Healthy Eating, Stronger Immunity and the Science of Living Longer

0:00 Speaker 1 Sunday morning. Well, live long and prosper. We have Dr. Peter Michalos. He is touring all the Greek islands right now looking for the best foods and finding out why those people are living to be over 100 and we’re dying at 95. Well, Dr. Peter, what have you found out?

0:22 Speaker 2 Well, John, we found out that immunity is very important. Diet is very important. And the Blue Zones, there is a lot to be learned about health span. It’s not just about lifespan. But today we’re going to talk about a very important topic, how to improve our immune systems to fight off infections. Because in the news, as we heard,

0:46 there is a case of a biological lab where the pneumonic plague, which is basically an infection that occurs in the lungs, and it can be spread human to human. and it’s gotten into the news about infections. And in the past, millions of people died in the plagues. It starts with the rodents, it goes to fleas, and it

1:08 can go to humans, and it can get into the lungs, and the incubation period can be within 24 hours. Thank God now we have antibiotics to fight off and kill these things. But today we’re going to talk about, first of all, what the most common infections in the world that kill people, because a lot of people don’t know

1:27 these things. And infections of the lungs like pneumonia, the low respiratory tract, the flu, they’re the leading cause of communicable cause of death in the world that kill 2.7 to 3 million people annually. That’s a lot of people.

1:42 And the second one is TB that kills 1.25 million a year. We don’t hear about these things, but they’re real. And malaria from mosquitoes makes 250 million people a year sick, and it kills 600,000 people. people annually, especially kids in the sub-Saharan African region. And number four is diarrhea diseases where bad food, bad water can cause bacteria, things called rotavirus, parasites.

2:09 And in third world countries, especially where they don’t have access to IV and medicine, It can kill a lot of people. In the United States, we have a different kind of problem. On top of our list is a sexually transmitted disease called chlamydia, and that affects millions of people in the United States. And that one can cause, like,

2:28 sterility in women, can damage the fallopian tubes and cause scarring. And the other thing is flu in the United States. Hundreds of thousands of people are hospitalized, and we have, you know, tens of thousands of deaths, sometimes 30,000 a year just from flu. The third biggest infection in the U.S.

2:45 is common colds, tens of millions of people. And then we have things like Lyme disease from these black-legged ticks, and hundreds of people get sick and get a bad arthritis. And lastly, on the top of the list are stomach flus like norovirus, gastroenteritis that can affect the stomach. But what can we do to improve our health and boost

3:06 our immune system? We know now that citrus fruits like oranges, grapefruits, lemons, and things like in red bell peppers, they have a lot of vitamin C-boosting immune properties. Leafy green vegetables are loaded with A, C, and E, like broccoli, spinach, kale, Brussels sprouts, and those also boost the immune system. And we now know that things like yogurt, kefir, and fermented

3:36 foods they boost the microbiome in our gut, which is 80% of our immunity. So what we eat is important. And, of course, fish and lean chicken poultry has a lot of zinc and B6, which also helps those white blood cells and lymphocytes to fight off infections. And in the old days, infections used to kill a lot of people.

3:59 But now, fortunately, with modern science, And that’s why we dedicated an entire chapter in our new book, The Death of Aging, the hardcover book available on thedeathofaging.com, just to tell people what they can do to improve things and follow a plan of action to fight off infections, boost your immune system. And also we’re learning because of this

4:26 plague in Siberia, the importance of healthcare and our supply chain, because a lot of those antibiotic components are actually made in other countries and not in the United States. So we need to respect that. And health is national security.

4:41 Supply chain is national security. And those are some of the things we can do to boost our immune system so that we can continue to live long and prosper and keep listening to your great show.

4:55 Speaker 1 And that’s what we all want to do. We want to live longer. And it seems like me and you have always talked about it. It seems like when you get to the age between 90 and 100, at some point, the switch goes off in our body and we die.

5:10 From one thing or another. And I know they’re looking for the solution.

5:16 Speaker 2 Yeah, that’s why those OSK Yamanaka genes are very exciting. And the first humans were injected on June 9th. the reverse blindness, and we’re waiting to see the results of that. And the wild mice were given these reprogramming genes, and they lived 109% longer, the equivalent of 34 human years.

5:35 So there’s a lot of things happening at warp speed in medicine, and we look forward to keep bringing all this great news to our audience every week.

5:46 Speaker 1 Well, thank you so much, and we’ll catch up with you again real soon. Stay safe in Greece, because Greece is one of the safest places around, so God bless you, and enjoy that Greek sun and that Greek fish.

5:59 Speaker 2 Thank you very much for always getting the truth out on the Cat’s Roundtable, and for more information, look at us at thedeathofaging.com.