How to live longer: 9 weird tips to extend your lifespan

From learning a new language to buying a house on a mountain - there are some surprising theories on how to enjoy a longer life.

Eat weird foods

A new scientific report reveals that a spicy curry is more than just a tasty dish – it also helps you live longer.

Researchers say that blocking the body’s ability to feel pain boosts lifespan - and that one way of switching off pain is by regularly eating chilli peppers.

The culinary advice follows experiments in mice, in which stopping pain signals from reaching the brain extended their lifespan.

Animals that could not make pain-sensing protein called TRPV1 were "exceptionally long lived". Not only was life 14% longer, but it was also healthier.

Eating curry is the latest in a string of bizarre theories on how to enjoy a longer life, and here's nine more:

Learn a language

A number of studies have shown that the ability to speak two or more languages significantly slows the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s, two fatal diseases of old age.

One of 200 patients found that those who had spoken two or more languages for many years had delayed onset of Alzheimer’s, in some cases up to five years.

This may be because speaking two languages creates a greater brain reserve, or ability to function normally despite damage.

Be hungry

Scientists observed as long ago as 1934 that lab rats fed near-starvation diets lived much longer than expected.

Since then, nearly every species tested has given the same result. As long as the essential nutrients are given,animals live longer on a diet that keeps them hungry but alive.

One of the longest-lived peoples in the world, the Okinawans, practice calorie restriction as part of their culture.

Known as hara hachi bu, their custom is to stop eating before they are full, and they eat only about 1,200 calories a day.

Get rich

The close relationship between wealth and long, healthy living is visible all around the world.

Poorer countries have predictably lower life expectancies because their governments have less money to spend on health care, but even within rich countries the rich live longer than the poor.

The "haves" really do have it better than the "have nots".

Live on a mountain

Statistically, people living on mountains live longer.

Seven of the ten towns with the longest lifespan in the US are in high-country Colorado counties.

In the tiny Sardinian mountain town of Ovodda, as many men as women live to be 100.

It could be that if you live on a mountainside at least half of your walking is uphill, giving your heart a good workout whenever you set foot outside your front door.

Be religious

Many studies have shown a positive correlation between religious belief and good health.

The Seventh Day Adventists living in Loma Linda, California are a case in point.

They are the most long-lived community in the United States, even the ones who don’t follow the vegetarian diet mandated by the church.

Whether this is due to the better levels of social support provided within religious communities or divine intervention, is still not known.

Drugs

There really are drugs in existence that increase longevity in animals and probably would in humans too. One of these is rapamycin.

A study undertaken by David E. Harrison and others published in Nature in 2009 showed that mice lifespans were increased by up to 14% by treating them with this drug.

The catch is that rapamycin is prescribed to organ transplant patients to help prevent rejection by suppressing their immune systems. A suppressed immune system puts you at a greater risk of developing cancer.

Stress

The Longevity Project, a study which analyzed eighty years’ worth of information, beginning in 1921, on group of 1,500 children, found some surprising information.

Those children who were happy-go-lucky, carefree, and had a good sense of humour lived shorter lives than those who were more serious.

As adults, these people were the most involved with and committed to their jobs.

Help others

Paradoxically, one of the best ways you can help yourself is to help others.

A review of more than thirty studies carried out by the Corporation for National and Community Service found that volunteering increases your life expectancy significantly.

This is especially true if the only motivation for doing this is to help others.