I’m amazed at stories of longevity. Don’t we all want to know the secret to living a long life?

Well I think part of is genes. But there’s more to it than that. Take Gertrude Baines. She’s the world’s oldest living person at age 115. Up until ten years ago, she lived on her own. She likes to indulge on extra crispy bacon and sweets, and enjoys certain television shows (The Price is Right and Jerry Springer.)
What’s the secret to long life? She doesn’t know. It’s not that she’s been without her share …read more

Would you drink one glass of olive oil for a chance to live to 120 years old? Apparently, that’s one of Mariam Amash’s secrets to longevity. While applying for a new Israeli identity card, Mariam said she was born 120 years ago. If confirmed, that would make her the oldest person in the Guinness Book of world records.
A granddaughter-in-law, Hamda Amash, 40, said Mariam is a “healthy, active woman. She walks each day and makes sure she drinks at least one glass of olive oil.”
What I find to be the real feat in this is not the age itself, but …read more

According to this study, you can add about 14 years to your lifespan if you master these four health habits:

don’t smoke
exercise
drink alcohol moderately, and
eating five servings of fruit and vegetables a day

I don’t smoke, I drink occasionally, I do often eat more than 5 servings of fruit and veggies but I admit I have to move more and get into a serious exercise regimen. How do you fare on this four parameters?

There is an excellently written article in The Scientist: Caloric restriction slows immune aging.
The link between caloric restriction and longevity may be mediated by reduced susceptibility to disease, researchers report this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The scientists found that calorie-restricted older adult rhesus monkeys have at least 30% more naïve T cells than controls.
Two points I’d like to emphasize: Caloric restriction is not synonymous to starvation, as some headlines make it. Also, I have to agree with co-author Ilhem Messaoudi when he said towards the end of the article that increasing the lifespan …read more