How to Live 100+ Years
Would you like to live to the ripe
old age of 100+? Most of us would or, perhaps just be happy to be able to
stretch our life span by a few more years.
But despite all of today's new
medicines, clinical diagnosis and scanning techniques, many will notch up
little more than the Biblical three score and ten.
Perhaps, then, the reason that so
many can't manage to achieve a full century - like Queen Elizabeth the Queen
Mother, George Burns and Bob Hope - is because of the lifestyles we lead. Our
bodies are deprived of sunshine, our food is highly processed and we often
over-indulge in food and drink and under-indulge in exercise.
But this is nothing new - the great
debate about living healthily has been going on since time immemorial. One
little book produced in the early 1900s entitled 'How to Live 100 Years' was
recently discovered by qualified nutritionist Elizabeth Harfleet when she was
sorting out her great aunt Lillie's possessions.
Aunt Lillie had always carried the
book about with her and made notes in it and, amazingly, she managed to live to
the age of 103. One picture in the family album shows her on her hundredth
birthday in front of a cake and with the local town mayor stood proudly next to
her.
The book, priced one shilling
(equivalent to 5p today), provided a fascinating variety of cures and remedies,
some of which are still relevant today.
Of the common cold it says 'soak the
feet in hot mustard and water, as hot as can be borne. Wipe them dry and retire
to bed. Drink freely of an infusion of elderflowers and peppermint.'
For those troubled by freckles the
book suggests 'a paste of mustard and lemon juice applied to the face four
nights in succession and washed off in the morning. Alternatively try half a
teacup of rain water and two teaspoonfuls of powdered borax and wash the skin
twice a day.'
For those suffering from PMT the
book states: 'Ladies who have used the following assert they have never found
anything equal to it. Grated horse radish, half a teacupful, good gin, one
pint. Half to a tablespoonful three times a day.
============================Watch==================================
============================Watch==================================
Others remedies include:
Sciatica: The Oil of Wintergreen has
proved most effective. Dose - five or six drops on sugar before each meal and
before retiring at night. It has recently been discovered that Spirits of
Turpentine will relieve sciatica in its worst form but should be used
cautiously.
Measles: Keep the child in bed on a
light diet and get one packet of saffron and half an ounce of hyssop. Infuse
with one pint of boiling water, sweeten with honey or black treacle and give
one dessert spoonful every two hours.
Jaundice: Fringe Tree Bark is the
most effective in this complaint. After taking this a few days, a gentleman
writes: 'In a few days my appetite began to improve and my skin very rapidly
cleared and in some ten days my jaundice was gone.'
Boils, bunions and carbuncles: treat
with slippery elm.
Nose bleeds: This is an alarming
symptom but not always dangerous. A good remedy is simply to raise the person's
arms.
Nervous headaches: Apply hot water
to the temples and back of the neck.
Elizabeth Harfleet, 46, who is a
qualified nutritionist and lives in Manchester, England, said: I was only a
girl when great aunt Lillie was alive, although I do remember going to her
hundredth birthday party.
"You have to remember that in
her youth there was no National Health Service and it would have cost money to
get the doctor. She was surrounded by nature so it isn't surprising that she
turned to natural cures."
She added: "You can't argue
with the fact that she lived to 103, particularly given that she was diagnosed
with breast cancer in a time when very little was known about the
disease."
Aunt Lillie did, however enjoy the
occasional treat - right up to the end of her life she would ask staff at her
nursing home to take up a slice of apple pie and cheese to her room at
midnight. That, at least, seems to prove the theory: a little of what you fancy
does you good.
