‘Lean and moderate married machine’ boosts male longevity from 50s to 80s

Being lean, having a strong grip, taking alcohol in moderation, and being married can all help boost a man’s life from his 50s to his 80s.

These conclusions come from a 40 year study of 6,000 healthy Japanese Americans who were aged 54 at the start, with researchers defining exceptional survivors as people who reached 85 in a reasonably healthy state.

At 55 these exceptional survivors were lean, had lower than average blood pressure, were less likely to have overdone drinking or smoking, had lower blood sugar levels, a stronger grip strength, and usually a higher level of education. And being married also made a difference to healthy survival.

The men who fitted these features at age 55 had a 40% chance of getting to 85 while those who missed on all categories had less than 1% of a chance of surviving to be a reasonably healthy person in their 80s.