Does Tiny Monaco Possess The Casino Of Youth?

A tiny country famed for its luxurous casino and its Film Festival, Monaco at first would seem to be a place where longevity would be shorter than in other countries. After all, all those wonderful canapes at all those galas are not specifically low in cholesterol. The consumption of alcohol and tobacco is not stringently discouraged.

And while Monaco may rank at the top of the charts in longevity and income--a staggering US $153,177 per capita gross domestic product and US $215,000 per year average income for an adult--it's not exactly known for its vitamin consumption, personal trainers, or gym attendance. Instead, the tiny nation is known for its elegant and extremely expensive restaurants, its personal chefs, and its landscape, maintained like a fine garden.

So what is it that makes the difference in how long the Monegasque live that perhaps can be emulated in places where people earn less than $215,000 per year? Here are some possibilities:

• Perched on the Mediterranean coastline, Monaco receives abundant sunshine, even in winter. Sunshine helps the body make vitamin D, and vitamin D helps to maintain the immune system. In turn, the immune system culls the senescent cells that too old to function that can cause problems in the linings of the arteries, in the heart, and in the brain. Maybe part of the reason life expectancy in Monaco is so high is its sunshine.
• People in Monaco are, on the whole, financially quite well off. Poverty is essentially non-existent. When people do not have to deal with financial struggles, they are more free to engage in activities they find pleasant and rewarding and to take care of health problems quickly.
• The most commonly consumed diet in Monaco incoporates many of the elements of a "Mediterranean diet," including fish, olive oil, and daily servings of vegetables. This diet even seems to help the body repair the telomeres, the "stoppers" at the ends of strands of DNA that make it possible for the body to recognize which cells are healthy and which cells are in need of removal to prevent the development of cancer.

Or maybe being old is just more fun in Monaco than in most other places.

See Also: Live To Be 100: What The Macarthur Foundation Thinks Will Make Life Expectancy Of 100 Years Possible

If you can't become a citizen of one these small nations where people live to be so very old, perhaps you can at least organize your life so that you have a minimum of financial worries, you have a minimum of major dislocations (for example, you don't live where there are hurricanes, tornadoes, or warring political factions), you have many connections to your family and your neighbors, and you get to spend a lot of time in the sun.

More than any prescription medication or any nutritional supplement or food choice in your daily diet, these factors make the greatest different in how long you live, and how well. Prepare for long life by making basic choices to ensure prosperity and liberty, and other choices will take care of themselves.