Arline, If a study were done to derive a more realistic average, I do not doubt that this will hold true in many cases. The major problem with our ancestors was that they had no defense against infant mortality from communicable diseases, bad water, etc. If babies survived the first troublesome years, they had a good chance at living a long time. It is the high rate of infant mortality that brings the average life expectancy down so far in those days. Our ancestors, particularly the farming and rural classes, were extremely hard workers. My great-grandfather Miles Houser simultaneously ran a farm and worked in the local limestone quarries, while maintaining a close relationship with his wife and ten children, an active leadership role in the local church. He lived to 96; his wife lived to 88. Everything was done by hand and it is apparent that the level of activity kept them healthy. I question whether activity might be more important even than diet in such considerations. My great-grandfather Breon, on the other hand, was an insurance agent and businessman who was not physically active, and smoked heavily, and died of a heart attack at age 61. His father, a self-employed carpenter, who carried his tools with him and walked miles to work every day as well as pulling a harrow by himself through the fields, lived to the age of 83. I am convinced that their hard work kept them healthy. The graveyards in the old farming valleys bear testimony to the large number of settlers who lived into their 80s, 90s, and even 100s in some cases. Justin At 03:33 PM 1/25/2007, you wrote: >Reading the many PA dutch recipes recently brought to mind my surprise >when I first began my genealogy. >As I entered names & dates I was astounded to find that 2 and 3 >generations ago, my ancestors were living into their 90's and still >functioning for themselves. Certainly not the usual life span at that >time. They had survived the wonderful, rich, cholesterol filled foods >of their heritage. >Butter in everything, [lard for pie crusts], dumplings, spaetzle, sticky >buns etc. My grandfather said a piece of meat was not good without >ample fat which he consumed. By today's standards these people should >have died early on from clogged arteries and excess calories. >As the king of Siam said, "'tis a puzzlement" >Hope I inherited their metabolism. >Arline > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >[email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without >the quotes in the subject and the body of the message