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A 104-Year-Old Woman Reveals The Secret To Her Longevity — It's Just One Type Of Food

The centenarian served in the army as a typist and loved ice-skating. Now, she sits in a care home and cherishes her blessed life.

BY TIYASA BISWAS

PUBLISHED MAR 30, 2025

An elderly woman joyfully serving at the dinner table. (Representative Cover Image Source: Pexels | RDNE Stock project)

Age is just a number. Well, Yolanda Redding has achieved quite a many. The centenarian punched in another milestone in the records earlier this year and credits her mom’s cooking for her longevity. At present, when the average life expectancy of a person has been reduced to 77.5 years in the US, per the CDC, Ms. Redding has continued to keep her spirits up about a healthy life. On the occasion of her 104th birthday, Redding, who now resides in a care home in Margate, revealed her secret to having come this far– Italian food, per KentOnline.

Person Making Pasta Tagliatelle. (Representative Image Source: Pexels | orge Zapata)

Redding was born to her Italian dad, Michele, and English mother, Violet, and raised with three other siblings–two brothers, Nina and John, and one sister, Maria, in Lambeth, England. Lovingly called Lulu or Landi, Redding still cherishes her mother’s home-cooked continental classics that instilled in her a love for Italian cuisine. “It was just good cooking. It wasn’t greasy, and it was mostly Italian food – spaghetti, minestrone,” the great-great aunt recalled of her mother. “My mum was a proper English cook, but she cooked all the foreign food - I love Italian food,” she said. One food that has stuck with her through the decades is chips, something she still likes to munch on.

Elderly Woman Blowing a Party Horn. (Representative Image Source: Pexels | RDNE Stock project)

While Italy has a global reputation for its blissful food and fresh ingredients, they are also greatly associated with health benefits and promotes general well-being, per Legno Chicago. More so, Italians are well known for leading longer lives, about 84 years on average, and decreased rates of cancer, heart disease, and inflammatory illnesses. It is likely Redding inherited those Italian genes of longevity from her father, enabling her to celebrate her 104th birthday with one of the youngest members of her family, 12-year-old Arabella.

Selective Focus Photography of Pasta With Tomato and Basil. (Representative Image Source: Pexels | Lisa from Pexels)

Currently, she lives in Claremont Care Home in Margate, Kent, to be close to her family and reflects back on her long life with delight. Do not take her for being old-fashioned, as Redding had served five years in the army as a typist. She also loved running away with her brothers to ice skate across London. She survived the Second World War and worked for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission after. She was once married to her husband Joe, who passed away in 1993, but never had children. Although Ms. Redding does enjoy being a great-great aunt to her nephews and nieces.

Two Adult Women Beside Each Other. (Representative Image Source: Pexels | Andrea Piacquadio)

Until she hit 100 years, she lived independently in a number of places, in Flackwell Heath and High Wycombe. Her significant milestone as an official centenarian was also celebrated by the Late Queen Elizabeth, who sent her a card. “I didn’t jump for joy, but it was nice for her to think of me. I love cards,” Redding downplayed the feat. While health complications are common, her unwavering determination and joy for living have enabled her to bounce back every time. According to a study published in PubMed Central, women show higher life expectancy than men across the globe. One of the several theories to this attributes the “jogging female heart”, which suggests that the second half of the menstrual cycle increases women’s heart rate similar to moderate exercise, per BBC.