The question of how to live a long, healthy life is increasingly at the forefront of medical research. While centuries ago some may have turned to finding mythical immortality-granting items like the Holy Grail, scientists now say that achieving longevity may rely on eating the right foods, adopting healthy habits, and remaining socially active.
Reaching your hundredth birthday means you become a member of a “special club” of
As of 2021, there were an estimated 573,000 centenarians globally. The United Nations expects that number to jump rapidly, with a reported estimate of 3.7 million by 2050.
What do centenarians do to help them reach triple-digit birthdays — what is their secret? Medical News Today spoke with six experts to find out what the “secret sauce” behind longevity is.
In 2016, National Geographic Fellow Dan Buettner and his team published
Dubbed the Blue Zones, Buettner identified five specific areas of the world where people consistently live over 100 years of age. These areas are:
“These are places where human beings have lived manifestly longest,” Buettner explained to Medical News Today. “They’ve achieved the health outcomes we want: long lives largely free of
Within these five areas, Buettner discovered there were nine common practices that people followed that might explain their slower aging process. Called the Power 9, they include:
Loneliness, said Buettner, is a top risk factor for a shorter life, so preventing that as much as we can could help add years to our lives:
“We know that lonely people are expected to…
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