From: unk...@googlegroups.com   
      
   100 Ways To Live To 100    
   The Huffington Post            
   By Healthy Living Staff    
   Posted: 09/23/2013 9:00 am EDT Updated: 09/24/2013 9:03 am EDT    
   OLD PERSON SMILING    
      
   Want to add more and better years to your life? Now is the time.    
      
   We're living longer than ever: The average American born in 2013 will be alive   
   nearly four years longer than someone born 20 years ago. But until recently,   
   it wasn't clear if the years we've added to our lives were good-quality years.    
      
   A recent study from the University of Massachusetts Medical School starts to   
   answer that question. Researchers found that today, 25 year olds can expect to   
   live "2.4 more years of a healthy life" and 65 year olds can look forward to   
   1.7 extra healthy    
   years than people who lived two decades back.    
      
   However, those extra years are far from guaranteed. Childhood obesity and its   
   associated diseases threaten to reverse the upward tick of American life   
   expectancy, which is currently calculated by the Centers for Disease Control   
   and Prevention (CDC) to be    
   just shy of 79 years.    
      
   Much of making it to your 100th birthday is beyond your control, as longevity   
   is partly dictated by genetics and the medical history and health habits of   
   your parents and grandparents. But there are also a handful (okay, a lot) of   
   lifespan-enhancing    
   practices that you can adopt today -- like taking your allotted vacation days,   
   eating more leafy greens and getting enough sleep.    
      
   We scoured the research and sought advice from centenarians themselves. And   
   while not all of these life-expanders are doable for everyone ("Be born in   
   Japan," for example!), there is so much you can do to improve your odds of a   
   long and healthful old age.   
       
      
   Find out what you're already doing right and where you can still improve in   
   our list of 100 ways to live to 100.    
      
   1. Be conscientious.    
   In the book The Longevity Project, authors Howard S. Friedman and Leslie R.   
   Martin shared that in their research, being conscientious was one of the best   
   predictors of longevity. That's because people who are conscientious may be   
   more likely to abide by    
   healthful behaviors, may be less prone to disease and may find more success in   
   relationships and in the workplace.    
      
   2. Find reasons to laugh.    
   In a 2012 study published in the journal Aging, researchers from the Albert   
   Einstein College of Medicine and Yeshiva University identified certain   
   personality characteristics that a group of 243 centenarians had in common.   
   Among them? A love of laughter.    
   â€œThey considered laughter an important part of life,â€� the lead researcher   
   said.    
      
   3. Find a life purpose.    
   In the centenarian hotspot of Nicoya, Costa Rica, residents cultivate a plan   
   de vida, which means “reason to live,â€� according to the website Blue   
   Zones. “This sense of purpose often centers around spending time with and   
   providing for their family,†  
   � the site says. “This often results in centenarians retaining an active   
   lifestyle, reaping the benefits of physical activity and exposure to the   
   sun.â€� According to Blue Zones, a 60-year-old Costa-Rican man has roughly   
   twice the chance of living to    
   90 as a man living in the United States.    
      
   4. Go nuts.    
   Eating nuts could keep you from dying early, according to a study in BioMed   
   Central. The study, based on data from 7,000 people ages 55 to 90, showed that   
   nut-eaters -- who in the study were more likely to have a lower body mass   
   index and waist    
   circumference -- had a 39 percent lower risk of early death, and walnut-eaters   
   in particular had a 45 percent lower risk of early death.    
      
   5. Walk a lot.    
   walking    
   The 123-year-old Carmelo Flores Laura, potentially the oldest living person   
   documented, says he owes his longevity to regular exercise. "I walk a lot,   
   that's all. I go out with the animals," Flores told the Associated Press.    
      
   6. Try a little retail therapy.    
   Who doesn't love an excuse to go shopping?! A 2011 study found that frequent   
   shoppers live longer. The study examined Taiwanese men and women over 65 and   
   found that daily shopping lowered risk of death by 28 percent for men and 23   
   percent of women, AARP    
   reported. And if you're worried about the state of your wallet, you're in   
   luck: The benefits hold up even if you don't buy anything, WebMD reported.    
      
   7. Be happy.    
   A 2011 study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of   
   Sciences found that among older people, the group that scored as   
   â€œhappiestâ€� (having the highest “positive affectâ€�) had a death rate of   
   3.6 percent -- less than half the    
   death rate of the unhappiest group, which was 7.3 percent.    
      
   8. Win an Oscar.    
   Researchers from Toronto's Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences   
   Centre found that Oscar-winning actors and directors tend to live longer than   
   their losing peers, with winning actors and actresses living nearly four years   
   more than their losing    
   peers.    
      
   9. Head for the hills.    
   skiier    
   You may hear more often about the perils of altitude sickness, but it turns   
   out that heading to new heights may be a good move. A 2011 study from the   
   University of Colorado School of Medicine found that the 20 U.S. counties with   
   the highest life    
   expectancy had an average altitude of 5,967 feet above sea level. That added   
   1.2 to 3.6 years to a man's life, and six months to 2.5 years to a woman's and   
   lowered all residents' risk of dying from heart disease, the researchers   
   found.    
      
   10. Do unto others.    
   Susannah Mushatt Jones is the oldest resident of New York state -- she   
   celebrated her 114th birthday this past summer. What's her secret? According   
   to her niece in an interview with PIX11 news, treating everybody fairly is one   
   of her "standards," along    
   with taking care of others. The only medication she takes is for high blood   
   pressure, and her diet consists of ribs, chicken, fruits and veggies,   
   according to the PIX11 video segment.    
      
   11. But don’t forget about yourself.    
   Fitness guru Jack LaLanne, who passed away at the age of 96 in 2011, knew the   
   importance of looking after yourself. “This is where I take care of the most   
   important person in my life: me,â€� he joked of the gym in the documentary How   
   To Live Forever. †  
   œExercise is king. Nutrition is queen. Put them together and you’ve got a   
   kindom.â€�    
      
   LaLanne repeated his message often. Esquire.com also quoted him as saying:   
   â€œYou’ve got to satisfy you. If you can’t satisfy you, you’re a   
   failure.â€�    
      
   12. Put down the takeout menu.    
   cooking    
      
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