Every so often a newspaper runs the same story: a woman turns 104 (or 105, or 106), credits her age to a daily glass of whisky, a habit of minding her own business, or simply "not worrying". It's a lovely quote, and a terrible way to learn anything useful. Individual centenarians are, by definition, outliers - and outliers make unreliable teachers.
The more useful question isn't what any single 100-year-old says worked for them, but what is found to be working consistently across large numbers of people who live to 100 in reasonably good health.
That's where the research on longevity habits gets interesting, and considerably more cautious than attention-grabbing headlines suggest.
A quick word on the Blue Zones
Most people have come across the idea of Blue Zones, regions such as Okinawa, Sardinia, Ikaria, Nicoya and Loma Linda that were identified by researcher Dan Buettner as having unusually high concentrations of centenarians. They shared habits like eating mostly plants, moving naturally throughout the day, have striong social connections and maintaining a strong sense of purpose.
It's worth being upfront about something: the underlying age data behind some of these regions has been seriously challenged by demographic researchers, who argue that patchy record-keeping and, in some cases, pension fraud may explain part of the apparent longevity clusters - a claim the original Blue Zones researchers have firmly disputed.
That controversy doesn't mean the underlying habits are worthless however, plant-heavy diets and daily movement are well supported by entirely separate research, but it's a good reason not to treat any single region as a magic formula.
What rigorous centenarian research actually shows
To find a clearer picture, it’s worth turning to long-running, carefully verified cohorts such as the New England Centenarian Study, which has tracked almost 4,000 centenarians and their relatives since 1994.
One of its clearest findings is something researchers call the compression of morbidity: rather than avoiding illness altogether, most centenarians manage to delay serious age-related disease until very late in life, staying functionally independent well into their nineties before any sharp decline sets in.
That reframes the goal. Centenarians aren't superhuman, and as many as 40% of them develop a major disease before 80. What sets them apart is how effectively their bodies seem to cope with and delay serious decline once it starts. This lines up closely with what drives ageing at a cellular level: accumulated cell damage, inflammation, and a declining capacity for repair.
The traits that keep turning up
Strip away the regional folklore and a handful of lifestyle habits keep reappearing across the research, both in centenarian cohorts and in the broader literature on healthy ageing.
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A largely plant-based, minimally processed diet, heavy on vegetables, legumes and wholegrains, light on processed and red meat, closely resembling the Mediterranean diet.
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Regular, low-intensity movement built into daily life, rather than scheduled gym sessions: walking, gardening, housework, carrying things.
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Strong social ties, whether that's family, faith communities, or close friendship groups seen regularly rather than occasionally.
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A clear sense of purpose, a reason to get up in the morning, which has been linked to a significantly lower mortality risk in its own right.
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Moderate, not restrictive, eating habits, such as stopping before feeling completely full.
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A degree of stress-management built into the daily routine - whether that's an afternoon nap, prayer, or simply a slower pace of daily life.
None of these are exotic. That's the best part: nothing on this list requires a plane ticket to a Greek island.
Genes matter, but less than most people assume
It's tempting to assume centenarians simply won a genetic lottery. Twin and family studies suggest genetics does play a real role, particularly for people who live well beyond 100. But most estimates put diet and lifestyle at around 70 to 80% of the picture for reaching a healthy old age. Family history clearly helps, but it isn't remotely the whole story when it comes to the science of longevity.
What this means day to day
Nobody needs to relocate to Sardinia or adopt an entire foreign culture to take something from this. The lifestyle habits that keep showing up in the more rigorous research are the same daily habits for healthy ageing you have probably heard before: eating well, moving regularly, staying socially connected, and having something worth getting up for.
The centenarians who get written about tend to be the ones with a memorable one-liner about cake or whisky; it makes for a more amusing story and believing there is one specific trick to live to be 100 is understandably very tempting.
The ones worth learning from are the much larger, quieter group who simply kept doing the unremarkable things, decade after decade, until the unremarkable things added up to something extraordinary.
Part of a Series
This article is part of series on staying healthy as you get older and improving your quality of life.
It’s not only a goal almost everyone shares, but has huge implications on national healthcare spending, productivity and economic resilience.
It strongly recommends the Mediterranean diet as the best way of eating but recognises that maintaining strength and aerobic fitness is also a critical part of a healthy ageing lifestyle.
It also suggests a supplement to help reach the increased plant nutrient levels that you need as you get older.
DailyColours® contains 161 plant nutrients – nutrients that are missing from an ordinary vitamin and mineral pill. Clinical trials show that it offers Mediterranean diet benefits in a daily supplement. You can see it here.
Note: The content on this site is intended for general wellness and informational purposes only. It is not personalized medical advice. Consult a healthcare professional before making any changes to your diet, exercise, or lifestyle routines.
Author: Colin Rose
Colin Rose BSc is a health and longevity researcher and author with more than 30 years of experience researching healthy ageing, nutrition, and longevity. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Senior Associate of the Royal Society of Medicine.