Newest one being Henry Lodge, author the “Younger next year …” series (never read 'em but from the article they seem to be full of reasonable common sense advice sold with an evolutionary pitch) not making out of his 50s himself - prostate cancer.
He joins an established tradition - Fixx, Pritikin, Atkins, and many more - of those selling plans promised to extend healthspan who die young themselves. (Exceptions too, my favorite being Jack Lalanne who lived vibrantly to 96.)
Is selling habits for healthy longevity tempting the world to serve you a dish of irony?
Many people die young, regardless of a healthy life style. Each of them likely would have died younger, were it not forl careful attention to their diet or other relevant factors.
My three closest friends are all dying. All were very conscientious all their lives about their diets, and none abused their bodies in any other way. One, who never smoked, from lung cancer. One from ischemic heart failure. One from diabetes-associated organ failure.
I don’t think the OP is saying that people who write about health are dying early because ha ha their methods didn’t work. I think he’s saying it’s just “the universe” that knocks them on their ass.
Robert Atkins didn’t die from lack of health. He fell on some ice and cracked his head. Pretty sure the OP knows this.
Agreed. Which is why I specifically wrote “healthspan” and “healthy longevity” … dying at 58 though is neither.
Yup. I am sure it is the bias of noticing when someone who is selling these sorts of things dies young and not paying attention when they die of regular old age, or live longer healthier, but it does seem like the universe has it in for these people, or just has an odd sense of humor, because I really can only think of Jack Lalanne as the example of someone who was famous for selling fitness and diet and who lived a long healthy life.
It is no comment on the programs they each advised. Such habits may alter the odds of how the dice roll and that shows up in populations but snake eyes made lower odds than one out of thirty six can still come up any given roll. What Lodge apparently promoted was pretty solid stuff, basic nutrition, exercise, social connection, engagement … if we all did that more of us would live longer healthier … but he got the bad roll.
No cite, just pure speculation, but my guess is that the percentage of premature death of health pundits closely matches the premature death of the general population.