By When a 100-year-old shares her diet habits, it’s fascinating to consider which foods might be part of the longevity puzzle. For Natalie Groeger, bacon, blueberries and chocolate are regularly on the menu.
She turns 101 in October and plans to celebrate with a party that will feature mushroom pizza, another favorite, and a drink.
“Soda, not liquor,” she emphasizes in an interview with TODAY.com. The centenarian doesn’t drink alcohol.
She was born in 1925 in a house in Brooklyn, New York; wed at 21 and worked as a switchboard operator, her favorite job.
Groeger and her husband were married for 68 years, a union that produced two children, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. She now lives in an assisted living facility in Englewood, New Jersey.
When asked what contributed to her longevity, she’s matter of fact.
“I have no idea,” Groeger says. “You just have to be very open-minded, and you have to take it the way it is. That’s it. You have to take and enjoy living.”
Here are some of her simple tips for a long life:
Eat a Healthy Diet
Groeger always starts her breakfast with blueberries.
“I eat a lot of blueberries. I love them,” she says.
Registered dietitian Samantha Cassetty picks blueberries as the healthiest fruit because of all the health benefits they provide. Blueberries have been linked to a lower risk of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, and improvements in cognitive performance, she notes.
Groeger has also been a life-long fan of apples, which have benefits for heart health, diabetes, cancer, gut health, weight loss and inflammation.
She enjoys avocados, a creamy fruit that research links with heart health, skin health and weight management.
The centenarian doesn’t have a specific diet she follows: “I eat basically everything,” she says.
Enjoy a Treat
Groeger loves chocolate, especially the dark kind, which is considered to be the healthiest chocolate.
Dark chocolate contains the most cocoa bean solids, which have phytochemicals shown to have anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antihypertensive properties, dietitians say.
Another favorite treat would probably get less approval from nutrition experts.
“I love bacon,” Groeger says. “I probably shouldn’t eat bacon, but I eat it.”
Her breakfast regularly includes two over-easy fried eggs with bacon and an English muffin.
Other centenarians have expressed love for bacon. But just because they can indulge and live a long life doesn’t mean everyone can. They have a very rare combination of protective genes that reduces their risk for age-related diseases, Dr. Thomas Perls, director of the New England Centenarian Study, previously told TODAY.com.
Dance
The centenarian loves ballroom dancing and taught her husband how to dance.
Every Sunday after breakfast, she would put on records and the couple would dance “all over the living room and dining room,” she recalls.
Groeger also recalls dancing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music when she was 20.
“I felt like a Rockette because that’s how high my legs went up. But I can’t do it anymore,” she says. Today, she’s still moving to music by taking part in chair dancing.
Dancing is both aerobic and weight-bearing exercise that comes with many benefits including better heart health, balance and coordination; plus improved mood and a lower risk of dementia, the National Library of Medicine notes. It’s also incredibly social and fun.
Try a Hobby to Calm Your Mind
Groeger’s mom taught her how to knit when she was a young girl and she’s been knitting much of her life, creating blankets, hats and sweaters. She stopped only a couple of years ago because of hand issues.
Crafting comes with mental health benefits. For example, crochet makes people feel calmer and happier, with people using it to manage grief, chronic illness and pain, a study found.
The centenarian also likes playing solitaire on her iPad and Canasta, a card game, with friends. Board and card games can help older people maintain cognitive functions, studies have found.
Don’t Take Things Too Seriously
Everyone experiences stress, but the ability to manage it can be a factor in longevity, researchers note.
Groeger tries not to dwell on obstacles that come in life.
“I’m the type of person who doesn’t talk really about my problems, and that makes life easier for me,” she says.
“I’m a happy person. I like to laugh. I like to joke around. I used to be a very good storyteller and a dirty joke teller.”
Being under heavy stress shortens life expectancy by almost three years — more than the lack of exercise, a study found.
There’s a “significant relationship between cumulative stress and age acceleration,” but “psychological resilience,” emotion regulation and self-control can slow that process, researchers reported in a separate paper.
Be an Optimist
In a related trait, optimism is associated with “exceptional longevity,” or living to age 85 and beyond, studies have found.
“I’m definitely an optimist,” Groeger says. “I think everything is going to be good. Even though I’ve had some bad times in my life.”
People with higher levels of optimism tend to have healthier cardiovascular, metabolic, immune and pulmonary systems, leading to an 11-15% longer life span, the study authors note.
Optimism may promote healthier behaviors and foster protective coping mechanisms such as “reframing situations as challenges rather than threats,” they add.
