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Emma Morano dead after a diet of raw eggs


Todd Allen

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Todd, you probably missed the existing thread on the same subject.

 

I remember it because I went and did a google search in Italian, as far as Longo says, Emma Morano adopted her eggs & beef diet at the age of 90. I'm inclined to believe Longo, since Emma was not born into a noble or rich family, with 8 siblings, and carried out pretty humble jobs. This means she had little money for food and in Italy, until the 50's meat was very expensive. The staples of her diet must have probably been cereals, legumes, vegetables, occasionally cheese, eggs and meat only in the festivities.

Anyway, I'm going to see if I can find something more detailed.

 

 

The cases of the Italian ultracentenaries Salvatore Caruso and Emma Morano have been discussed by Valter Longo in his book.  I'm going to post a translated excerpt from an Italian newspaper. From Longo's words it would turn out that the abundance of animal food has been introduced in Emma's diet only pretty late, about 90 years of age. The 3 eggs + raw beef is something which most newspapers failed to pinpoint as a very late dietary feature.

 

In the following excerpt emphasis is mine.

Quote

 

 

Three eggs a day, meal and ground beef strictly eaten raw: this is the diet that ensured  longevity to Emma Morano, the oldest woman on the planet who turned 117 years (29 November 1899).

To unlock the secrets of the 'grandmother of Italy' to the weekly 'Today' is  Emma herself along with her doctor Valter Longo, a leading longevity expert in the world. Of course, not everything can be attributed to the 'daily menu' Emma adopted by the age of ninety.

"The diet has its importance, of course, but if you take 100 centenarians, you will find 100 different potential long life menu - Longo explained to the magazine -. In the case of Emma Morano  her diet was sure rich in vegetables, complete with rice and soups, and only in a very advanced age more ingredients of animal origin have been introduced . "
 

 

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LOL! Dr. Greger has finally been vindicated - while Moreno might have credited her longevity (current world oldest person, and Italy's oldest ever) to eating three eggs a day, Dr. Greger knew it was just a matter of time before those deadly eggs (especially if raw) would kill her. After all, three eggs a day is a shedload of eggs by any standard - from the wikipedia link Todd posted above:

 

"When asked about the secret of her longevity, she said that she had never used drugs, ate three eggs a day, drank a glass of homemade brandy, and enjoyed a chocolate sometimes, but, above all, she thought positively about the future.[13] Morano credited her long life to her diet of raw eggs and being single.[14]"

 

Well, at least there is something for everyone, as being single is thought to be detrimental to longevity, so there's that.

 

It's been noted before, those who have lived the very longest, on the whole are pretty simple folk, usually holding very low-status jobs, rarely professional or highly educated. One wonders if it's just a matter of statistics (after all, such people are the greatest in number), or if there is a low-stress component to this, although the world current longevity holder for men is an Israeli fellow who is a Holocaust survivor that's been through camps and ghettos for the duration of WWII, which has got to be max stressfull. 

 

Of course, the comical aspect of this is how we can all split minutia and go to extraordinary lengths to live a lifestyle that promotes longevity, but there's no such person on record who has reached that elite supercentanarian club. Let's face it, it's all genes and more genes.  

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Speaking of eggs, here's a fun one:

 

Normal Plasma Cholesterol in an 88-Year-Old Man Who Eats 25 Eggs a Day

 

Apparently he's been eating 25-30 eggs a day for decades, with no ill effect. How can you even consume 25 eggs a day? That right there is a sign that he's superhuman. And that consumption was well documented by his physician, friends and nurses at the retirement home. Amazing. Quick, he needs a an urgent consult with Dr. Greger! 

 

Or we can acknowledge that yet again, it's genes, genes, genes.

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Very interesting case, that dude might not even be unique and the adaptation mechanisms studied might be exhibited by other cholesterol-tolerant people (I never heard of someone eating so many eggs but maybe a few bodybuilders while beefing up)

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I could not find any specific reference to the early diet of Emma Morano. There is a biography printed but it's not available, a minor local publisher. It is not even known what her father did for work. Since she has been a blue collar worker until 1954, we may infer approximately her diet to the study carried out on the diet of northern Italy blue collars in that historical period.

post-7347-0-19902400-1492371476_thumb.jpg

 

The amounts are probably meant for male individuals, but here are the percentages (in weight):

 

Total cereals (bread, pasta, corn, rice)= 75% 

Total meat (fresh and dried)= 9%

Cheese = 2%

vegetables=15%

 

Plus some milk, 3 cups per week for males.

 

One average male consumed 8 kilos of cereals per week, that is more than one kilo per day. Considering the small average size of Italians in those days, that means more than 1.5 g kg-1d-1 protein only form cereals.

Cereals where not the commercial cereals, more refined, more pure, less nourishing. The workers' cereals were whole grain and often contained some wild legumes considered weeds which sure increased their phytochemicals value. Plus almost one kg meat per week, which is more than 4 ounces per day.

 

I found some recounts on the farmers' diet, the real mediterranean diet and they are astoundingly grim. The poorest farmers ate polenta (boiled corn meal) cooked with canal water in the north, or dark wheat and broadbeans bread with water and salt in the south, about one kg per day. Their diet was very similar to that presently proposed by Dr. Mc Dougall, starch-based.

 

Everything went into the bread, legumes and even acorns in some parts.

 

Those guys really did not know what cardiovascular disease was, whereas they died of infections, malnourishment, and all the old epidemics caused by very poor hygiene and adverse environment (swamps, contaminated water, living in mud huts often with the animals).

Vegetables were usually of the wild variety, unless farmers could afford to grow their own vegetables. Often they were stolen to the landlord and it was the poorest and less valuable among the vegetables. The farmers would drink lots of wine,  at those times believed to be source of considerable nourishment.

75 % of the income of the poorest people were spent on food.

Diet was different according to geographical location and wealth of farmers. Meat was eaten usually only on festivities like Christmas and Easter. Eggs were rare. Cheese was eaten regularly only by cattle farmers. The farmers would sometimes add some dried fish to their fare, for variety.

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How can you even consume 25 eggs a day?

Eggaholism

 

That right there is a sign that he's superhuman.

He's a space traveling eggstraterrestrial on vacation is my obvious eggsplaination.

 

I've seen another video where Emma Morano (at 116) is asked by the interviewer: what have you been eating during your life?

 

she answered:

 

What the others ate, pasta, rice, soup in the evening....

Well, she worked in a jute factory for awhile, so I'm thinking her longevity was jutenetic. Tom agrees:

 

...can eggknowledge that yet again, it's jutes, jutes, jutes.

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 Eggstraterrestrial sounds like an appropriate descriptor for the eggaholic fellah.

 

Whereas some strain of mutagenic jute causing an evolutionary advantageous mutation in Emma Morano constitutes a working hypothesis worth of further investigation

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In this nice little discussion, Longo credits her doctor for extending and saving Senora Morano's life many, many times. This is such a refreshing shout out to her doctor. We rarely hear that in the US, where everyone seems to be complaining about the healthcare system and medicine in general and science in particulars and doctors wage slaving on the front lines day in, day out..,

 

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Gordo, Longo and coauthors' article is very interesting, but quite a few doubts have been risen as to the rigour of the conclusions.

 

For example, the NAHNES study is an epidemiologic study based upon a database built on 24-hour dietary recall questionary, if memory serves me right. That would be the first source of conspicuos uncertainty, if the latest 24 hours have been taken as representative of the whole life dietary regimen. No adjustments, no dietary changes?

 

Another weak point, table S1 of supplemental material: total sample size n=6381, with a strong bias upon the moderate protein group(n=4798), less representativeness of high protein group (n=1146) and poor representativeness of low protein group (n=437). The different group numerosities constitute a major drawback. Besides, I saw some high p-values which make some correlations statistically meaningless.

 

My bottom point, maybe the authors jumped too fast on their conclusions. The envisaged scenario of low protein good up to 66 (why such a precise boundary???) and low protein bad afterward may be much more nuanced. This is also partly shown by lack of correlation for diabetes and CVD (explanations??)

 

Do we have successive studies, do they confirm or deny Longo and coauthors conclusions, do we have clinical trials on human beings......??

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