- Herlda Senhouse, formerly the second oldest person in the US, died this week at the age of 113.
- She thought lifestyle factors could have contributed to her longevity as well as her genes.
- They included not having kids, eating healthily, and being part of a community.
Herlda Senhouse, born in 1911, appreciated three things about 2024: electric light, indoor plumbing, and having a Black female vice president.
Senhouse, who died at age 113 on Saturday, lived in Wellesley, Massachusetts. She worked as a housekeeper and nanny for white families, and faced racism including being denied the opportunity to study nursing, she told The Telegraph in 2021. Senhouse founded the Boston Clique Club, a group of dancers and musicians who raised money to help educate Black students in Boston.
“I never thought I’d see a Black woman vice president, which is amazing, and I’m so happy,” she said.
Senhouse wanted to keep helping others even after she died: she donated her brain to researchers at Boston University, who are studying whether genes help some people live past 100 for the New England Centenarian Study.
As well as her genes, Senhouse attributed her longevity to a few lifestyle factors.
Don’t have children to avoid stress
Senhouse often said that the secret to her longevity was not having children, Stephanie Hawkinson, a public information officer for the town of Wellesley told US News and World Report on Monday.
One 2017 study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health found that people without children didn’t live as long as parents, possibly because of the support they received. But Senhouse thought that not having children helped her avoid stress, which research suggests can accelerate aging.
Eat healthily and don’t smoke
“I don’t smoke or drink. And I don’t drink those fizzy waters… no soda. I seldom eat fast food,” Senhouse told WBZ News in 2022.
People who followed healthy eating guidelines, including consuming lots of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes, had a lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, cancer, and respiratory disease in a 2023 study. The research involved 119,000 female nurses and male health professionals and was published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. These people were also less likely to smoke and more likely to exercise.
Be part of a community
Hawkinson said that Senhouse had a big community of friends, family, and fellow church members.
She also spent lots of time with her best friend, Margaret Robinson, whom she met over 60 years ago. They called each other every day and got their hair and nails done together every two weeks, WBZ News reported.
Researchers carrying out the Harvard Study of Adult Development have found that healthy relationships can lower the risk of dying at any age and help to reduce pain in older age, BI’s Hilary Brueck previously reported.
Know when to let go
Do your best to fix issues in your life, but if you can’t, let it go, Senhouse told The Telegraph.
Perseverance and focusing on the good things in life are common traits among centenarians, Business Insider previously reported. And longevity researchers who have spoken to over 1,000 centenarians told BI that many centenarians try not to stress about things out of their control.
