What the Oldest Man in the World Can Teach You About Longevity
Yesterday was the birthday for the oldest man in the world. He turned a spry 113 years old. (That’s 41,273 days for the numerically inclined). If you want to live until 107 like me, it may be useful to see what tricks / tips could be learned from this guy.
Tips for living longer than 100 years
1. Eat a healthy diet
2. Abstain from alcohol
3. Drink milk every afternoon
4. Avoid cigarettes
5. Eat a lot of good food
6. Avoid snacks
7. Be happy
8. Have good genes
The secret to long life?
From this guy’s advice, the secret is that there is no secret. Everyone knows you should eat well, avoid bad things, and get lucky. Darn. I was hoping there would be more to it.
I try to eat healthy, don’t smoke, and am generally happy. Not certain if I have good genes, but I’ve managed to joggle this many years. I don’t avoid snacks or alcohol so I hope those aren’t crucial.
It’s a bit surprising that Exercising did not make it on his list. There is enough science to support it as one of the key activities to living for a long time. When I hit 100, I am going to joggle a marathon.
As a side note, the oldest person in the world is 115 year old Edna Parker. She lives in a nursing home in Indiana.
What do you think are the keys to living a long life? Leave your thoughts below.
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I’m still working on fifty 🙂
on that note, i think i’ll eat my veggies this week and cut back on a few other things…
Hmmm…just thinking, and maybe this is one of my many really random thoughts, but I wonder if it’s possible that the secret to living a long life, if there is a secret, is taking care of sick people (in addition to doing the healthy things we all know to do). Typically, we avoid sick people so we don’t get sick. And, of course, that makes sense, but maybe if while we’re young and healthy and have stronger immune systems we spent more time helping and caring for sick people we would be happier and ultimately healthier. Happier b/c there’s something mysteriously fulfilling about helping people when they’re weak and/or feeling too lousy to care well for themselves. Healthier b/c while caring for the sick, we may become sick, but while strong, young and healthy, the exposure and contact with the bacteria or virus or whatever will only work to further build and strengthen our immunity. Seems like this would better prepare us for later years when our immunity is weaker and we are more likely to be taken out by typically non life-threatening viruses. I don’t know, I’m not a medical professional, but it makes sense to me while I’m sitting here thinking about it.
I think you might have something there. I would imagine you could check into the life expectancy of people like doctors, nurses, etc. to see if they live any longer than other people.
I’d be surprised but I guess it’s possible.
Maybe, but I know a lot of drs and nurses who don’t do a lot of other healthy things. I guess to test it, I’d have to find a number of them that do.
If my musings hold any truth, I should be having my immunity made stronger today since one of my kids woke with the stomach flu this morning. 🙂
Ah yes. In a scientific study of this sort they would control for factors like lifestyle, income, etc. That way you don’t include people who smoke cigarettes for example.
Depending on the type of illness it is, your child’s sickness should improve your immunity. However, if you’ve already been exposed to that virus before it really won’t have much effect.