not really healthy as it makes you unhappy.Ive been told some people have excellent matabolisms and can take anything.

Answer 5

It's medicine haha. :) BUT getting some daily exersize, and a good amount of fruits never killed a man.

Answer 6

definately