110-year-old shares secrets of his long life

Want to live a long, fruitful life? Well, dwell in a clean environment and only eat indigenous, wholesome foods.“

This is the advise Mzee Musa Mutembete, a 110 year-old man, who clearly knows what he is talking about.

Mzee Mutembete, of Butieri Village in Kakamega County, says for many years his staple foods have been sorghum and millet, taken with vegetables and a weekly diluted vinegar drink.

„I did not attend any formal education but it was while serving as a foreman during the colonial era that I learned these health tips that I have applied to date,“ he tells Life magazine.

He says living in a pollution-free environment and eating foods rich in nutrients has seen his body‘s immune system remain intact and helped both he and his wife keep lifestyle diseases at bay.

„My wife is 95-years-old and both of us have never been to hospital over any chronic disease be it diabetes, cancer and blood pressure...you name it. I can authoritatively attribute this to the traditional and indigenous food we eat as a family,“ he says.

Mzee Mutembete says he does not eat food made with cooking fat, which he refers to as ‚kufa kesho‘ (die tommorrow) oils.

„I would rather eat boiled food. I also do not take alcohol, neither do I smoke,“ says the man, whose looks do not betray his advanced age.

Indeed, he is still quite active for his age and will wake up early to till his land and tend to his crops.

His son, Musa Wafula, says he has never seen his father hospitalised.

Even as he has continues to age, his health has remained good, which I attribute to the food he eats and the fact that he keeps active besides using vinegar,“ says Wafula.

According to Vihiga-based nutritionist, Mary Muema, eating indigenous foods helps in the proper functioning of the body because their nutrients are intact.

Traditional and indigenous foods boost the body‘s immunity. They leave the body capable of fighting off opportunistic infections, hence preventing lifestyle diseases,“ she says.

Muema also notes that vinegar, especially raw apple cider vinegar, is useful to the human body because of its high acetic acid component. The acid increases the body‘s capacity to absorb important minerals from food.