It hasn’t been that long since the medical community started to piece together just how important our gut microbiomes are to our overall health.
The billions of good bacteria in our guts can positively impact our mental health, yet it’s delicate enough that a three-day juice cleanse can obliterate all of your good bacteria, throwing your body out of whack. Now, researchers think that a healthy microbiome might explain why one American woman was able to live to the age of 117. It also probably helps to have good genes.
A study from the University of Barcelona examined the incredible longevity of a woman named Maria Branyas Morera. She was born in San Francisco in 1907 to parents who emigrated from Spain, where she then died 117 years later on August 19, 2024. The researchers say she had the gut microbiome of an infant, which they believe contributed to her health and longevity.
Scientists Just Learned How This Woman Lived to be 117
Branyas moved into a retirement home in Spain in 2000, probably expecting to kick the bucket any day now—but she just kept living. Her body’s refusal to call it quits eventually got her recognized by the Guinness World Record book as the world’s oldest living woman after the previous titleholder decided enough was enough.
While she was still alive, she gave permission to have her body studied by a geneticist from the University of Barcelona named Manel Esteller to better understand how she’s been able to live so long. Her infantile (complementary) gut microbiome played a huge role, but the research team says she also had really good genes that helped slow down the aging process at a cellular level.
There are other factors at play here, it probably helps that she didn’t smoke or drink. She remained active throughout her life, taking regular walks as much as her body allowed. And while were just beginning to understand that so-called “blue zone diets” are kind of sort of bullshit, she was on the Mediterranean diet, so maybe there is something to it.
The thing about Maria is that it’s not only impressive that she lives 217, but she did so while remaining mentally sharp and didn’t get sick too often throughout her life. The researchers attribute a lot of this to her pristine microbiome.
Still a lot left to be understood, but if the scientific consensus seems to be circling the idea that so much of our well-being is determined by the billions of good bacteria in our guts, maybe it’s time for us all to start eating a little bit more yogurt and kimchi.
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