The abundant lives of Hulda Crooks and Mavis Lindgren.

The Abundant Lives of Hulda Crooks and Mavis Lindgren

How long can a person live? What sort of vitality is possible in later life? Is it possible, as the Bible says, to "come to the grave in full vigor, like sheaves gathered in season" (Job 5:26)? (*1) Most studies reveal that the number of years elderly individuals live is increasing. However, there appears to be a big difference in the quality of life among the elderly. Medicated survival is often the fate of those who reach old age. On the other hand, because of optimal lifestyles, many people are livig actively and independently into their ninth and tenth decades.

For most people, this difference is a matter of choice--a choice that can be made at any age, as Hulda Crooks and Mavis Lindgren attest. Hulda Crooks and Mavis Lindgren are two women reaping the benefits of centered living. Their lives are centered in their Creator and are balanced by simple, healthful lifestyle habits such as good nutrition, plenty of outdoor activity, sufficient rest, and gratitude of heart. Hulda is 92 years old, Mavis is 81. Hulda climbs mountains, Mavis runs marathons. Both discovered in their 50s and 60s that vitality belongs not only to the young, but to people of all ages. And both women believe that spiritual health is important in attaining and maintaining overall health.

Hulda was born and reared on a Canadian farm. She grew up on a diet of meat, milk, cream, butter, eggs, and plenty of vigorous physical activity. In her father's country store she had free access as well to a large barrel of hard candy at one end of the counter and soft-centered chocolates at the other end. By age 16, at a height of only five feet two inches, she weighed 160 pounds in spite of all her physical activity.

At age 18, Hulda joined the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. Adopting the SDA health philosophy, she became a lacto-ovo-vegetarian (one whose diete consists of milk and eggs, along with fruit, grains, and vegetables). For the past 74 years she has followed this diet, which has had much to do with her present vitality. For the past 41 years she has eaten only two meals a day, using very few eggs or desserts and drinking plenty of water. An analysis of her diet showed more than half of the nutrients coming from carbohydrates (59 percent carbohydrates, 25 percent fat, with vitamins A, C, and E at two or three times the recommended dietary allowance). It might seem surprising to have such an excellent nutrient mix without the use of any supplements. However, as Hulda maintains, "I don't think I need supplements. I have an abundance of fresh raw fruits and vegetables as well as the cooked kind. I don't think I need extra vitamins. I believe we can take too many vitamins, and the body then has the job of throwing out the excess."

Hulda completed her dietetics training at Loma Linda University in 1927 (also spending some time at Pacific Union College), but not without some expense to her health. In spite of her newly acquired education, Hulda admits, "I wasn't worth much. I was nervous and perpetually tired." It was then that Hulda began to implement a truly balanced yet simple lifestyle. When it comes to diet and exercise, Hulda says, "You can't separate the two. You need both a good diet and sufficient exercise. The diet of course provides the materials for the body's functions. The exercise is absolutely essential in keeping up a good circulation. If we don't exercise, the circulation is sluggish and that affects the entire body, the mental as well as the rest of the body."

Her thoughtful and farsighted husband, Samuel A. Crooks, M.D., encouraged her love for the outdoors and discouraged long hours spent in the kitchen. He knew the element in which she was most happy--nature. He fostered that love for nature by buying her lots of nature study books and continually urging, "Improve your mind; improve your mind."

Sam had a heart condition that prevented him from climbing high mountains. Still, he urged Hulda to go with others. "One summer," Hulda recounts, "while we were driving in the vicinity of Lone Pine, Sam pointed out the window. 'See that peak?' he asked. My eyes followed his direction. 'That's Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the continental United States.' It looked awesome." Little did either of them guess that nearly 30 years later Hulda would climb that mountain.

After a coronary attack took Sam in the fall of 1950, Hulda's spiritual faith and the object lessons she found in nature provided a tranquilizer for her emotions. As she states, "nature is the picture book of the Bible. . . . When I started climbing the mountains, I saw how the trees adjusted to the higher altitude and increased severity of the elements. This made a very deep impression on my mind at a time when I was under very great emotional stress over my husband's death."

In 1962, at age 66, encouraged by her friends, Hulda climbed Mount Whitney (14,495 feet) for the first time. At age 70, she began jogging (at first in her backyard), to improve her aerobic power for the strenuous climb. Training year-round for her annual Mount Whitney climb, Hulda, now 92 years of age, has conquered the mountain 23 times. She has also hiked the entire 212 miles of the John Muir trail. Since she turned 81, she has climbed 88 of the highest peaks in southern California, including Mount San Gorgonio (11,500 feet).

During the past several years Hulda has replaced jogging with walking (in her ninetieth year she walked 1,200 miles). During June and July, before her August attempts on Mount Whitney, Hulda intensifies her training, climbing stairs and hills. "The reason I stopped jogging is that it is easier to fall when you jog." Hulda believes the benefits of walking are equal to those of jogging. "It takes a little longer, especially if you can jog faster like young people can. They can do it much faster that way, but I don't recommend jogging for older people unless they feel safe in doing it."

Using a sophisticated, computerized metabolic cart in the Human Performance Laboratory at Loma Linda University, technicians measured Hulda's [VO.sub.2] max. [VO.sub.2] max is the measurement of the ability to use oxygen during maximal exercise; it is the best criterion of physical fitness. At age 90 Hulda's results showed that she had a [VO.sub.2] max equivalent to that of a woman 30 years younger. Amazingly, after two hard months of hill and stair climbing, Hulda improved her [VO.sub.2] max by 7 percent, demonstrating that even 90-year-old women can improve their physical fitness.

Just before her Mount Whitney clibm Hulda's body fat was 25 percent, equivalent to that of a college woman. Her HDL cholesterol was 53 mg./dl., giving her a total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio of 4.2, representing below-average risk of heart disease.

When asked if there aren't days when she just doesn't feel like exercising or going for a walk, Hulda replied, "Usually I do it anyway." In agreement with the late Dr. Paul W. White, President Eisenhower's world-famous heart specialist, in his book entitled The Brain Is on Top, Hulda states, "If the brain is on top, it should be in charge and tell the rest of the body what to do. And so that's what I do. Once in a while I don't go out if there's some special reason, but usually I go out. Six days a week, anyway. . . . I think it is my responsibility to take care of my body. Personal health maintenance is what is being urged on people now. If I don't take care of my body, nobody will. And so I feel it is my privilege and my pleasure and my responsibility to care for the body that the Lord gave me."

"Grandma Whitney" (and "Grandma Fuji"), as she is dubbed by the press in the United States and abroad, is known for the captivating stories she tells both along the climb and at the top. In 1986 she spoke to a crowd of 50 near the top of Mount Whitney. "As people, we have bodies that we must take care of," she said. "Watch what you eat. Get your exercise. We are also beings with spiritual bodies that we must take care of. Climbing a mountain can help you with your spiritual body, if you let it." Congressman Jerry Lewis, one of those 50, stated, "if she didn't walk one more step, she will have succeeded beyond any reasonable person's wildest imagination."

In 1987 Dentsu, Inc., Japan's largest advertising firm, thought it a novel idea to have a 91-year-old woman climb with them in celebration of the sixth anniversary of the Dentsu employee's annual climb of Mount Fuji. Hulda was sent by Loma Linda's mayor to the people of Japan as an "ambassador of goodwill and healthful living." A good friend and primary coordinator of the event, Doctor of Health Science student Bill Andress accompanied Hulda (who walked unaided) the entire 12,389 feet up Japan's highest peak, along with Dentsu representatives and Dr. Hongo of the Tokyo Adventist Hospital. On July 24, 1987, Hulda watched the sunrise from the top of Mount Fuji. Six weeks later she was on top of Mount Whitney once again.

In the spring of 1988, Hulda, in Washington, D.C., with the National Women's Sports Foundation, was invited along with the group to meet President Ronald Reagan in the Oval Office for a handshake. During the ceremony, President Reagan said to Hulda, "You've done something I have never done." Hulda smiled and thought to herself, And you've done a lot I've never done!

On her ninety-second birthday, May 19, 1988, a call came to the Loma Linda Chamber of Commerce from the U.S.S. Mount Whitney. The 814 crew members of this communication vessel, or flagship, proposed to make Hulda an honorary crew member. Hulda states, "I look forward to someday meeting my fellow crew members on the U.S.S. Mount Whitney, at sea!"

Hulda's achievements, as laboratory tests have proved, are not the result of unique genetic endowment. Instead, they are the fruitage of simple, centered living--a lifestyle rooted in a deep faith in God and balanced by regular exercise, sufficient rest, and a vegetarian diet. The vitality of Hulda Crooks is thus within the reach of most people who decide to improve their lifestyles. Hulda's special message to the young is "Look ahead!" To them, old age seems a long way off, but it is never too soon to begin a balanced lifestyle. The benefits to be gained are not only investments in the future, but dividends to be realized today.

Hulda encourages those who would like to start an exercise program to first "make up their minds to do it. It's not easy to really make up your mind and think that you have time to do it. You find time and as you work at it, it becomes part of your program. The best thing to do is to start gradually and to increase your effort. Dr. Paul W. White also made this statement: 'The best way to keep fit is to walk and walk and walk.' And that's my type of exercise."

Mavis Lindgren stands only five feet two inches and weighs just 102 pounds, but this 81-year-old nurse is big on achievement. Called "Amazing Mavis" by Sports Illustrated and many of her admirers, Mavis Lindgren is the hardworking owner of many national and world age-group records for various running events from the 10K to the 26.2-mile marathon.

Mavis is a true "late bloomer," having endured and overcome an unhealthy past. As a child in Canada, she suffered through whooping cough and pneumonia. Her lungs weakened, and Mavis experienced annual bouts of severe bronchitis.

It wasn't until her early 60s that Mavis was inspired to take responsibility for her own health. While attending a summer meeting in Canada, she heard a lecture by Dr. Charles Thomas, a professor from Loma Linda University. Mavis began walking faithfully every day, hoping and praying that exercise might help cure her worsening lung ailment.

In the beginning the walks were short. After all, in addition to a weakened heart and skeletal muscles, decades of inactivity had added 20 extra pounds of fat to her body. Slowly she increased her walking distance, and after several weeks she began adding more and more jogging steps.

As the months rolled by, Mavis experienced a rebirth of health. She lost the 20 extra pounds of weight and was overjoyed to discover that her lung problem had also disappeared. "I haven't been sick a day since then," she often states. Those first few faltering steps marked the end of a lifetime of illness.

As walking became easier, Mavis discovered that she also loved to run. After a long period of adaptation, she found herself running five miles a day, six days a week, and enjoying it. She maintained this regimen for several years.

At the age of 70, Mavis was discovered by the running world, thanks in great part to the persuasiveness of her son, a medical doctor who realized her unusual potential and signed her up for the Sacramento Pepsi 20-Mile Run. With only six weeks to prepare, she increased her training, and set an age-group record for the event.

Since then, Mavis has raced in 49 marathons (26.2 miles), resetting her own world record four times (her world record is now 4 hours, 34 minutes). In the fall of 1984, Mavis also established a world best time for women over the age of 70 in the 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) event, racing to a 57-minute, 34-second finish. Mavis is always quick to remind, however, that she really races only against herself -- she is not a competitor. There are times when she is the only runner in her age group.

A petite and modest woman, Mavis continually directs the limelight away from herself and toward God. Nevertheless, she has been the object of much attention from the press. She has a busy traveling schedule, flying to all parts of the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean, but still keeps up with her demanding training schedule, which averages 50 miles of running per week. Mavis maximizes her training by eating a high-carbohydrate, vegetarian diet, which helps restore her muscle glycogen levels for the next training bout.

Recently, extensive physiological tests were conducted on Mavis at the Loma Linda University Human Performance Laboratory. As mentioned earlier, the best measure of heart, lung, and blood vessel fitness is the [VO.sub.2] max. This can be measured directly with a computerized metabolic cart while the subject runs on a treadmill. Mavis tested out with a [VO.sub.2] max of 39 [millimeters.sup.2]/kilogram/minute, which is normal for a woman of college age. In other words, Mavis has the heart and lungs of a woman 58 years younger!

Body composition testing showed that Mavis is only 12 percent body fat. To put this in perspective, the average college woman is 25 percent body fat, and the average middle-aged woman is 32 percent body fat.

Other results showed that Mavis is able to ventilate 82 liters of air per minute during very heavy exercise, while breathing 52 times per minute. This is 40 percent above what is predicted for other women her age, an amazing statistic in light of her former lung problems.

Mavis is still training hard, seeking to break her own marathon world record. As a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, Mavis plans to continue as long as God gives her strength. "I look upon my running as a means to help others improve their own lifestyle and better glorify God."

The story of Mavis is particularly compelling in that she appears to be defeating "Old Man time." Once an elderly, overweight woman with lung problems, she seemingly threw off the shackles of age and ran her way back to the "foundation of youth." There is a striking similarly between the changes that occur with aging and the changes that accompany inactivity. Although the process of aging seems to be inevitable, it si possible to maintain a higher level of fitness throughout that decline by adhering to simple, healthful habits.

Mavis and Hulda both believe that in addition to nutrition, sufficient rest, and exercise, the fourth component of a balanced lifestyle is gratitude of heart. Far from being exalted by such tremendous achievements, these women are humbled by what God has made possible for them. The spiritual component of overall health is vital in that it keeps the other components in check. If the aim of total health is the glorification of God, then the immoderation often associated with intense competition and self-exaltation does not enter in. It is important to keep in mind that you can have too much of a good thing.

The balanced lifestyles of Mavis and Hulda are the result of making God the center of their lives and the means of keeping Him at the center. A life centered in God will naturally result in a balanced lifestyle, while a healthy mind and body lessen the distractions that separate a person from God.

(*1) From the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright [C] 1973, 1978, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

David C. Nieman, D.H.Sc, M.P.H., F.A.C.S.M., is an associate professor in the School of Public Health, and director of the Doctor of Health Science program at Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California.

Rebecca Buchanan is administrative secretary for the Doctor of Health Science program at Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California.