5 Ways To Live To 100 - And Stay Healthy To 99

       Are you planning to live to 100? It turns out you should be. As an adult in the year 2013, there’s a very good chance you’ll make it to the century mark. That’s according to the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Census Bureau, which have announced that those over the age of 80 now make up the world’s fastest growing age group.

       In 2012 the number of Americans living to and past 100 rose to 100,000. In less than 40 years,  that number will double and double and double again. By 2050, more than 800,000 people will be centenarians. So how do you make sure you’re one of them?

       And much more importantly, how do you ensure that those last decades find you vigorously pursuing all the interests you postponed during your working years, rather than sidelined by pain and chronic illness?
“In addition to the chronological clock, inside each of us there’s a biological clock that’s running faster or slower depending on a bunch of health factors,” says Stephen (Steve) Jones, MD, a specialist in internal medicine and geriatrics and Director of the Center for Healthy Aging at Greenwich Hospital. “We can dial our clock ahead or back depending on the choices we make.”
And what makes the difference? It’s all in how we choose to treat ourselves, and how carefully we take care of our health. But it’s not just what we do with our bodies, it’s what we do with our minds, too, says Jones.

Stress Subtracts Years

        If you don’t believe stress is one of the top age-accelerators, look at before, during and after photos of American presidents, says Jones. “They look like they aged 20 years during a four-year term.” Cortisol, the chemical that floods your brain and body when you react to stress, triggers a cascade of inflammatory reactions that age cells from the inside out. But note that key word, react, says Jones.
It’s not the stress itself that’s aging – it’s the response we have to it. Let an upsetting event wash over you, and you prevent the release of cortisol. “The only thing we have 100-percent control over is our attitude,” says Jones.

Five ways to block stress and dial your clock back :

1. Watch Andy Griffith
2. Think Like a Kid
3. Let Yourself Eat Cake
4. Dance, Swim, Bike, Hula Hoop 
5. Wake Up


http://www.forbes.com/sites/melaniehaiken/2013/05/24/5-ways-to-live-to-100-and-still-be-healthy-at-99/