Supercentenarians Tips for Aging!
Hoping to stay healthy, active, and sharp as you pass the decades of your life? Interested in looking to your elders for tips on aging well? Planning a life into your 110s?
Ever know anyone older than a 110? Many of us don’t and won’t if supercentenarians continue to be the rare finds that they are today. Individuals who live into their 110s are estimated to be only 1 in 100,000 with fewer than 50 alive today. While supercentenarians and the researchers who have studied them wouldn’t agree on any true secret of longevity, there are certainly things to be learned from this remarkable category of people!
As experts in senior living and memory care in Ann Arbor, we’ve put together some of the supercentenarians’ top tips for aging:
Get Back Up
Interestingly, research into the lives of supercentenarians hasn’t found easy or stress-free paths to longevity. Instead, what is more common is the ability to recover after setbacks. Take the story of one Japanese supercentenarian who did squats to help herself recover from a broken leg at 102. Or the story of a California man who fled an angry mob and lived in Mexico for five years. Setbacks will happen, but how you recover makes all the difference!
Got to Have Friends
Maintaining social relationships seems to be a key to longevity, but it’s not necessarily easy to achieve as one moves toward such an advanced age. The tendency toward isolation in later years can sometimes be like giving into a current, but you’ll be doing yourself a favor if you can make new friends and hang onto the old ones, too.
What’s on Your Plate
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a secret superfood that provided all we needed to live well into our eleventh decade? Unfortunately, that’s not the case, but we could take a page out of Japan’s traditional cookbook, considering they have the greatest concentration of supercentenarians in the world. A diet rich in seafood and seasonal vegetables with very little added sugars or processed foods is typical in Japan.
Realize Your Role
Due to the genetic component of many diseases or fatal conditions like certain cancers and heart issues, some of us can feel fated to a similar end as the family members who have come before. Feeling out of control can lead to poor health decisions and a self-fulfilling prophecy. In reality, researchers say only about 25% of our lifespan is determined by genes; the rest largely depends on our lifestyle choices like diet, exercise, social engagements, and working to stay mentally sharp. Knowing the role our choices play in our longevity can be a powerful motivator!
A glimpse into the lives and histories of supercentenarians can provide many more tips to aging well and living life in our 110s and even 120s. Many researchers believe with each passing decade, more people will be reaching these ages, and maybe beyond. So, take the steps today to do best for your future, supercentenarian self!
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If you have questions about aging, senior living, or memory care in Ann Arbor, reach out to us at Hillside Terrace, where our family shares life with your family.