Two different sources suggest ways to lengthen your life. My ‘theology’ embraces both.
The statistician
David Speigenhalter, a statistician here in Cambridge, has calculated what fitness tips can do to your expected lifespan. Here are some of them:
- Five fruit and veg every day: add four years
- Twenty minutes light/moderate exercise per day: add two years
- Two cups of coffee: add one year
- One small alcoholic drink: add one year.
Or
- smoke 14-24 ciggies: take off seven years
- be obese: take off 2.5 years
- eat one portion of red meat: take off one year
- every daily alcoholic drink after the first: take off 0.7 years.
- watch TV for two hours: take off 0.7 years.1
Jewish wisdom
The Bible has a few tips too, time honoured if not actually peer-reviewed:
- Fearing God (Deuteronomy 6:2)
- A longing fulfilled (Proverbs 13:12)
- Wise living (Proverbs 9:11, 13:14, 16:22)
- A heart at peace (Proverbs 14:30)
- Gracious speech or the ‘soothing tongue’ (Proverbs 15:4, 16:24)
- Good news (Proverbs 15:30)
- Walking in the way of justice (Proverbs 16:31)
- A cheerful heart (Proverbs 17:22)
- Pursuing righteousness and love (Proverbs 21:21)
Unhealthy ones:
- Having a wife of non-noble character (Proverbs 12:4) (I’m not making this up)
- Hope deferred (Proverbs 13:12)
- Envy (Proverbs 14:30)
- A crushed spirit (17:22 and 18:14)
[amazon template=multinational&asin=1846686210]