Myths:
• I will try really hard to live to be 100. False.
Only 1 out of 10 people will reach 100 years old. Most people are engineered to live past having kids and to live to see their kids grow up.
• Treatments slow or reverse aging. False.
Cells regenerate themselves only once every eight years. So if you hurt your leg cartilage if won’t grow back.
There are nine lifestyle characteristics that increase life expectancy in areas around the world. Among them: a low-meat, plant-based diet (all of them ate a lot of beans) and a ritual of “downshifting” each day. In these other cultures, they use smaller plates to avoid overeating.
These people experience the same stresses like–kids, health, finances. However, they manage it through daily prayer, meditation, ancestor veneration, or city-wide happy hours (like the Sardinians).
Social equity peaks at age 24. In these other cultures, older people are looked upon as a valued part of the culture. The social value they have is the “grandmother effect”. They can offer wisdom in raising children, something to teach us, etc.
In the U.S. life expectancy for women is 81.5 years while for men it is 76.9 years. In other countries with higher life expectancies, people value physical activity like going up and down the stairs or walking to the market daily. These cultures also foster gardening and walking.
The average American has 16 friends, with approximately 3 close friends. Globally, people typically have 20 friends, with approximately 4 close friends throughout their lives. In America, our lives are split into different sections: work, life and retirement. In other cultures, there are more reasons for people to wake up in the morning to care for an elder or a great-granddaughter. They take care of families first as a priority. These cultures often have strong religious, Faith-based communities and strong social communities.
If you increase your number of friends, eat right, and have a healthy lifestyle, it will positively reflect on your life expectancy.
*Statistics updated in July 2020.
