19 April 2016 | St Albans, UK [Victor Hulbert] Once again Adventist health and longevity have been highlighted in the media as a BBC1 prime-time programme ‘How To Stay Young‘ hit the airwaves on UK televison. In it the sprightly 71-year-old Angela Rippon teamed up with TV doctor, Chris van Tulleken, a man half her age, to share the well-established facts that a good diet, exercise and a positive mindset will help us to live longer.
It is health entertainment, but nevertheless worth watching, particularly as you learn that longevity is more down to lifestyle than genetics. But Adventists know that, don’t we? After all, we love it when the TV cameras visit, yet again, the ‘blue zone’ of Loma Linda, where 95-year-olds are still in the operating theatre – as a surgeon, and where, in the first episode, van Tulleken was subjected to a surprisingly good vegan meal. He now plans to go meat-free at least one day a week. His new slogan, ‘meat-free Mondays’.
Bergland states, “These things don’t just add years to life in old age, but they add to life here and now. They are investments in the here and now, as well as the future.” He adds, “Many of us have experienced the immediate rewards from doing these good things. Still, it is hard sometimes to get up from the couch, disconnect from the internet or television, or prepare something decent to eat when energy levels are low. Still, it is worth it.”
That is something Pastor Ian Sweeney understands. As president of the British Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (BUC), he states that he is always proud to see the media highlight the advantages of an Adventist lifestyle. “However,” he says, “I recognised in my own life that I was not practising our message.” As a result, he made some drastic changes in his lifestyle and diet. There is now more space to park in the BUC office as he cycles 21 miles to work three times a week, and there is more space in both his own office and his clothes due to significant weight loss, so much so that his story of change was recently highlighted in a cycling magazine. [See: Renewing the Cycle for Adventist Church Leader.]
Bergland agrees. “Such efforts pay off, quickly. In my own life, I am trying to do less of the things I know I later will regret, and more of the things I know will be good for me. All the small things add up, and in the end, they are what our lives are made up of.”
Pastor Sweeney adds, “I think that it would be wonderful and indeed possible to have Adventists in the UK and Ireland creating a blue zone as we fully embrace in practice that which we know in theory. We must recognise too that our health message not only addresses the calories we put into our mouths but the necessity of daily physical exercise.”
Sujoya Bullock took the health test available on the programme’s website. Practicing the Adventist lifestyle she wrote on Facebook, “Just not drinking, not smoking, not a lot of processed foods, fasting regularly did it, it seems,” but then added, “Need to exercise more still.”
Others are catching the message. Chris, a sound engineer who helped with the new Adventist Media Centre-UK series, ‘Enhancing Health‘, was so engaged with the tips and ideas shared on the programme that he has gone out and bought a juicer, and is being a little more positive in increasing his exercise regime.
One of the brains behind ‘Enhancing Health’ is Kofi Osei-Owusu. While he confesses to struggling with some of the health principles that he knows are right, you will discover that he too has a new, slim look, as he has taken up running during his lunch hour. What motivated him to make the health series, and the change? “Two things really came together to motivate me; seeing Ian’s example, and becoming a father. I didn’t just want to make another TV programme ‒ I wanted to help make something that would inspire people to change their lives for the better.”
It would seem the blue zone starts not at the church door – but in my own home. The Church has fantastic programmes: Creation Health, NEWSTART, CHIP, and a myriad more. Ellen White’s book, The Ministry of Healing, is as up-to-date now as when it was written. As programmes such as ‘How To Stay Young‘ and ‘The World’s Best Diet‘ highlight the real, radical benefits of the Adventist lifestyle, the challenge is whether to stay on the sofa enjoying the show, or to leap up, enjoy some exercise, improve the diet, and become part of the next blue zone.
As BUC Health Ministries director, Sharon Platt-McDonald states, “Clearly as Adventists we have something to celebrate as we embrace the abundant life that Jesus offers us and the well-being mandate, ‘that all may go well with you and that you may be good in health, just as it is well with your soul’ (3 John 1:2). Our best witness is of course a holistic one in which our mental, physical, social and spiritual health positively impacts the well-being of others. Lifestyle intervention programmes such as Celebrations has captured these key elements of well-being and it is borne out in the restored lives of church and community members alike. May we continue to live well to God’s glory.” [tedNEWS]
tedNEWS Staff: Victor Hulbert, director; Esti Pujic, editor
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