Matilda Curcia seems to have her health figured out.
The San Diego woman, who recently celebrated her 100th birthday with her neighbour Mickey (who also turned 100), says the key to longevity is alcohol and junk food.
“I do my exercise every day, and have my beer, and eat my potato chips,” she told NBC 7 San Diego.
She did admit, however, sometimes she may have just more than one.
The 100 year old also said she doesn’t have any pain.
READ MORE: 100-year-old woman says the key to longevity is drinking wine
The friends celebrated their birthdays alongside family, friends and neighbours on Saturday.
In a room filled with giant “1-0-0” balloons, the two told the broadcaster they had been friends for decades. They both moved into the same neighborhood and lived four doors away from one another.
According to NBC Chicago, Mickey was a nurse during World War II and served in Australia, New Guinea and the Philippines.
“I signed up right away to go overseas,” Mickey told the broadcaster. “And I went to different parts where they were really fighting.”
It’s not the first time a 100 year old has attributed alcohol to a long life.
In July 2017, 100-year-old Florence Bearse of Bangor, Maine, said the key to a long life is drinking a glass of wine.
“I like my wine. Don’t take it away from me,” she told the broadcaster in 2017.
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On her birthday last year, Bearse drank a glass of red wine and also treated herself to birthday cake.
In 2016, 107-year-old Antonio Docampo drank a mix of brandy and red wine daily, Mic reports, and another 104-year-old woman in the U.K. told the BBC she had two glasses of red wine every day.
And while there have been countless studies on the benefits of wine in particular, one large study from August 2017 found a glass or two of wine every night could cut your risk of developing life-shortening diseases by 25 per cent, the Independent reports.
The report, from the American College of Cardiology, looked at data from more than 333,000 people over the course of 12 years.
Vancouver-based registered dietitian Desiree Nielsen told Global News in 2017, the majority of studies on longevity and wine focus on red wine.
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“White wine is made by removing the skin of the grapes before fermentation, which is where most of the phytochemical compounds are found. So if you’re drinking as part of a healthy lifestyle, red is the better choice,” she said.
And as Curcia adds, exercise is still important.
The Daily Mail reports both Curcia and Mickey keep each other physically active by going on walks or bike rides.
arti.patel@globalnews.ca