# How can I live to be 123 years old?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-live-to-be-123-years-old/48461
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [January 4, 2001, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-live-to-be-123-years-old/48461 "2001-01-04T21:16:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2001, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-live-to-be-123-years-old/48461/1 "2001-01-04T21:16:45Z")
…and stay in relatively good health!
A life expectancy of 72 years? Feh. I’m going for the record (122 years).
Of course, “exercise and eat right” are the common answers. But if that is your reply, let’s hear some details (what kinds of exercise, what foods, etc.). I already have my own ideas, but I want to hear yours whether they are common sense or off-the-wall.
I’m male, so that’s already one strike against me. But I don’t smoke, so that helps a lot.
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### Author:  [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2001, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-live-to-be-123-years-old/48461/2 "2001-01-04T21:27:50Z")
Simple. Breathe in… breathe out… repeat for 123 years.
😃
Zev Steinhardt
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### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2001, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-live-to-be-123-years-old/48461/3 "2001-01-04T21:31:01Z")
But here’s some earlier discussion on [Who wants to be a centenarian?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=18463)
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### Author:  [@scratch1300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scratch1300)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2001, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-live-to-be-123-years-old/48461/4 "2001-01-04T21:34:10Z")
Oliver Sacks, in _Awakenings_, wrote that victims of sleeping sickness retained an unnaturally youthful appearance well into old age. So my suggestion is, contract some disease that drastically slows your metabolism.
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### Author:  [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2001, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-live-to-be-123-years-old/48461/5 "2001-01-04T21:37:56Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by zev\_steinhardt \*
> \*\*Simple. Breathe in… breathe out… repeat for 123 years.
> \*\*
mental note…don’t forget to breathe…thanks! 😃
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### Author:  [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2001, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-live-to-be-123-years-old/48461/6 "2001-01-04T21:42:32Z")
FWIW, here’s what the current record holder had to say about it…
[http://detnews.com/1997/obits/9708/04/08040139.htm](http://detnews.com/1997/obits/9708/04/08040139.htm)
> [@](#):
>
> PARIS - Jeanne Calment …credited an occasional glass of Port wine and a diet rich in olive oil for making her the world’s oldest person, died today at age 122.
> …
> She was still riding a bike at 100. At 121, Calment gave a hint as to how she stayed sharp. “I dream, I think, I go over my life,” she said. “I never get bored.”
“never get bored”
I like that one. That, plus the wine. 🙂
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### Author:  [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2001, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-live-to-be-123-years-old/48461/7 "2001-01-04T22:18:19Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Phobos \*
> \*\*
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > \*Originally posted by zev\_steinhardt \*
> > \*\*Simple. Breathe in… breathe out… repeat for 123 years.
> > \*\*
>
> mental note…don’t forget to breathe…thanks! 😃 \*\*
You’re welcome. Always happy to hand out practical advice 😃
Zev Steinhardt
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### Author:  [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2001, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-live-to-be-123-years-old/48461/8 "2001-01-05T00:03:56Z")
A trip on a relativistic spaceship would help.
Would a sex change operation help at all, or do you have to be born female to get any advantage?
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2001, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-live-to-be-123-years-old/48461/9 "2001-01-05T00:19:18Z")
Healthy? Eat right? Exercise?
BAHAHAHA! You’ve been misinformed if you think that’s gonna make you live longer.
Show me a person who has lived past 100 through healthy living, and I’ll show you three who have made it just by not being dead yet.
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### Author:  [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2001, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-live-to-be-123-years-old/48461/10 "2001-01-05T00:46:35Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Phobos \*
> **…Of course, “exercise and eat right” are the common answers. But if that is your reply, let’s hear some details (what kinds of exercise, what foods, etc.). I already have my own ideas, but I want to hear yours whether they are common sense or off-the-wall.**
Eat your vegetables and make sure you get a good ass-fucking once in a while.
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### Author:  [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2001, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-live-to-be-123-years-old/48461/11 "2001-01-05T10:03:36Z")
My ex-sister-in-law’s great great great grandmother had a stationary bike she rode every day, up to the age of 109.
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### Author:  [@Spritle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spritle)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2001, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-live-to-be-123-years-old/48461/12 "2001-01-05T12:54:55Z")
two options:
1. follow George Burns’ advise “When Death comes knocking, don’t answer.” 'Course, hims real dead now. (at 100!) He said that he couldn’t die; he was booked.
[geek]
2) Stop counting years in this silly base 10 system!
[/geek]
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### Author:  [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2001, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-live-to-be-123-years-old/48461/13 "2001-01-05T13:02:41Z")
Eat an apple each morning, for 45,000 mornings.
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### Author:  [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2001, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-live-to-be-123-years-old/48461/14 "2001-01-05T15:37:20Z")
**scr4** - re: spaceship - a good way to cheat!
**GuanoLad** - ok, so what’s their secret? long life by eating Twinkies (you are what you eat) and a protective coating of tar on the lungs?
**Torgo** - ah, go take your own advice. 😛
**Badtz Maru** - a biking granny - too cool…hey, that’s essentially what the current record-holder did…cycling! now we’re onto something! a sample size of 2 is good enough for a statistical analysis, right?
**spritle** - hmm…George Burns, Montgomery Burns…maybe I should change my name to Phobos Burns (sounds painful).
**Dex** - drat, I’m already 11,000 mornings behind schedule.
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### Author:  [@Humble\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Humble_Servant)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2001, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-live-to-be-123-years-old/48461/15 "2001-01-05T16:31:05Z")
Consider [a “calorie-restricted” diet](http://www.sciam.com/specialissues/0600aging/0600taubes.html). While this type of “eating right” might help YOU live to be 123, the induced crankiness could alienate everyone you know. Ah, to be old, alone and hungry all the time. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2001, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-live-to-be-123-years-old/48461/16 "2001-01-05T17:53:00Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Humble Servant \*
> \*\*Consider [a “calorie-restricted” diet](http://www.sciam.com/specialissues/0600aging/0600taubes.html). \*\*
ironically, I’m eating a side order of french fries as I read this.
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### Author:  [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2001, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-live-to-be-123-years-old/48461/17 "2001-01-05T18:20:14Z")
Whip the ends of your telomeres so they stop fraying.
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### Author:  [@Grim\_Beaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grim_Beaker)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2001, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-live-to-be-123-years-old/48461/18 "2001-01-05T22:18:21Z")
In addition to the physical remedies (eat right, exercise, avoid recreational drugs, etc.) I’ve always felt that the following things helped greatly:
1. Low stress environment. I firmly believe that mental stress is one of the frequent causes of illness.
2. Have regular monogamous sex. Regular sexual behavior is healthy and life prolonging in my opinion (and backed by Science if I remember correctly but I’m too lazy to get the details).
3. Occupy your energies. Hobby, interest, activity, whatever. Or as has been said previously, “don’t get bored”.
4. Maintain social relationships. Keeping yourself active and involved with others (preventing loneliness) I think is imperative to mental health.
Grim\_Beaker
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### Author:  [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2001, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-live-to-be-123-years-old/48461/19 "2001-01-05T22:48:20Z")
**bup** - Maybe I can get some kind of revitalizing shampoo for it. 🙂
**Grim\_Beaker** - Thanks. I agree. Tom Robbins would also agree with your point #2 (a la _Jitterbug Perfume_).