Not of course, that you could tell. With a deep, golden tan and toned body, immaculately coiffed hair and only a few more worry lines than 27-year-old me, Bruna could easily pass for a fory-something. Forget Leisure World, the community south of Los Angeles which has become the byword in youthful old age, and welcome to Sardinia.

This Italian island is not only synonymous with taut, tanned bodies and good looks, it also has the world's highest percentage of people who have passed the 100-year-old threshold.

Sardinians do indeed look much younger than they are. My boyfriend is 37 and friends who haven’t yet met him expect him to arrive in prim, conservative clothes. “Dove Mario? Where’s Mario then?” Valentina asked me in the Cagliari gelateria where we were celebrating her birthday. “Over there”, I replied, pointing to a normal-looking bloke that just happened to be my boyfriend. “Oh” she said, “But I thought he was old. He just looks like one of us.” It is not uncommon for women in their seventies to be mistaken for their 50-year-old counterparts. And even those who have already blown out 100 candles on their birthday cake are still fit and active: going for daily walks, doing the shopping, and even running to catch the bus on occasions.

Sardinia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean and has a wonderful villagey feel to it – probably not surprising given that there are only 1.6million

What exactly the daily meals consist of depends on the region, each boasting their own speciality. In land you will eat meat, and by the sea, fish. But one thing is sure: each meal will be doused in copious amounts of freshly pressed olive oil and washed down with lots of red wine – often homemade from the family’s own vignetti growing in their garden or more probably the allotment or terreno. If the natives really are unable to get hold of a good wine made by a friend of a friend of a friend then the island has a host of good quality wines to choose from.

Famous offerings including the ruby red Canonau, traditionally produced in Jerzi in the east but can now be

While some inhabitants think a couple of glasses of red wine is the trick to keeping the crows’ feet and laughter lines at bay, others disagree. As with any question here, you’ll get a different answer every time depending on the Sardinian you talk to. “Ah, la segreta, la segreta- E’ ovvio, no?” said one 96-year-old man sitting on a rickety chair outside his house in Assemini, an old ceramics town 15 km from Cagliari, and just inches from the cars zooming past on their way into Sardinia’s capital. “The red wine perhaps?” I ventured. “Ma che…you don’t understand anything my daughter. It’s in the air of course.” His neighbour stared at him, ready for confrontation. “Air, ma stai scherzando? You are joking? It’s the homegrown vegetables and the pecorino cheese”.

But whatever the reason for Sardinians receiving the traditional greeting A Kent’Annos – may you live to be 100 – one thing is sure: forget the fresh air, the good wine, the local vegetables and doing everything in moderation, you need to live in or around Nuoro. In this mountainous interior province located in the Barabagia region, the prevalence of centenarians is striking: 240 in every one million people.

And to further your chances even more, you need to head for the village of Orrolì, which has just 2,748 people - seven natives (five since decesed) have reached 100 over the past five decades.