The 7 keys to a long life
People have been searching for the secret of immortality for thousands of years. For some people today, that quest includes things like sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber, experimenting with cryotherapy or irradiating themselves with infrared light.
Most aging experts are skeptical that these actions will meaningfully extend the upper limits of human lifespan. What they do believe is that by practicing a few simple behaviors, many people can live healthier longer and live into their 80s, 90s and even 100s in good physical and mental condition. The procedures are simply not as exotic as transfusing yourself with the blood of a young person.
“People are looking for the magic pill,” said Dr. Luigi Ferrucci, the scientific director of the National Institute on Aging, “and the magic pill is already here.”
Below are seven tips from geriatricians on how to add more good years to your life.
1. Exercise more.
The most important thing experts recommended was to keep your body active. That is because study after study has shown that exercise reduces the risk of premature death.
Physical activity keeps the heart and circulatory system healthy and protects against many chronic diseases that affect the body and mind. It also strengthens the muscles, which can reduce the risk of falls in the elderly.
“If we spend part of our adult years building our muscle mass, our strength, our balance and our cardiovascular endurance, then as the body ages, you will start from a stronger place for what is to come,” said Dr. Anna Chang, professor of medicine specializing in geriatrics at the University of California, San Francisco.
The best exercise is any activity that you enjoy and can sustain. You don’t have to do much either: the American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week, which means just a little more than 20 minutes of walking per day is helpful.
2. Eat more fruits and vegetables.
The experts did not recommend one specific diet over another, but generally recommended eating in moderation and aiming for more fruits and vegetables and fewer processed foods. The Mediterranean diet — which prioritizes fresh produce in addition to whole grains, legumes, nuts, fish and olive oil — is a good model for healthy eating and has been shown to lower the risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and dementia.
Some experts say maintaining a healthy weight is important for longevity, but for Dr. John Rowe, a professor of health policy and aging at Columbia University, that’s less of a concern, especially as people get older. “I always worried more about my patients losing weight than my patients gaining weight,” said Dr. Rowe.
3. Get enough sleep.
Sleep is sometimes overlooked, but plays a major role in healthy aging. Research has shown that the amount of sleep a person spends on average per night is correlated with his or her sleep risk of death whatever the cause, and that consistently getting good sleep can help several years to someone’s life. Sleep appears to be especially important for brain health: a 2021 study found that people who slept less than five hours per night double the risk of developing dementia.
“As people get older, they need more sleep rather than less,” says Dr. Alison Moore, professor of medicine and chief of geriatrics, gerontology and palliative care at the University of California, San Diego. Generally, seven to nine hours is recommended, she added.
4. Don’t smoke or drink too much.
This goes without saying, but smoking cigarettes increases the risk of all kinds of deadly diseases. “There is no dose of cigarette smoke that is good for you,” said Dr. Rowe.
We are also beginning to understand how bad excessive alcohol consumption is. More than one drink per day for women and two for men – and possibly even less than that – increases the risk of heart disease and atrial fibrillation, liver disease and seven types of cancer.
5. Manage your chronic conditions.
Nearly half of American adults have this hypertension40 percent have that high cholesterol and more than a third have pre-diabetes. All of the healthy behaviors mentioned above will help control these conditions and prevent them from developing into even more serious diseases, but sometimes lifestyle interventions are not enough. That’s why experts say it’s crucial to follow your doctor’s advice to keep things under control.
“It’s not fun taking the meds; it’s not fun to check your blood pressure and blood sugar levels,” said Dr. Chang. “But if we optimize all these things as a whole, they also help us live longer, healthier and better lives.”
6. Prioritize your relationships.
Psychological health often takes a back seat to physical health, but Dr. Chang said it’s just as important. “Isolation and loneliness are just as damaging to our health as smoking,” she said, adding that this puts us at “a higher risk of dementia, heart disease and stroke.”
Relationships are not only the key to a healthier, but also happier life. According to the Harvard study on adult developmentstrong relationships are the greatest predictor of well-being.
Dr. Rowe tells the medical students he teaches that one of the best indicators of how well an older patient will be doing six months from now is to ask him “how many friends or family he has seen in the past week.”
7. Develop a positive attitude.
Even positive thinking can help you live longer. Various studies have found that optimism is associated with a lower risk of heart disease, and people who score high on tests of optimism live 5 Unpleasant 15 percent longer than people who are more pessimistic. That may be because optimists tend to have healthier habits and are less likely to suffer from some chronic diseases, but even taking these factors into account, the research shows that people who think positively still live longer.
If you had to choose one healthy practice for longevity, “do some version of physical activity,” said Dr. Moore. “If you can’t do that, focus on being positive.”