Most people want to live longer lives, but are there any scientifically proven behaviors that will help you live longer? Can diet, sleep, and exercise really help you live longer?
The good news is that many risk factors are modifiable. So there are numerous strategies to increase your chances of living a longer, healthier life. Continue reading to discover about 10 habits that will increase your longevity and what adjustments you can do right now.
1. Get Enough Sleep
Getting enough sleep is critical since lack of sleep raises your chances of obesity, heart disease, accidents, and dementia. [1][2] The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that bathes your brain and spinal fluid flow in gentle waves during sleep, clearing toxins associated with an elevated risk of neurodegenerative disease, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
But how do you know how much sleep is enough when it varies from person to person? Simply going to bed when you’re tired and waking up without an alarm can give you a rough idea of how much you need.
2. Eat Enough Fiber
Fiber consumption has been related to a lower risk of colon cancer, which can help increase longevity. Fiber is also beneficial to the health of the friendly bacteria that live in your gut (microbiota), which play a role in cardiovascular risk.
It is recommended that you consume 30 grams of fiber every day to minimize your risk of colon cancer. If you’re not sure how this works in practice, you can find a free cheat sheet online.
3. Have a Healthy Diet
A balanced diet rich in whole grains, fruits and vegetables, fermented foods, and omega-3 fatty acids can lower your risk of chronic inflammation, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and dementia. As a result, you should make it a habit to include these foods in your diet on a regular basis.
4. Maintain a Healthy Weight
Overeating and obesity have been related to an increased risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, fatty liver, and type 2 diabetes, therefore maintaining a healthy weight is critical. Caloric restriction was linked to improved longevity in animal studies. These have yet to be recreated in humans, but the fact that they help minimize the likelihood of the aforementioned health problems is reason enough to consider them.
5. Socialize Frequently
Social isolation has been linked to a 50% increase in the risk of dementia. Hearing loss, which is connected with a decreased capacity to socialise, can also contribute to this.
6. Add Nuts and Oils to Your Diet
Many people avoid nuts and oils because they believe they are fatty. However, a huge study called PREDIMED discovered that if you are over 55 and at a high risk of cardiovascular disease, a Mediterranean diet with additional olive oil or nuts may cut your risk. If you are not in this category, the advantages are less evident, but many similar diets that focus on whole grains, healthy fats, and plenty of fruits and vegetables produce similar good consequences.
7. Be Physically Active
We all know that we should exercise, but did you know that those who are physically active have a 30 to 35 percent decreased risk of dying from any cause? Exercise lowers your chances of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, and thus helps you live longer. Physically active persons can increase their life expectancy by 0.4 to 4.2 years simply by exercising on a regular basis.
Anything is preferable to nothing, but aim for 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three times per week and two bouts of weight-bearing activity.
8. Cognitive Resilience
Lower cognitive reserve and resilience are related with a higher risk of dementia. Building brain reserve earlier in life through education and other intellectual engagement may improve cognitive resilience later in life. Education promotes nerve cell branching and plasticity (the ability to alter through growth and remodeling), hence enhancing brain reserve. Higher education levels are connected with lower rates of late-life dementia.
9. Intermittent Fasting and Time-Restricted Eating
You may believe that a healthy breakfast is the foundation of healthy eating and that skipping breakfast is unhealthy, but several preclinical animal studies have shown that intermittent fasting and time-restricted eating (eating only within a six to eight-hour window) can reduce a variety of chronic disorders, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancers, and neurodegenerative brain diseases.
These findings have been replicated in humans, and there is now evidence that intermittent fasting and time-restricted eating cause cells to activate a coordinated stress response, resulting in increased antioxidant defenses, DNA repair, higher protein quality control standards, and lower levels of inflammation.
Eating three meals a day has a cultural foundation rather than scientific data. As a result, you should experiment with time-restricted eating or intermittent fasting.
10. Low-Carbohydrate Diets
Low-carbohydrate diets are becoming more popular. They entail taking less than 26% of one’s daily energy from carbohydrates, as opposed to the government’s healthy eating standards, which recommend roughly 50% of one’s daily energy from carbohydrates.
In the media, there are other somewhat different low-carb diets, such as the Keto and Atkins diets, which have gained popularity due to short-term weight loss. Ketosis is a metabolic state that occurs in those who follow an extremely low-carbohydrate diet (i.e. including only 5 to 10 percent of energy from carbohydrates). Cells are pushed to break down fat rather than break down or burn carbs (the body’s preferred energy source). When this happens, certain molecules known as ketone bodies or ketones are generated, which is why it is referred to as ketosis or ketogenesis.
There is evidence that short-term use of these diets may result in weight loss, but no evidence of superior long-term weight loss. A low-carbohydrate diet has been linked to better short-term blood sugar control in type 2 diabetes, but there is little evidence of long-term benefits.
Low-carbohydrate diets high in plant-based protein and lipids have been linked to lower mortality and cardiovascular risk, but low-carbohydrate diets high in animal fat and protein have been linked to an increase in all-cause mortality and cardiovascular risk.
The Botton Line
I hope you find this post to be useful. You should now see that by changing your diet, exercising, and staying intellectually engaged, you can help minimise your long-term risk of disease and increase