The United States set a record for the number of centenarian long-livers
Moreover, more than 65% of them live independent, active lives without needing help from relatives or the state. According to scientists, this is explained by proper nutrition and a positive attitude to life, characteristic of Americans. Specialists from the Census Bureau, in their forecast for the near future, claim that by 2050, at least 4.2 million people of centenarian age will likely live in the United States.
This data was published on the eve of Mother's Day celebrations in the United States. On that day, your correspondent was invited to an unusual picnic dedicated to this cheerful and joyful holiday. It took place on a huge lawn, freshly green with new grass, in a forest area of one of Chicago's suburbs, under the slogan 'one hundred plus one hundred.' This meant that at that picnic, besides invited guests, the main participants were one hundred men and women who had already passed the age of one hundred.
One of the long-livers approached me. Introducing herself as Helen, the lady invited me to the dance floor. We danced Argentine tango with her, and then even a waltz. I think that women several decades younger than my partner could envy the ease with which Helen performed complex dances, her vigor, cheerful mood, and belief in many more years of life.
For the most part, centenarian people live in special communities that exist in many cities across the country. In these 'senior communities' there are various shops, cafes, post offices, and a mandatory full range of medical services. The woman with whom I danced at the picnic lives not in Chicago, but in Florida, in Boca Raton, in that city's retirement community.
Helen told me that shortly before the Mother's Day celebration, she posted a notice on her apartment door stating that she was looking for a companion of her age for a trip to Chicago, where she was born a hundred years ago. She found a companion without difficulty. This is not surprising: American retirees are easy to get up and go. As a rule, they do not feel like outsiders shut out of life, 'living out their days,' as is often the case with their rare Russian peers. In the Chicago press, for example, it was recently reported about a hundred-year-old woman who to this day works as a volunteer caring for children in one of the city's kindergartens.
A positive attitude towards everything that happens in their lives and even in the whole world, and an unflagging desire to communicate with other people – these two factors, according to recent studies by Boston University scientists, are the most important conditions for longevity. 'The absence of a depressive state and a manic negative attitude towards everything that happens helps people live and, one might say, prolongs life,' believes Thomas Perls, a professor at Boston University.
Moreover, Mr. Perls asserts that the number of centenarians in America is also explained by proper nutrition. In his opinion, to live long, one should exclude fried foods from one's daily diet, eat whole grains, boiled fish, chicken, vegetables, and fruits. One can also eat (but not in large quantities) meat, eggs, and dairy products.
It is hard to say whether this method of achieving longevity is the only correct one, but undoubtedly it is applied in practice. In Chicago, as in all other cities, there is a community where centenarian old people live. Having visited it, I became convinced that American centenarians eat almost exactly according to Perls' recipe.
Boris VINOKUR.
