072——073 AUDI MAGAZINE

RED WINE

FA MILY TIES

ZERO STRESS

AN ISLAND LIFESTYLE

LOTS OF TOMATOES

GOAT’S CHEESE

RELIGIOUS FAITH

HARD WORK

FAVOUR ABLE GENES WHAT’S THE SECRET

OF LONGEVITY?

WRITER Johanna Derry PHOTOGRAPHER Rama Knight 074——075 AUDI MAGAZINE

Scientists have identified at least five places in the world where people live longer than anywhere else. They call them Blue Zones. Audi Magazine travels to one of these – the Italian island of – to meet the Melis family, nine brothers and sisters with a combined age of 836. If they don’t know the secret to a long life, no one does

It’s midnight in Barbagia. Around a farm table filled with the oldest group of brothers and sisters still empty plates and full stomachs, my hosts Franca and living. With a verified combined age of Massimiliano are plying me and other guests at their almost 836 years, I guessed they’d have a view agriturismo with wine while we discuss one of mankind’s on how to live a long life, so we tracked them greatest mysteries: how to live for ever. down to pick their brains. This isn’t a random alcohol-induced conversation because Adolfo, who is 91 in a few months, the secret of eternal, or at least a long, life may be found on the and his 88-year-old brother Vitalio have met Italian island of Sardinia. Overlapping the provinces of for a drink in Bar Biliardi on Perdasdefogu’s and Ogliastra, Barbagia is Sardinia’s mountain country – a main street every day since it opened in 1958. country full of old men, a longevity hotspot, hidden in a They’re short, swarthy old men who don’t natural fortress of soaring coastal cliffs and sheer-sided look a day over 60. They’re in fine form when mountains. People born and living here are ten times more I arrive, trading stories and gesturing likely to see their 100th birthday than the rest of us. enthusiastically to each other under a large Demographers call it a Blue Zone, and researchers have black-and-white family photograph taken of found that a combination of good genes and a healthy lifestyle them when they were children. Since their enable many people here to notch up the century. But I want family claimed the world record, they’ve to pinpoint the absolute key to longevity, and every Sardinian enjoyed a lot of attention. has their own pet theory. ‘All the world wants to know our secret,’ ‘There’s a man in the nearest village to us who’s 104,’ says Adolfo. ‘All I can say is that we’re still Massimiliano announces to the table. ‘All his life he’s never alive, so what we do must work.’ I lean in to drunk water, only wine. That’s how he’s lived to be so old.’ find out the answer. ‘Always have a glass of The table murmurs in vague agreement. It’s as good a wine at lunch,’ he declares. Exercise is thought to be a key to theory as any, and Massimiliano isn’t the only one who holds This is a life tip I can manage, and as it longevity for the people living in it. ‘Yes,’ I say. ‘Take 90-year-old Adolfo Melis, for example…’ turns out, there’s something in the local wine the mountainous region of eastern Sardinia, where residents work the – Cannonau – which could help you live land and herd sheep. A diet of pasta I’d met Adolfo a couple of days earlier in a village called longer. Although it’s not a magic potion, red and locally grown vegetables, and a Perdasdefogu, perched precariously in the mountains. He and wine is high in polyphenols, naturally community structure that respects and cherishes it elders makes this his eight siblings hold the Guinness World Record for being occurring chemical compounds which a zone for living long and well VITALIO MELIS, 88 BORN FEBRUARY 6, 1926

‘I AM ALWAYS WORKING HARD IN MY GARDEN’

ADOLFO MELIS, 90 BORN OCTOBER 20, 1923

‘ALWAYS HAVE A GLASS OF WINE AT LUNCH’ 076——077 AUDI MAGAZINE

CASU AGEDU, GOAT’S CHEESE

‘THIS IS BETTER THAN VIAGRA! THIS WILL GIVE YOU A LONG LIFE’ researchers have found can help to reduce mortality in In Perdasdefogu’s town square groups of older adults by up to 30 per cent. old men gather to passar il tempo together. But is long life guaranteed by a glass of wine at lunch every Instead of translating this as ‘passing the day? I’m not so sure. After all, the Melis siblings have the time’, my interpreter Fiorenza calls it advantage of good genes – their father lived to 87 – and ‘cheering up’. ‘Why?’ I ask. ‘Because being growing up in the mountains kept them fit. Vitalio worked as together makes you happy.’ So in the piazza, I a postman for many years, going from village to village on foot, ‘cheer up’ with the smooth-skinned, and Adolfo worked on his family’s land, then at the local 70-something Ennio Cabizza. What’s his military base after returning from the Second World War. theory on how to live a long life? ‘We’re still working,’ says Vitalio. ‘If I feel tired when I’m ‘Ah!’ he smiles sagely before pronouncing: working in my garden, I’ll sit in the shade, but even then I’m ‘Life is an uphill struggle. But take it slowly thinking about what needs to be done. There’s a group of and it becomes a walk.’ young people who work in the garden next to me and can’t It’s the perfect distillation of the Sardinian believe how old I am. They asked me how I do it and I told approach, and a surefire way to avoid a them not to be afraid of the sun. If it’s in your face, turn your stress-related premature demise. In fact, back on it and keep working.’ there’s only one time when I see anyone And let’s not forget that luck has also played a part. Vitalio moving with any kind of pace. At lunchtime, dodged military conscription because his brothers were Vitalio legs it from the bar down the road to already signed up, and Adolfo was a tail gunner in the air force get home to eat, jogging with the ease of a – not the safest of jobs if you want to be the guest of honour at 50-year-old. All those years of delivering your 100th birthday party. ‘But he never hit anything,’ Vitalio letters on foot clearly paid off. teases. ‘He was the one who lost us the war.’ Though they lived through the privations of the Great ‘It’s the fermentation!’ exclaims our Depression in the 1930s and major world conflict, these guys hostess, Franca, to the table. She’s a firm were born into a kind of generational sweet spot, hardy believer in the power of food, particularly survivors who then reaped all the medical and welfare goat’s cheese, to extend your life. She swears benefits of a modernised world, without giving up their by a particular goat’s cheese called Casu traditional ways, such as taking your time, sitting with friends Agedu, and to make her point she dishes out and stopping to chat in the street. dollops of it on pieces of traditional Sardinian pistoccu bread for us to try. My host Massimiliano is keen to know more about the ‘This is better than Viagra!’ she says. ‘This Melis family. He savours a long drag on his cigarette and asks: will give you a long life.’ Then she reveals that ‘Do they smoke?’ Looking at the ashtray in front of him, it’s the ferment is made from the milk-filled plain that this chain smoker in his forties is going to be stomach of a freshly killed baby goat. The disappointed with my answer. ‘No,’ I reply. ‘No smoking. They stomach is tied up and fermented to make don’t really drink coffee either.’ rennet. It all seems a bit of a witchcrafty way He looks at the cigarette in his hand, momentarily sad to to extend your life expectancy to me. But it’s a lose the potential justification for not giving up his favourite very moreish cheese, so if longevity is a side vice, shrugs, then inhales again. effect, then I’m happy to go along with it.

As well as a healthy diet, the Mediterranean climate and stress-free way of life improves the chances of reaching 100. The Melis family has a strong bond and enjoys spending time with each other. Above is Adolfo chatting with his nephew (left) 078——079 AUDI MAGAZINE

WHERE TO LIVE FOR EVER

After noting the high number of very old this area, this genetic quirk means it’s one to HOW TO LIVE FOR EVER people living in the Sardinian village of one. Dr Luisa Salaris, a statistician from the Here’s what the researchers believe are Villagrande, Belgian demographer Dr Michel University of who worked on the the keys to a longer, healthier life Poulain and Sardinian biologist Professor research, explains: ‘Their geographical Luca Deiana began a project looking into isolation meant there was less DNA mixing, Move naturally. People in Blue longevity. They proved that around 10 times which led to a genetic peculiarity for a Zones aren’t sedentary but live more people in the mountains of Sardinia tendency towards long life.’ in ways which keep them on live to be 100 than anywhere else. They called But there’s still hope for the rest of us. the move all the time. Local people in this longevity hotspot a Blue Zone. ‘Genetics counts only for about 25 per cent,’ the Barbagian mountains, for example, Researchers have since identified four says Dr Salaris. ‘And then it depends on traditionally had to walk a few miles to their further Blue Zones: the Japanese region of what you do with those genes. They’re a fields and back every day. Okinawa in the Pacific, the Nicoya Peninsula predisposition not a determination. But in Costa Rica, the island of Ikaria in Greece, people who don’t have great genes still have a Eat wisely. Blue Zoners eat very and a Seventh-Day Adventist community in chance to improve their life expectancy.’ little red meat and have a diet rich Loma Linda, California. By taking what people living in Blue Zones in vegetables and beans. A small The genetic heritage of men in Sardinia’s around the world have in common and glass of red wine has been found to help Blue Zone is particularly notable. They carry applying them to your life, Dr Salaris believes protect the heart and slow down the ageing the M26 gene, which is passed from father to it’s possible to improve your chances, not just process. Sardinian wine is said to have son. Where the ratio of people aged over 100 of living longer, but also of living with greater high levels of polyphenols, which act as is usually four women to every one man, in health and wellbeing. antioxidants and anti-inflammatories.

Belong. A sense of community and strong family bonds are recurring themes in Blue Zones. Dr Chiara Fastame and Professor Maria Pietronilla Penna of the University of Cagliari, along with Dr Paul Hitchcott from Southampton Solent University, found that LOMA LINDA, OKINAWA, greater psychological wellbeing contributes CALIFORNIA, JAPAN to longevity. Fastame explains: ‘Sardinian USA IKARIA, GREECE elders enjoy a good quality of life because of their social and physical activity. In the little NICOYA PENINSULA, villages of Barbagia and Ogliastra, elders are COSTA RICA considered resources for their community SARDINIA, and their social role is preserved, in a way that’s comparable with Japan.’

Have a positive outlook. For the IN THE ZONE Mountain provinces of Melis family this is provided by Lucky Blue Zoners are Ogliastra and Nuoro practising a religious faith, which 10 times more likely to reach gives them a sense of being part of something 100. From California in the Villagrande US to Okinawa in Japan, greater and meaningful. ‘When you’re the answers lie in genes, healthy diet and lifestyle Perdasdefogu, involved in something that’s bigger than you, and community structure home to the Melis you have a reason to live another year, – there’s even a link to volcanic because you make plans that you want to see soils which scientists are still yet to fathom Cagliari, capital through,’ says Dr Salaris. Antonino Melis, the fourth child Sheep and goat’s milk and cheese are a key of Francesco and Eleonora Melis, part of the Sardinian diet, along with lots of helped to eradicate malaria from Sardinia in the late 1940s. beans and locally grown vegetables. Meat, Interestingly, a gene present and surprisingly for an island, seafood, are in Blue Zones populations is linked to greater resistance to only eaten about once or twice a week. Malaria and is thought to play a Instead there’s maccarones al porcini, positive role in longevity delicious long tubes of pasta with a porcini mushroom sauce; culingionis, a light and fresh ravioli stuffed with potato, sheep’s cheese and mint usually served in a tomato sauce; savoury cauliflower fritters; pecorino cheese… the list goes on. I understood why Vitalio ran home for his lunch, but the contents of his diet also explains how he’s still able to. With so many foods high in calcium, Omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants, it’s a diet built for longevity.

In the village, Adolfo and Vitalio introduce ANTONINO MELIS, 95 me to their two oldest sisters: 106-year-old BORN MAY 5, 1919 Consolata (107 in August), and 101-year-old Claudina. Claudina insists she’s actually only ‘ASK GOD – HE’S IN CHARGE’ 18. She was born in 1913. ‘It’s God who’s kept me young!’ she shouts. She’s quite deaf, and unlike her younger 080——081 AUDI MAGAZINE

CLAUDINA MELIS, 101 BORN JUNE 30, 1913

‘IF YOU WANT TO LIVE A LONG LIFE, GO TO CHURCH EVERY WEEK’

IPAD EXTRA See more on the Audi Magazine iPad app All of the Melis siblings are active members of their community and enjoy socialising. Vitalio (below left) chats to the other elderly menfolk of Perdasdefogu, while Consolata (bottom) still attends church regularly with her sister Claudina. There are estimated to be over 400,000 centenarians worldwide still enjoying life to the full

brothers, she does look her age, with the ‘How many children does Consolata have?’ Massimiliano sunken cheeks of the very old, and her interrupts to ask me. diminutive body disappearing under swathes ‘Thirteen,’ I reply. ‘And a total of 69 grandchildren, great- of black fabric. However, her dark eyes still grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.’ have a youthful twinkle as she leans in to ‘Thirteen!’ he marvels. Throwing his girlfriend a hopeful talk to me conspiratorially, like a schoolgirl glance, he suggests: ‘Children are important for a long life with a secret to whisper. then, eh?’ ‘Real life is the one that comes after this,’ Certainly, that’s the case if the Melis are anything to go by she tells me. ‘But the next life depends on – along with a strong family bond. As the oldest, Consolata what you’ve done here. I did some naughty holds court, merrily interrupting everyone to say what she things with my brothers and sisters when wants to say, and everyone respectfully giving way to her. I was a girl.’ She’s dressed up especially for our visit in the traditional For her 100th birthday, Claudina had a garb of a Sardinian widow, with black skirt, shirt, and celebratory mass taken by one of her sons, a headscarf, and her head is constantly darting from person to Catholic priest. As he addressed the person as she follows the line of conversation through bottle- congregation and said: ‘We’re here to end glasses, before chipping in. celebrate 100 years of the life of my mother,’ By the time Vitalio was born, she was a married woman Claudina heckled him. ‘Cento anni! Ma with a one-year-old baby of her own. Pointing at Antonino, quanti peccanti?’ – ‘A hundred years! But another brother, aged 95, she says he was always a good boy, how many sins?’ but the other two, Vitalio and Adolfo, were always naughty. When I ask her what she meant by this, Consolata is speaking Sardu, an official language of Sardinia, she giggles. ‘If you want to live a long life…,’ which is being translated into Italian, and then into English she begins, rummaging around in her pockets for my benefit. It’s hard to follow but eventually she to find something – might this be the secret? pronounces: ‘The meaning of life is to work hard.’ – then she pulls out a length of prayer beads. That, if nothing else, is a motto in tune with the times we ‘You must do the rosary every day, and go to are living in now, I explain to the midnight table of guests at church every week.’ my agriturismo. Which brings me back to the theory I’m While she firmly believes the next life is holding in my hand. ‘La tua salute – your good health,’ I say to the real life, researchers think that her faith my hosts Franca and Massimiliano, raising my glass of may well be lengthening her stay in this Cannonau. They reply with the traditional Sardinian blessing: world. Having a peaceable attitude keeps her ‘Akent’annos – may you live to be 100 years old.’ stress levels down, and being a part of something meaningful gives her a reason to get out of bed and live another day. As does her family. Around the corner at Consolata’s first-floor flat, I find the eldest sibling surrounded by a large entourage of daughters, nieces, granddaughters, brothers, sisters and other family members.