100-year-old woman reveals her unexpected secret to longevity: hot dogs
When it comes to building healthy habits that will lead to a long and healthy life, eating hot dogs certainly isn’t one of the first diet tips that comes to mind. But for 100-year-old Illinois woman, Helen Diekman, that was the secret to reaching her centenary.
Diekman told the Daily Herald that her weekly hot dog habit is what keeps her going. With a hint of humour, she revealed her diet consisted of this fast food favourite three times a week for several years. Her usual order? A hot dog, fries and Diet Coke.
While we’re not sure how this hot diet tip would fare with nutritionists, Diekman says they’ve been the key to maintaining her youth. The centenarian even celebrated her 100th birthday at her favourite hot dog outlet in November this year.
Before you follow suit, research shows eating fast food like hot dogs are linked with a steady flow of health issues, which might hamper your efforts to reach the big 1-0-0. High carbohydrate processed food can wreak havoc with your digestive and cardiovascular system and has been linked as a contributor to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
Diekman’s other long life habits- perhaps the ones that we should really take note of- include going to bed early to get a full night’s sleep, at surrounding herself with a strong support network of close friends.
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