Health enthusiast Peter Filak has adopted a healthier, vegan diet with the aim of reaching the age of 150. His new lifestyle embraces organic produce, moderate exercise, low-stress living, and avoids processed foods, unhealthy chemicals and meat.

The 23 year-old gave up meat and dairy 16 months ago after reading The China Study. The book is a widely-read testament for the vegan diet, instructing on the risks of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity associated with a meat-based diet.

Filak comments on his website “it’s discomforting to realize that we have everything we need in order to live longer. It’s all here, in our grasp, right there in front of us. But nobody reaches for it, and when somebody does, it’s newsworthy.”

Some dieticians have suggested that a diet comprised mainly of raw vegetables, fruits and nuts might be lacking in B12, calcium, vitamin D and iron. But Filak is confident: “Natural eating lingers with negativity… If I began that sentence with veganism and vegetarianism, you would get the point. We are instructed to eat our fruits and vegetables while growing up, but if you eat too much or too many–become a raw vegan–then it is bad?… In other words, don’t trust the average dieticians, nurses, and doctors when it comes to your health. Seek information and learn from it. Then seek more.”

But the plan for long life extends beyond diet: Filak does not drink out of plastic water bottles that contain the potentially dangerous compound bisphenol A (BPA); he avoids unnecessary risks; and aims to become self-sufficient, growing all of his food.

Although Filak does not attempt to impose his lifestyle on others, he questions “when did these foods become radical? And when did they become unhealthy?”

How far would you go to extend your lifespan? Leave a comment below!

Image Source: Petras Gaglias/Flickr