How To Live To 100 Years Old

Have you ever wondered about the secrets to longevity? Let’s look at the life of the oldest person that ever lived. How did they live past 100?

Jeanne Calmet lived to the staggering age of 122. She was first noticed in 1985 (aged 110 at the time) when the media discovered that she had met Vincent van Gogh when she was just 14. Her age was later verified by the birth records in her home city of Arles. There may be other people who have lived longer but Jeanne is the most substantially verified case to date.

At the age of 114, she appeared briefly in the 1990 film “Vincent and Me” as herself, making her the oldest actress ever.

She lived so long that she actually outlived her daughter and her grandson. Nevertheless, her longevity secret may still have been due to good genes. Her daughter died of pneumonia and her grandson died in a motor-cycle accident, and if not for these tragedies they could have also lived well into their 100s. Jeanne’s older brother lived to 97, her father lived to 93 and her mother lived to 86.

What other secret extended her life that extra 30 plus years? Lets look at two.

Her Lifestyle

She certainly had a relaxed stress free lifestyle. She married her second cousin who was a wealthy shop owner, so she never had to work. Because of this she could fully pursue her passions of cycling, tennis, swimming and roller skating. So she was very active. Even up to the age of 100 she was still riding a bicycle.

As well as keeping active physically she also kept active mentally, often playing the piano and attending opera.

Most surprising of all is that up until 5 years before her death, she smoked! I.e. at an age of 117 she was still smoking. We think she was protected from cancer by her secret diet.

Her Secret Diet

Jeanne attributed her long life to:

Olive oil (added to all her food). She also used it as a beauty lotion.
Port wine, and
Chocolate (she ate two pounds of chocolate every week)

These 3 items, we believe, are the real secret to living past 100. The anti-oxidant and anti-aging properties of red wine and chocolate are well documented. Also, olive oil is full of omega-9 fatty acids (in fact the best known source). Omega-9 fatty acids are known to help prevent a range of diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.

So to live past 100, drink a glass of red wine every night (the darker red the better). Eat extra dark, high cocoa content chocolate with low sugar content. Finally cook all your food in extra virgin olive oil and always add olive oil to your salad dressing. Let us know when you reach 100!

Please share your secrets to longevity in our comments.