They ate local, organic food and did physically hard work. Would have probably even lived longer if some hadn't smoked and drank so much (almost into 90s, their own undoing). |
Lots of carbs and fats. Lots of beans too though. |
My 101 year old grandfather did not drink at all and did not smoke. He did very active workouts until his mid-80s, ate basically no processed food and nothing fried. Hard to sustain but amazing. |
Meat, potatoes, bread |
Oh god, this was my 98 year-old German grandfather. He was on the tractor every day until he was 96, but then he started putting his pants on backwards and they took away the keys. Add in cigarettes or cigars, chain-smoking. Washed his dishes in cold water. Lots of peeled tomatoes (I don't know why that was a thing, but you curt a little cross in the bottom of the tomato and drop in in water at a hard boil for exactly twelve seconds.) Also a metric ton of butter mints, IIRC, and some kind of puffball peppermints. The letter did not disguise the fragrance of cigars and raw onions he'd snack on, if you were a msall child in his lap. He was terrible and glorious. |
^^sorry, "cut" and "small" |
Lots of liquor. Lots of vegetables. Bitter, condescending disposition with which to wash it all down. |
Precisely the way I am - southern cooking from scratch with as much fat as possible. |
How long did they live to? |
Pasta and lasagna, fish and martinis
PLUS lots of physical exercise |
Died at 96. Cigarettes, no alcohol. My grandma didn't eat a lot but I remember her radish sandwiches, meatloaf + mashed potatoes, liver + onions, bean soup, and prunes. Breakfast was half a grapefruit or Raisin Bran with coffee. Her favorite sweets were black licorice, orange sherbert, root beer floats, and hard butterscotch candies. Didn't exercise, but kept active with gardening and physical chores. |
Should add ages - maternal grandmother 96, maternal grandfather 98, paternal grandfather 89, paternal grandmother is still alive at 93 and living alone, driving, cooking, etc for herself. |
99.5 grandmother
Never said no to dessert Always had a box of chocolates handy Dinners were the typical meat, veggie, fruit, starch (potatoes mostly)and bread Butter Lunches were sandwiches , fruit, and soup in winter Breakfast a bowl of cereal Didn’t seem to snack much Loved Popeye’s chicken Was overweight most of her adult life |
My dad was active, minimal junk food, never smoked, had a drink after work sometimes. Never remotely overweight. Died at 51.
My mother is 80, has smoked since she was 16, and eats mostly junk and processed food, no major health issues. I would not want to live to be in my 90s (or even 80s, really) but since I'm 50, I do hope I make it past 51. |
Same for my grandparents who lived into their 90s. Plus, Tastycakes. Lots and lots of Tastycakes. |