Is Pleasure The Secret to a Long Life?

I was reading today in a book, about Jeanne Calment, a French woman who lived over 120 years of age.

As I was reading through, I wondered how she lived so long. One of the quotes at the end of the article, was "I took pleasure when I could..."

Jeanne ate 2 lbs of chocolate a week, used a good amount of olive oil, drank a couple glasses of port wine a day, and smoked cigarettes. Although there are disagreement between the amount of cigarettes she smoked, she did.

Some of the other articles I read talked about how people were trying to figure out what made her live longer. Some people were saying it was because she drank wine and had olive oil. Some credited her biological defense to stress, as well as her her psychological barrier.

But I wonder... is the secret to a healthy life to just enjoy it? To just take pleasure, and not feel guilty about it?

It really kinda irks me, because I was brought up in a household that seemed against pleasure. My parents are very Christian... while my Dad seems to have a good disposition, my mom is very stern. One thing I finally realized as I was older growing up, was that my mom was very against anything that could make someone excited... anything her children wanted to do, that had a hint of excitement to it, she frowned upon and talked down upon. I notice it even now, at the dinner table with family, she tends to talk seriously...and can't really joke around her be light or jovial.

I'm sure there are times she can, but in general I see a lack of zest for life in her. And to me, I think it has taken me awhile to feel alright about doing things that give me pleasure... I'm actually pretty self-denying still in many ways. I know this isn't a bad thing, but I think I need to be more okay with not denying myself pleasure.

Anyways, what do you all think? What are your ideas of pleasure? Should pleasure just be something you should "take" whenever you can? Do you think this contributes to a healthy holistic life? Or do you think Jeanne Calment's long life was based more on the exact molecule structures of the foods she ate, which somehow helped improve her health.

What I'm thinking personally, is that her health was more about pleasure and enjoying life. She liked chocolate and port wine, so she ate that. She liked smoking cigarettes so she smoked. So for us pot smokers, we like smoking pot... in other words, we shouldn't just try to copy what she ate and did, but instead to what makes US happy as individuals, as the key to living a healthy life.

And with that, I will now vaporize a mixture of chamomile/mj...

Lets Discuss and find the secret to long-life

It's funny that the things you named all have been associated with longevity somewhat. The chocolate and wine have phytochemicals which have been shown to extend life.

Nicotine keeps the telomerase enzyme active indefinitely. Now this is what keeps cancer cells growing from benign tumors into dangerrous ones BUT what is not seen in my opinion is the fact that if someone has a diet rich in phytochemicals such as wine, chocolate, and cannabis the cells will be prevented from becoming tumors in the first place because they will help clean the cells as well as induce apoptosis(cell death) in the weak cells.

I think nicotine when it is ingested from organic, air cured, and/or virginia styled flue cured to prevent the accumulation of nitrosamines, which have been shown the main cause of the cancer causing effects of tobacco, can help give someone a life of longevity and good health because it keeps the cells from "growing tired of dividing" for lack of a better term BUT remember it's all about your lifestyle as a whole and not just one magic bullet.

Here is something that blew me away showing the amount of people who have taken tobacco and have lived a long and healthy life despite what the media is saying. Don't get me wrong I still think commercial cigarettes are still garbage but that doesn't mean all tobacco is bad.

http://www.forces.org/evidence/hamilton/other/oldest.htm(It's a bit sarcastic)

The tobacco death toll - February 26, 2003 - Mercilessly, tobacco keeps harvesting an endless number of premature victims. Day after day millions of cigarettes are produced by criminals who KNOW that each and every one of their customers will DIE – and there is no escape, and no more unquestionable truth: if you smoke, you die. This is the case of the late John McMorran, of Lakeland, Florida. He smoked cigars, drank beer and ate greasy food –and now he has paid the dear price for a life turned that stands as an insult to the health crusaders. John was born June 19, 1889, in a log cabin in Michigan, and he was the oldest American living – but he could have lived longer. And that is not all; it is well known that smoking causes blindness and ear problems. In fact, “McMorran's eyesight failed in his final years, and people needed to shout for him to hear them.” What a waste. This is what tobacco does to you. May this epitaph stand as warning to the young, so that they learn to NEVER make John’s mistakes, and turn into statistical deaths.

Also, I do feel pleasure is the secret to longevity BUT if you don't know what you are enjoying, you can lose that gift of longevity because a lot of things that feels good aren't good for us.

This is why it's important to learn about both sides of EVERYTHING because something that might be known as bad might be that way because of the way it has been done such as the case of sex, alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis and by learning how to reduce the negative effects of these things, you can enjoy them and reap the benefits without problems.

im sure all these things have a relation to longevity, but by far the most important thing is your diet. i read an article about how people who eat a balanced diet but less than normal (around 25% less) should expect to live from 100-140 years. if you eat a crapload of food then it puts a lot of stress on all the parts of your system which leads to an increase in the amount of life threatening conditions.

demonicaardvark said:

im sure all these things have a relation to longevity, but by far the most important thing is your diet. i read an article about how people who eat a balanced diet but less than normal (around 25% less) should expect to live from 100-140 years. if you eat a crapload of food then it puts a lot of stress on all the parts of your system which leads to an increase in the amount of life threatening conditions.

Click to expand...

I was about to say, a low calorie diet seems to be one of the best, if not the best ways to prolong your life. The Japanese have always had very long lifetimes and their traditional foods rice and fish are very low in calories compared to the western diet of meat and taters (and fat) I think the article you are thinking of may be from popular science, because I've read the same thing.

Yeah a low calorie diet has been associated with longevity but the theory is that the reason this works is because the body can utilize nutrients more effectively from a low calorie diet and therefore less free radicals will be made BUT the same can be achieved if you eat 5-6 small meals a day and exercise.

You will get the positive effects of having an ample supply of nutrients and the strength that comes with exercise.

When I first learned about low calorie eating, the first thing that turned me off was the way that the few people I saw who followed the plan looked. They didn't look too healthy even though the papers showed another thing. That's why I'm so glad I learned about eating multiple small meals a day to achieve the same thing along with good fats from mostly nuts that utilize uncoupled protiens which don't create free radicals in the first place and also antimutagenic herbs.

Also, I read a study where rats were given food at a good amount and when the rats went on a intermittent fast, they achieved the same effect that a low calorie diet achieves.

Everytime I think of that study it reminds me of the bible when god worked for six days and rested on the seventh and maybe the same goes for man and his body but pertaining to everything we do.

I just found the study:
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20030607/food.asp

""The [intermittently fed] mice are not calorie restricted, and yet we see changes in their physiology similar to those obtained with calorie restriction," Mattson told Science News Online.

Intermittent feeding also improved the animals' resistance to a neurotoxin that simulates Alzheimer's disease, the researchers report in the May 13 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Indicad2006 said:

I was reading today in a book, about Jeanne Calment, a French woman who lived over 120 years of age.

As I was reading through, I wondered how she lived so long. One of the quotes at the end of the article, was "I took pleasure when I could..."

Jeanne ate 2 lbs of chocolate a week, used a good amount of olive oil, drank a couple glasses of port wine a day, and smoked cigarettes. Although there are disagreement between the amount of cigarettes she smoked, she did.

Some of the other articles I read talked about how people were trying to figure out what made her live longer. Some people were saying it was because she drank wine and had olive oil. Some credited her biological defense to stress, as well as her her psychological barrier.

But I wonder... is the secret to a healthy life to just enjoy it? To just take pleasure, and not feel guilty about it?

It really kinda irks me, because I was brought up in a household that seemed against pleasure. My parents are very Christian... while my Dad seems to have a good disposition, my mom is very stern. One thing I finally realized as I was older growing up, was that my mom was very against anything that could make someone excited... anything her children wanted to do, that had a hint of excitement to it, she frowned upon and talked down upon. I notice it even now, at the dinner table with family, she tends to talk seriously...and can't really joke around her be light or jovial.

I'm sure there are times she can, but in general I see a lack of zest for life in her. And to me, I think it has taken me awhile to feel alright about doing things that give me pleasure... I'm actually pretty self-denying still in many ways. I know this isn't a bad thing, but I think I need to be more okay with not denying myself pleasure.

Anyways, what do you all think? What are your ideas of pleasure? Should pleasure just be something you should "take" whenever you can? Do you think this contributes to a healthy holistic life? Or do you think Jeanne Calment's long life was based more on the exact molecule structures of the foods she ate, which somehow helped improve her health.

What I'm thinking personally, is that her health was more about pleasure and enjoying life. She liked chocolate and port wine, so she ate that. She liked smoking cigarettes so she smoked. So for us pot smokers, we like smoking pot... in other words, we shouldn't just try to copy what she ate and did, but instead to what makes US happy as individuals, as the key to living a healthy life.

And with that, I will now vaporize a mixture of chamomile/mj...

Lets Discuss and find the secret to long-life

Click to expand...

hello indicad2006

so to discuss about enjoying life, how do you harvest your chamomile in order to be able to smoke it? what are the effects? that is one curious thing
gracias-
paz

PazVerdeRadical said:

hello indicad2006

so to discuss about enjoying life, how do you harvest your chamomile in order to be able to smoke it? what are the effects? that is one curious thing
gracias-
paz

Click to expand...

I just use a teabag of chamomile. Its the chamomile flowers you can vaporize, just like MJ flowers. Neways, it definitely imparts a calmness to the effect. You can try it out! Might not be good though unless you have the opportunity to relax. But I'm sure everyone would be affecting differently.

Seriously though, there is another good forum out there, all about vaporizers, called VaporInfo Forum. http://www.vaporinfo.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=1

I'm having fun reading all your responses to my thread. One other thing I didn't mention about this French woman, was that she never really had to work in her life. She was in a rich family of some sort... and also later in her life had someone pay her by contract, 500 a month or so, because the guy thought she was going to die soon and he could have her apartment. Turns out, she outlived him...

So I'm back on this thread.

Lotty - I find that link very interesting. Actually, back when I was smoking cigarettes I found that Forbes site too. But how do you go about ingesting organic, virginia-style flue cured tobacco? I don't think American Spirits is cured this way... right? Actually, after researching this myself, I started ordering the Swedish Snus packets on the internet. The tobacco they use in the snus packets are cured the healthy way, so you don't have the Nitro's or whatever they're called. And boy, those little packets are nice. However, I did find I liked the act of smoking too... I wonder if I could find tobacco that was cured the healthy way for smoking purposes.

I'm not too sure what to think about things anymore. I have gone over 3 months without caffeine. 5 months or more without any nicotine. I can tell you that those 3 months were very long and slow. Boring too mainly. In fact, I have also noticed that my performance in school went down a lot. It was harder to have the energy and oomph to go to my classes, and to even study. I just could not focus. I have not been very productive at all...

And this is why I'm wondering about this pleasure concept. That in this industrial society, there are alot of boring monotonous things we have to do on a daily basis to get by. If we don't balance this out with things that are pleasurable, then our health suffers...mentally and physically. Stress is the number one killer.

I just find having a smoke pleasurable. Having a drink pleasurable. I was way more productive it seemed when I was doing these things. Maybe they are not perfectly healthy... but if I am moderate with my usage of caffeine/tobacco/alcohol/cannabis... maybe I can actually elevate my quality of life.. maybe with a sensible usage of these things I can actually be happier and more productive in my life..

So... with that being said, I am thinking of returning to my former lifestyle. To give myself the freedom to smoke tobacco again (only the healthiest I can find), the freedom to enjoy a good tea, or some chocolate. The freedom to smoke good cannabis. I think by giving myself this freedom, I'll find that not only will my life seem more interesting and vibrant again, but that I'll be able to deal with the non-stop demands of this society...

My situation is probably a bit more complex. I found that caffeine seemed to make me anxious in general... in certain amounts at least. After I smoked tobacco I found that it grounded me very well. So, I find that combo very nice. Even tobacco with weed can be pretty grounding. Without any drugs I don't have anxiety problems. I feel fine in all respects in life... but I just don't have the energy or drive it seems it takes to deal with this world... it seems everyone is on stimulants.

But I'm not sure if the way to look at drugs is purely from a chemical standpoint... if you look at it in relation to pleasure...then you kinda get a different picture. Maybe people just like the pleasurable buzz of caffeine...or the feeling of smoking a cigarette.

As far as health and genetics, I can say this:
My grandparents on my dad's side both smoked cigs. They actually smoked probably a pack a day, and not the healthy ones. My grandpa had open-heart surgery and quit.. then finally my grandma. But my grandma is still alive.

On my mom's side of the family, my grandma is just now in the hospital about to undergo open heart surgery tomorrow. She never smoked, ate a small vegetarian diet, exercised everyday...very healthy. But then again she never drank too much wine either. Her husband on the other hand never really exercised, and she may be the one to die first... I think he might be due for some sort of heart surgery himself soon though...

It really does seem like lots of things are related to genes! It just seems, that my grandma should be a sparkling example of how good lifestyle habits give you good health. But maybe its not so cut and dry. Maybe its not just eating healthy, but finding pleasure in life! To savor and enjoy things in moderation, that you like.

So neways, now I sit and just wonder what I'm going to do...

I know the american spirits 100% U.S. grown blend uses burley and bright leaf tobacco.

Burley tobacco is a light air cured tobacco and bright leaf tobacco uses flue cured methods although I'm not sure if they use a heat exchanger which has been shown to give low level of nitrosamines.

Also, if you do smoke or in that case is around a lot of cars, and eat certain foodsm you should take a product called smokeshield which contains turmeric which has been shown to prevent dna mutation EVEN in the presence of someone who has recently smoked.

Here is the link with all the information:
http://www.newchapter.info/research/smokeshield.html

lotty - thx for the suggestion. I have seen that product before. Good stuff...

Just curious, do you take any other herbs? Have you ever taken ginseng before?

pieceofmyheart said:

.....and genetics.

Click to expand...

Hit the nail on the head.

Yes, indica2006 I do take other herbs because I see them as a catalyst to the cannabis high. I have also tried ginseng but I try to get only the red type. I would to try the pressure steamed kind if I can find it due to extra chemicals that are made from the process.

I look at herbs as the "thing" that gets the body moving. It goes like this, food such as grains, beans, fruits, are the foundation that set the body up to make chemicals and protect it from too much oxidative damage. Leafy plants provide the minerals that are needed to help the process move a little faster.. Herbs release the chemicals that are made from the food through different ways depending on the herb used. This is the method that I use to make sure herbs have a potent effect without negative effects.

I also make sure that I have different colors in my meal.

It goes much deeper but that is the foundation that I use to keep everything in balance. Peace.

Here's an article explaining the effects of steam pressure and ginseng. BTW I think this can effect cannabis but a method has to be done to protect the cannabis from the steam so the terpenoids don't evaporate into the steam and all the flavor is gone.

They basically pressure cooked ginseng for 3 hours and I think it can be done in the home even though at the end of the article it say's it's something that cannot be done without "special" equipment.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/11/001130074250.htm

Report Says Hot Steam Dramatically Increases Ginseng's Potency

Steaming ginseng at higher temperatures can boost its potency dramatically, according to research reported in the current (November 21) issue of the Journal of Natural Products, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.

Ginseng root has been used mostly in Asian cultures for centuries to enhance physical and mental vitality. The nutritional supplement in recent years has become widely available in world markets - either dried, or steamed at standard boiling temperatures of 100 degrees Celsius (212 Fahrenheit) - for use as an antioxidant and blood thinner.

Steaming for approximately three hours at 120 degrees Celsius (248 Fahrenheit) can multiply the herb's antioxidant qualities by eight times and its ability to relax blood vessels by up to 32 times, according to researcher Jeong Hill Park of Seoul National University in Korea.

[FONT=Impact]The hotter steam produced an optimal amount of biological activity from the same ginseng used in normal supplements, Park found. The higher temperature amplifies certain ginsenosides - the ingredient believed responsible for ginseng's sought-after qualities - and generates others not normally found in dried versions of the root, Park said.
[/FONT]
"This very simple steaming can significantly increase the biological activities of ginseng," Park said. "I believe we can develop more potent health foods or related products using this process."

Such high temperature steaming would be part of the manufacturing process of "sun ginseng," named after the dark purple color achieved from the heat, Park said. The additional heating above normal boiling temperature requires applying pressure to the water. This cannot be done without special equipment, he said.

Ginseng steamed at boiling temperatures is known as "red ginseng" because of the coloration it assumes.

Park reported no negative side effects from the higher concentration levels produced by the hotter steaming. As a food supplement, ginseng does not require extensive clinical trials in the United States. But those taking anti-inflammatory or blood thinning drugs should be alert to possible interactions, according to health sources.

I forgot to add that exercise turns on genes that were previously dormant.

Here's the article:

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0KGB/is_3_3/ai_98592772

Activate those genes - Extra Training - exercise helps genes clear sugar and fat from the bloodstream - Brief Article
Muscle & Fitness/Hers, June, 2002

Scientists have discovered exercise-loving genes that help prevent weight gain, diabetes and heart disease by clearing fat and sugar from the bloodstream. Just 30 minutes of walking can activate these genes, but being inactive for 24 hours can turn them off.

Source: University of Missouri, Columbia

Here it goes into more detail:
http://www.biology.buffalo.edu/courses/bio130/medler/optional_readings/Exercise_and_gene_exp.pdf

lotty said:

I look at herbs as the "thing" that gets the body moving. It goes like this, food such as grains, beans, fruits, are the foundation that set the body up to make chemicals and protect it from too much oxidative damage. Leafy plants provide the minerals that are needed to help the process move a little faster.. Herbs release the chemicals that are made from the food through different ways depending on the herb used. This is the method that I use to make sure herbs have a potent effect without negative effects.

Click to expand...

This is very interesting and I see how much sense it makes. I guess everything on this earth is here for us to use and utilize.

I find it interesting how in China they make soup out of ginseng root... or dishes. It seems they really know how to combine these medicinal things in their foods... which seems like the ultimate way to do it! Have a nice soup with everything your body could possibly need. I even heard they makes soups with opium or something...

Neways, thats one reason I really like cooking with cannabis. I really think its a great way to utilize cannabis. I love the long lasting effect it gives, its very comforting to me. And if you cook it with a good healthy meal, it seems just like a very synergistic thing.

Do you mainly smoke herb or do you cook with it? I'll have to check out more of that ginseng info you gave me now...

I smoke sometimes but I don't want to inhale too much smoke so I do it with a nice titanium pipe that let's me inhale a lot of air with the smoke and for some reason(I have theories) it gets me blazed off of very little.

I want to get a decent vaporizer but money has to go to other things now. I had one when they first started really getting advertised but id didn't really like it.

I have eaten cannabis but only when I want to chillout BUT I think that also has to do with oxidation of thc into cbn and I'm working on something to prevent this effect while making the high more pronounced yet still relaxing. Peace

Lotty - I have ground up cannabis and eaten it raw, and it doesn't chill me out. In fact it feels stimulating to me...

I'm gonna have to try that but how much does it take to achieve the effect?.

I use a 1/4 teaspoon of ground up raw weed. But I may have a lower tolerance.