A centenarian New Yorker named three secrets to longevity, and scientists agree with her

A healthy, active 100-year-old woman shared with Insider three science-backed tips for living a long and happy life.

100-year-old Barbara Fleishman lived longer than I didI roar lifethan most ordinary Americans.

Originally from Detroit, she and her husband, art dealer Lawrence Arthur Fleischman, moved to New York City in 1966.

Fleishman has volunteered with major organizations including Planned Parenthood and The Juilliard School. She was a trustee of the New York Public Library for 40 years. Her husband served on the White House Advisory Committee on American Art under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, and he was a co-founder of the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution. Thanks to their philanthropy, the couple opened a gallery in their name at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1983. The couple raised two children, who are now 70 and 74 years old.

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“I've just been lucky all my life. “First of all, I had a wonderful husband, wonderful daughters, wonderful friends, interesting activities and fairly good health,” Fleischman admitted. “I’m just blessed.”

In 1997, her husband died. In September 2023, the widow left her “pretty large apartment” near the United Nations headquarters in New York. She moved to Sunrise Nursing Home on East 56th when her balance began to deteriorate. She is otherwise still active and healthy.

Perhaps her healthy lifestyle helped her reach 100 years of age in good health.

Genetics also played a role. But Fleischman says the secrets to healthy aging are within the reach of most of us. For example, she is not interested in longevity clinics that prefer biohackers, whose prices sometimes reach tens of thousands of dollars.

Here are three habits that Fleischman maintained throughout her life. Perhaps they were the ones who helped her reach triple digit age. .

Stay busy and always learning

Fleischman remains busy at the nursing home. She organizes cultural events and conversations for her compatriots, featuring speakers from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Public Library and Carnegie Hall.

“I was able to use my connections and friendships to invite people from organizations all over the city,” she said. “I think people really liked it.”

In a 2016 study, being busy and having a lot of tasks and little free time was associated with improved cognitive function in older adults, as well as memory and faster information processing.

Fleischman continues to study at the assisted living center, including watching video lectures on music from Juilliard.

According to a 2018 study, learning as you age can help preserve cognitive function and slow the decline of spatial skills and memory.

Exercises

The centenarian says she wasn't an "exercise freak" as a child, but eventually began working with a personal trainer to improve her balance and "had great success with it."

Maintaining good physical forms are an obvious way to increase life expectancy. Maintaining balance is an important part of this process as it helps prevent falls. The authors of a 2022 study found that people over 50 were less likely to die within 10 years if they were able to stand on one leg for more than 10 seconds. Scientists have concluded that poor balance is an indicator of a shorter life expectancy.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, falls are the leading cause of injury death among people age 65 and older.

Strong relationships

“I have a lot of friends,” Fleishman said. Many of them are former colleagues.

“It’s nice to work together for a common cause and discover that you have a lot in common,” she said.

She had a "wonderful marriage" with her late husband.

It is believed that strong relationships are the key to longevity. A 2019 study found that women with active social lives were 41% more likely to reach age 85 than those who were isolated.

Research shows that older adults who volunteer are more likely to be physically and mentally healthier and happier.

Fleischman, who calls herself a “professional volunteer,” has been doing it her whole life and says helping others “gives her pleasure.”