The Centenarian Secret: What It Takes to Live to 100

Wanna live to be a hundred or even just a little over past that finish line? Many of us would, as long as we remain reasonably fit and healthy, right?

I come from a line of long-lived ancestors. My maternal grandmother passed away at 102 and two grand-aunts, at the venerable ages of 103 and 104. If the centenarian privilege runs in my veins, I’d be celebrating my 100 years courtesy of some very resilient genes. Or would I?

Let’s talk about the keys to health and longevity. Just how do centenarians manage to outlive many of us?

Today’s Golden Oldies

I bet you didn’t know that in 2008, Australia was home to 2,860 people aged over the 100-year old mark. In fact, a 2006 census revealed that a surprising 96 people are over 110 years old! The figures are quite astonishing, considering centenarians were a rarity several decades back.

The United States holds the numero uno spot for the highest centenarian population with a total of 72,000 golden seniors in 2014! Japan is trailing behind with a population of 30,000 100-and-over year olds; but, Japan’s vintage population is burgeoning at a rate higher than other countries including the U.S. It is possible that by 2050, Japan could take the prize as home to the highest number of centenarians.

What’s even more astonishing than population figures is the fact that a few centenarians are actually breaking the stereotype of the frail old man/woman. They have got us rethinking about our notions of physical fitness vis-a-vis age. For one, Meiko Nagaoka proved that at 100 years, she’s no oldie von mouldy. This remarkable granny just completed a 1,500-metre freestyle swim! I dare many young ‘uns to try match this feat. If you don’t exercise much, you probably won’t even make it past the 500-metre mark (10 continuous laps in an Olympic-size swimming pool). You may say, well, she’s probably been swimming ever since she was 10. Nope, she started swimming at 80! How’s that for saying you’re too old for this and that, huh?

At 102, Fauja Singh, “The Golden Bolt,” still runs marathons. He also started running somewhere in his eighties when he felt stressed and all alone after the death of his wife and son. By the time Singh hit 99 years of age, he was discovered to have the overall physical fitness of a 40-year old man!

This just goes to show we can defy age to a certain degree. Now what’s the secret...the so-called elixir of quality long life?

The Keys to Living a Century

In his book “The Blue Zone Solution….,” longevity expert, Dan Buettner, identifies blue zone areas, places where the concentration of long-lived people are highest. These are: Okinawa, Japan; Loma Linda, California; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Sardinia, Italy; and Ikaria, Greece.

The common thread supporting longevity in these areas is, first and foremost, lifestyle. For Buettner, diet and eating behaviour form part of the reasons behind the long-life phenomenon.

The Long-Life Diet

An exemplary diet and the good habits that support it in these blue zone areas run across common veins:

Predominantly vegetarian diets high in fibre

Most really old, active people have lived off a high percentage of fruits, vegetables and other plant-based food for years. Meat is not common fare and is very occasionally found on their table.

Whole grains such as oats form common staples. Legumes also form a good percentage of the vegetarian diet. Black beans seem to be particularly popular in the blue zone areas with one cup supplying the protein and antioxidant needs. More importantly, beans are gut-friendly food which encourage good bacteria to thrive. As a lot of diseases do begin in the gut, a very healthy digestive system is also key to a long, healthy life.

A majority of centenarians eat a cup of greens daily. Leafy vegetables like spinach, kale and watercress can add up the years if eaten consistently. Snacking on a variety of nuts has also proven to be a good eating habit. According to Buettner, “Nut eaters live about two to three years longer than those who don’t eat them.”

The modern diet with processed food are strangers to the blue zone area. Chips and soda are just as foreign to these golden seniors as spinach probably is to a junk food lover.

Eating breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper

Blue zone people tend to eat in volume during breakfast or lunch but tend to skip (in case of the Okinawans) or eat very little come dinnertime. Snacking averages once a day. Eating the right food this way balances their calorie intake in relation to their bodily needs, thereby effectively managing and staving off weight gain.

Employing Hara Hachi Bu

Another common habit among these golden oldies is eating only until one is just full. The Okinawans calls this Hara Hachi Bu which extols the virtue of consciously eating to fill only 80% of your satiety. This habit of conscious calorie restriction goes a long way toward healthy weight maintenance. Yo-yoing your way through life actually physically ages you in the long run and reduces your lifespan.

Cooking at home

Eating out is a super rare treat, not a norm. People in the blue zones tend to cook their own food, enabling them to have control over their ingredients and menu. It also helps to live in a community that live on the tenets of healthy diets; so, you probably will never be offered a soda or a bowl of chips when you come visiting. A healthy diet is just so ingrained in their lifestyles and therefore, in their kitchens as well.

Eating is a social activity; no one eats alone

Seniors in the blue zone enjoy each meal in company of family and occasionally, friends. Meals are bonding affairs, full of conversation. Social interaction gives a sense of relevancy and companionship to older people which really helps prolong their energy for life. Furthermore, conversation during meals slows down the eating pace which is necessary for good digestion and being in tune with one’s satiety level.

The Long-Life Exercise

Exercise? Most blue zone seniors may never have stepped foot in a gym; yet are as spry as anyone thirty years younger. Movement has been unconsciously ingrained into their lifestyle by daily walks around the community, baking bread from scratch, gardening, and doing a round of chores that is part and parcel of their daily living. It is a good amount of muscle movement that keeps them physically younger than what they ought to be.

Age-Defying Genes

We know that diet, eating behaviours and amount of daily exercise do impact strongly on our lifespans. There are, however, other studies that conclude that lifestyle has nothing to do with living longer; but genes do.

True, you may know of centenarians that have defied the laws of health by living to ripe, old ages with a cigarette on one hand and a beer glass on the other. These are a chosen few, however; so, if Granddad Jack managed to smoke for 80 years with nary a glimmer of a lung tumour, this does not mean you’ve inherited his lucky streak. Just imagine though, how many more years Granddad could have, given such a sturdy constitution, if he lived cleaner.

No one can deny that having good genes is one of the major factors for reaching the coveted 100th birthday. On the other hand, no one can also discount that a healthy lifestyle may be a more promising factor to bet on.

So will I live to be a 102 because my grandmother did? Maybe, but I’m not willing to bet my life on it unless I’m living clean and eating green.