- Business Insider spoke to many centenarians about their tips for living to 100.
- Many people believe that by eating well they can live longer.
- Their advice includes eating whole foods and having the occasional snack.
Living to age 100 is relatively rare, with only 0.03% of the U.S. population being over 100 years old, according to an analysis by the Pew Research Center.
But Professor Pew predicts that as life expectancy increases, the number of centenarians in the United States will quadruple by 2054. Genes, environmental factors, and luck have a big impact on whether you live a long life, but lifestyle choices are also important.
Learn how eight centenarians Business Insider spoke to eat foods that may contribute to their health and longevity.
eat fresh whole foods
BI reported that many centenarians eat a lot of fresh, whole foods and less meat.
Deborah Székely, 102, has been a pescatarian her whole life, growing many of her own vegetables on a ranch in Baja California, Mexico, where she still works.
Pearl Taylor, also 102, of Dayton, Ohio, said she mostly eats a vegetarian diet and occasionally eats meat. She also loves homemade green juices that contain aloe root, celery, parsley, ginger, and water sweetened with Splenda.
Meanwhile, at 112 years old, New York’s second-oldest person, Lousie Jean Signore, follows a Mediterranean diet rich in whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, beans, and olive oil.
Louise Jean Signore, the second oldest person in New York. frances perkins
As BI previously reported, Signore eats salad, fruits and vegetables every night and adds tomato sauce, garlic and olive oil to all her staple meals.
The Mediterranean diet is widely considered to be the healthiest way to eat, and research has linked it to improved heart health, weight loss, and prevention of cognitive decline.
cook at home
Taylor prepares all of her meals and says she hasn’t eaten a ready-to-eat meal in “years.”
This is common among centenarians, many of whom grew up before fast food and microwaveable meals became popular.
For example, 101-year-old William from Toronto cooks all of his meals loaded with sardines, which he believes is the secret to his longevity.
William is 101 years old and eats a lot of sardines. Sinai Health Foundation
Jack Van Nordheim, 101, known as Uncle Jack on social media, never developed a taste for fast food, preferring instead simple home-cooked dishes such as boiled chicken.
Eating more home-cooked food means eating less ultra-processed foods, which are linked to serious health problems such as depression, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
A 2017 study published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity found that participants who cooked at home five times a week were more likely to follow a healthy diet, such as the Mediterranean diet. . Eat more fruits and vegetables. And get to a healthy weight.
Eat in moderation…
Yumi Yamamoto, who works for LongeviQuest, an organization that verifies the age of supercentenarians, told BI that many centenarians in Japan follow the “80% belly” principle, meaning they eat until they are 80% full.
Yumi Yamamoto and her great-grandmother Shigeyo Nakachi. At the time of his death in 2021, he was the second oldest person in Japan. Yumi Yamamoto
Yamamoto’s great-grandmother, Shigeyo Nakachi, was the second-oldest living person in Japan when she passed away in 2021. According to Yamamoto, Nakachi never overate and never finished a chocolate bar at a time.
Similarly, 108-year-old Martin McEvilly, Ireland’s oldest man to cycle regularly until he was 99, believes in ‘everything in moderation’.
For McBilly, this means he only drinks alcohol on Sunday nights, when he enjoys three pints of Guinness.
…But please take care of yourself.
Yamamoto said Japanese supercentenarians tend to eat in moderation, but still take good care of themselves.
Uncle Jack eats dark chocolate every day. Ask Uncle Jack
She said Kane Tanaka, the second oldest person in recorded history who lived to be 119 years old, enjoyed a bottle of Coca-Cola every day.
Similarly, Mr. Székely likes to eat coffee ice cream from time to time, and Uncle Jack attributes his longevity to eating dark chocolate and honey every day.
Experts agree that incorporating treats into your diet can make a healthy diet more sustainable. Nutritionist Nicole Ludlam-Raine recommends the 80/20 diet, where you eat healthy 80% of the time and eat whatever you like the other 20% of the time.
