How To Live To 100 Years Old: Oldest Woman Alive Emma Morano Celebrates 117th Birthday, Credits Eggs For Long Life

Emma Morano, who was born in November 1899, will celebrate Tuesday her 117th birthday. The oldest woman alive and the last person who has lived in the 19th century currently resides in Lake Maggiore in northern Italy, the Telegraph reported Monday.

Morano’s long life will be celebrated with a party and concert hosted by the town of Verbania where she lives. Although long, her life was not always an easy one. Morano lived through an abusive marriage and lost her son when he was just six months old.

"He told me: 'If you're lucky you marry me, or I'll kill you'. I was 26 years old. I got married,” she told a newspaper about her marriage when she was 112 years old.

Morano was eventually able to kick her abusive husband out, however, they stayed married until his death in 1978 and she never married again, BBC reported. She has been bed bound since last year and has not left her two-room apartment in 20 years. Morano’s hearing and site are failing, she spends most of her free time snacking or sleeping.

During an interview with AFP, Morano said for a majority of her life she ate eggs every day. Morano was diagnosed with anemia at 20 years old and was advised by a doctor to eat two raw eggs and a cooked one once a day.

"I eat two eggs a day, and that's it. And cookies. But I do not eat much because I have no teeth," she said.

Although she sticks to a strict diet, Morano may owe her long life to her mother who died at 91. Her two sisters also lived long lives both living to be over 100 years old.

"Emma has always eaten very few vegetables, very little fruit. When I met her, she ate three eggs per day, two raw in the morning and then an omelet at noon, and chicken at dinner," said Carlo Bava, Morano’s doctor of 27 years.

Morano’s title as the oldest woman in the world comes following the death of Susannah Mushatt Jones who died in May 2016 at the 116 years old.