Bridget Grooke from Perth, Western Australia is about to turn 110 and has opened up about the secret of her long living – eating healthily, being kind and also drinking a can of Emu beer every day
A great-grandmother who is about to turn 110 has revealed the crisp, frosty secret to her longevity.
Bridget Grocke has lived a longer, more refreshing life than most people ever will. She attributes the secret behind her continued vitality not to heaps of spinach, long jogs or being active in the community, but to beer.
For the past 60 years the Australian woman has been sinking a can of Emu Export each day. The 4.2% beer is a staple in Oz where it has been in existence for about 10 years longer than Bridget. The Perth woman believes that the West Australia-brewed beer is the key to her long life and beauty.
“If there was a whole heap of beer and someone said ‘which one’s your favourite?’ Naturally, I’d have to say that,” Bridget explained. When asked what her morning brew tasted like, with a twinkle in her eye Bridget: “Beer!”
As well as the potentially life-giving beer, Bridget does also attribute her many years to some things more commonly associated with a long life: Eating healthy, having a big family, being kind and not taking life too seriously. “I think that if you’re nice to people they’ll be nice to you,” she told 9 News. Her daughter Jan Robertson added that her mum had a “great sense of humour”.
She has clearly deployed that sunny outlook to get herself through a whole heap of history, including two world wars and 21 Australian prime ministers, as well as two Donald Trump presidential victories. In reaching such a peachy age she has earned letters from King Charles and the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Bridget is not Australia’s oldest person – a title which belongs to Lorna Henstridge, who is also 110 but older by five months. As of November 12, 2024, Tomiko Itooka is the oldest living person in the world, at 116 years and 173 days. The mother of four currently lives in a nursing home in the city of Ashiya, Japan. It seems that her long life can be in some way attributed to how active she is.
Even after her husband’s death in 1979, Tomiko frequently took part in mountain climbing, including scaling Mount Nijo in the Kongō Range. When in her 70s, she scaled Japan’s 3,067-metre Mount Ontake twice while wearing trainers.
When not pushing herself to new height, Tomiko enjoys the simple pleasure of eating bananas and starts her day with her favourite yogurt-flavoured drink, Calpis.
