Top 5 Most Popular Foods That Oldest Person Eat Every Day

Laelia Yang March 29, 2022 | 20:46

What do the oldest people eat every day in the world? Here we provide some guidelines you can follow to eat like they do and live to 100!

It’s something we’ve been told time and time again: If you want to live a long life, make sure that you eat a healthy diet. But judging by the diets of some very, very old people, eating a conventionally healthy diet may not necessarily be the secret to longevity. We tracked down the self-reported favorite foods and daily diets of the oldest people who ever lived, and they range from reasonable to bizarre to downright hilarious.

It’s pretty clear that the foods that we eat play a relatively small role in determining the length of our lifespans. Exercise, happiness, overall lifestyle, smoking and drinking habits, and just plain old luck (genetic and otherwise) also come into play.

For whatever reason, these people just kept on living, some well past 110. Most supercentenarians, as they’re called, are regularly asked if they have any secrets; several of the world’s oldest women have claimed that not getting involved with men had something to do with it, while other supercentenarians swear by specific foods. And as for what they ate and drank (or for those still living, eat and drink), it’s as diverse as the people themselves.

Here are the top 5 Foods That Oldest Person Eat Every Day:

1. Egg

Photo: verywellhealth

The world's oldest person, Emma Morano died at the age of 117 in Italy on 15th April 2017. Born in Britain, she celebrated her 117th birthday last year. In one of her interviews, she revealed that the secret to her longevity is eating three eggs every day - two of them being raw along with some raw minced meat.

One of the main benefits of eating eggs would be that they're packed with protein. Regardless of our age and health, we all need protein to help us get through each day. Another benefit of eating eggs would be that they help with our eye health. With this being said, our eyes will only become stronger with each egg that we consume and our eyes are pretty important.

Some of the most popular ways to prepare eggs would be to scramble them, turn them into an omelet, boil, poach, or leave them be as the raw eggs that they are. One of the things that all five of those methods have in common is that they're some of the best ways to cook an egg.

Would I be able to eat only two eggs a day?

The answer to that would be no. Although I'd love to eat eggs every day, I feel like I'd be starving for the remainder of the day. As my mom keeps saying, "whenever you starve, purposefully or not, your body holds onto what you last ate, which will only make you gain weight."

2. Bacon, with Doublemint

Photo: people

When you live to be over 100 years old, you are officially allowed to eat whatever you want, whenever you want. If you want to eat the same thing every day, that's just fine, even if that food is bacon. So what if dietitians and nutritionists say that a daily bacon habit is a bad idea. So what if high sodium and high saturated fat and too many nitrates are known to contribute to a whole host of health problems. Do you think 116-year-old Susannah Mushatt Jones cared about any of that? No, no she did not. Because the Brooklynite ate bacon every day.

Mushatt Jones' niece reported that her aunt's meals didn't vary much: Breakfast was bacon and scrambled eggs, though it was noted that "she'll eat bacon all day long." Lunch was fruit. Dinner was meat, vegetables, and potatoes, and of course Mushatt Jones would "eat the meat first." She also had a penchant for chewing gum, specifically Doublemint, and was even said to have grown another molar at age 96.

3. Chocolate, Port Wine, and Olive Oil

Photo: chocolatefigo

Jeanne Louise Calment was quite the mystery when she was alive and has remained that way even in her death. In 1997 she died at 122 years old, and when asked about her secrets to longevity, she said chocolate, port wine, and olive oil.

Take, for example, Violet Brown, a Jamaican woman who lived to 117 years old. Her diet consisted of fish, mutton, and locally-grown produce like sweet potatoes, breadfruit, oranges and mangoes. Susannah Mushatt Jones, an Alabama-born 116-year-old woman who resided in Brooklyn, revealed that daily diet consisted of morning bacon and eggs, fruit for lunch, and the classic meat, potatoes, and vegetables for dinner. However, her niece said at the time, “She’ll eat bacon all day long.” The world’s second-oldest verified living person, a 118-year-old French nun named Lucile Randon or Sister André, does her one better and admits to eating chocolate every morning.

In fact, chocolate does seem to be a running theme, with Randon, Tanaka and Jeanne Louise Calment, who holds the all-time record for the oldest living person at 122 years old, all eating it daily. (Calment ate more than two pounds a week in addition to the occasional glass of port). Whether these women were on to something (dark chocolate has been shown to improve heart health) or just won the genetic lottery, one of the best lessons we can learn from them is to not forget to eat what makes us happy. As Tanaka says, the “secret to a long life is doing 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.”

This isn't surprising, especially seeing as many centenarians that live in the world's Blue Zones (regions of the world with the highest concentrations of people over 100 years old) regularly dine on red wine and olive oil. In fact, extra virgin olive oil has been found to help manage weight, lower blood pressure, reduce inflammation, and help to lower risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Red wine and dark chocolate have also been found to contain powerful antioxidants that can contribute to better overall health when consumed in moderation.

Low-stress levels could have likely also been a factor. Calment had the privilege of living a wealthy, low-stress lifestyle for the entire duration of her 122 years. She never worked a full-time job, so you could easily say her stress levels were much lower than the average human being. Because she didn't have to work much, she could enjoy active hobbies on a consistent basis like tennis, swimming, playing the piano, and biking.

But regardless of what you believe about the "oldest person in the world," we can still take away some valuable lessons. Eat your chocolate, drink your wine, use olive oil, and treat yourself to hobbies you love.

4. A daily soda... or three

Photo: edition.cnn.

Meet Theresa Rowley. She's 104 years old, and she says she's lived so long because she drinks at least one Diet Coke every single day. "I drink it because I like it. I'm going shopping Wednesday, and I need more Diet Coke. I have a bag full of empty Diet Coke cans that I need to return to buy more Diet Coke," she said. We've all heard the rumor about Coca-Cola dissolving a nail, and we've all been warned that drinking too much soda contributes to weight gain, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Maybe that's enough to make you swear off the fizzy stuff, but if you're looking for two good reasons to keep on chugging, you've got them right here.

Then you've got 104-year-old Elizabeth Sullivan, who drinks not only one Dr. Pepper a day, but three. She recalled, "I saw the doctor and he said, 'Are you careful about what you eat?' and I said, 'Certainly not, I drink three Dr. Peppers a day,' and he said, 'Oh my goodness, that's too much sugar. You will die if you keep drinking that. But 10 years later he died and I had to change doctors. So I'm still drinking three Dr. Peppers a day and people said that's bad for me but you know, not very many people live to be 104. So I guess the sugar in the Dr. Peppers have kept me alive all this time." Well, she sure showed him.

5. Porridge, but stay away from men

Photo: runnersworld

At 108, Jessie Gallan became Scotland's oldest woman, a title most people would be thrilled to hold. But she didn't seem too impressed by her momentous achievement, insisting to The Scotsman that she didn't have any big secret to reveal. "Ach, I've never known any different," she said. "All I would say is that I like my porridge. I have all my life." A year later, at 109, she did offer a new piece of advice, but was still committed to the breakfast she'd eaten all her life. Gallan told The Daily Mail, "My secret to a long life has been staying away from men. They're just more trouble than they're worth. I also made sure that I got plenty of exercise, eat a nice warm bowl of porridge every morning and have never gotten married."

And she's not wrong about the porridge. Oatmeal is an excellent source of fiber and necessary nutrients, it's low in calories, and keeps you feeling full, which in turn, helps control your weight. Basically, it's the miracle breakfast.

For those of you keeping track, that's "yes" to porridge, and "no thanks" to men.

What do the World's Oldest People eat for Breakfast?

Jessie Gallan, 109: Porridge

Scotland’s oldest woman Jessie Gallan, 109, has two major pieces of advice for any woman interested in living a long life. The first is to, “eat a nice warm bowl of porridge every morning,” she explained in an interview with the Daily Mail. The second is to stay away from men. “They're just more trouble than they're worth.” That also means more porridge for yourself in the morning.

Susannah Mushatt Jones, 116: Bacon

Susannah Mushatt Jones, 116, famously ate a hearty breakfast every morning, complete with bacon, eggs, and grits before she passed away in May 2016. But really, the four strips of bacon were the bedrock of this Brooklyn resident’s daily meal.

The Clarke Sisters: British Food

Four British sisters—Freda and Doris Latham, Gladys Camp, and Phyllis Friend, all née Clarke—have a combined age of 391 and are the world’s oldest siblings. They all swear by bland British food, like fried eggs and toast, and avoid spice. “Today they have all spiced-up things and I don't think it does you any good,” Camp told the Daily Mail.

Jiroemon Kimura, 116: Rice Porridge and Miso Soup

Before he died in 2013 at the age of 116, Kyoto native Jiroemon Kimura was the world’s oldest man and firmly believed in the power of keeping a regular morning routine. He would wake up at the crack of dawn to read the newspaper and enjoy a simple breakfast of rice porridge and miso soup, according to The Guardian.

Emma Morano, 116: Raw Eggs

Emma Morano, 116, has eaten raw eggs for breakfast every single day since her teens, on the advice of a doctor who recommended them to fight anemia, according to The New York Times. The Italian woman, who still lives alone, credits this diet tip with her longevity.

Misao Okawa, 117: Ramen

Misao Okawa died in April 2015, less than a month after she turned 117, and she had one secret to her long life. “Eating delicious things is a key to my longevity,” she told The Japan Times, and one of her favorite dishes was ramen.

Filomena Taipe Mendoza, 117: Goat Cheese and Sheep's Milk

Peruvian supercentenarian Filomena Taipe Mendoza told officials that a natural diet was the reason she had reached 117, never having drunk canned soda or eaten processed foods. “I always ate potatoes, goat meat, sheep milk, goat cheese, and beans,” according to the Daily Mail — things she could get from her garden, not a grocery store.