In the words of David Murdock, “Anyone who wants to live past 100 can do it.” This may seem like a brassy proclamation to make, but in a recent interview with the AARP1, billionaire businessman David Murdock gives his reasoning as to how this may be attainable for many people. His secret? Removing red meat and chicken from his diet, and piling on the plants.
This may not sound like a ground-breaking revelation, but for 90 year old Murdock it’s a way of life. Murdock was originally introduced to the power of eating right while his late wife, Gabriele was undergoing cancer treatments at the Mayo Clinic in 1983. Murdock quickly grasped that serving more fresh foods to Gabriele was a way to help her survive longer. Unfortunately after nearly two years of fighting cancer, Gabriele did pass away in 1985 but Murdock channeled his grief into discovering all he could about nutrition and how fresh foods may help increase one’s lifespan.
As he delved into the research, Murdock made significant adjustments to his diet; this entailed eliminating animal products due to their high saturated fat content and eats as many plant derived food items as he can. And not just the good parts mind you, in his words; “anything the sun touches has nutritional value.” This means pretty much nothing is discarded while preparing meals. If he is making a smoothie the skins of fruits, the peels of bananas, right down to the leaves of a pineapple are all included for consumption.
While the proof is in the pudding with this able-bodied 90 year old, who wakes at 4:30am daily for a little morning exercise, the act of eating more fruits and vegetables may not be an affordable option for everyone. Fresh fruits and vegetables can be expensive, especially if you are shopping for locally produced, organic items. If you are interested in eating more fruits and vegetables, but are on a limited monthly budget there are options that may allow you to stretch your monthly budget a little bit further, such as a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM). A HECM loan may be a great option for homeowners 62 years of age or older to tap into their home’s existing equity, eliminate monthly mortgage payments2, and give homeowners more financial freedom with their monthly expenses.