The 6 Pillars Of A Longer, Fitter Life
How well you age isn’t just about luck or good genes. Living longer – and staying strong, agile and sharp while you’re at it – is about strategy. Here’s yours
You already know that taking better care of your body can improve your quality of life. But often what stands between knowing what to do and actually doing it is doubt. Seeing exactly how much each longevity step ‘counts’ makes it clear that, in a world where it’s hard to find an extra five minutes, a few small changes could buy you an extra five years. ‘People have more control over ageing than they think,’ says Keith Roach, associate attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medical Center. Along with Michael Roizen, chief wellness officer at Cleveland Clinic, he has pioneered a way to collate research and quantify how much each healthy thing you do can increase your longevity. Here are the benefits a typical 45-yearold man can expect to see.
Step 01 Quit Smoking
Only smoke with certain friends? Never touch the stuff sober? Many people still underestimate the harm an occasional habit can do. Smoking insults nearly every organ you possess, so when you relieve your body of the particles you inhale – along with nicotine and the 7,000 other chemicals in cigarettes – the life-lengthening benefits kick in fast. In fact, your risk of a heart attack drops within 24 hours.
If you’ve smoked a pack a day for 10 years, you’re 5.6 years older than your chronological age, but quitting could net three years of that time back within 12 months. After 10 years smoke-free, you could end up 1.3 years younger than your chronological age. The cumulative benefit of stubbing out can total 6.9 years – not to mention less time sheltering from the rain round the back of the office.
Step 02 Tear Into Good Foods, Tear Open Fewer Packets
For many reasons – no judgement – the average western diet is full of red meat and processed foods. Many of us now get more than half of our day’s calories from ultra-processed foods, which include everything from pies and cakes to fizzy drinks and sliced ham. Processing might increase the shelf life of foods – but it generally does the opposite for people.
But improving your diet needn’t be drastic. Adding just one serving a week of both nuts and oily fish, plus one serving a day of both fruits and vegetables, can turn back your body age by 2.5 years, via a healthier heart.
That doesn’t mean foregoing the stuff you love, either. If you eat a lot of red meat, committing to an upper limit of 500g to 600g per week could make you up to 1.1 years younger.
Step 03 Move, Lift And Definitely Stretch
The benefits of exercise are tougher to quantify – it does so many things for so much of your body. If you start off sedentary, even a moderate amount of exercise buys you 1.4 years; when you add in its effects on blood pressure, diabetes risk, stress and so on, you get more than double that.
For men who work at a desk, travel by car and average fewer than 4,000 steps, a daily 20-minute walk can add a year to your life. Ten minutes of weightlifting per week, plus half an hour of stretches, can get you an additional 0.4 years, too.
Stretching? Yep. Basic stretches, especially for the legs, can anti-age arteries by making them less stiff. Try doing five minutes of stretching six days per week. Include posterior-chain stretches such as toe touches and child’s pose, then add upward-facing dogs and calf stretches. Hold each stretch for up to 15 seconds, then release and repeat.
Step 04 Take The Pressure Off
‘If your blood pressure is even a little high, getting it down is the biggest thing you can do to turn back your body’s age,’ says Dr Roach. Too much pressure against your blood-vessel walls – think fire-hose volume through a garden hose – is hard on your arteries and drives up your risk of heart attacks, kidney failure and strokes. Going from borderline high (140/90) to average (135/85) can make your body 3.3 years younger. Take it from average to optimal (110/70) and you’ll gain an additional 0.9 years.
If you’re riding on the high side, look at your salt intake. Not everyone’s blood pressure is salt sensitive. But if you cut back and if it turns out you are salt sensitive, you could see a drop in as little as a week.
Check your food labels (unexpected offenders include bread, cereal and cooked meats) and when cooking at home, try adding punchy flavour to your dishes via spices, herbs, garlic and lemon juice instead.
Step 05 Have Your Drink – But Really Enjoy It
Drink to your health, by all means.
Just know your limits, says Dr Roach.
Current low-risk limits are equal to six pints of lager or medium glasses of wine a week, over three or more days. Drink any more and your risk edges up.
Libations in these measures may bring cardiovascular benefits that lower your body’s age slightly (by about 0.1 years); a lot of that may be related to the opportunity booze offers to socialise.
The less-good bit? For men, binge drinking just one to three times per month – five or more drinks in a sitting – can add 3.5 years to your age. But what use are extra years if you can’t remember much of them anyway?
Step 06 Call Your Parents (Or A Friend) This Week
Going from a low social network to an ideal one where you enjoy frequent and meaningful social contact can earn you 1.7 more years because of the stressreducing benefits to your heart.
But it’s not about how many names are in your contacts, nor how busy your iCal is. Yancy Wright, founder of Alternavida Leadership, a corporate-training company, advises, ‘Make a list of people you already know whom you really trust. When you’re with them and they ask how you are, say, “Do you really want to know?” If they say yes, then elaborate, even if you’ve had a bad day.’
Not a big talker? Do more activities with other people – go for a hike, a bike ride or try bouldering. ‘Being faced with challenges, especially in nature, opens us up,’ Wright says. So, go wild.