Avoiding Men Is the Secret to a Long and Healthy Life: Says 109-year-Old Woman

There are plenty of resources where one can learn the secrets of living a healthy and long life. Some people believe that speaking and interacting with centenarians is the best starting point. Most of centenarians talk about healthy diet and regular workouts although some believe it is in the family tree. Even one centenarian by the name Susanna Mushatt Jones claimed that she managed to live for 116 years because of eating bacon.

In 2015, a national survey of American centenarians was commissioned by Holiday Retirement. The participants were people who had managed to live for 100 years. The questions included what it took to live such long and a life that is meaningful.

Some of the secrets that were uncovered included staying actively, spending time with family, saving money early, and not running away form personal problems.

Jesse Gallan, a 109-year-old woman from Scotland gave a very unconventional answer and many people have come to like it.

The Scottish woman was born in 1906 in Kintore, Scotland. She had only one brother and five sisters, and they all grew up in a small, two-room cottage. They could sleep together on mattresses that were stuffed with straw. She only managed to attend school for a short time before she left to start working in a farm kitchen.

She then went to the city where she worked as a housemaid for a rich businessman. After some time, she began her career in the service industry both in the city and the country.

Gallan went to Crosby House, a residential home care for seniors when she became elderly. According to one of the support workers, Gallan was a very lovely person. She got her best friend, Sarah Jane at the residential home for seniors. According to Jane, Gallan likes her music and exercises. Apart from being an independent woman, she enjoys walking around.

Judging from Jane’s kind words, this centenarian appears like she would credit her long life to being physically active and staying a social life. Sadly, she passed away in 2015 but she left behind the secret to her long life that we may have not heard before.

According to Gallan, the secret to her long life was staying away from men. She said that they are more trouble that they are worth. She also included a dietary component to her secret of living a healthy and long life.  

Although Gallan didn’t necessarily cover any of the survey points mentioned, she didn’t live them. Apart from being social and physically active, she stayed away from men and this appears to have been her driving force.

We are not trying to advocate staying away from marriage. However, if you want to enjoy a long and healthy life, you must combine healthy habits and life choices that can keep you moving.

And who knows? You can outlive Gallan and other centenarians!