About Centenarians who are over 100 years old and the experiences they have learned from them.

Not-so-young people in the 100-year life era

It seems like it has been a long time since people began to talk about the 100-year life era. However, in this day and age, the digital skills of young people and those of their elders (60+ years old) have diverged to such an extent that it could be said that there is a different dimension.

This gap can be seen in the U.S. employment statistics, where the average age of CEOs of all companies is in their early 40s, while the average age of CEOs of major technology companies such as Google and Apple is around 30.

Nowadays, most of the digital companies we see are in the blossoming professions. While they are increasingly welcoming younger and younger talent, one can't help but feel that there is a kind of crisis in the key positions of the elders somewhere.

Just as children have always envied adults as children, is there any reason for adults not to envy their elders as adults? It would be like being asked, for example, at age 50, what kind of person you would like to spend the next half-century until you reach age 100. In most cases, it does not seem that we are looking at it the way a child would look at an adult.

Achieving a High EQ

What kind of approach is essential to becoming a wise senior in the workplace and in society, one whose value increases with each passing hour? It is said that this can be achieved not through strong arm strength, agility, or clearing speed, but by honing one's insight and judgment. Like a vintage wine that has ripened over time, this can be achieved by continually improving one's ability to look at new knowledge from the perspective of previous experience.

In the digital age, there is one ability that is more important than intelligence quotient. It is the "Digital Intelligence Quotient (DQ)," which is the ability to use tablets and integrate into the new digital world. When it comes to competing for the highest DQ, elders who have lived their lives as they have in the past will continue to be overwhelmed by the high DQ of the young. It's a long shot to compete with someone who was born and raised in an environment that is inseparable from technology.

However, it is not the case that the world's leading technology companies are run exclusively by such high DQ individuals. EQ is a mental intelligence quotient that measures humility and thoughtfulness. It is not necessary to be a tech-savvy person to have a high EQ, and it is one of the areas in which modern Elders can excel.

Unidirectional Experience

Where Modern Elders are concerned, the accumulation of experience often does not have to be linear. In the past, there has been a strong perception that new knowledge and experience, such as new knowledge and experience, is something that is passed down from elders to younger generations. However, it is said that new knowledge of technology resides in those with high DQ and cannot be gained by having a high EQ. This is why it is important to face young people's ideas with a novice attitude.

Having said that, one can imagine that it is not easy to start something new because it requires a lot of energy, ignoring the stairs you have climbed so far. However, they say that getting older and gaining various experiences does not embody being forced into such a situation.

In that sense, the knowledge that elders have is that they have a lot of knowledge in other areas. That can be a great advantage.

Wellness over Health

This is a term that is attracting a lot of attention these days, and it is indicative of a new way of looking at health. There are regions of the world where many people live to be over 100 years old, and the term originated when Belgian demographer Michel Poulin and Italian physician Gianni Pes marked with a "blue marker" the Barbaggia region of Sardinia, Italy, where many people live to be over 100 years old.

Since 2004, American researcher and author Dan Bettner teamed up with National Geographic to conduct a survey and added four new "blue zones" to the list, and the results of the survey became widespread when they were published. (Some excerpts from Wikipedia)

In this article, I would like to introduce the wellness that exists in these "Blue Zones".

Okinawa, Nicoya Peninsula, Sardinia...

The Blue Zones are located in the places indicated in the figure above, which are Okinawa, Ikaria, Sardinia, Nicoya Peninsula, and Loma Linda, respectively. Most of these areas are warm regions, with average temperatures in the vicinity of 30 degrees Celsius. In particular, the map shows that the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica is very close to the equator. However, perhaps because it is bordered by oceans to the east and west, the average temperature here is cooler, around 25 degrees Celsius year-round.

Nine Rules

The Blue Zone has some common rules, which are systematically summarized in the form of nine rules. The following is an excerpt from another website.

(1) Be physically active in daily life, and be regular about it.
(2) Have a purpose in life. Have a purpose to get up every morning.
(3) Less stress. Stress is closely related to all diseases related to aging. For example, the Mediterranean siesta customs, the prayer time of Seventh-day Adventists, and the tea time of Okinawan women.
(4) Eat a diet of eight portions.
(5) Eat a vegetable-based diet. Eat mostly vegetables. Eat meat, fish, and dairy products, but in small quantities.
(6) Drink moderate amounts of alcohol and wine in moderation.
(7) Participate in social groups that promote healthy habits.
(8) Live in a mutually supportive community. Participate in communities that help each other, especially health-oriented communities.
(9) Have deep family ties, such as fathers, mothers, siblings, grandparents, etc.

The above points are said to be important in living a Blue Zones-like lifestyle.

Mediterranean-style, vegetable-based diet

In the Blue Zones, the diet is different, and perhaps because of this, the average life expectancy in the U.S.-Romarinda has been shown to live 10 years longer than in the rest of the United States. This is due to the importance of eating a primarily vegetable-based diet and avoiding meat, fish, and dairy products.

Agricultural products

Fruits: apples, bananas, berries, grapes, oranges, papayas, pineapples, plums (plums, plums, etc.), watermelons, etc.
Vegetables: bell peppers, beets (kaengsai), broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, chard, collard greens, cucumbers, garlic, green beans, kale, onions, potatoes, spinach, tomatoes, etc.

Proteins

Beans: black beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils, etc.
Eggs (2-4 times per week) Fish (up to 3 times per week): anchovies, salmon, cod, swordfish, tuna, sardines, etc. Goat milk, goat milk-based dairy productsNuts: almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, peanuts, walnuts, etc. Seeds: pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, pemp seeds, etc. Pemp seeds, etc. Cotton curd

Grains & regular foods

Barley, brown rice, coffee, dried spices & fresh herbs, oatmeal (preferably steel cut), olive oil, quinoa, red wine, tea
100% whole wheat, sprouted grain bread, sourdough bread

In this issue, we discussed the Blue Zone. There, the emphasis is on wellness, not health, and "health is not the goal, not the purpose," and "longevity is not the goal, either. It is said that living better, shining life, and self-actualization are the purpose, goal, and "wellness," and I am thinking of doing these things starting immediately today.

The secret to longevity is "nothing in particular.

People who have lived to be 100 years old, or to have lived for a century, are sometimes referred to as "centenarians. Among them, those who are over 110 years old are called "super centenarians," a name that has the opposite effect, as if they are getting younger.

The United States has the largest number of centenarians with over 100,000, followed by Japan with about 80,000. China, Malaysia, India, Thailand, and France follow.

Malaysia is first with 134 centenarians per 100,000 population, followed by Japan with 68, and Portugal with 48. Surprisingly, the U.S. has the highest centenarian population in the world, contrary to the impression that eating habits were a problem.

In our previous article introducing the "Blue Zones," we took a close look at the lifestyles of the long-lived people living there and their dietary habits. When we consider the habits of the Centenarians, we know that they have very similar characteristics to those living in the Blue Zones.

However, while in the last issue we introduced dietary habits in the context of "eat 00, don't eat 00," this is not quite the case when it comes to Centenarians.

Perhaps the idea that living in the blue zone is healthy is a bit off. Centenarians are known to eat the way they like when it comes to food.

It seems that their longevity is not due to what they eat, but how much they eat, and it is very important for them to maintain a normal body system from a young age and to stop at eight portions of food.

And we know that they exercise daily, as do the people in the Blue Zone, some of whom are over 100 years old and still work full time for 8 hours a day. It is said that Sardinia in the Blue Zone has the largest number of men over 100 years old in the world, and they walk 8 kilometers of road every day as cattle herders, for example.

It is believed that what Centenarians and Blue Zone people have in common is that they live in the category of moderation, not living an extreme lifestyle, such as not overeating and exercising moderately.

Finally, it is also believed that a state of being in control of oneself or having no stress in one's daily life is common to centenarians, and I believe this is the most important factor that makes centenarians centenarians.

What is the state of no stress?

I once read a book titled "Mu - the Highest State" by Yu Suzuki and thought that suffering can be shown by the following formula, and he says there is only one way to avoid it.

Suffering = Pain x Resistance

It is to not resist. If the resistance term in the above formula is closer to zero, the smaller the value of suffering. If suffering is inseparable from stress, it tells us how important it is to live without resistance. However, the question arises as to how to achieve non-resistance.

A clue to this question is the state of "nothingness. He says that it can be found by accepting the current situation as it is, by observing the resistance of the consciousness that is stirring within you and continuing to accept what that state is.

It has something in common with the perspective of insensitivity, the habit of picking at the corners of a heavy box with a toothpick, or the technique of ignorance, but I guess it means that it is not good to be too cautious about something, and that sometimes it is better to let your interests take care of themselves. I myself have often found that I have ultimately suffered losses because of my attention to unimportant things.

Is it OK to smoke and should I drink?

We know that centenarians are more likely to be female, more likely to be in the blue zone, and less likely to be in colder regions.

Among those who live to be over 100 years old, the overwhelming majority are women, with a six-fold male-to-female ratio. One factor in why women live longer is the function of female hormones. There are many other factors as well. While men often attribute their motivation for living to their work and hobbies, women are known to feel less motivated by work, with socializing with friends, dressing up, and traveling being the main reasons for their lives.

Personally, I believe that the difference in life expectancy between men and women cannot be explained solely in terms of social skills or different tastes, but that hormones may have the greatest impact.

And the characteristics of those who live to be over 100 years old are not a matter of what to do, as indicated above, but how to do it, which is very difficult to convey in writing. In fact, if we use people living in the blue zone as a standard, it is a fact that consuming the right amount of alcohol per day will make you live longer than if you do not. It has also been shown that the risk of myocardial infarction almost disappears the day one quits.

Centenarians have glimpsed that there is ultimately "no particular way" to live longer, although the reality of this is still few and obscure.

Preprint

Preprint

About Centenarians who are over 100 years old and the experiences they have learned from them.