{"id":728429,"date":"2026-06-27T03:08:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T03:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/728429\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T03:08:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T03:08:15","slug":"mel-brooks-is-turning-100-his-1-tip-for-longevity-a-healthy-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/728429\/","title":{"rendered":"Mel Brooks Is Turning 100! His 1 Tip for Longevity, a Healthy Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leave it to the 2,000 Year Old Man<\/a> to have the best longevity advice. <\/p>\n

Comedy legend and father of satire Mel Brooks celebrates his big 100th birthday on June 28. The \u201cYoung Frankenstein\u201d director has previously opened up about his secret to long life, and it turns out, it has a lot to do with his sense of humor. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think laughing keeps you healthy and happy,\u201d Brooks, who\u2019s best known for being at the helm of a number of boundary-pushing films including \u201cBlazing Saddles\u201d and \u201cThe Producers,\u201d told People.<\/a> <\/p>\n

The comedian, who was born in 1926 in Brooklyn, has stayed busy in the autumn of his life. Last year, it was announced that Brooks is reprising his role as the beloved character Yogurt in the upcoming 2027 sequel to \u201cSpaceballs,\u201d his 1987 \u201cStar Wars\u201d parody film. He was also the subject of HBO documentary \u201cMel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!,\u201d which was released in January. <\/p>\n

Brooks \u2014 whose contemporaries Carl Reiner and Sid Caesar both made it into their 90s but have since died \u2014 told People that his career in comedy has been integral to his health and mental well-being. <\/p>\n

The Health Benefits of Good Humor<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an amazing sound, people laughing at something I created,\u201d Brooks told People in January<\/a>. \u201cMaking comedy is a great job. It keeps you sane and happy. It gives you a reason to be alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Research has shown that laughter is, indeed, among the best medicines. In a 2016 longitudinal study<\/a> published by the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, Norwegian researchers found that women who scored highly on the cognitive component of sense of humor, or the ability to detect humor, were associated with 48% less risk of death from all causes. Mortality due to cardiovascular diseases in particular, the study said, was \u201csignificantly lower\u201d in women with high scores on the cognitive component. <\/p>\n

A separate 2023 study<\/a> also showed that spontaneous laughter is associated with a greater reduction in cortisol levels. The study suggested that laughter could be a potential supplementary medical therapy to improve wellbeing. <\/p>\n

Laughter isn\u2019t just important for physical health. It\u2019s beneficial for mental well-being, too. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf a patient can have a moment of levity in the face of crisis, I think it helps them better cope and better deal with the uncertainties of their problems,\u201d Edward T. Creagan, a Mayo Clinic expert and oncologist, said in 2024.<\/a><\/p>\n

Hopefully this means that Brooks has many years ahead of him. But he\u2019s previously said he doesn\u2019t really think about death. <\/p>\n

\u201cI gave up after 60 thinking about it because if I did, I\u2019d be thinking about it all the time. So I don\u2019t think about it much. When and if it happens it\u2019s going to be a sad day \u2014 for everybody but me,\u201d Brooks told the Associated Press in 2021.<\/a> <\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoy living,\u201d he told the outlet. \u201cI\u2019d like to do it as long as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leave it to the 2,000 Year Old Man to have the best longevity advice. Comedy legend and father…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":728430,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[236,88],"class_list":["post-728429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=728429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/728430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=728429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=728429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=728429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}