Want to live to be 100?

If you could reach the centenarian's milepost and still be independent, healthy, and active--well, who could argue with that? A key factor in reaching that ripe old age appears to be maintaining good lipid profiles, especially high levels of high-density lipoproteins or HDLs. Recent research from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York has shown that some individuals have naturally high levels of high density lipoproteins and that they can thank their ancestors, not necessarily their own lifestyle choices. A study of a small group of centenarians and their aging children suggests that some fortunate families have a genetic mutation that keeps their HDLs high despite inactivity, poor diet, or smoking. Some people have all the luck.

But the rest of us can probably get the same protection against the aging of the cardiovascular system that high levels of HDLs provide without carrying that beneficial mutation. For us, diet and exercise, particularly cardiovascular exercise like running, have the power to elevate HDLs into the range that protects the arteries. In fact, according to another study comparing the effects of aerobic exercise and strength training, regular cardiovascular workouts like running can elevate HDL levels by as much as 33%. Other studies have shown a more modest upward push on HDL due to exercise, but the trend is in any case a positive one.

In addition to exercise, diet can help raise good cholesterol. Another study showed that in a group of subjects with high cholesterol, drinking three cups of orange juice a day raised good cholesterol by 21%, triglycerides by 30%, and folate concentrations (also important to arterial health) by 18% compared to controls. Although the study may have been flawed, the authors concluded that this is further support for consuming five to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, which provide fiber, phytochemicals, and isoflavones along with their HDL-raising benefits. Far better than drinking so much OJ is to consume a wider variety of fruits and vegetables.

We may have no control over the genetic hand we're dealt, but we have plenty of control over lifestyle choices that may give us the same high density lipoprotein protection against cardiovascular disease, making running and diet your ticket to the 100 club.

(Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2001, Vol. 49; European Journal of Applied Physiology. 2000, vol. 82, No. 5-6, pp. 451-458; American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2000, Vol. 72, No. 5, pp. 1095-1100)