How to live to 100

FANCY being a centenarian? According to statistics, more people across the world are achieving that goal, thanks to scientific advances and medical breakthroughs. And no, living to 100 here does not mean being infirm, incapacitated or confused. One can be in reasonably good physical and mental shape for a century and beyond if one wanted to.

The body, according to some scientists, can reach a maximum age of 120. And, as certain communities such as the Okinawans in Japan, the Ikarians in Greece and the Sardinians in Italy have shown, it often boils down to lifestyles and habits. Members of these communities typically live to 90 or 100, and their cultures have become models for the rest of the world.

The longest living person on record was a Frenchwoman named Jeanne Calment. She lived to 122, from 1875 to 1997. She rode a bicycle till she was 100, smoked cigarettes till 117, recorded a song when she was 120, and joked and flirted for much of her life.