PVLF 2025

Interview with Mario Sequeira Author of A Road Map to Longevity: Debunking Myths About Healthy Living

Mario Sequeira's "A Road Map to Longevity" challenges myths on health, advocating holistic approaches to diet and mental well-being for lasting vitality.
on Oct 03, 2024

Interview Mario Sequeira Longevity Myths

Mario Sequeira has been researching on stress management in great depth much before stress was hardly heard of. He owns and manages various resorts, wineries, hospitality and real estate businesses, and provides training and employment through his creative and design thinking programmes which are meant to teach young minds how to think creatively so as to thrive in this ever-changing world of ours. He is the author of the bestselling book Killing Me Softly.

Frontlist: What motivated you to write “A Road Map to Longevity: Debunking Myths About Healthy Living”? Can you share how your father's battle with cancer and your personal health challenges influenced your decision to embark on this project?

Mario Sequeira: As a young lad, I aspire to live to 150. I could never understand why people would live healthy and happy lives and then suddenly, just like a beautiful red rose, droop and die. But as time went on, I seemed to have forgotten this until suddenly my father, who was a healthy and happy 92, got cancer and soon after passed away. Just a month before he moved on, we partied at a beachside restaurant where we all drank well and ate crabs, clams, and meat. Suddenly, his health spiraled out of control, much like an F-16 fighter jet whose guidance systems had shut down, making it hurtle earthwards, leaving no time for its pilot to eject. Then came the proverbial final shove when it dawned on me that I had just presided over driving my company almost broke. My family depended on me, and my children were small. It shocked me to think that the only thing I had to depend on for our recovery was me. Me- who weighed a whopping 117 kgs. How could I go about resurrecting my business when I was physically so badly challenged? I tried. I swam in an Olympic-sized swimming pool non-stop for an hour every day but would then get out and feel so hungry that I would eat up all I could. I would feel good, but I would never lose a gram. On the contrary, I actually added a kilo or two. So, a few months down the road, I joined a local gym.

With time, I became an avid treadmill user and weight lifter, but I would lose weight for a few days only to put it all back in a few days.

A long-term solution to weight loss evaded me. Was it because losing weight needed to be looked into more holistically? Could it be that I had to look at health rather than just weight loss? Could it be because it had to be a combination of weights, aerobics and a diet plan? Or was it all this and more?

It felt terrible. I had all the wealth I needed to have a good life, but I would rather have died than be forced into a diet plan that would almost starve me to death.

If I was serious and aspired to live long, healthy, and happy, I needed a plan. I was preparing myself for the long haul but on the following non-negotiable terms. I refused to change my social life or eating habits by a yard, but I knew I would have to tweak it all. Rules

were never meant for me, and I was not just about to put myself under the command of some dietician or yoga guru. I knew I would never be able to sustain that unless (just like when I gave up smoking) I studied life in detail, understood the paradigm, convinced myself of the way forward, and got going. I have studied and researched until I finally developed a road map to a long, healthy, and happy life. The road is not difficult. All it takes is a vision and years of consistency and perseverance. Be the master of your destiny.

Frontlist: Your book challenges several widespread beliefs about diets and aging. What are some of the most pervasive myths you address, and why do you think these misconceptions have become so entrenched in public thinking?

Mario Sequeira: Among the many myths I have discussed in the book, I would like to mention:

Myth: It is normal to die of old age

What is normal about it? We grow old in terms of our chronological clock and surely we can’t do anything about that, but we age because of our senescent cells. We can do a lot to keep our cells from going senescent.

Myth: All calories are equal

Calories from a coca cola and broccoli are just not the same. Not only because it takes a much bigger volume to eat 150 calories of broccoli but also because of the way our body digests a cold drink versus broccoli. While the body can easily digest broccoli, a good part of the sugar in our cold drink gets broken down into glucose and fructose. The fructose gets stored as fat as it cannot be broken down by the liver into usable glucose. Worse than this, sugar also interferes with Leptin, which breaks down the signaling of satiety in the brain. That is why one can end up drinking a ton of calories from a Coke and eat much more than you usually would.

Myth: Diabetes is not a sickness to be taken seriously.

It is one that one has to live with. During the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, 1500 American soldiers lost a limb. During the same time, almost 1.5 million Americans lost a limb due to diabetes.

At least 70% of diabetics can reverse their diabetes if only they tried. It isn’t even difficult.

Diabetes goes hand in hand with Cholesterol, and the two together are great promoters of cardiovascular disease and even Alzheimers.

Myth: Eating at least six meals a day is good for health

There isn’t much scientific data to prove this one. My guess this one has been promoted by the breakfast food companies.

Myth: We are victims of our ancestry as we can't do anything about our genes.

It has been proven that only 7% of our genes are beyond our control. 93% of the rest are well within our control. Epigenetics teaches us how to control them all. No gene is actively plotting against us.

Most of these myths have got engrained witbecome engrained in our mindsets overturies primarily throug,h ignorance but also due to publicity by what could have been vested interests the of the food and pharma lobbies.

Frontlist: You advocate for a holistic approach that balances exercise, nutrition, and mental well-being. How do you define holistic health, and why is it crucial for achieving longevity?

Mario Sequeira: I know people who spend hours a day in the gym. The fact is that too much exercise can actually damage your body. While we need to gym we also need rest time for our body to recover from the stress faced by it in the gym.

Nutrition forms a key part of our longevity story not only because of the balance of Carbohydrates, proteins, fat and fiber that we all must have but also because our body cannot function without an adequate amount of vitamins, minerals and micronutrients that may not be available in the foods we eat. The mental and spiritual well being decides whether we will move forward with positive energy of negative energy. Stress actually is known to be responsible for more than 80% of our disease. If that can be controlled then 80% of our health issues could be resolved. All this and much more needs to be kept in balance if we are to have a long and healthy life.

Frontlist: In your book, you mention the importance of understanding the mind as the "chief alchemist" and touching base with one's spiritual DNA. Can you elaborate on these concepts and their significance in the context of longevity and healthy living?

Mario Sequeira: When the human genome project was undertaken, it was thought that we had 300000 genes based on the dna in your nucleus but they found only 22500. What was the rest of the dna? It was initially called junk dna. But a few years later they found it was what we called epigenes or switches that turn your genes on or off. It is a fact that you have more switches than you do genes and you control those switches.

Remember your actions matter because you control the switches that control your good genes as well as the monstrous ones.

What this means is that we are not victims of our heredity but have full control over ourselves. Effectively meaning that we can and should take responsibility for our actions.

Frontlist: You emphasize the potential of food as medicine. What are some common misconceptions about diet and nutrition that you address in your book? How do you suggest individuals can make informed choices about their diet to improve their health and longevity without giving up the enjoyment of food?

Mario Sequeira: There are basically two misconceptions that I believe are most important for everyone to understand before they go on a journey to change their eating habits:

All calories are not equal. Calories from a coca cola and broccoli are just not the same. Not only because it takes a much bigger volume to eat 150 calories of broccoli but also because of the way our body digests a cold drink versus broccoli. While broccoli can be easily digested by the body a good part of the sugar in our cold drink actually gets broken down into glucose and fructose. The fructose gets stored as fat as it cannot be broken down by the liver into usable glucose. Worse than this sugar also interferes with Leptin which breaks down the signaling of satiety to the brain. That is why one can end up drinking a ton full of calories from a coke and eat much more than you normally would.

I have researched extensively but couldn’t find any good studies that actually justified eating 6 or more meals a day. In my opinion eating at least 6 meals a day is definitely not good for health

My guess this one has been promoted by the food industry.

A change need not be boring. You don’t even have to eat tasteless meals but yes you may have to tweak what you eat and when you eat. Now you may say it is troublesome to change habits but I would say to you that nothing in life comes free. We have to pay a price. If the price we have to pay is to poison ourselves a little less or to stop a habit that is causing us harm then it would be a very low price to pay for many additional healthy and happy years of life. The beauty of our body is that it soon adapts to new tastes provided we give it a chance.

Our body is a self healing super computer. All we have to do is give it the proper raw materials so it can function well. We need to give it foods that will nourish it and keep the toxins that will poison it at bay. If we do this with diligence we will go to sleep at night much like we put our mobile phones to charge and wake up almost as good as new and recharged.

To sum it up we don’t need to sacrifice anything. We just need to become aware that no big edifice has been built without a plan nor has a marathon been run without a thought.

Frontlist: How does your book challenge traditional views on exercise and its role in healthy aging? What types of physical activity do you recommend for maintaining vitality and longevity?

Mario Sequeira: I very clearly espouse that you don’t have to spend hours everyday either walking or in the gym. There are so many people who spend at least an hour everyday on exercise. I believe 4 hours a week is more than enough to keep your body energized and healthy. During the balance time I would suggest add meditation, a leisurely walk in the park, a walk in the woods if you safe or sitting at the beach. Breathing exercises also would be a great addition.

I recommend light weights to keep your muscle mass under control together with walking and/ or swimming.

Frontlist: One of your key messages is that achieving longevity doesn’t mean giving up life’s pleasures. How can readers strike a balance between enjoying life and making health-conscious choices?

Mario Sequeira: When you know what is good and what is bad for you and when you are conscious of both then you can pick and choose what to eat or what to do and when. I for example avoid sugar as far as possible but once in a while do have a good desert or chocolate and never feel guilty about it. We have to keep the freedom of choice but when freedom of choice is backed by an educated decision by the law of averages we will do well.

Frontlist: What was your writing process for this book? Did you encounter any particular challenges or breakthroughs during your research and writing?

Mario Sequeira: Honestly, I didn’t know I was writing a book at the beginning. It all began with me chronicling my life’s challenge with weight loss. I was desperate to lose weight. I realized I couldn’t lose weight and had to study health instead. When I studied health I understood how easy it was to lose weight and actually lost 27 kilos. Through this journey I also learnt about the ‘spell of myths’ that I was under. Indeed I realized that most of us assume some myths to be scientific facts. That was when I decided to share my experiences and work on a roadmap to longevity. It was quite a revelation to me that longevity could actually be so easy if we only got the basics right. We focus on the complicated stuff that we don’t understand and because of that we give up. While researching the book my biggest challenges came when I had to rewire my brains regards certain myths that I had followed for a life time. Take the one where all calories are equal. The biggest breakthrough for me was to know that I not only could lose 27 kilos but also keep those kilos from getting back. This I have managed for the last almost ten years despite not having made too much of a change to my lifestyle.