Thanks, hankster, and to all of you who are trying to make this a productive research thread even if and when it ever gets shut down. One of the subversive (I think) points I'm trying to make here is that I very much wonder whether, after a certain age, consuming or not consuming substances really counts for very much. I'll be honest: I really can't STAND (read: hate) people with that ultimately puritanical point of view requiring EVERYONE to do certain things simply out of political correctness. The HELL WITH THEM.

I would have to guess (no, I don't KNOW) that after a certain age a lot of things just don't matter any more. For example, suppose someone wanted to take up smoking at the age of 85, Or start eating bacon and eggs at the age of 79. I'll tell you very frankly that I absolutely do NOT believe I'd get a straight answer on these things from health care professionals or other interested parties. No. All you would get is the party line. Remember the party line? That was the way Communists operated in the olden days when I was a lad. If Moscow said "allemand-RIGHT" then everyone went "allemand-RIGHT." (Sorry for those of you who've never square-danced.)

Many people approach the subject of life-lengthening not with a realistic but with a religious state of mind. Me, I need realistic and nothing else, though I'm a believer. If something really doesn't matter any more once you've reached a certain age, then I say the hell with it. Including eating vegetables or fruit out of cans (BPA!), consuming the black parts of over-cooked foods (marshmallows toasted on a bonfire), forgetting absolutely any entirely organic foods, and all the other fads and fallacies of today's foodaholics.

One always has to exercise. That's certain and without the slightest doubt. One also does have to consume sufficient calories every day to support life. Further, salt consumption has to be limited. Also, it's better to stay in touch with people rather than wither on the vine sitting on the sofa. Other than that? Leaving ideology and fashionable stupidity behind? I very much wonder.

Take care!