Living to 101

Living to 101- BBC Horizon

In Okinawa, you might see an old women outside of her house sweeping her front door steps. You'll guess that she's only....65 years old. In reality, she's probably well into her 80's or even 90's. Every morning you'll see the lively, elderly town congregate to a local produce market buying the freshest vegetables and native purple yam to cook for the night's meal. You'll even meet Mr. Miyagi, 92 years of age, teaching his fellow friends how to Karaoke. Now travel to Sardinia and you'll meet the Vacca family who has a rare lineage of longevity. They love to eat meat and cheese, drink wine and sing. The eldest woman in the Vacca family is determined to live to 123 to become the oldest women in Sardinia. Let's go down to So-cal in Loma Linda where Margaret, a 101 year old women cycles 6 miles a day and lifts weight all before her morning breakfast. Each of these individuals live on opposite sides of the world from one another and live completely different lifestyles, but they all are over 90 years of age. You are probably wondering: How is that possible?

The people who live in these small towns/cities live and maintain a unique lifestyle apart from the globalized and homogeneous world we live in. Although there are genetic factors that effect their aging process, their specific cultural customs and daily routines allow them to prosper and preserve a healthy, rich quality of life. However, places such as Glasgow, UK and Honolulu, HI are facing a shortened life expectancy rates than that of Okinawa and the rest of the world due to immigration, poor dieting, generational thinking, and genetic factors. How can there be such communities where people are able to live for so long while others are fighting to live past 65 years of age? What environmental, temporal factors contribute to such contrasting aging patterns? And where did these factors arise?

This is only part 1 of 5 10 min clips of this BBC special. I really encourage you all to check out at least 2-3 of the segments. The individual stories of each elderly persons in the documentary are truly fascinating because the documentary explores the mysteries of living to 100 years through multiple lenses: historical, medical, dietary, and spiritual. The rich and complex stories opens your mind to new meanings about age and aging.