Nobel Laureates = Longevity Kings
Data statistics from the past decade show
Half of the living laureates have passed seventy
Maintaining an optimistic attitude is key
This year’s Nobel Prizes have been announced one after another. Among the winners revealed so far, the youngest is 66 years old, while the oldest has reached 83. The average age is as high as 71.
A Legal Evening News survey found that over the past 10 years, the average age of Nobel laureates at the time of their award was 66.2 years. Meanwhile, there are still four Nobel laureates over the age of 90 who are alive today. Why are they all so long-lived? What’s their secret?
Many Nobel laureates maintain healthy, regular lifestyles and pay attention to exercise. Louis Ignarro, the 1998 Nobel Prize winner in Medicine who is now 72 years old, said he is passionate about various sports.
“I get up at five every day. On the first day, I ran from Beijing Hotel to Xidan, and on the second day, I ran from the hotel to Fuxingmen. I run for an hour and a half every day, then exercise for another hour and a half.” He believes that even people with a very standard or even slim weight can increase their risk of cardiovascular disease if they sit for long periods without exercising.
Ignarro often says, “True physical health is in your own hands, and comes from a healthy diet and persistent exercise.”
“Good interpersonal relationships act as a buffer against stress and are beneficial to heart health.” Several Nobel laureates in medicine pointed out that long-term mental stress can weaken the immune system and accelerate cellular aging.
Analysis
Healthy Brain Use and an Optimistic Attitude Are Important
If we want to have flexible minds and strong bodies like Nobel laureates, Ma Qingfeng says we need to balance work and rest and use our brains healthily.
Different areas of the brain govern different bodily functions, and it’s important to give different functional areas opportunities to rest in rotation. During prolonged mental work, alternate with some physical activity. Physical movement can also enhance the blood’s oxygen-carrying capacity throughout the body. With sufficient blood supply to the brain and proper rest, work efficiency will naturally improve. Therefore, it is recommended to divide heavy mental tasks into different stages based on priority, taking breaks in between.
The longevity of Nobel laureates is less due to their extremely high social status and more to the immense physical and mental joy brought by achieving success and gaining societal recognition. The medical community has long discovered that the happiness of career success, the positive psychological state of dedication to one's field, and the resulting improvement in the body’s adaptive capabilities are among the important factors contributing to human health and longevity. Family bonds, friendships, and quality education are also very important.
A U.S. study shows that elderly people who have clear goals and plans in life have half the mortality rate of other seniors.
In addition, a survey of long-lived individuals in the world’s three major longevity regions as well as in Shanghai and Beijing shows that to be physically fit, you must first be mentally healthy. Only with mental wellness can there be physical health.
People in long-lived regions around the world differ in race, climate, food, and lifestyle habits—some may even be opposite. For example, some elders enjoy smoking and drinking, while others prefer fatty meat. But one thing is the same both in China and abroad: long-lived individuals tend to be broad-minded, optimistic, kind-hearted, and easygoing.