Want to live long? Oldest living American, feisty Alelia Murphy’s lifestyle might be the answer

American’s oldest living person, Alelia Murphy of Harlem, just turned 114 and still has excellent blood pressure and heart rate.

“Oh, Lord!” Alelia is said to have exclaimed as she was wheeled into a crowded early birthday party Friday night at the Harlem State Office Building according to the NY Post.

The celebrant was wearing a yellow dress and tiara — accessorised with a corsage, white lace gloves and a white ruffled purse. She clapped along to “Happy Birthday.” Then she nodded off for a nap in her wheelchair.

As for living so long, Alelia credits her believing in God and her believing in taking good care of people are the reasons she is living this long.

But we guess not everyone buys the idea of God but taking good care of people? Sure we can all do that especially if we want to live and age well as Alelia has.

But that’s not the only thing we can learn from Alelia. Her nurse, Natalie Mhlambiso,  says the supercentenarian never drank alcohol and grew up eating “homegrown food.”

So essentially, anyone wanting to live long would need to cut off unwholesome crap from their diet, you know things like processed food and food chemical additives. And as for alcohol, staying away from it is the best but if you’re anything like us, we dare say a glass now and again does no one any harm and in fact can improve your cardiac health. Learn more here.

Alelia is also said to eat and drinks well especially nutrition drinks.

So, again, nutrition. Nutritionists say to eat at least a mix of five vegs and fruits every day for us to get the micronutrients we need. So, maybe there is something in that. Use these simple tips used by nutritionists while shopping to help you smash your nutrition goals.

According to Alelia’s nurse, the old girl doesn’t “doesn’t like water. She likes things that are sweet. She tells you she wants something like soda, ice cream, chocolate.”

Well, we are told drinking water is good for us though many of us don’t like it just like Alelia. Maybe we could take some solace in that fact? But again, one gotta do what one needs to do. So even if Alelia isn’t a fan of water, it doesn’t mean we should boycott water from our diet. Our bodies sure need the hydration. Anyone wanting to age healthily needs to at least take the minimum recommended daily water intake. The good news is that the water needn’t only come from old plain water. It could come from a variety of other sources. Yes, the water in food and other drinks counts. So you gotta see while even though Alelia isn’t a fan of water, she sure seems to get enough hydration. However, there are some factors that can alter the amount of water a specific person needs to consume daily. For instance the climate of where one is living and their age. You need to factor these things in. Click on this link to learn more.

Also, as for soda and chocolates, we guess taking those in moderation does no harm. After all, as it has been said, “it’s the dose that makes the poison.” And we dare say, if those things were totally bad for health, health watchdogs around the world would have intervened. Again, eat some chocolate and drink some soda (what we generally call soft drinks or minerals in Nigeria) but please do so in moderation.

Returning to Alelia, her nurse, Natalie, also sheds some light on what her life is like.

“She is still feisty,” Mhlambiso says, and “will let you know when she wants to be left alone.” And like any other rational human being, “she has days when she just wants to sleep,” the nurse adds.

Still, her blood pressure and heart rate remain excellent.

Natalie said it’s been “the joy of my life as a visiting nurse” to take care of Murphy. “I just admire her — for her to be that age and still communicating well,” she says. “She is in good health for her age, definitely! “There are many good patients but she is different in temperament, in who she is, her distinctive age. At her age, this is rare. This is history.”

The Harlem legend became the oldest American in January upon the death of Lessie Brown, 114, of Ohio.

Alelia is the eighth oldest person in the world, according to the Gerontology Research Group, which the Guinness Book of World Records uses to help verify claims. Only five women from Japan and another two women from France are older, the organization says.

Natalie also is one of only 33 living ‘supercentenarians’ — people aged 110 or older — in the world. All 33 are female, and 14 of them, including the oldest person in the world, Kane Tanaka, age 116, lives in Japan.