9 common traits of people who live past 100: scientist

• There’s no one secret to living to 110 like supercentenarians.
• But supercentenarians tend to share nine traits, a longevity expert says.
• These include having friends and maintaining a healthy weight. 

A supercentenarian expert shared with Business Insider the nine things people who live to 110 and beyond have in common.

Jimmy Lindberg has studied thousands of supercentenarians in her role as a scientific advisor for LongeviQuest, an organization that verifies the ages of the world’s oldest people.

Out of the nine traits Lindberg listed, several were out of our control: long-living relatives, being born in the winter months but somewhere warm, and being female (a study from 2015 found that 95% of supercentenarians were women).

It’s unsurprising that research also suggests wealth is a factor. The Financial Times reported last year that the poorest Americans were living 50 fewer years than their wealthy counterparts, with their lives more likely to be shortened by exposure to opioid use and gun violence. They also have less financial security and access to medical care.

But Linberg said that “lifestyle is of course a contributor” to a long, healthy life. Here are the factors she shared.

Be resilient

Being resilient and able to endure hard times is one of the key predictors of longevity in supercentenarians, Lindberg says.

“You don’t have to be a superendurance athlete or anything like that, but you have to keep going,” she said.

A 2023 study by researchers at the Complutense University of Madrid on the traits centenarians tend to share found looking for a silver lining and carrying on in the face of adversity was common.

BI has previously reported on how to build resilience.

Be spiritual

Spirituality, meaning believing in something greater than us, is also very common among the supercentenarians that Lindberg has studied.

This is reflected in research, with one 2016 study by a team at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health finding that women who attended a religious service more than once a week were 33% less likely to die of any cause, potentially because it provided social support and boosted their optimism.

Dr. Joseph Maroon, an 84-year-old neurosurgeon and Ironman triathlete, previously told BI he believed spirituality had contributed to his health and longevity as much as diet and fitness.

Maintain a healthy weight

“There haven’t really been any obese supercentenarians,” Lindberg said. “They tend to maintain a relatively healthy weight throughout their lives.”

Obesity is associated with an increased risk of conditions including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, kidney diseases, and liver disease — all of which increase the risk of early death.

One 2022 study published in the journal JAMA Network Open on 29,621 people found that those with a BMI of more than 30, which is considered “obese,” lived to 77.7 on average, while people with “normal” or “overweight” BMIs (18.5 to 29.9) lived almost five years longer, to about 82.

BI has previously reported on how to lose weight healthily.

Take steps to prevent chronic disease

Chronic diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes, are the leading causes of death and disability in the US, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Whether we develop chronic diseases is partly out of our control because of a range of factors, from our genes to our environment, but there are certain steps we can take to lower our risk.

They include not smoking, eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables and low in sodium and saturated fats, being physically active, and reducing how much alcohol you drink, according to the CDC.

Eating a Mediterranean diet can help reduce the risks of developing chronic disease, as BI previously reported.

Have a strong support network

Multiple studies have found links between maintaining strong social relationships with living longer, including the Harvard Study of Adult Development, an 85-year project that followed three generations to see what kept them healthy and happy.

Dr. Robert Waldinger, the study’s lead researcher, previously told BI that healthy relationships had a surprisingly large impact on people’s odds of living longer.

And Professor Rose Anne Kenny, a gerontologist at Trinity College Dublin, having good relationships is just as important to longevity as eating well and exercising.

Correction: July 10, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated Dr. Maroon’s age. He is 84 not 83.