@cynthiarotenberge8: Maria Branyas Morera was born in San Francisco in 1907. Her family moved to Catalonia, Spain, when she was 8. She lived through two world wars, the Spanish Civil War and the 1918 flu. She married in 1931 and lived another 93 years after her wedding day. At 113, she caught COVID in 2020, before any vaccine existed. She recovered with only mild symptoms. In January 2023 she became the oldest living person on Earth and held that title for 19 months. Her mind stayed sharp almost to the end. She died in August 2024, at 117. Researchers at the University of Barcelona ran the most comprehensive study ever done on a supercentenarian. That is someone who lives past 110. Two of their results stood out above the rest. The team was led by Dr. Manel Esteller. The results came out in Cell Reports Medicine in 2025. When she was 116, they took samples of her blood, saliva, urine and stool. Then they studied her genes, cells, proteins, metabolism and gut bacteria, all at once. Some results showed extreme age. Her telomeres, the caps that guard the ends of your DNA, were very short. But she also had low "bad" cholesterol, high "good" cholesterol and very little inflammation. And she carried rare gene variants linked to immune fitness, heart and brain protection. The first result: her cells behaved as if they were about 23 years younger than her real age. The team measured this with epigenetic clocks, tests that read chemical tags on your DNA to estimate how old your cells really are. On paper she was 117. Inside, her cells acted much younger. The second result: her gut microbiome looked far younger than her age. It was dominated by bifidobacteria, among the first bacteria to colonize a baby's gut. In most adults, they drop with age. In her gut, they stayed high. Bifidobacteria make compounds like acetate, a short-chain fatty acid that helps protect the gut lining and calm inflammation. Chronic inflammation is a major driver of aging. Researchers are still studying how far these benefits reach. High bifidobacteria levels have also been reported in other centenarians and supercentenarians. Her levels may help explain why she stayed sharp, mobile and strong for 117 years. But this was one person, so the researchers cannot prove it. Her diet was simple and Mediterranean-style: * 3 plain yogurts a day, no added sugar * Olive oil * Plenty of fish * A morning smoothie made with 8 grains Her yogurt was a local Catalan brand. The researchers suspect it helped keep her bifidobacteria high, but say they can't confirm it. Her routine was just as plain: * Walking about an hour a day * No alcohol * No smoking * Close time with family and friends This study challenges an old idea, that aging and disease have to go hand in hand. It shows extreme age and poor health are not inseparable. Esteller credits about half her longevity to genetics and half to lifestyle. Her genes were always there. Her habits were a choice. You can start feeding your own bifidobacteria today: 1. Eat one serving of plain yogurt with live cultures daily, with no added sugar. 2. Add half a cup of beans, lentils or chickpeas to lunch or dinner. 3. Swap white bread and white rice for whole grains like oats, barley or brown rice. Three more habits from her pattern: 1. Add a spoonful of sauerkraut or kimchi to one meal a day. 2. Cook with extra virgin olive oil instead of butter. 3. Swap one ultra-processed snack for fruit or nuts, since they're low in the fiber your gut bacteria feed on. None of this is a proven fix, but it's the pattern she followed. What makes Maria's case so unusual is that different parts of her body seemed to tell completely different stories about her age. Her extremely short telomeres reflected 117 years of life, while other measurements, including epigenetic markers, inflammation, metabolism, and her gut microbiome, looked unexpectedly favorable for someone her age. That raises an interesting idea researchers are still trying to understand: living longer and staying healthier longer may involve overlapping, but not identical,

Official Cynthia Rotenberger

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Tuesday 03 November 2026 16:30:51 GMT