Did you know that only 20-30% of our life expectancy can be determined through our genes? If you want to live to be 100, you may need more than just a sound set of X and Y chromosomes passed down from your parents. Lifestyle is the most important factor in determining not only how long you live, but the quality of your long life. It turns out the people from a small island off the coast of Japan, Okinawa, have figured out a secret recipe for living to be more than 100 years old.

Scientists researching for the U.S. National Institutes of Health and Japan’s Ministry of Health have been following Okinawan’s who are older than 100 since 1976 in the Okinawa Centenarian Study (OCS) and they’ve learned that there are some very typical traits for all those who live to be so vital at such an advanced age.

Want to know the Okinawan secret to living a long, productive life? Here it is broken down into easily digestible bits:

1. Elderly Okinawans often exercise both physically and mentally. Continue reading →