FINDING THE HIDDEN TREASURE – the secret to ageing happily!
Research on ageing happily and healthily is unanimous – keep active, physically and your mind will stay active. An article on the Better Health Channel produced by the Victoria (Aus) State Government points out that a good 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day delivers an oxygen boost to the brain. Good nutrition will also keep the brain in optimum condition. Memory loss can be improved by 30 to 50 percent, simply by doing mental exercises. The brain is like a muscle – if you don’t give it regular workouts, its functions will decline.
In my quest to find the Hidden Treasure – of aging happily and healthily – I have interviewed a variety of amazing people over the years to find their secret. Don Carlos, a dear 100 year old true Peruvian gentleman is one of them. I met him when we lived in Peru in 2008 when he was 93. Retirement was not part of his game plan!
I got to know Don Carlos through his lovely granddaughter, Franca. When she celebrated her 30th birthday she went round offering guests shots of Don Carlos’s special liqueur. “There’s not tooo much alcohol in this. My Grandad is ninety three and can’t drink too much” she said as she poured shot after shot to the poor unsuspecting, soon fairly inebriated guests. It really was the most delicious, more-ish brew, made from raisins and Algarobbina, a purely Northern Peruvian fruit from the tree of the same name that is similar to the North African Carob tree. It makes a great health drink. The health part definitely comes in to play! Don Carlos drinks his own concoction regularly, and at 93 still worked as an insurance consultant and ran his own motorcycle repair shop in his home town of Chiclayo.
Peruvian’s in this part of the world, clearly age well. Once they make it past fifty, there is simply no holding them back! Another healthy elder in the family was Franca’s grandfather –in-law was eighty five year old and still ran an extremely successful fishing business in the port town of Pieta. His staple diet – freshly caught fish and fresh vegetables – lots of greens. Oh, and sweet potatoes.
When we visited Don Carlos and his wife Olga (85) in Chiclayo, we made a point of finding out more about what kept people healthy in this part of the world. The couple eat their three standard meals bang on time every day. Meals consist of standard Peruvian food – lots of fresh vegetables and herbs, and mostly indigenous fruit, fish and poultry. Not much dairy. On the exercise front, Don Carlos takes a 30 minute stroll on a daily basis.
While we were in Chiclayo, we visited the Modelo herb Market. The Una De Gato (Cats Claw) was very much in evidence. It has become an invasive (problem) plant in many parts of the world, but in its home country it is used widely for medicinal purposes. The roots are dried and ground down to make tea and tablets that are used in cancer prevention preparations. As with most of the markets in this part of the world there was an abundance of gorgeous fresh fruit, flowers and vegetables.
When we headed back to the homestead, Don Carlos insisted on taking his little red fiat out of the garage, dusting it off and cramming us in to take us out for lunch. We traveled through town at a steady 20 km an hour and thankfully managed to avoid the traffic. We had lunch at Franca’s uncle’s restaurant, and ate a typical Peruvian meal of Cevichi (raw fish marinated in lime and salt and served with onion and cilantro) followed by baked duck and potato and salad. Pretty much a staple diet in this part of the world.
Don Carlos had been a racing car driver of note in his hey day (in the 40’s) and there were photographs of him all around the restaurant. Olga quietly suggested that we don’t bring the motor car racing period up until we got back home, just in case he wanted to show us some of his moves! Before heading back to their house, we drove down to the Pimental beach, a resort used mainly by the Chiclayans. The drive took us past the Playa de Huanchaco fishing village which is famous for its caballitos de totora – small reed boats that have been used by Peruvians since ancient times.
The memory of Don Carlos, standing healthy, tall and proud with his shock of snow white hair, tubby little Olga with a face packed full of humour and goodwill will remain with me forever. They have undoubtedly found their hidden treasure!