Tips and Tricks to Live Forever… Or At Least Close
If I were to ask everyone reading this article whether they wanted to live to 100 plus, they probably would say an emphatic yes! But you may be wondering what you can do to get there along the way.
Get Exercise
Yeah, I know, coming from a fitness company it may seem like nagging. A metadata analysis of 13 studies shows that regular exercise as compared to those who don’t exercise can increase your life span up to 6.9 years!
Our oldest client at 105, still working out!
That is nearly 7 extra years for life even after they take into account other risk factors such as unhealthy diets and other chronic conditions such as diabetes. “The relative risk of death is approximately 20% to 35% lower in physically active and fit persons compared to that in inactive and unfit persons.” [1]
So what can we do to keep active as we age? Walking is consistently one of the best options, because it is low impact and can be lightly to moderately cardio intensive. This can help with weight loss, strength, and prevention of cardiac disease. Those that are 65+ that walked daily, lowered their mortality risk by 14.1%. [2]
Resistance training is great, because as we age we lose a lot of our strength and muscle mass. We can lose so much muscle that we can find daily tasks such as getting out of a chair, a very real struggle. We have clients who are in their 80’s who are dealing with these exact problems. To prevent this we recommend moderate resistance training twice a week. [3]
Once again, coming from a fitness company this may feel like we are trying to sell you something. However the problem with a lot of the fad diets, is that these diets often lack in specific nutrients and may not be healthy for you in the long term.
Eat Moderately and Eat Healthy
Diets like keto, paleo, and whole30 tell you to remove entire food groups or easy sources of certain vitamins and minerals. This can be very damaging to your health. For example diets high in fats and low in carbohydrates increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. [4] The current recommendation by most health professionals is to balance your diet around 50% carbohydrates, 25% fats, and 25% proteins. You should eat mostly vegetables, with some healthy non-saturated fats, and lean proteins.
Eating leafy greens regularly can delay symptoms of dementia. “[T]hose who consumed 1–2 servings per day was the equivalent of being 11 years younger in age compared with those who rarely or never consumed green leafy vegetables. ” [5]
So eat moderately and eat healthy. It’s okay to enjoy a handful of candy or a soda every now and then. Just eat good quality food and it’ll boost the quality of your life!
Be Social
Surprisingly being social is one of the best ways to help increase your lifespan. Humans are social creatures by nature, we crave social interaction. Loneliness and isolation can be deadly. Lonely individuals are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s Disease. [6]
We need friends and family as a support system. Those who have close friends and family are 50% more likely to survive all-cause mortality. But surprising to most, we also need the ancillary relationships with our cashiers, mailmen, and waiters. Having these acquaintances are also important to keep the mind sharp and help improve memory.
Conclusion
We may not have given you all of the secrets to live forever, but we have given you 3 secrets to help you live longer and a healthier life. By combining regular exercise, eating well, and being social you can vastly improve your quality of life.