Live To Be 100: 7 Ways to Lengthen Your Life

Shelbyville, Indiana native Edna Parker is now believed to be the world's oldest person. At 114 years of age, Edna attributes her prolific longevity to abstaining from alcohol and tobacco and leading an active life.

So aside from keeping active and eschewing booze and cigarettes, what else do centenarians do to live such long lives?

Aside from the usual suspects of hitting the jackpot in the genetic lottery, exercising and healthy eating - here are some other habits that help people cut a deal with father time:

1. Reside in what writer-adventurer Dan Buettner calls “blue zones” which are places where many factors combine to give people longevity. Some examples;

• Okinawa, Japan: the largest verifiable and healthiest concentration of 100 year olds in the world.
• Nicoyan Peninsula (on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica): Men here are 4 times more likely to reach 100 than Americans, even though their medical care costs only about 7 percent as much.
• Italian island of Sardinia: Where farmers work hard, drink red wine and eat fruits and veggies they grow themselves.
• Dominica (Caribbean Island): Has approximately 22 centenarians on an island of only 75000 people.

2. Get 8 hours/night: A study showed that those who got 8 hours/night vs. 7 hours lived 13% longer.

3. Go to Church: Over 1000 studies have shown that those who regularly attend a church, synagogue or mosque live an average of 7 years longer than those who don’t.

4. Help someone else: Many studies show that people who devote time to community efforts are happier and healthier in later years.

5. Live at altitude: Thinner air reduces blood pressure and increased exposure to vitamin D – both factors are correlated with decreased mortality.

6. Look on the bright side: I once heard a quote that said “Life is 10% what happens to us, 90% how we DEAL with what happens to us”. A positive outlook reduces stress levels.

7. Socialize: According to Thomas Glass, associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, getting together with friends is a important a longevity factor as lowering cholesterol or blood pressure.

Several websites have longevity calculators to help people estimate how long they will live. Here is one of them. Try it out!

http://www.livingto100.com/

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