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What Blood Biomarkers Predict Living to 100? Insights from Swedish Centenarian Study

Blood biomarker profiles and exceptional longevity: comparison of centenarians and non-centenarians in a 35-year follow-up of the Swedish AMORIS cohort (2023)

r/ScientificNutrition February 15, 2026
TL;DR

A 35-year Swedish cohort study identified blood biomarker patterns in middle age that distinguish people who lived to 100 from those who didn't, including higher cholesterol and iron but lower glucose, creatinine, and liver enzyme markers. The findings suggest that genetic factors and possibly modifiable lifestyle factors reflected in these biomarkers play a significant role in exceptional longevity.

Why This Matters

A 35-year Swedish cohort study identified blood biomarker patterns in middle age that distinguish people who lived to 100 from those who didn't, including higher cholesterol and iron but lower glucose, creatinine, and liver enzyme markers.

Credibility Assessment Promising — 60/100
Study Design
Rigor of the research methodology
14/20
Sample Size
Whether the study was sufficiently powered
13/20
Peer Review
Review status and journal reputation
12/20
Replication
Has this finding been independently reproduced?
11/20
Transparency
Funding disclosure and data availability
10/20
Overall
Sum of all five dimensions
60/100

What this means

A high-quality Swedish study found that certain blood biomarker patterns in middle age—including higher cholesterol and iron, lower blood sugar and kidney markers—were associated with living to 100, but this reflects biological health signatures rather than suggesting you should chase high cholesterol. The findings are credible but require careful interpretation to avoid misapplication.

Red Flags: Community discussion — not peer-reviewed research. The Reddit post itself contains minimal original commentary or critical analysis—it is essentially a bare abstract with a TL;DR. The poster references an edit directing readers to a comment by u/BooksAndCoffeeNf1 but that comment is not included, fragmenting the discussion. The counterintuitive cholesterol finding may be misinterpreted by readers as actionable health advice without understanding survivor bias, reverse causality, and population specificity. The 84.6% female cohort limits applicability to men. Modest engagement (33 upvotes, 17 comments) means limited community discussion or peer vetting occurred on Reddit itself.

This discussion centers on a 2023 peer-reviewed study from the AMORIS cohort that analyzed blood biomarkers measured decades earlier in individuals who eventually became centenarians versus those who died younger. The research is noteworthy because it compares biomarker profiles prospectively rather than retrospectively, following 1,224 centenarians (84.6% female) over 35 years. The main findings reveal a counterintuitive result: higher total cholesterol was associated with reaching age 100, contradicting common cardiovascular health messaging. Alongside this, favorable profiles included lower glucose, creatinine (kidney function), uric acid, and various liver enzymes, plus higher iron levels.

The study's strength lies in its large sample size, long follow-up period (up to 35 years), population-based design, and use of standardized biomarker measurements from a defined time window (1985-1996). The researchers note that centenarians displayed relatively homogenous biomarker profiles, suggesting these markers may reflect underlying biological resilience. The post itself is minimalist—presenting the abstract and TL;DR without additional commentary or interpretation from the Reddit poster, which preserves the study's integrity but limits community discussion.

A critical caveat (acknowledged in the abstract) is that this study identifies *associations*, not causation. The cholesterol finding, while striking, may reflect survivor bias (those with genetic protection can tolerate higher cholesterol) or reverse causality (low cholesterol in non-centenarians may indicate disease already in progress). The cohort is 84.6% female and Swedish, limiting generalizability to other populations. Additionally, the poster notes an edit referencing a comment by u/BooksAndCoffeeNf1, but that comment is not provided, leaving the discussion incomplete.

The engagement on this post is modest (33 upvotes, 17 comments), suggesting limited community validation, though this may reflect the technical nature of the content rather than poor quality. The study itself appears methodologically sound and appears to have undergone peer review (published in a journal with PMC indexing), making it a credible primary source for discussion.

Readers should interpret the cholesterol finding carefully: it does not mean people should raise their cholesterol to live longer. Instead, it suggests that among people who naturally maintain high cholesterol without disease, longevity is possible—potentially indicating genetic factors that protect them. The study's real value is as a biomarker signature for exceptional aging that may guide future research into mechanisms of longevity.

Biological Age Biomarkers of Aging Blood Biomarkers Blue Zones Epigenetic Age Regulatory
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