The Science of Longevity: Living Up to 150 Years

Jeanne Calment has been the oldest woman to have lived in history.  She lived to the age of 122.  You can still find many centenarians living in Japan and Italy.  Ever wondered what is the maximum age human beings can expect to live?  In the nineteenth century using the Gompertz equation it was estimated the maximum lifespan of humans to be 140.  Today, as per a new model it has been estimated to be approximately 150 years. So, if you are not killed by cancer, heart disease, you have strong genes, and if your lifestyle is healthy you can expect to live up to 150 years.  But 150 years is the limit, the maximum amount of time where in our organ and organ systems stop working.  Why at 150?  Humans have a tendency to bounce back from a disease to their baseline and this process is called resilience.  When you are young, you tend to recover faster from a disease or illness but with aging the ability to recover quickly diminishes.  The body is unable to stabilize itself and looses the ability to maintain equilibrium or homeostasis.  In some, this ability remains strong up to 60 and some may even go further to 100, but there are very few who go beyond the 100 mark.  So the question is can we intentionally improve our chances of living a life beyond 100 years. I would say maybe maybe not.  Here is a list of factors that can be tweaked to improve your maximum life span.

Factors that affect your lifespan:

1.      Genes:  

Strong Genes do play an important role in how long you are going to live.  If you have your parents living over 100, chances are you can live up to a 100 too.  That does not mean if you drink alcohol, eat fast food, avoid exercise you will live a long life.  A study by Melzer et al. in 2020 on the affect of Genes on lifespan in twins found that the influence of genes was only about 10 to 15%.  Other factors also played a significant part as to how long you would live.

2.     2.  Diet: 

Eating habits whether good of bad greatly influence our health and consequently how long we will live.  Numerous studies done on the Japanese people living in Okinawa have concluded that diet is a very significant parameter of longevity.   Japanese have the highest life expectancy, especially those living the traditional Japanese lifestyle.  Here are few things they do differently in Japan.

a.      Meat:  The reason for longevity in Japan has been attributed to the fact that they are less likely to die from ischemic heart conditions and cancer as they eat very less meat (especially red).  Their diet comprises of fish, seafood, rice, soyabeans, and tea.  The statistics show that only 4.8% of males and 3.7% of females are obese.  And obesity is the root cause of most modern diseases, including heart disease and cancer.

b.      Sugar:   Tranditional Japanese eat the least amount of sugar and sweetners in the world.  In a study conducted in 2013, it was found that Japanese sugar and sweetner consumption was 27.08 Kg/capita/year as compared to Canada of 48.26 Kg/capita/year and USA of 63.76 Kg/capita/year.

c.      Salt:  Salt is the one thing the Japanese consume more than USA or Canada. Their salt consumption is pegged at 9.5 g/day in 2017 which is down from 14.6 g/day in 1973.  This is very high as recommended by health Canada.  Health Canada’s recommended intake of salt is 1.5 g/day.

d.      Soyabeans:   These beans are found in Asia and are a favorite of the Japanese.  They use Soyabeans exensively.  They cook it in the form of endamame, which is a dish made from unripe bean pods that are boiled or steamed.  They ferment it in the form of soya sauce, miso paste, or natto or coagulate it to form tofu.  Soybeans contain isoflavones which helps to fight cancer and is good for the heart.  A study was conducted on the effect of eating isoflavones and it was found that the consumption of isoflavones led to lower risk of breast and prostate cancer.

e.      Green Tea:  The Japanese have been known to drink green tea without any sugar.   Many studies have been carried out on the effects of green tea on human health.  Green tea with no additives have been linked to better weight management, lowering of blood pressure, and general cardiovascular health.

3.      Exercise:  

Japanese people walk a lot.  Everyday, they cover large distances and hence get plenty of cardiovascular exercise.  They are also into gardening.  Another very popular form of exercise is Taiso, which is supposed to be 100 years old.  Taiso is a form of calisthenics which is done with music playing in the background and includes strength training and stretching exercises.

4.      Discipline:  

For the Japanese society discipline is fundamental and needs to be instilled in children from a young age.  This discipline helps bring balance in their life.  There is no room for overindulgence in food, drinking, or and life in general.  Most Japanese get up early and exercise.  This could be in the form of moderate gyms or the traditional Taiso.  This helps them to keep fit.  The Japanese are very hard working people and they are taught endurance or ‘Gaman’ since early childhood.  So, a disciplined society that sees fulfillment and happiness in whatever they do is also a very important factor in living a longer life.

In conclusion, we can learn a lot from the Japanese way of life and inculcate the above given ways in our lives too.  This may mean avoiding meat, eating in moderation sugar, salt and adding fish, tofu, soyabeans to your diet.  The list does not end here, exercise and discipline is also an important aspect of the Japanese way of life.  But to top it all, self actualization through your work that brings happiness and fulfillment is the jewel that can help you live a wonderful and long life.  Research shows that people who are happy, fulfilled tend to live longer than those who live alone and frustrated.  So, we may not be able to alter our genes but we can surely inculcate good habits just like the Japanese people and make longevity a reality for us.