How to Live for 100 Years

The people in Caucasia (known for their longevity) will tell you that the secret to living a long, healthful life lies in one word:

Kefir.

It sounds too good to be true -- kefir improves almost every aspect of your health, from promoting weight loss to boosting memory -- but it's really not. Adding this one element to your life can make you feel better and live longer. And it's honestly as simple as that.

The word kefir was originally intended to refer to a grain. The drink is made by fermenting milk (from almost any animal) with the kefir grain. The product is also called kefir, and that's what the rest of this hub is about.

Kefir is cultured much like yogurt and has a consistency similar to yogurt but is much thinner and therefore drinkable. It has all of the probiotics that yogurt has and more.

The usage of kefir allegedly originated over 2,000 in the Caucasus Mountains (that border modern-day Russia and Europe), where people seem to live easily to 100 and above.

As it has slowly gathered more attention, scientists have turned their eyes to kefir and have begun experiments to verify (or disprove) the alleged health benefits of regular kefir intake.

Nobel Prize winner Elie Metchnikoff extensively researched kefir and its links to longevity in the people living in the Caucasus Mountains. He found that:

• Kefir increases production of saliva, which aides in digestion before food even gets to the stomach. This leads to better gastrointestinal health, which can certainly lead to a longer life.
• Kefir produces lactic acid. This alters the pH of the colon, which can prevent the growth of some tumor-causing bacteria. This means that kefir can prevent certain types of cancer.

Other health benefits boasted by users and producers of kefir are:

• "Tranquilizing" the nervous system, thereby aiding with sleep disorders, anxiety, and depression.
• Contributing a wide array of healthy bacteria to the digestive system. This can relieve almost all intestinal disorders, irritable bowel syndrome, and just promotes a healthy digestive system overall.
• Preventing yeast infections.
• Reducing cholesterol and lowering blood pressure, which greatly decreases risk of heart disease.
• Buttressing the immune system to help with traveler's diarrhea and lactose intolerance (and other food allergies).
• Partially "curing" hangovers.

Kefir also naturally balances all nutrients and vitamins in your body, which can greatly reduce cravings for unhealthy foods like soda (which actually pretty much has the opposite effect of kefir) or potato chips.

It does sound too good to be true, right? But it isn't! So forget those unnatural "colon cleanse" pills and grab a bottle of all-natural kefir.

Of course, kefir isn't available everywhere, but I never have trouble finding Lifeway Kefir at Whole Foods (sometimes they have like a billion flavors, too). You can also make it yourself if you have some kefir grains lying around.

You can make it into a shake, buy the flavored ones, or drink the plain kind straight from the bottle like a certain boyfriend of mine.

Any way you slice it (pour it?), you'll find that you just feel better after you start drinking kefir regularly. Before you know it, you'll be telling all your friends and everyone at the office about this crazy miracle yogurt drink.