Living a Longer life – Do you want to live to be 100?

If you were to live to 100 years old, would you do anything differently today? It’s definitely a question to consider. There is one super- centenarian per million in the population, a total of 260 in the U.S. today. A super-centenarian is someone who is 110 years old or older.

According to the National Institute of Aging, there seems to be a genetic link that determines how long you will live. If you have relatives that tend to live into their nineties, chances are you may as well. In fact, siblings of centenarians have a four times greater chance of living into their early nineties than most people, according to researchers at the New England Centenarian Study in Boston, who studied 1,500 centenarians. In their findings, researchers found that, compared to the general population, brothers of centenarians were 17 times more likely to achieve age 100, and sisters were at least eight times more likely to reach this age.

According to Dr. Thomas Perls, MD, author of “Living to 100: Lessons in Living to Your Maximum Potential at Any Age” based on the above study, even with average genes, it's possible to extend longevity more than ever before: "Not long ago, 85 was considered ancient. Now it's relatively easy to achieve that age if you play your cards right. It all boils down to four simple things: not smoking, maintaining a healthy diet, strength training, and avoiding excessive sun exposure and alcohol. Those are the biggies."

They also found that this population became more optimistic about their lives as they aged, as opposed to becoming pessimistic. Dr. Perls refers to this as the ‘centenarian personality’ – a stress-reducing mindset that combines positive thinking with a fighting spirit. In their findings, most subjects were positive and optimistic in their attitude and bounce back easily from life's crises because they don't internalize thoughts or emotions that cause stress.

Here are a few health secrets for anyone on the road to 100, a prescription from Dr. Perls, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Boston School of Medicine, and geriatrician at Boston Medical Center.

Age accelerators to avoid: smoking, sun exposure, excessive alcohol , high- fat diet, ionizing radiation, toxic chemicals, excessive risk-taking, and mental stress. Make fitness, laughter, and relaxing recreation a priority in your life!

Age de-accelerators: Exercise (weight training, aerobics, meditation, yoga); a diet of fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, with a minimum of meats and sweets, processed foods, and animal fat or butter.

Although many wonder if diet has much to do with the remarkable health of centenarians, Dr. Perls does mention that it is impossible to know if it has made a difference with today’s centenarians because most processed foods didn’t exist during their formative years; preserving was done by pickling, smoking, and salting; and fresh fruit was less available. "Some ate very little red meat, others ate it every day with bacon and eggs!--and both types lived to 100," He says.

Nowadays, however, there's little doubt, says Perls, that "good training," -- exercise and proper diet--contribute mightily to living to 100.

Another tip is to continue to challenge the mind. Dr. Perls found that centenarians are continually learning something new, which builds fresh connections between brain cells. Crossword puzzles, bridge and jigsaw puzzles all keep the mind sharp. Just as beneficial is painting, writing poetry, making sculpture or learning a new language.

One thing that many people say when they get into their 90’s and 100’s is that if they knew they would live so long, they would have taken better care of themselves. Don’t wait; start now!

Take this free longevity calculator to see how old you will live to be by clicking here: http://www.eons.com/body

To buy the book researchers wrote summarizing what they learned from the New England Centenarian Study, entitled, “Living to 100”, click here.

For more on aging, click here.

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