There are 13 vitamins, 16 essential minerals, 9 essential amino acids, two essential fatty acids, many kinds of carbohydrates, many non essential nutrients including thousands of phytochemicals, over 20,000 genes and many lifestyle factors. The number of ways to shuffle the deck are almost infinite. It's not surprising that there are many different ways to survive and be reasonably healthy, some better than others.
1. Vegetarian Adventist men and women have expected ages at death of 87 and 89 years, respectively. They abstain from alcohol and tobacco, exercise regularly, eat nuts every day and eat more dairy products than average.
2. For Mormons, "Life expectancy from age 25 was 84 years for males and 86 years for females." They abstain from alcohol and tobacco, eat a lot of meat and don’t exercise more than typical Americans. They fast one day a month, which according to scientists seems to protect them from heart disease.
3. Japan has the best life expectancy of any country. The average man lives 79.4 years and the average women 86.1 years. They eat more carbs and less fat than the U.S. They have a high percentage of smokers. They eat more seafood than they do meat.
4. Iceland has the best longevity in Europe. The average man lives 80.1 years and the average women 83.5 years. They eat less carbs and more fat than the U.S. They eat more seafood than they do meat.
5. France has an extremely low rate of heart disease, but they have a high rate of cancer. They eat more saturated fat and less carbs than the U.S. They have a high percentage of smokers. They also tend to get a lot of vitamin K2 from cheese and goose liver, drink red wine with meals and ride bikes more than Americans which helps to reduce heart disease.
6. Rural China had an extremely low rate of heart disease as well as extremely low rates of prostate, breast and colon cancer. They also had extremely low total cholesterol (average of 127) but their rate of stroke is higher than the U.S. rate of heart disease. For the whole country, the average man lives 72.1 years and the average women 75.7 years. They have a high percentage of smokers. They don't eat much K2 or consume much alcohol. They ride bikes there even more than they do in France.
I don't believe it's a good idea for everyone to get total cholesterol under 160 because of an increased risk of stroke. On the other hand if you are treating heart disease that is a greater risk and going below 160 can be a life saving strategy. As long as you don't have hypertension, don't smoke or drink alcohol or caffeine, keep salt intake low, eat plenty of potassium rich foods and walk a lot there's probably little danger.
7. In the 1960s Crete had the best longevity in the world. They ate 40% fat mostly from olive oil, but only 8% saturated fat. The total red meat, poultry and fish consumed per-person, per-week in Crete was only about 371 grams (13 ounces).
8. For people who have trouble with unrefined carbs, there's the "Eco-Atkins", that's still lower in carbohydrates but contains much less animal fat and protein.
(In the US, the average man lives 75.7 years and the average women 80.7 years.)
