Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara died on July 18, 2017—105 years after he was born. But as shocking as this may seem, the lifestyle which Hinohara utilized in order to live such a long (and healthy) life is even more jaw-dropping.

However, even aside from his accomplishment of living to be 100, Hinohara realized numerous great successes throughout his lifetime: he made huge contributions to healthcare in Japan, he led five foundations, he was the president of St Luke’s International Hospital in Tokyo, and he also introduced a comprehensive system for yearly medical exams in Japan. In fact, the BBC recently reported that his comprehensive exam system deserves much of the credit for increasing life expectancies amongst Japanese citizens. What’s more, he also continued to see and treat patients right up until a few months prior to his recent death.

And, as alluded to, Hinohara accomplished all of this without adhering to any conventional “healthy” diets, guidelines for sleep, or philosophies on balancing work and leisure time: he usually worked 18 hours per day for all 7 days of the week. Hinohara believed that energy comes from feeling well, and not at all from eating or sleeping well: “For breakfast I drink coffee, a glass of milk and some orange juice with a tablespoon of olive oil in it. Lunch is milk and a few cookies, or nothing when I am too busy to eat. Dinner is veggies, a bit of fish and rice, and, twice a week, 100 grams of lean meat.” Furthermore, he claimed that no human being should retire before the age of 65 (if at all), and also that no human being should take any doctor’s advice without first carefully considering and questioning it.

More specifically, Hinohara argued that, “When a doctor recommends you take a test or have some surgery, ask whether the doctor would suggest that his or her spouse or children go through such a procedure. Contrary to popular belief, doctors can’t cure everyone. So why cause unnecessary pain with surgery? . . . Music and animal therapy can help more than most doctors imagine. . . . Pain is mysterious, and having fun is the best way to forget it. Hospitals must cater to the basic need of patients: We all want to have fun. At St. Luke’s we have music and animal therapies, and art classes. . . . Science alone can’t cure or help people. Science lumps us all together, but illness is individual. Each person is unique, and diseases are connected to their hearts. To know the illness and help people, we need liberal and visual arts, not just medical ones.”

Indeed, it seems as though the problems that many human beings experience while trying to adhere to countless conventional diets, guidelines, and philosophies may not be their problems at all. Instead, it seems that these ideologies themselves might to be blame—if not some doctors and health professionals themselves.