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Focus on eating foods that are in their natural form; vegetables, nuts, seeds, meats, fish, and fruits, in this order; eating a full spectrum of them at levels that support exercise but not body fat. Fast for at least 12 hours daily…
Routine IF followed during two-thirds of the lifespan is associated with greater longevity in this study.
In this cohort study of 37,233 US adults 20 years or older, overall low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets were not associated with total mortality, but a healthy low-carbohydrate diet (lower amounts of low-quality carbohydrates and higher amounts of plant protein and unsaturated fat) and a healthy low-fat diet (lower amounts of saturated fat and higher amounts of high-quality carbohydrates and plant protein) were associated with lower total mortality.
The associations of low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets with mortality may depend on the quality and food sources of macronutrients.
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Make a strong social community. Keep your current friends but also make friends who are younger than you…
One meta-analysis found that people with healthy and supportive relationships live longer, and that these effects are surprisingly strong. Over the course of studies averaging seven years long, research participants with larger social networks were about 45 percent less likely to die.
Lisa Berkman, director of the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies and Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy and of Epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, cited other studies that have suggested that social isolation carries a risk of mortality that’s similar to that of other major risk factors, such as smoking.
Berkman said that the stress of isolation can weaken people’s immune systems, making them more susceptible to infectious diseases. She also noted that people with strong social connections tend to have better health behaviors, like eating healthy foods and being physically active.
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Sleep at least the same 7 hours every night…
The following Is from The National Academies Committee on Sleep Medicine and Research…
Sleep loss is also associated with increased age-specific mortality, according to three large, population-based, prospective studies. The studies were of large cohorts, ranging from 83,000 to 1.1 million people. In three studies, respondents were surveyed about their sleep duration, and then they were followed for periods ranging from 6 to 14 years. Deaths in short or long sleepers were compared with those who slept 7 hours (the reference group), after adjusting for numerous health and demographic factors. Sleeping 5 hours or less increased mortality risk, from all causes, by roughly 15 percent. The largest American study, depicted in Figure 3-4, graphically illustrates what has been found in all three studies: a U-shaped curve, showing that progressively shorter or longer sleep duration is associated with greater mortality. Other epidemiological studies suggest that sleep-loss-related mortality is largely from acute heart attacks (Ayas et al., 2003). Potential pathophysiological mechanisms accounting for the relationship, while poorly understood, have become the focus of growing interest and are discussed later in this chapter.
Sleep Loss Affects Health…
In the past 10 or more years, research has overturned the dogma that sleep loss has no health effects, apart from daytime sleepiness. The studies discussed in this section suggest that sleep loss (less than 7 hours per night) may have wide-ranging effects on the cardiovascular, endocrine, immune, and nervous systems, including the following:
-Obesity in adults and children
-Diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance
-Cardiovascular disease and hypertension
-Anxiety symptoms
-Depressed mood
-Alcohol use
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Exercise. At least 150-300 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week, with twice-weekly resistance training…
Unless there is a clear medical contraindication, we should all strive to achieve and maintain high levels of fitness. Current guidelines recommend 150 to 300 minutes per week of moderate aerobic activity (walking, running, swimming, biking), or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, or a mix of both. Twice-weekly resistance training to strengthen muscles is also recommended. Unfortunately, only about one in five adults and teens gets enough exercise to maintain good health.
Current studies suggest that 2.5 to 5 hours/week of moderate or vigorous physical activity will confer maximal benefits; >10 hours/week may reduce these health benefits. Muscular strength is inversely and independently associated with death from all causes and cancer in men, even after adjusting for cardiorespiratory fitness and other potential confounders. Strong grip may predict longer life at all ages. Reduced muscular strength, as measured by grip strength, has been associated with an increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.
