Despite the glaring fact that obesity, unhealthy diets, and an overall lack of exercise pose quite a threat to our nation, we are making some pretty good health advances -- healthy eating is on the rise, smoking is on the decline, and medical progress is clearly evident.

Now, more than ever, it's actually possible to make it to the ripe old age of 100. I'm not sure if I personally want to reach this number but for those who do, here's one take on what you've got to do.

Go Mediterranean

A Mediterranean diet is the best for healthy aging and disease prevention.

Read the Paper

Keeping up with current events can extend your life.

Reproduce

Having kids, especially if you're a woman, can help you live longer.

Drink! Drink!

Certain beverages tend to lower the rates of death from cardiovascular disease and other causes.

Slim Down

Obese 100-year-olds just don't exist.

Get Married

Married people live longer than singles.

Have Faith

You can expect to live longer if you have some kind of regular religious practice or belief.

Head to the Country

Avoid the city and long you will live.

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Let's face it, most of us like to eat... a lot. Needless to say Halloween doesn't help the temptation with all those sugary sweets either. A radical new way of thinking could leave you weeping for food if the results continue. At the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, a couple of monkeys are the subjects of some provocative new studies which may hold the key to a longer lasting life.

The idea here is calorie restriction, or the consumption of 30 percent less calories than normal. Getting all of your vitamins and minerals is part of the deal too, but the results speak for themselves. Two rhesus monkeys are compared as they near the senior citizen mark of laboratory animals. One is losing its hair, lethargic and clearly less active than his companion. The other is thin and spunky, making sounds at visitors while clearly being the healthier one. And he is older.

It's a bold claim: could cutting calories really extend our life? It has been the only non-genetic method to produce these results on a consistent basis. Obviously we won't know until the future if calorie restriction holds the fountain of youth for humans, but you can rest assured that Thanksgiving won't be as fun anymore if the scientists are correct!

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