Published: 29 November 2022
Ever wondered about the eating habits of the people who lived to 100 and beyond? What do they like to eat and drink? Do they share similar views on food? Tag along as we explore 50 food quotes from centenarians worldwide!
Australia
“When the weather is nice, I make myself up some lunch, a cup of coffee, and I go down the esplanade and find somewhere to look at the sea.”
Dennis Jackson, 100 years old (Former fighter pilot and prisoner of war)
Japan
“Eat your vegetables, have a positive outlook, be kind to people, and smile.”
Kamada Nakasato, 102 years old (Okinawa Resident)
“Dr. Hinohara maintained his weight at about 130 pounds. His diet was spartan: coffee, milk and orange juice with a tablespoon of olive oil for breakfast; milk and a few biscuits for lunch; vegetables with a small portion of fish and rice for dinner. (He would consume three and a half ounces of lean meat twice a week.)”
The New York Times on Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara, 105 years old (Japanese physician and author of “Living Long, Living Good”)
“My favourite things are fizzy drinks (especially Coca Cola), but also coffee and chocolate. (…) I think the secret to long life is to do the things that you like. Eating the things I like, doing the things I like, I’ve been able to enjoy each and every day.”
Tanaka Kane, 117 years old (Recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest person in March 2019)
“I eat everything. And I especially like sweets.”
Motoi Fukunishi, 110 years old (Was the oldest living man in Japan at the time of his death)
“Eating delicious things is a key to my longevity.”
Misao Okawa, 117 years old (Recognised as the world’s oldest person by Guinness World Records in 2013)
Italy
“I eat two eggs a day, and that’s it. And also cookies. But I don’t eat much because I don’t have any more teeth.”
Emma Morano, 116 years old (Was officially the last person born in the 1800s still living. She passed away at age 117)
Canada
“Eat lots of rice and chicken thighs.”
Loo May King, 100 years old (MSJ resident)
“I eat yogurt, Cheerios or Shreddies, and I have juice and coffee. I eat that (for breakfast) every day”
Elva Laughlin, 100 years old (Coldwater resident)
“I don’t eat many sweets, but when it comes to a special occasion, I throw the rules out the window.”
John Kromhoff, 100 years old (Langley resident)
Jamaica
“Really and truly, when people ask what me eat and drink to live so long, I say to them that I eat everything, except pork and chicken, and I don’t drink rum and dem tings. You know, sometimes I ask myself, ‘Am I really 110 years old?’ because I don’t feel like 110.”
Violet Brown, 110 years old (One-time dressmaker, domestic helper and farmer)
“Trust in the Lord. Don’t overeat, try to eat the right things. Keep active and things will be okay.”
Sylvia Lyn, 100 years old (Used to be a dressmaker and owner of grocery stores in Mandeville and Kingston before moving to New York)
France
“I have been eating organic for a long time now, I always do my shopping in organic grocery stores. For me it’s quite natural, my family’s food culture is of the Mediterranean type, which once flourished: olive oil, lamb, mullet, red mullet… When I was young, the sea was not polluted, the land was not invaded by pesticides. During the Occupation, I had very lean days, we lived off of ham rind, Jerusalem artichokes or rutabagas. After the war, I returned to my favorite diet.”
Edgar Morin, currently 101 years old (French philosopher and sociologist of the theory of information)
“I used to to eat more than two pounds of chocolates a week, treat my skin with olive, rode a bicycle until 100. I studied piano and enjoyed the opera. I played tennis, took up rolling skating, swimming. I used to attend the organized hunting parties. I take a good cigar, drink plenty of non-alcoholic water and work in my garden.”
Jeanne Louise Calment, 122 years old (Lived through twenty French Presidents. She had the longest confirmed human life span in history, living to the age of 122 years and 164 days)
“I’ve never had a healthy diet. I don’t drink milk, I don’t eat fruit, ever! I eat mayonnaise, pickles, mustard and I don’t drink much but do drink every day.”
Marie-Lou, 104 years old (Still owns and works in her bistrot in Isbergues in Pas-de-Calais)
Philippines
“We eat vegetables because we’re poor. If we were rich, we’d eat more meat.”
Urbano Verdida Sr, 100 years old (Former carpenter)
Turkey
“We always ate local food – homemade yogurt, keskek [a dish of mutton or chicken and ground wheat], ayran [a drink made of yoghurt and water] and medicinal herbs that we pick from the mountains. (…) These days the food is so unhealthy that I cannot eat it.”
Asiye Sutlu, 118 years old (Has 41 grandchildren and has her daughter-in-law Zinnet taking care of her)
USA
“No, I’m not on a diet. I just eat what I feel like eating, what I know I like.”
Elizabeth Francis, 111 years old (Houston resident)
“I’m a big coffee drinker and have at least six to eight cups a day.”
Art Stieglieter, 100 years old (Retired Aurora Fire Department Captain)
“People try to give me coffee for breakfast. Well, I’d rather have a Dr. Pepper. I started drinking them about 40 years ago. Three a day. Every doctor that sees me says they’ll kill you, but they die and I don’t. So there must be a mistake somewhere.”
Elizabeth Sullivan, 104 years old (Taught math at Paschal High School for 15 years in the Fort Worth, Texas)
“No question in my mind, absolutely, it is diet that has determined my existence. My continued existence and my beautiful health.”
Mike Fremont, 100 years old (Avid runner and vegan since the age of 69)
“Don’t smoke, don’t drink, and don’t retire!”
Ebby Halliday, 101 years old (Former real estate agent in Texas)
“I eat oatmeal every day. [laughs] I don’t eat [red] meat, I’m very conscious with what I’m eating. Even if I like the food, I have control.”
Catalina, 100 years old (Devout centenarian)
“Eat breakfast. It’s what keeps me going. I don’t skip meals.”
Erna Zahn, 110 years old (Became the oldest known person living in Minnesota, following the death of 112 year-old Evelyn Kleine on 7 December 2019)
“I enjoy simple food such as daal roti, vegetables or even meat of chicken, birds or lamb; I do not eat beef or pork. I am fond of fruits and nuts, albeit in moderation.”
Lt Col Om Julka, 104 years old (Indian-American centenarian with an uncanny knack of learning languages. He spoke English, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Sanskrit and German)
“One, you gotta have good genes. Two, you gotta be [extremely] lucky for 100 years. And three: Try not to eat anything that’s healthy. It’s true. I eat whatever I want. The secret to longevity is ice cream.”
Paul Marcus, 103 years old (Was a dedicated tennis player for the first eight decades of his life)
“She walked a lot, she ate fruit after every meal she would stretch in her bed every morning when she got up. But she also indulged in things that she enjoyed like chocolate candies or bacon and coffee.”
Furuya on her grandmother, Beatrice Chieko Muranaka, 108 years old (Lived on a pineapple plantation in Wahiawa, Hawaï, and was the last of her siblings)
“Having a big family definitely kept me young, (as did) the home cooked meals!”
Marie Goff, 100 years old (Served in the military during WWII and raised six children)
“This is a man who goes to bed each night dreaming of the cup of coffee he will have in the morning, who has lived a life in which each meal magically turns out to be better than the one before (“this is the best pasta I’ve ever had!”), and who has said, many times, that he doesn’t want to wake up the day that he doesn’t have hope.”
Kate Lear talking about her father, Norman Lear, 100 years old (American television screenwriter, film and television producer)
“Mind your own business and don’t eat junk food. Treat everyone the way you want to be treated, work hard and love what you do.”
Besse Cooper, 116 years old (Former suffragette and teacher in Tennessee and Georgia)
“You have to be lucky, but I made the best of things when bad things happened. I also ate prunes every single day.”
Morris Lensky, 101 years old (New York native)
“The wonderful aroma of White Castle in an automobile is something quite delightful. There’s nothing quite like it. I’d like to bottle it as a perfume and keep it, put it behind my ears. Well, maybe not.”
Lydia Motchan, 100 years old (St. Louis centenarian who grew up around the Great Depression time)
“Pizza is going to support a whole generation of cardiologists!”
Dr. Leila Denmark, 114 years old (Was the oldest practicing paediatrician in the United States when she retired in 2001 at the age of 103)
“I never smoked a cigarette in my life, I never drank liquor in my life, and I had one husband for 43 years. And I love bacon!”
Ruth Benjamin, 109 years old (Illinois centenarian)
“Good genes and perhaps bourbon, water, and Cheetos while watching 5 o’clock news.”
Edith Atkinson Wylie, 106 years old (Montana centenarian)
“Italian food. Italian food is very good for you. I was brought up with very good food. No soda, no cake.”
Louise Signore, 107 years old (New York City resident)
“I’ve had a shot of whiskey in my coffee every morning for 100 years. I went to the doctor three times in 100 years. He’s dead. I’m still living.”
Mariano “Pops” Rotelli, 107 years old (Pennsylvania native born to immigrant parents from Italy. He used to work in the produce distribution business)
“Living in moderation. We never overdo anything. Eat well. Sleep well. Don’t overdrink. Don’t overeat. And exercise regularly.”
John Henderson, 104 years old (Austin centenarian married to his wife for 77 years as of 2017)
“I get up at 3:30 or 4 in the morning, go for my walk, take my shower, rub my body down with olive oil, make my breakfast. Stress is a killer, my daddy told me that. It’s important to take time to relax and exercise your brain, such as by doing crossword puzzles.”
Bernando LaPallo, 114 years old (Brazilian-American centenarian known for his healthy lifestyle books)
“I drink a lot of water, and I try to keep busy. And I don’t give up easily.”
Lillian Cox, 100 years old (Has owned a ladies’ fashion store and held the title of Florida’s Woman of the Year)
“To live to be 100, eat right, exercise, and pray.”
Bernice Bolton, 100 years old (Bowling lover from Wisconsin)
”Friends, a good cigar, drinking lots of good water, no alcohol, staying positive and lots of singing will keep you alive for a long time.”
Christian Mortensen, 115 years old (Danish supercentenarian, who resided in California, United States)
Scotland
“I enjoy dipping my feet in the sea when it’s not too cold, watching the people, and eating fish and chips in the local cafes.”
Maria Malvina Cory, 100 years old (former teacher of languages at the American School in Montevideo and United Nations’ interpreter)
“I also made sure that I got plenty of exercise, eat a nice warm bowl of porridge every morning and have never gotten married.”
Jessie Gallan, 109 years old (Remained single after a marriage that failed in 1938)
India
“I eat churma, dahi and doodh.”
Rambai, 105 years old (Can run 100 meters in 45.4 seconds)
England
“My top tip to live to 100 years old is to keep your brain active and eat lots of toast.”
Vera Sak, 100 years old (Centenarian from North Lincolnshire)
“Be happy and have plenty of cups of tea.”
Margaret Young, 108 years old (Lived through the sinking of the Titanic and both World Wars)
“I have a Guinness at 10.30 every morning with a bag of salt and vinegar crisps and it’s what has kept me going all these years.”
Gladys Fielden, 100 years old (Worked as a baker until the age of 90)
Barbados
“I worked hard in life, but praise God. You got to eat too. I like cou cou, green bananas, and all kind of foods that good for you, I like. But I love cou cou and flying fish, or cou cou with a good red herring.”
John Phillips Durant, 100 years old (Former agriculture worker from Cliff Land, St John)
Trinidad and Tobago
“I ate a lot of fruits and vegetables which we grew ourselves. Also, I walked miles to school and rode my bike from Philippine to Pointe-a-Pierre. So plenty exercise and I eat rice and dhal daily.”
Dular Sooklal, 100 years old (Was employed as a Chemist in the Research Lab at Texaco for over 40 years)
