Scientist warns against health advice from 100-year-olds

The lifestyle choices of centenarians do not necessarily guarantee longevity for others, a biogerontology professor has said

The health and lifestyle choices of the world’s oldest people should not be taken as a blueprint for longevity for others, Richard Faragher, a professor of biogerontology at the UK’s University of Brighton, has warned.

According to the scientist, the question of why some people live to 100 and some don’t is still debated. Most experts point to either luck or good genetics as the likely reasons for longevity. He stressed, however, that experts agree on one thing – people who want to live longer should “never, ever take health and lifestyle tips from a centenarian.”

His warning comes just days after the passing of the world’s oldest woman, Maria Branyas Morera, who died in her sleep at the age of 117 on August 19. Morera attributed her longevity to “order, tranquility… no worries, no regrets, lots of positivity, and staying away from toxic people.” Her demise was preceded by the death of the world’s oldest man, 114-year-old Juan Vicente Perez Mora, this April. Mora’s secret to a long life was to “work hard, rest on holidays, go to bed early,” and to “drink a glass of aguardiente [a strong alcoholic drink] every day.”

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In an interview with The Guardian published on Saturday, Faragher said that, like Morera and Mora, most centenarians do not speak of exercise or healthy diet when commenting on their long lives. He noted that some of the world’s oldest people admit they were smokers and drank alcohol freely, which “flies in the face of a lot of epidemiological evidence we have on how to extend your healthy life expectancy.”

“Merely because you have survived smoking 60 a day doesn’t mean that smoking 60 a day is good for you… The fact that [centenarians] do many of these unhealthy things and still just coast through says they’re either lucky or typically very well endowed,” he said. He noted that the idea that having a positive mental outlook, which Morera mentioned, can help promote longevity could be a case of reverse causation, as people tend to be calmer when they have good health.

“When was the last time you had a really positive mental attitude and toothache?” he said.

READ MORE: World’s oldest man dies at 114 

Following Morera’s passing, the oldest living person in the world has become Japan’s Tomiko Itooka, 116, who was born on May 23, 1908, according to the US Gerontology Research Group. The oldest person to have ever lived was France’s Jeanne Louise Calment, who died in 1997 at the age of 122, according to Guinness.