Forget Plasma Infusions – The Secrets to Longevity Are Much Simpler and More Fun | Arwa Mahdawi

HHealth and wellness advice is often obvious and annoying. Eat more vegetables! Drink less alcohol! Exercise! Who wants to hear that, right? Not me. That’s why my favorite genre of health advice is the weird wisdom of the super-ancient.

Every now and then a profile of one of the oldest living people comes along and he or she says something nice, like, “My secret to a long, healthy life is eating chips and drinking gin.” I have to admit, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that. exactly advice, but there have been a few gems over the years. For example, Plymouth resident Doris Olive Netting, who died at 100, attributed her long life to drinking a glass of Guinness a day. Susannah Mushatt Jones, who has died at the age of 116, vowed to a daily bacon breakfastRichard Overton, who died at age 112, smoked cigars and enjoyed a bit of whiskey in his coffee. And a few years ago, at the age of 102, Eunice Modlin praised the health promoting properties of chocolate.

I should note that I cherry-picked this advice. If you look closely at supercentenarians, you see that they mostly eat sensibly and abstain from cigarettes and alcohol. A few also seem to abstain from relationships. This month, 112-year-old Louise Jean Signore told New York Post she was alive and kicking because she had decided not to get married and not to have children. “When you’re married, you have a lot of problems,” she said.

While I have yet to see any supercentenarians explicitly credit city planning for their longevity, perhaps they should. Recently released forecasts for Lifespan per country in 2050 show Spain punches way above its weight. Why? Well, diet plays a role, but so does density: Spain is full of very walkable cities. Being able to walk anywhere increases incidental movement and promotes social contact at the same time. Unfortunately, it’s not something that seems to excite the immortality-obsessed tech bros of Silicon Valley, who instead pour money into things like plasma infusions and cryopreservation to extend lifespan.

Ultimately, there is only one sure way to extend your life. Many people prefer to keep it a secret, but the secret was shared by the late Overton – he of the cigars and whiskey. “Just keep living, don’t diehe advised wisely. Now you know.

Arwa Mahdawi is a columnist for The Guardian