The Biggest Secrets Of People Who Lived More Than 100 Years. You Can Try It Too!
Experts that conducted research among super-centenarians around the world revealed some of the secrets of those who live over 100 years.
They collected testimonies about what are the most important factors that lead to the increase of longevity up to the psychological limit of a century and beyond.
It should be noted that 1 in 7 million people in the West lives even beyond 110 years, living balanced, optimistic lives, being active, and having a healthy diet, according to Cheapism.
Each of these centenarians left their living testimonies to their descendants, but experts say that in addition to their healthy habits the genes they inherited from their parents played, of course, their role.
Below we present the 25 biggest secrets of people who lived 100 years, as they told their relatives, friends, and experts.
The Biggest Secrets Of People Who Lived Over 100 Years
1. Diet Rich In Olive Oil And Chocolate
The oldest person in the world according to the Guinness World Records (Book of Records) who ever lived (from the existing records) was the Frenchwoman Jeanne Louise Calment. She was born in 1875 and died in 1997 at 122 years and 164 days.
She remained active, practicing fencing until she was 100 years old, attributing her long life to the fact that she laughed frequently, smeared olive oil on her skin, and ate a kilo of chocolate per week. All paired with a heart-healthy diet.
2. Healthy, Smaller Meals
The oldest man who lived was Jiroemon Kimura, born in 1897 and died at the age of 116 in 2013.
His personal motto was "eat light to live long". He used to say that you should only eat until you are 80% full. And indeed, recent scientific studies suggest cutting one's daily calories may indeed have a profound effect on future longevity.
3. Sushi And Sleep Eight Hours A Night
Misao Okawa was the oldest person in the world until she died at the age of 117 in 2015 in Osaka, Japan. Asked about the secret of her longevity, she replied: "I wonder that too!"
She said the secret was eating sushi and sleeping at least 8 hours a night.
4. Everything In Moderation
Born in 1903, Polish-Israeli supercentenarian Yisrael Kristal was the oldest living Holocaust survivor and briefly the oldest living person before his death in 2017 at age 113.
His secret was revealed by his daughter, Kristal: "His attitude to life is Everything in moderation. He eats and sleeps moderately, and says that a person should always be in control of his own life and not have his life control him, as far as this is possible."
5. Don't Let Anything Upset You
Another centenarian was Sarah Knauss, who died at 119 in 1999. "She's a very tranquil person and nothing fazes her," Knauss's daughter said of her.
"That's why she lived so long."
6. Avoid Fast Food And Mind Your Own Business
Born in 1896, Besse Cooper became the oldest living person and the eighth person confirmed to live to 116 before dying at the same age in 2012.
She attributed her long life to "minding my own business and not eating toxic food like fast food".
7. Never Retire
Ruth Gruber was born in 1911, before women had the right to vote, and became a legendary photojournalist, foreign correspondent, and author before she died at the age of 105.
Her advice for increasing longevity was true to her journalistic endeavors: "never, never, never, never retire, never retire."
8. Love What You Do
Atlanta pediatrician Dr. Leila Denmark lived to be 114 years old before she died in April 2012, having retired from work just 11 years earlier at the age of 103.
Her advice for achieving such longevity was simple: "Most of all, you have to love what you're doing. Anything you have to do is work. Anything you love to do is play."
9. Be Nice To Everyone
Another healthy recommendation to extend one's life came from Bonita Zigrang of Rancho Palos Verdes, California, who died in 2015 at the age of 110. Her secret, she said, was "just being nice to everyone."
10. A Good Wife And Lots Of Exercises
Samuel Henry Ball, aka Errie, died in 2014 at the age of 103, crediting his longevity to: "To have a good wife. Be active all the time. drink a little"
11. Have Many Goals In Life And Meet Many People
He was the oldest active investor alive before his death in 2015, New Yorker Irving Kahn lived to be 109 and gave a multifaceted answer about his secrets to living longer:
"First, you need a nutritious diet, with a lot of vegetables and salads. Second, get plenty of fresh air. Third, don't drink. I drink at most one glass of wine every three months. Fourth, you have to always stay in motion, be open, and get to know people from all over the world. And, fifth, have a lot of interests and learn things that you can't do yet — that keeps you young!" he used to say.
12. Plan Everything Ahead, Share What You Know And Take The Stairs
Before his death at the age of 105 in 2017, Japanese centenarian Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara was one of the world's longest-lived physicians and published more than a dozen books after his 75th birthday.
His many tips for staying fit into old age include: always planning ahead, sharing what you know, retiring late, always taking the stairs, and drinking orange juice with a tablespoon of olive oil every morning.
13. Eat Prunes Daily
Originally from Yonkers, New York, Morris Lensky was born in 1911 and died in 2012 at the age of 101.
When asked how he survived this long, Lensky simply replied: "You have to be lucky, but I made the best of things when bad things happened. I also ate plums every day."
14. Lots Of Peanut Oil
Chengmai Villages in China's Hainan Island Province has one of the highest rates of residents over 100, more than 200 out of a total population of 560,000.
In 2013, the great-granddaughter of one such resident, named Li Aizhu, born in 1900, said her grandmother's alleged secret was to eat a lot of peanut oil — a good source of vitamin E and antioxidants that can reduce risk factors for heart diseases.
15. Pray, Love, Forgive, And Eat Vegetables
Daisey Bailey was an African-American supercentenarian born in 1896 who died in 2010 at the age of 113, leaving behind 20 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren.
In true grandmotherly fashion, Bailey attributed her longevity to her practices of always praying, loving, forgiving, and eating vegetables.
16. Stay Optimistic!
After Bailey's death, Mississippi Winn became the oldest living African-American until her time came in 2011, shortly before her 114th birthday.
She avoided dairy products and took an aspirin and a vitamin a day, and while she offered no "secret" to longevity, she was an optimistic person who avoided getting upset.
17. Eat A Healthy Breakfast And Don't Smoke
Among the oldest men who ever lived, Benjamin Harrison Holcomb attributed his longevity to the fact that he always ate a big breakfast, but also to the lack of vice, smoking, alcohol - he never drank.
Holcomb died in 2000 at the age of 111.
18. Walk, Don't Drive
A World War II veteran who marched alongside Martin Luther King Jr., George Boggess died in 2016 at the age of 104.
He attributed his long life to an active lifestyle. "I attribute my longevity largely to walking" rather than driving.
19. God From Heaven
Before he died in 2019, Anthony Mancinelli of Newburgh, New York, held a unique world record - that of the oldest barber in the world, he was born in Italy in 1911. The secret: "Only one man knows the secret. He says, 'Who is that?' I said, 'The man above, God.'"
