Secrets on How To Live Longer

In his article “How to Live Forever – Secrets of longevity from the Island of 100-year-old men”, John Hodgman shared facts on why Sardinians managed to live a longer life.


DON’T WORRY, BE GRUMPY. Sardinian’s Centenarians expect little and take what life offers with fatalistic equanimity. They do however, exhibit a deep sense of duty to those around them – and a sense of humor as dry as their wine. It’s theorized that this wry blend of existential altruism lowers stress and protects the arteries. The day’s work will disappear, but family, town and a good joke go on forever.

EAT LIKE A SARDINIAN. Everything the Sardinian Centenarians ingest is the very definition of organic. “Organic produce has much less water than the standard supermarket variety, and less water means more nutrients,” says Chris Speed, dietician for the Oldways Preservation Trust, a Boston-based group that advocates traditional Mediterranean eating. “And with meat and cheese, the difference in healthy compounds is even more dramatic.”

EAT 10 TO 20 PERCENT LESS. The example of the Sardinian Centenarians suggests that you may be able to prolong your lifespan significantly by eating as much 8000 or even 8800 kilojoules a day. It comes down to figuring out how much your body ideally wants to eat, and then trimming that amount by 10 to 20 percent. Spend a month cutting out junk food and paying careful attention to eating only until you’re full. What you’re eating at the end of the month is your ideal diet. Now you can start counting kilojoules and gradually adjusting the setting down by ten percent.

A GLASS OF MOUNTAIN WINE. In 2002, British scientist Roger Corder spent two weeks hiking the Sardinian Hills drinking wine. At 600 meters, the altitude of some of the vineyards he studied, grapes protect their skins against UV radiation by pumping out more of polyphenols, the antioxidants that promote health and stimulate production of sirtuins, the same life-extending enzymes sparked by kilojoules’ reduction.

DON’T EXERCISE SO MUCH. To live long life, don’t waste time competing in marathons. Stick with the relatively modest activity loads that let you realize the health benefits of exercise with less stress on your body. In the world-famous Harvard Alumni Health Study, for example, the biggest longevity bounce – associated with a reduction of as much as 40 percent in heart disease, colon cancer, and stroke – came from burning as little as 4000 kilojoules via exercise per week.