Monday, December 31, 2012

Fat is BAD for You - Really?

By Dr. Mercola
Does your health food repertoire consist of salads, baked chicken and broccoli? Are you looking for a way to add some excitement to your meals while maximizing their nutritional punch? 
There's absolutely no need to be bored when eating healthy, but many believe this to be the case because they are missing out on some of the tastiest and healthiest options of all.
I encourage you to peruse the list below to take advantage of some of the healthiest foods on earth.
Before we can talk about the best foods, we need to perform some nutrition "mythbusting" and address two major dietary myths that have permeated Western culture for decades:
  1. Fat is bad for you—especially saturated fat
  2. All microorganisms are dangerous

Myth #1: Fat is BAD for You

Conventional medical "wisdom" continues barking that consumption of saturated animal fats is bad for you and causes heart disease. Most medical "experts" believes this to be true. But a hundred years ago, fewer than one in one hundred Americans were obese, and coronary heart disease was unknown and we had FAR more fat intake then we do today.
The demonization of saturated fat began in 1953, when Dr. Ancel Keys published a paper comparing saturated fat intake and heart disease mortality. His theory turned out to be flimsy, to say the least, but the misguided ousting of saturated fat has continued ever since. Fortunately, the truth is finally starting to come out, as medical scientists have finally begun to question Keys' findings. The truth is, it's the trans fat found in margarine, vegetable shortening, and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils that is the true villain, causing a multitude of health problems.

Coconut oil also fell into the "bad for your heart health" as a result of the saturated fat disparagement. This is most unfortunate as it is one of the healthiest fats on the planet. It is mostly medium chain triglycerides with over half of those belonging to lauric acid, which is an essential fat to regulate your immune system, and is also very prevalent in breast milk. It can curb hunger and help provide lasting energy.
I personally consume about one quart of coconut oil a week. It is the ideal fat to use when you are using intermittent fasting and seeking to replace calories from grains and sugar, and excessive protein. 

Myth #2: When It Comes to Bacteria, Be Afraid... Be Very Afraid

We have become one of the most germophobic cultures in the world, attempting to sterilize ourselves into a bubble—and our children as well. We haven't done ourselves any favors here. We live in a world of microorganisms... bacteria, viruses, and fungi, and our lives depend on living with them, rather than avoiding them. Literally.
Microorganisms are everywhere. You swallow them, breathe them, and they form invisible colonies on your skin. Your gut is home to approximately 100 trillion bacteria, both good and bad. These bacteria outnumber the cells in your body by about 10 to one, and maintaining the ideal balance of healthy and disease causing microflora forms the foundation for your health—physical, mental and emotional.

In fact, this microscopic zoo in your gut is the first-line defense of your immune system. While a few of these microorganisms can wreak havoc with your system, most of these little "bugs" are good, helping you digest your food, stay protected from infections, and even helping to prevent autoimmune diseases like asthma, allergies, and diabetes. An imbalance in your gut flora can be a major contributor to many serious illnesses, including autism, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.
Your body's microbial community is so crucial to your health that researchers have compared it to "a newly recognized organ" whose function is so important that you simply cannot be optimally healthy without it.
In addition to avoiding unnecessary antibiotics and antibacterial soaps, balancing your gut flora may be one of the most important steps you can take to improve your health. This requires "reseeding" your gut with naturally fermented foods and probiotics.

Are You Eating These 10 Healthiest Foods?

So, having dispelled two pervasive food myths, let me now focus on ten of the most healthful foods you could be consuming. Remember these are general recommendations. Not everyone will do well with these foods, but the vast majority will have health improvement by regularly consuming them. As always, it is important to listen to your body and let it guide you in making that determination. With some foods though, like fermented vegetables, you will need to start with very small amounts and work your way up to a healthy dose over a few months.

1. Fermented Vegetables
Fermented, or cultured, vegetables are teeming with essential enzymes and good bacteria needed for optimal digestion and they are easier to digest than raw or cooked vegetables. When you eat raw cultured vegetables loaded with enzymes, you give your body an opportunity to use its bodily stores of enzymes to rejuvenate itself instead of exhausting them trying to digest overly processed and otherwise dead food. Cultured foods also offer a multitude of medicinal rewards by:
  • Alleviating digestive disorders - the flora in living cultured foods form a "living shield" that covers your small intestine's inner lining and resists pathogenic organisms like Escherichia coli, Salmonella and an unhealthy overgrowth of yeast
  • Strengthening immunity with increased antibodies that fight off infectious disease
  • Helping pregnant and nursing mothers transfer beneficial bacteria to their infants
  • Effectively impacting the behavior of children with autism,ADD/ and ADHD
  • Regulating weight and appetite by reducing cravings for sugar, soft drinks, bread and pasta -- all foods I strongly advise against ......Read more here

Watch this video:

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Why Cholesterol is Essential for Optimal Health

There's some serious confusion about cholesterol, and whether high cholesterol levels are responsible for heart disease.

Chris Masterjohn, who recently received his PhD in nutritional sciences from the University of Connecticut, has published five peer-reviewed papers on vitamins and supplementation, and he's currently researching fat-soluble supplements – A, D, and K – at the University of Illinois. (Please note that the opinions expressed here represent Dr. Masterjohn's own positions, and may not represent the position of the University of Illinois.)

He also maintains a blog, The Daily Lipid1, and his website, Cholesterol-And-Health.com2, which are dedicated to the issue of cholesterol. He's also active with the Weston A. Price Foundation. Cholesterol has been demonized since the early 1950's, following the popularization of Ancel Keys' flawed research. As a result, people now spend tens of billions of dollars on cholesterol-reducing drugs each year, thinking they have to lower this "dangerous" molecule lest they keel over from a heart attack.

As a testament to the power of this incredibly effective marketing system, Lipitor was the number one selling drug for 2011. This also reveals why challenging this belief system is met by such intense resistance. There are very powerful, financially-motivated forces backing the continued belief in the cholesterol myth.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Woman Men Adore

"How To Captivate A Man, Make Him Fall In Love With You - And Give You The World!"

Testimonials:


"I have very much enjoyed reading every article there was to read. Fortunately, I have been very lucky because I have been famous for my smile all my life, the easiness of being around me and my outgoing personality. All of those those you said here are true because I have lived it." THANK YOU VERY MUCH. - Patsy
"Thank you so much!!!! I really enjoyed reading your book. I have been

READ MORE AT http://www.howtosaveamarriagetips.com

Save Marriage - Learn How To Get Along With Your Spouse!

Before you got married, have you learnt how to get along with your spouse? You may be caught off guard by this seemingly strange question but how many couples actually go through formal lessons on how to have a good relationship with your lifetime partner? Maybe the authorities should make it mandatory for couples to have pre-marital counseling sessions! That might have a direct effect in reducing the divorce rate.

So how do you get along with your spouse to ensure that you have a

READ MORE AT http://www.howtosaveamarriagetips.com

7 Effective Tips To Save A Marriage

What you are about to read is more than tips, they are the
hidden power those that have saved their marriages have applied. In
other word, I refer to them as "seven pillars of saving
marriage. "But before we go into that, permit me to ask you
these questions, does any of under-listed sounds familiar?

i]"I love you, but I am not in love with you anymore."

ii]"I am not attracted to you any more."

iii]"We got married for all the wrong reasons."

iv]"Why can't you just admit that we

READ MORE AT http://www.howtosaveamarriagetips.com

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Common Sleep Mistakes Can Wreak Havoc on Your Health, and Increase Risk of Migraines and Dementia

Sleep is such an important part of your overall health that no amount of healthful food and exercise can counteract the ill effects of poor sleeping habits. Researchers have linked poor sleep to a number of health ailments, from short-term memory loss and behavioral problems, to weight gain and diabetes, for example.
There are many reasons for not getting a good night's sleep. Unfortunately, most people tend to reach for a sleeping pill instead of doing the work to figure out what's got them tossing and turning.
The featured article lists1 10 common sleep mistakes you can address without drugs. Here are five of them:

  1. Using the snooze button. While a few minutes more in bed may be tempting, using the snooze button could backfire as interrupted sleep can increase your fatigue. It's best to just get up on the first alarm
  2. Irregular sleep schedule. A regular routine of going to bed and getting up around the same time each day will help promote better sleep, while constantly interrupting your schedule around can easily lead to insomnia and fatigue
  3. Taking long naps during the day
  4. Eating sugar before bedtime. Sugar alters the chemical balance in your body, which can contribute to impaired sleep
  5. Drinking coffee or caffeinated beverages too late in the day.....CLICK HERE TO READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE

Friday, November 23, 2012

The Truth About Eggs – What Commercial Egg Farmers Don’t Want You to Know

A massive scale egg producer in Pennsylvania has made the news for inhumane treatment of chickens and unsanitary conditions.
 Kreider Farms, which houses seven million hens, appears to be the next sickening example of what allegedly happens behind the scenes at CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations).

The Humane Society recently released an undercover video that exposes the horrific conditions endured by the birds in this operation. This includes filthy living conditions, overcrowding with up to 11 birds per cage, dead birds apparently left untended, and a severe fly infestation capable of spreading salmonella across the chicken population...............CLICK HERE TO READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE

Friday, November 16, 2012

How Fitness Protects Aging Brains

Aging Americans are experiencing cognitive decline in numbers never before seen. Alzheimer’s disease has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. Consider these troubling statistics from the Alzheimer’s Association1:
  • 5.4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease. It’s estimated that up to 16 million will have the disease by 2050.
  • One in eight Americans age 65 and over has Alzheimer’s. Every 68 seconds, another American develops Alzheimer’s disease.
  • Alzheimer’s disease is the 6th leading cause of death in the U.S. and the 5th leading cause of death for those aged 65 and older.
  • Alzheimer’s deaths increased by 66 percent between 2000 and 2008.
  • One in seven of the estimated 800,000 people with Alzheimer’s lives alone, left to fend for himself/herself............READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE HERE

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Your Waist Size Can Be a Powerful Predictor of Hypertension and Other Chronic Diseases



The size of your waistline may be the key to a long life, according to an observational study conducted by the Mayo Clinic1, involving nearly 13,000 Americans who were followed for about 14 years.......READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE HERE

Friday, November 2, 2012

Regular Mammograms Save Lives for Women Older Than 50

An expert panel in the United Kingdom said this week that regular mammograms save lives for women older than 50. But that comes at a cost. Three women are treated for breast cancers that would not have harmed them for every life saved, the panel said. 

A review of research released this week found health benefits as a result of public smoking bans. It found that hospital stays for heart attacks and strokes drop in places with the bans. Another review published this week questioned the benefits of taking antidepressant drugs during pregnancy. It found that risks to the baby may outweigh the benefits. 

During the storm Sandy this week, New York University Langone Medical Center had to evacuate 300 patients. The exodus began after the power went off and backup generators failed. Researchers reported promising results this week for a new drug to reduce LDL cholesterol. People in the study already were taking a statin. Adding the new drug lowered LDL more than just raising the statin dose.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

How long can a bottle of ketchup stay in your fridge before it goes bad?

I'm thinking 5 or 10 years, but if you want an expert opinion, go to the web site below. 
This site lists all kind of foods and how to keep them fresh longer as well as when to get rid of them.  
If you have a question click on the particular picture, and a whole list of stuff appears..... ...
WHAT A GREAT SITE!!!!!

Click HERE now!

Friday, September 21, 2012

Never Aluminum Foil for your next B B Que


A recent study has shown that heat causes aluminum from the foil to leach out into foods in significantly harmful amounts.1

Aluminum Accumulates in the Bones and in the Brain

The researchers found dangerously high levels of aluminum in foods after being cooked, reheated, and even cooled on aluminum foil. The cause for alarm is that when aluminum accumulates in the body, it can lead to osteoporosis and Alzheimer’s.
What’s more, Dr. Zubaidy, one of the study authors, comments that:
“The higher the temperature, the more the leaching. Foil is not suitable for cooking and is not suitable for using with vegetables like tomatoes, citrus juice or spices.”2
On the other hand, the researchers also noted that foil can be considered safe to wrap cold foods, since no leaching was observed without heating. They also did not find a difference if the shiny or dull side were in contact with food.

Aluminum Competes With Calcium, Weakening Bones

High aluminum levels in the body alter bone mineralization, matrix formation, as well as parathyroid and bone cell activity.3 Ironically, one of the most common signs of excessive aluminum accumulation is hypercalcemia or high calcium levels in the blood.
This happens because the presence of aluminum impedes calcium deposition in bone, thus leading to elevated blood calcium levels.3 As a result, PTH secretion, the hormone secreted by the parathyroid hormone, is greatly depressed.3 Additionally, chronic aluminum toxicity greatly reduces osteoblast population and inhibits bone mineralization, resulting in osteoporosis.3

Mounting Evidence Links Aluminum to Alzheimer’s

While the study is less adamant about the link between aluminum and Alzheimer’s than it is about the osteoporosis connection, it does point to evidence that aluminum is deposited in brain tissue. The researchers note that previous studies have found an aluminum build-up in autopsies performed on Alzheimer’s sufferers.

Protect Your Bones and Your Brain

In view of this, you really should avoid using aluminum foil or aluminum utensils for cooking. So here are a few simple steps you can take right away:
  • Never cook, heat up, or place hot food on aluminum foil. Use foil only to store cold food in the refrigerator, or to wrap cold sandwiches. I use tempered glass pans. They are easily available in just about every supermarket or hardware store.
  • Avoid storing tomatoes, citrus fruits, or spices in foil.
  • Replace foil with wax paper if you wish to store food while still hot. Or use glass food storage containers. I keep a variety of sizes handy in my kitchen.
  • Never use aluminum pots or cooking utensils. Instead, invest in stainless steel pots and pans.
As you can see, it’s easy to avoid aluminum in the kitchen.

 

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Three simple (and economical) methods to clear away negative emotion and toxins daily

 

Detoxification need not be something to dread as an expensive, complicated and exhausting ordeal. A few quick, daily habits can flush out physical and emotional toxins gently and easily. Air, water and a brush are the magical trio that encourage a healthy body, sparking mind and balanced emotions.

Breathe


Breathing usually is not something we think about since it comes so naturally. But a majority of people really don't breathe correctly, especially in our fast-paced world. The breath tends to be constricted, shallow and stressed. This style of breathing deprives us of much needed oxygen -- contributing to brain fog, fatigue and accumulation of toxins. But this problem is easily solved with a bit of awareness, intention and a breathing technique called kapalbhati -- "sparkling mind" in Sanskrit. The first breathing habit to cultivate is awareness of the breath. Most people only breath from the upper portion of the lungs, but we really need to draw air in fully with the diaphragm. Take a few moments through out the day to breathe deeply. By taking in more oxygen, tissues are effectively detoxified, the mind is clarified and the nervous system is calmed -- leading to positive, emotional states. Next, the kapalbhati practice. Here are the instructions according to Pure Inside Out:

Sit in a comfortable position with spine erect...

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/037050_negative_emotions_clearing_toxins.html#ixzz25NtN3iAV

Beware of hidden toxin sources in new clothes - Always wash them before wearing

Several decades ago, the Dupont logo had the following text attached: "Better living through chemistry." Since then, many of us have come to realize we are living worse in a toxic environment that includes chemically polluted air, water, food, so called "medicine," and now even clothing.

Dupont had created Rayon, a synthetic fiber used for much of our clothing. So it made sense to team up with the timber industry to ensure hemp was banned in the late 1930s. Rayon and paper could continue to be made by chemically processing wood from trees without competition.

Clothing clings to skin, our largest organ. Toxic chemicals are used excessively for processing garment fibers and also for manufacturing clothes. Asian and third world countries manufacture most textiles and clothes.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/037038_new_clothes_toxic_chemicals_washing.html#ixzz25IdKNNTU

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Explore the Amazing Phenomenon of the Spine and Central Nervous System


All functions of the body are controlled and coordinated by a neutral network (central nervous system) that sends and receives electric impulses to and from the brain in order to coordinate optimal health and wellness.

Take a moment and explore our Interactive Spine. Roll your mouse over the different vertebrae in the spine and get an explanation of how that part of the spine affects different areas of the body.

Go HERE now.

A Healing Miracle for Burns


A young man sprinkling his lawn and bushes with pesticides wanted to check the contents of the barrel to see how much pesticide remained in it. 

He raised the cover and lit his lighter; the vapors ignited and engulfed him. He jumped from his truck, screaming.

His neighbour came out of her house with a dozen eggs and a bowl yelling: "bring me some more eggs!" 

She broke them, separating the whites from the yolks. The neighbor woman helped her to apply the whites onto the young man's face. 

When the ambulance arrived and the EMTs saw the young man, they asked who had done this.Everyone pointed to the lady in charge. 

They congratulated her and said: "You have saved his face." 

By the end of the summer, the young man brought the lady a bouquet of roses to thank her.

His face was like a baby's skin.




Keep in mind this treatment of burns is being included in teaching beginner fireman. First Aid consists of first spraying cold water on the affected area until the heat is reduced which stops the continued burning of all layers of the skin. Then, spread the egg whites onto the affected area.

One woman burned a large part of her hand with boiling water. In spite of the pain, she ran cold faucet water on her hand, separated 2 egg whites from the yolks, beat them slightly and dipped her hand in the solution. The whites then dried and formed a protective layer.

She later learned that the egg white is a natural collagen and continued during at least one hour to apply layer upon layer of beaten egg white. By afternoon she no longer felt any pain and the next day there was hardly a trace of the burn. 10 days later, no trace was left at all and her skin had regained its normal color. The burned area was totally regenerated thanks to the collagen in the egg whites, a placenta full of vitamines.

  

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Lee Kuan Yew On Getting The Best Out of Life



MY CONCERN today is, what is it I can tell you which can add to your knowledge about aging and what aging societies can do.

You know more about this subject than I do. A lot of it is out in the media, Internet and books. So I thought the best way would be to take a personal standpoint and tell you how I approach this question of aging.

If I cast my mind back, I can see turning points in my physical and mental health.
You know, when you’re young, I didn’t bother, assumed good health was God-given and would always be there.

When I was about 57 that was – I was about 34, we were competing in elections, and I was really fond of drinking beer and smoking.

And after the election campaign, in Victoria Memorial Hall – we had won the election, the City Council election – I couldn’t thank the voters because I had lost my voice. I’d been smoking furiously.

I’d take a packet of 10 to deceive myself, but I’d run through the packet just sitting on the stage, watching the crowd, getting the feeling, the mood before I speak.

In other words, there were three speeches a night. Three speeches a night, 30 cigarettes, a lot of beer after that, and the voice was gone. I remember I had a case in Kuching, Sarawak . So I took the flight and I felt awful. I had to make up my mind whether I was going to be an effective campaigner and a lawyer, in which case I cannot destroy my voice, and I can’t go on.

So I stopped smoking. It was a tremendous deprivation because I was addicted to it. And I used to wake up dreaming…the nightmare was I resumed smoking.

But I made a choice and said, if I continue this, I will not be able to do my job. I didn’t know anything about cancer of the throat, or oesophagus or the lungs, etc.
But it turned out it had many other deleterious effects.

Strangely enough after that, I became very allergic, hyper-allergic to smoking, so much so that I would plead with my Cabinet ministers not to smoke
in the Cabinet room.

You want to smoke, please go out, because I am allergic.

Then one day I was at the home of my colleague, Mr Rajaratnam, meeting foreign correspondents including some from the London Times
and they took a picture of me and I had a big belly like that (puts his hands in front of his belly), a beer belly.

I felt no, no, this will not do.

So I started playing more golf, hit hundreds of balls on the practice tee.
But this didn’t go down. There was only one way it could go down: consume less, burn up more.

Another turning point came in 1976, after the general election –
I was feeling tired. I was breathing deeply at the Istana, on the lawns.
My daughter, who at that time just graduating as a doctor, said: ‘What are you trying to do?’

I said: ‘I feel an effort to breathe in more oxygen.’ She said: ‘Don’t play golf. Run. Aerobics..’

So she gave me a book, quite a famous book and, then, very current in America on how you score aerobic points swimming, running, whatever it is, cycling.
I looked at it sceptically. I wasn’t very keen on running. I was keen on golf.

So I said, ‘Let’s try’. So in-between golf shots while playing on my own, sometimes nine holes at the Istana, I would try and walk fast between shots.
Then I began to run between shots. And I felt better. After a while, I said: ‘Okay, after my golf, I run.’

And after a few years, I said: ‘Golf takes so long. The running takes 15 minutes. Let’s cut out the golf and let’s run.’

I think the most important thing in aging is you got to understand yourself.
And the knowledge now is all there. When I was growing up, the knowledge wasn’t there.

I had to get the knowledge from friends, from doctors.
But perhaps the most important bit of knowledge that the doctor gave me was one day, when I said:
‘Look, I’m feeling slower and sluggish.’

So he gave me a medical encyclopaedia and he turned the pages to aging. I read it up and it was illuminating.

A lot of it was difficult jargon but I just skimmed through to get the gist of it.
As you grow, you reach 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and then, thereafter, you are on a gradual slope down physically.

Mentally, you carry on and on and on until I don’t know what age, but mathematicians will tell you that they know their best output
is when they’re in their 20s and 30s when your mental energy is powerful and you haven’t lost many neurons. That’s what they tell me.

So, as you acquire more knowledge, you then craft a programme for yourself to maximise what you have. It’s just common sense.

I never planned to live till 85 or 84.! I just didn’t think about it.
I said: ‘Well, my mother died when she was 74, she had a stroke.. My father died when he was 94.’

But I saw him, and he lived a long life, well, maybe it was his DNA.

But more than that, he swam every day and he kept himself busy!

He was working for the Shell company. He was in charge, he was a superintendent of an oil depot.

When he retired, he started becoming a salesman. So people used to tell me: ‘Your father is selling watches at BP de Silva.’ My father was then living with me. But it kept him busy. He had that routine: He meets people, he sells watches, he buys and sells all kinds of semi-precious stones, he circulates coins. And he keeps going. But at 87, 88, he fell, going down the steps from his room to the dining room, broke his arm, three months incapacitated.

Thereafter, he couldn’t go back to swimming. Then he became wheelchair-bound.
Then it became a problem because my house was constructed that way.
So my brother – who’s a doctor and had a flat (one-level) house – took him in.
And he lived on till 94. But towards the end, he had gradual loss of mental powers.
So my calculations, I’m somewhere between 74 and 94. And I’ve reached the halfway point now.

But have I?

Well, 1996 when I was 73, I was cycling and I felt tightening on the neck.
Oh, I must retire today. So I stopped. Next day, I returned to the bicycle.
After five minutes it became worse.

So I said, no, no, this is something serious, it’s got to do with the blood vessels.
Rung up my doctor, who said, ‘Come tomorrow’. Went tomorrow, he checked me, and said: ‘Come back tomorrow for an angiogram.’
I said: ‘What’s that ?’

He said: ‘We’ll pump something in and we’ll see whether the coronary arteries are cleared or blocked.’

I was going to go home.

But an MP who was a cardiologist happened to be around, so he came in and said: ‘What are you doing here?’

I said: ‘I’ve got this.’ He said: ‘Don’t go home.

You stay here tonight. I’ve sent patients home and they never came back.

Just stay here. They’ll put you on the monitor. They’ll watch your heart.
And if anything, an emergency arises, they will take you straight to the theatre.
You go home. You’ve got no such monitor. You may never come back.’
So I stayed there. Pumped in the dye, yes it was blocked, the left circumflex, not the critical, lead one.

So that’s lucky for me. Two weeks later, I was walking around, I felt it’s coming back.

Yes it has come back, it had occluded. So this time they said: ‘We’ll put in a stent.’
I’m one of the first few in Singapore to have the stent, so it was a brand new operation.

Fortunately, the man who invented the stent was out here selling his stent.
He was from San Jose, La Jolla something or the other. So my doctor got hold of him and he supervised the operation.

He said put the stent in. My doctor did the operation, he just watched it all and then that’s that.

That was before all this pr`oblem about lining the stent to make sure that it doesn’t occlude and create a disturbance.

So at each stage, I learnt something more about myself and I stored that. I said: ‘Oh, this is now a danger point.’

So all right, cut out fats, change diet, went to see a specialist in Boston, Massachusetts General Hospital.

He said: ‘Take statins.’ I said: ‘What’s that?’ He said: ‘(They) help to reduce your cholesterol.’

My doctors were concerned. They said: ‘You don’t need it. Your cholesterol levels are okay.’

Two years later, more medical evidence came out. So the doctors said: ‘Take statins.’

Had there been no angioplasty, had I not known that something was up and I cycled on, I might have gone at 74 like my mother.

So I missed that decline. So next deadline: my father’s fall at 87. I’m very careful now because sometimes when I turn around too fast, I feel as if I’m going to get off balance.

So my daughter, a neurologist, she took me to the NNI, there’s this nerve conduction test, put electrodes here and there.

The transmission of the messages between the feet and the brain has slowed down.
So all the exercise, everything, effort put in, I’m fit, I swim, I cycle.

But I can’t prevent this losing of conductivity of the nerves and this transmission. So just go slow. So when I climb up the steps, I have no problem.

When I go down the steps, I need to be sure that I’ve got something I can hang on to, just in case. So it’s a constant process of adjustment.

But I think the most important single lesson I learnt in life was that if you isolate yourself, you’re done for. The human being is a social animal – he needs stimuli, he needs to meet people, to catch up with the world.

I don’t much like travel but I travel very frequently despite the jetlag, because I get to meet people of great interest to me, who will help me in my work as Chairman of our GIC. So I know, I’m on several boards of banks, international advisory boards of banks, of oil companies and so on.

And I meet them and I get to understand what’s happening in the world, what has changed since I was here one month ago, one year ago. I go to India, I go to China.
And that stimuli brings me to the world of today. I’m not living in the world, when I was active, more active 20, 30 years ago. So I tell my wife.

She woke up late today. I said: ‘Never mind, you come along by 12 o’clock. I go first.’

If you sit back – because part of the ending part of the encyclopaedia which I read was very depressing –
as you get old, you withdraw from everything and then all you will have is your bedroom and the photographs and the furniture that you know,
and that’s your world.

So if you’ve got to go to hospital, the doctor advises you to bring some photographs so that you’ll know you’re not lost in a different world, that this is like your bedroom.
I’m determined that I will not, as long as I can, to be reduced, to have my horizons closed on me like that.

It is the stimuli, it is the constant interaction with people across the world that keeps me aware and alive to what’s going on and what we can do to adjust to this different world.

In other words, you must have an interest in life. If you believe that at 55, you’re retiring, you’re going to read books, play golf and drink wine, then I think you’re done for. So statistically they will show you that all the people who retire and lead sedentary lives, the pensioners die off very quickly.

So we now have a social problem with medical sciences, new procedures, new drugs, many more people are going to live long lives.. ….

If the mindset is that when I reach retirement age 62, I’m old, I can’t work anymore, I don’t have to work, I just sit back, now is the time I’ll enjoy life,
I think you’re making the biggest mistake of your life.

After one month, or after two months, even if you go traveling with nothing to do, with no purpose in life, you will just degrade, you’ll go to seed.

The human being needs a challenge, and my advice to every person in Singapore and elsewhere: Keep yourself interested, have a challenge.
If you’re not interested in the world and the world is not interested in you, the biggest punishment a man can receive is total isolation in a dungeon, black and complete withdrawal of all stimuli, that’s real torture.

So when I read that people believe, Singaporeans say: ‘Oh, 62 I’m retiring.’ I say to them: ‘You really want to die quickly?’

If you want to see sunrise tomorrow or sunset, you must have a reason, you must have the stimuli to keep going..’