A new wrinkle on aging

By PEGGY TOWNSENDSENTINEL STAFF WRITER

John Robbins flips his 51/2-year-old grandson upside down, giving him a gravity-defying walk on the ceiling and making the straw-haired little boy grin.You might expect the man who wrote a book about living healthfully into old age to say that the key to a long life is in the bowls filled with fresh fruit that sit on his kitchen counter.Or on the hard-packed dirt trails he runs behind his Soquel home.Or even in the deep, outdoor tub of frigid water in which Robbins dunks himself three or four times a day.But it is this simple act with his grandchild that he would count as the most important predictor of a long and healthy life."If I were to ask only one question of a person to predict their health outcome," Robbins says later, "I wouldn't be asking about smoking or cholesterol or high blood pressure."The question would be: What is the level of love in your life?"

A new wrinkle on aging - By PEGGY TOWNSEND - SENTINEL STAFF WRITER - October 1, 2006