The secret to living longer may be your social life | Susan Pinker

TED Talks Daily

TED

Creativity, Ted Podcast, Ted Talks Daily, Business, Design, Inspiration, Society & Culture, Science, Technology, Education, Tech Demo, Ted Talks, Ted, Entertainment, Tedtalks

4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 18 August 2017

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Italian island of Sardinia has more than six times as many centenarians as the mainland and ten times as many as North America. Why? According to longevity researcher Susan Pinker, it's not a sunny disposition or a low-fat, gluten-free diet that keeps the islanders alive so long -- it's their emphasis on close personal relationships and face-to-face interactions. Learn more about super longevity as Pinker explains what it takes to live to 100 and beyond.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This TED Talk features psychologist, columnist, and author Susan Pinker, recorded live at TED 2017.
0:10.0	Here's an intriguing fact. In the developed world, everywhere, women live an average of six to eight years longer than men do.
0:20.0	Six to eight years longer. men do. Six to eight years longer.
0:22.9	That's like a huge gap.
0:26.3	In 2015, the Lancet published an article
0:29.4	showing that men in rich countries
0:31.5	are twice as likely to die as women are at any age.
0:36.6	But there is one place in the world where men live as long as women are at any age. But there is one place in the world
0:38.9	where men live as long as women.
0:42.0	It's a remote mountainous zone,
0:44.4	a blue zone where super longevity is common to both sexes.
0:49.4	This is the blue zone in Sardinia,
0:51.7	an Italian island in the Mediterranean
0:53.4	between Corsica and
0:55.7	Tunisia, where there are six times as many centenarians as on the Italian mainland, less than 200
1:02.6	miles away.
1:03.5	There are 10 times as many centenarians as there are in North America.
1:07.8	It's the only place where men live as long as women.
1:13.3	But why? My curiosity was peaked. I decided to research the science and the habits of the place, and I started with the
1:18.8	genetic profile. I discovered, soon enough, that genes account for just 25% of their longevity.
1:26.3	The other 75% is lifestyle.
1:29.8	So what does it take to live 200 or beyond?
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from TED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of TED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.