The oldest man in the world at 256 years old

What a 256-Year Old Man Proves About Longevity

Published: 09-Jan-12
source: www.immortalhumans.com

There are legends suggesting that not only one person but several iconic figures in human history have lived beyond a hundred and fifty years. One such legend is the Mr. Li Qing Yun (pictured), who was born in 1677 and died in 1933. He was so called herbal expert, tactical consultant, qigong master or simply a Chinese Medicine Physician. According to the belief, he lived during nine emperors of the period of Qing Dynasty and was said to have lived to 256.

In the Time Magazine, in May 1933, the secret of why Li was able to live long was explained in an article entitled “Tortoise-Pigeon-Dog”. The key to longevity was defined by four behaviours:

1. Maintain a quiet heart
2. Be idle like a tortoise
3. Move actively like the pigeon
4. Rest like a Dog

It was believed that Mr. Li has some uncommon habits. He abstained drinking, smoking and had his meals only on particular times. In addition, he was a vegetarian and did often drink wolfberry tea.

In his lifestyle, he did also have a regulated sleeping pattern, sleeping early and waking up early. As when time permitted him, he sat straight with closed eyes and his hands on the lap, motionless for hours.

On free-time, he played cards and lost enough money for his counterpart to buy a meal for the day. He was loved by everyone thanks to his generous behaviour.

As education, Mr. Li devoted his time to scrutinize Chinese herbs to try to reveal the secrets of longevity. It involved travelling to various Provinces in China and going even as far as to Thailand to find herbs to cure illnesses.

Of course, it is still unknown whether Mr. Li really lived as long as claimed. But what we do know about him, is that his finding matches modern research done on herbs supporting longevity.

Modern Research

In 2009, the book “ The Blue Zones” were written by Dan Buettner. The subtitle of the book was: “Lessons for Living Longer from the People, Who’ve Lived The Longest” explored condition which promoted longevity across cultures, populations, geographic location and lifestyles from all over the world.

It included groups such as: Okinawans, Costa Ricans, Sardinians, and the Californian Adventists, who actually have the highest rate of people reaching their 100th birthday. In these areas which Dan Buettner named as “blue zones” people do on average live at least 12 years more than the average.

In the research carried-out by Buettner, there were herbal similarities to all the blue-zone groups, meaning that all blue zones had a diet emphasized on legumes. For example, the Adventists in Loma Linda, California ate a high amount of greens & legumes, as stated in the Bible. The Sardinians ate whole-grain bread, special wine, and cheese produced from fresh grass-fed animals.

As a conclusion, the research suggested that low-calorie diets extend the lifespan of people in these regions. The okinawans, they do strictly follow Confucian rule of only eating until the stomach is 80 percent full.

For Mr Li, the wolfberry tea must have helped him to live to an advanced age. Specialists from France and Britain were extremely fascinated by Li’s longevity and decided to conduct elaborate research on wolfberry. Surprisingly, a new vitamin named “vitamin X” or so called “beauty vitamin” was found. Their study concluded that wolfberry stops the accumulation of fat as well as encourage the development of new liver cells, lower cholesterol and blood glucose… and the list goes on.

Wolfberry has a rejuvenation role: it boosts up endocrine glands and brain cells; improves the production of hormones; eliminate toxins that are formed in the blood, this assures that the body sustains its typical function of tissues and organs.