

The Secret to Living a Century and Beyond
While you’d think most centenarians — people who’ve lived 100 years or longer — would offer up lots of do’s and don’ts or diet and exercise regimens, their longevity secrets, it turns out, have little to do with most of the usual healthy-living recommendations. In fact, many spent a lifetime ignoring the advice of health experts. They didn’t avoid smoking or lose weight, yet most centenarians say they feel on average 20 years younger than their chronological age.
Centenarians, it seems, age more slowly than the rest of the population. Sardinia, a region of Italy, has the most centenarians per capita – 6 centenarians for every 3,000 people – 10 times more than in the US where the ratio is 1 per 5,000.
But, the statistics for 100+ year olds may surprise you. For example:
But Why?
- 37% were smokers for an average of 31 years
- 37% were overweight; 8% were obese
- 20% never exercised at all; 44% only moderately

According to research and interviews with centenarians themselves, the primary difference between them and the rest of us comes down to six key ingredients…
- Zest for life
- Strong family and social ties
- Optimism
- Sense of humor
- Eating real food
- Hard work