Does anyone actually know of anyone who had an unhealthy lifestyle but lived to a ripe old age?

My English isn’t so bad , read unhealthily.

I have a close friend of 83.
She smoked heavily until a few years ago and I think it was cost more than anything which caused her to give up.
I like a drink myself but she can drink me under the table.
I think she drinks every day and not just a few.
She eats unhealthy and also infrequently and often doesn’t eat until the evening, after a couple of glasses of wine.
She alone out of all her and our mutual friends takes no regular medication, when she asked the practice nurse why she has never been called in for a review like the rest of us, the nurse admitted that she slipped under the radar precisely because she didn’t have regular prescriptions.

Mum lived to 97. Smoked heavily till she was 75. Ate cream and butter every day. Hardly touched fruit or veg. Did no exercise. But-and I wonder if this has any bearing on anything-nothing fazed her and she didn’t know what stress was.

Relatives grandma lives on custard creams & cigs, still going strong at 96

Well, this has been an interesting read.
Somewhere in the back of the cupboard there’s salt and the bottle of sherry for the Christmas trifle, both at least five years old. Must get them out and also ask sister to teach me how to smoke.
I really must try to give up vegetables and take to fatty meat.
Sorry Dog but no more walkies.
Now I can look forward to another twenty years, thanks to all your hints.

Winston Churchill.

My grandmother chained smoked Capstan Full Strength (unfiltered) and lived to be 87.

I didn't know him, of course, but Winston Churchill lived into his 90s having smoked and drunk heavily most of his life. I expect his diet was not very healthy either as he was clearly overweight.

The trouble is, of course, that it is sensible to live as healthily as possible to lessen the odds of dying young.

No it's fine Allira. My blood tests said 'No further action required' in all my results.

I agree with Fleurpepper. A healthy lifestyle may help you to enjoy your life to the max, but the best predictor of your lifespan is the longevity of your forebears.
There are exceptions, of course, but one of the first questions on any medical is often- of what did your parents die, and how old were they?

Kate1949

Oh really Allira? The doctor didn't flag it up. I just noticed it when reading my results on my NHS app. It was very marginal.

It's probably not significant, I didn't mean you to worry
Kate1949

Yes, my mum. Smoked heavily until she was 35. Was very overweight from her middle years. Didn’t eat a terribly healthy diet, although she didn’t live on McDonalds and pizza. Never exercised after we got our first car when she was 38.
She lived to be nearly 95.
I miss her.

My FIL. Ate sweets, fried foods, processed meats (loved a full English breakfast) and plenty of cakes and biscuits and lived to nearly 96. But he had never smoked or drank and was very active, always moving, shopping nearly every day.

More in the genes than in the book.

My friend was at her 88 year old aunt’s funeral last week. She had been an alcoholic ever since my friend could remember, a heavy smoker, and had never exercised in her life. We decided once again that what’s ‘in the book’ for you is how you’ll go!

Interesting kissngate. Certainly makes you think as Baggs said.

Kate1949

Oh and just to add, I rarely put salt on my food (apart from in cooking) as we are told it is bad for us. Last month I had thorough blood tests and everything was fine except that my sodium levels were a bit low!

My MiL who I mentioned in an earlier post had more salt in a day than I do in six months, she even put it on bread and butter. She said her mum (who also lived until late 80s) had told her salt is good for you. Mil fell down a flight of steps in town when she was 82. Ambulance called taken to hospital x-ray for broken bones. Not a fracture they said her bones must be made of steel she said no just salt.

According to modern food advice, my mum would fit into the title category. By the time she died, just short of her 90th birthday, she hadn't eaten anything green – save for, very occasionally, a peeled seedless grape (and I do mean one!), for fifty-five years. And as for beans and lentils or wholemeal grains...... well...... perish the thought! Most of her adult life she weighed about seven and a half stone.

That said, she had never smoked except passively even though she was the only one among her university friends who didn't. Many of them gave it up later but my dad didn't and it was lung cancer that killed him a week after his 65th birthday.

Mum had five kids within eight years, always walked plenty, did some gentle gardening (I never saw her mow a lawn or dig) and the housework associated with a biggish family. She went back to teaching part-time once we were all well into school but retired early.

Makes you think, dunnit?

Oh really Allira? The doctor didn't flag it up. I just noticed it when reading my results on my NHS app. It was very marginal.

I doubt many of our parents/grandparents are a plant based, keto, skinny blah di blah diet.

I knew someone who died at 93, having been fit as a flea beforehand, and while she wasn't a drunk, or anything like that, she did just eat what she enjoyed, and had the odd drink.

Kate1949

Oh and just to add, I rarely put salt on my food (apart from in cooking) as we are told it is bad for us. Last month I had thorough blood tests and everything was fine except that my sodium levels were a bit low!

I've heard of two people recently (one family) who have been hospitalised because their sodium levels were far too low.

Certain medications can reduce blood sodium levels.

Oh and just to add, I rarely put salt on my food (apart from in cooking) as we are told it is bad for us. Last month I had thorough blood tests and everything was fine except that my sodium levels were a bit low!

nanna8

I could point you to plenty of health nuts who had a short life,too. I think it is really the luck of the draw but obviously smoking and drinking heavily won’t help.

A smoker I knew reckoned he caught no colds because the cigarette smoke killed any germs in his throat!

Indeed nanna. A colleague was always at the gym. She was slim, active, no smoking or drinking. At works Christmas parties we used to have sandwiches, sausage rolls, crisps, buffet food etc, wine. She would bring her own food - a salad, a bag of grapes and water. She died of cancer at 53. The luck of the draw as you say. We are here once, we should do what we enjoy as long as we're not harming anyone else.

Your maternal grandma sounds like my mum regarding salt

Oh yes, salt too. And lots of sugar in tea.

Yes

A member of DIL's family and his wife (100+ and 97 respectively), my DH's grandmother(96), her DIL (99). Only the last-mentioned was not a smoker but ate a high-fat diet.

I have also known people who consciously led very healthy lifestyles but died suddenly at a young age.

Genes play a large part too.