Findlay shares secret to staying healthy at age 70

Michael Findlay, former West Indies wicketkeeper, believes that the foods he ate as a child contributed to how fit he is today.{{more}}

While speaking at the opening of a wellness centre this week, Findlay shared some of the techniques that he uses to keep fit.

Findlay, who will celebrate his 70th birthday this month, revealed that at his age, he is as lean and fit as ever.

The first Vincentian, Windward or Leeward Island cricketer to have a place on the West Indies cricket team attributes his state of health to the proper training of a healthy diet which he had as a child, which travelled with him into adulthood.

“You know what I ate? Mangoes, ripe bananas, guavas, orange, grapefruit, soursop, even limes,” Findlay said.

“Our daily diet was something else, because it consisted of ground provision, ground provision that was fertilized, not with artificial fertilizer, but manure from the donkeys, from the rubbish heap…fish came straight from the boat into your plate almost, fresh fish”.

During his comprehensive speech, Findlay also shared some interesting facts about foods grown in St Vincent and the Grenadines and dissected their nutritional facts, in comparison to the imported fruits and vegetables.

“I’m not sure if many people know that one guava has four times the amount of fibre, slightly more potassium and 19 times the amount of vitamin C as the American apple. It would take 15 American apples to supply the vitamin C content of one West Indian cherry,” Findlay declared.

“These are the natural foods we have here that can serve as good stead in comparison to the whole bunch of grapes. One guava has 25 times more vitamin C, four times more fibre and about the same potassium. A glass of cranberry juice that people crave for…one will provide 150, 200 calories, but the same glass of coconut water…contains only 50 calories and gives you 400 grams of potassium compared to 60 milligrams from cranberry juice.

“Broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, they are no match for our callalloo”.

The former West Indies manager and selector noted that exercise is also an integral part of being fit. However, he stated that an individual does not have to follow rigid exercise programmes like athletes do.

“You don’t have to have a professional exercise programme. You can do simple exercises that will keep you healthy as you go along. You have to remember that as you grow older, you will have to gradually reduce the intensity of your exercise, because naturally, the cycle of life will dictate that you cannot do the same things when you are older as when you are younger,” he said.

He added that while being fit does not safeguard someone from catching viral diseases like the common cold, it will help that person to recover quickly if they do succumb to the illness.

“Fitness doesn’t mean you wouldn’t get the flu or stomach ache or some bug…we are human beings and there are days when we will feel ill,” he said.

“What fitness means, and health, is that if you get sick at all, you are stronger to fight the flu and that you are able to get back to your health in a quicker time”.(BK)