Give up sex, and you could live to 150

What's the secret to a longer life ? According to one scientist, it's giving up the horizontal shuffle .

Professor Alex Zhavoronkov, director of a UK think-tank called the Biogerontology Research Foundation, says humans could reach 150 if they gave up sex .

In a new book, the Ageless Generation, he states that a life without intercourse will enable us to live "far, far longer."

"I have sex occasionally, but not on a permanent basis and usually with fellow scientists," said the 36-year-old professor.

"Because otherwise, and I'm very sorry for saying it, post-coital interactions can be quite boring."

Alex Zhavoronkov is a professor at a UK think-tank

Zhavoronkov warns of the "energy-sapping distractions" that come in the form of marriage, kids and material possessions.

"Delaying marriage and reproduction is a by-product of shifting your life expectancy horizons," he told Mail Online.

"It would slow me up and distract me from my research. When you're planning on living 150 years, marriage is a big decision. You're in for the long term!'

He recommends instead that we exercise regularly, including sit-ups and press-ups and concentrate on eating less.

Zhavoronkov himself says he only consumes between 1,600 and 1,700 calories a day - mostly from fruit, yoghurt and protein bars.

Having a relationship and children is apparently a distraction if you want to notch up the years

The World Health Organisation proclaimed last week that we could soon be living in a world where living to 100 is normal.

Roughly a hundred years ago, life expectancy in the UK was 48 for men and 56 for women.

"Living to over 150 isn't unrealistic. I'm not planning on dying at all. You only need to have lived through the past 30 years to realise anything is possible," concludes Zhavoronkov.