The secret of reaching triple figures: 13-06-2008
Being nice to people and living well are the Costa Rican secret to living past 100, according to a new book.
Explorer and author Dan Buettner has been studying people in "centenarian hot spots", or "blue zones", including Costa Rica, and has noticed trends which he claims may be the secret to long life.
"We know that people who make it to a hundred tend to be nice," he said.
"They drink from the fountain of life by being likeable and drawing people to them."
Mr Buettner has written a book on the subject entitled; The Blue Zone: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who've Lived the Longest.
He says that the people who live longest tend to have a plant-based diet, take regular, low-intensity exercise and have a strong family, faith and sense of purpose.
One of the subjects of his research was Abuela Panchita, 102, from Costa Rica, whose 80 year old son visits her every day on his bicyle.
Ms Panchita's hometown on the Nicoya Peninsula has the lowest middle-age mortality in the world, Buettner said.