How old will you grow to be?  Is there something you can do to prolong your life?  A recipe for longevity?

We know that our genetics play a role, but perhaps only about 25% of our longevity is influenced by genetic code.  The rest may be modified through behavior and environment.

In this podcast I speak with my grandmother, Ruth.  At the time of this recording, she is celebrating a birthday and she’s well beyond the age of 100.  She is completely present and coherent, she lives on her own, and she doesn’t take medications.  She’s an anomaly- and she amazes everyone she meets.  So I ask her why she thinks she’s lived this long.

In our conversation my grandmother shares the following:

• The activity that she thinks may be part of her longevity
• What she eats
• How it feels to be past the age of 100
• What it was like to be in New York City in the 20’s and her brush with organized crime figure Meyer Lansky

In the podcast introduction, I talk about National Geographic reporter Dan Beuttner’s book, The Blue Zones Solution.  This book examines the 4 locales around the world that have an unusually high number of centenarians and the author attempts to find common behaviors among the inhabitants of these blue zones.  In this podcast I summarize the lifestyle habits that appear to link these longevity epicenters.