(Note to readers: the subject of faith doesn’t get the attention it deserves here. I cover it in more detail in this post).

This is becoming a bit of a theme.

Maryland resident Robert Cox says he didn’t expect to reach 100 but, now that he has, he credits God and says that he feels like he has a ‘pretty long way to go yet’.

Robert has been living in an assisted living facility since 2012. He uses a walker and has hearing problems but his mind remains sharp. He also offers sound advice on marriage, having been married for 65 years until his wife died in 2003. ‘You treat your woman as your sweetheart. You treat her well, all the time,’ he told the local online news site.

Plausibility rating: 7 out of 10. As we’ve seen religious faith is associated with longer life but it’s unlikely that it’s due to divine intervention. More plausibly, religion offers a focus and purpose to life and it’s this which adds years.

http://www.gazette.net/article/20150610/NEWS/150619771/1123/lanham-veteran-celebrates-100th-birthday&template=gazette

(Note to readers: the subject of faith doesn’t get the attention it deserves here. I cover it in more detail in this post).

107-year-old Alabama resident Virginia Wright is clear why she has lived so long: “Ain’t no secret. Praising God and going to God for his grace”.

Virginia was born on Nov 25th 1907 and – as of June 2015, remained active. “She can walk around the house, holding on to something,” her daughter, Clairee Washington, told a local newspaper. Clairee, who is herself 89, added “She’ll make her bed. She can wash dishes.”

“We let her do those things to occupy her mind,” said Virginia’s granddaughter, Patricia Lee. “She’ll move around. She likes to stay active. She’ll ask what she can do.”When she folds clothes, “she’ll fold them up and she’ll do it fast so she can get done,” Lee said.

Plausibility rating: 7 out of 10. We can discount the Bible’s claims that Methuselah lived to 969 but being religious has been associated with longevity in several studies. So too though has having a more general ‘sense of purpose’ so it may be this rather than religious faith which is the key factor.

http://www.al.com/living/index.ssf/2015/06/secret_to_longevity_aint_no_se.html

115 year old Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper gave her ‘advice’ about longevity posthumously. A tissue sample showed that Mrs van Andel-Schipper still had two stem cells active producing white blood cells, whereas most of us have lost them by the time we die. So that could be the explanation for her remarkable long life. Or it might not. We really don’t know.

Plausibility: ? Not a clue. Check back in a decade or so.

No, booze won’t help you live to be 100—but this might

Pennsylvanian Pauline Spagnola told a local reporter that ‘a lot of booze’ is the key to her reaching 100. The video of that advice briefly made her an internet star and also earned her three crates of free beer from the local Lion brewery, her favourite (though Pauline is also quoted as saying ‘Anything they buy me – I drink it’). This was reported by the local TV station as “Booze Drinkin’ Granny Gets Free Brew”.

Those crates may not have lasted long: Pauline says she has ‘one at noon, one in the evening and one going to sleep – put me to sleep’. You can almost hear the nervousness in the director of the supported housing where Pauline lives, who is quoted as saying cautiously: ‘As long as there’s no restrictions with medication or any type of dependency issues, there’s nothing wrong with having a beer here or there.’ And in fairness, Pauline did say she planned to share her free drink with friends.

Plausibility rating: 5 out of 10. There is plenty of evidence that alcohol – particularly but not exclusively, red wine – can improve health and longevity. Typically, the studies find that drinkers even have a lifespan advantage over teetotallers. However the research is disputed and studies also tend to suggest that moderation is key. Too much alcohol is generally found to limit life rather than extend it.

We cover the subject of alcohol and its impact on longevity more fully in the posts on Whisky, Guinness and brandy, and the effects of heavier drinking in gin and tonic and – incredibly – four bottles of red wine a day.

(Reader’s note: in retrospect I wouldn’t have started 101 Ways to Live to 100 with this effort. Not only is Barbara Bush not actually 100 but it’s clear she meant her answer to be tongue in cheek. If I’d been really thinking it through, I might have developed something along the lines of ‘how important is looking good/self esteem to living to 100’. Or I would have picked up that ‘positive attitude’ answer and run with that But I didn’t. We get fully into our swing by no. 10: 2 raw eggs so you might want to start there instead.)

Barbara Bush hasn’t made it to 100 yet (she’s 90) but her secret to ageing gracefully is pearls because apparently they hide the wrinkles. More seriously she reckons  positive attitude has got her most of the way to her centenary.

Plausibility rating: 0 out of 10 for pearls; 8 out of 10 for having a positive attitude. Lots of surveys show that mental attitude improves longevity.It’s a theme that’s bound to come out more as we work through our 101.