Do you want to see your 100th birthday? What if you do get to a century but you have spent the previous 30 years unable to move fast or far, unable to lift bags of shopping and able to breathe only shallow sips of air without daily medication? Instead would you prefer to live to only 80 but with painless mobility and independence until year 79? Modern healthcare and medications can aid our longivity but at what cost? Continual research adds to the body of evidence that fairly simple lifestyle choices can help massively reduce the risks of excess pain and illness in late life and can lengthen the healthiest time of our lives. It is never too late to start.
Most people who survive childbirth and infant years eventually die from heart disease, strokes, respiratory issues, cancer, diabetes, accidents or suicide. Aside from having genetic or geographical luck here are some recommendations that have been shown to reduce the risks of dying younger but also, crucially, increase our health span.
1) Don't smoke (or "if you smoke, stop now, you'll get better"). Biggest killer in the world, it's a no brainer. It appears to be the case that smoking less or less frequently doesn't make much difference, you have to not smoke. If you smoke you are likely to have a greater than 50% chance of it killing you (cancer, heart disease, COPD, etc). If you stop smoking (treatments are free and plentiful) your body can potentially recover back to the condition of you being a non-smoker but the evidence is not conclusive and, if true, it takes many years and much hard work (a decade of running will probably do it).
2) Calorie frugality (or "don't eat more than you need"). Err on the side of appropriateness with regards to quantity and aim for a plant-based diet- many animal products and most processed food can be linked to heart disease, cancer and other illnesses. You don't have to be vegan to live to 100 but it really helps to be as vegan as possible. There are many accurate online calculators of necessary daily caloric intake and bear in mind the dustructive power of viseceral fat ("belly" fat and around the organs) as compared to the less unhealthy subcutnaeous fat (under the skin). Obviously genes play a part here but even regularly active runners and weightlifters like me should know that the "fat and fit" idea is very nearly mythical. Don't drink alcohol- the evidence now proves that any amount of alcohol is risky (yes, even one glass of red wine a day). The safe alcohol level is…zero.
3) Move (or "be non-sedentary"). Move throughout the day, every day. You don't have to exercise very hard- evidence is inconclusive that huge amounts of exercise helps you live longer but usual recommendations are to get at least 30 minutes of raised heart rate activity each day. What is clearer is the positive evidence for occasional higher intensity movements for cardiac and overall health (such as having a weekly variation of cardiac strain- bouts of high intensity heart rate plus bouts of long, slightly raised heart rate for example). But what is truly conclusive is that being sedentary over the longterm is extremely unhealthy and contributes to heart disease, strokes, COPD, depression and other major killers. Moving little and often every day is a characteristic of the oldest populations on the planet (such as in Okinawa, Japan or Sardinia) but most of them also live up in the mountains so that helps too. So get moving, at least a little and very often. And live in a village halfway up a mountain.
4) Weightlifting (or "resistance training"). Falls and accidents in older people contribute to rapid deterioration in health and early deaths. Resistance training increases balance and proprioception (ie. our location in space- where is my body in relation to that chair I am about to sit down on?), it enables stronger muscles to save you falling as you trip- imagine a strong but flexible arm grabbing the headrest of a chair as your foot accidentally catches the chairleg- and stronger muscles mean denser bones which means fewer fractures. Start lifting weights (either body weight, iron barbell at a gym, tins of beans in the kitchen) at any adult age but it's more important the older you get. No-one is ever too old, or too young, to start (and evidence now proves that even children can take part in considerate, careful weightlifting to good health benefits with no negative effects on bone development, as was previously thought to be the risk).
5) Have agency (or "take control"). Find someone who will listen to you and who will help you get control of your life (or learn and practice great introspection). A quarter of the world's population will experience depression, anxiety or other serious mental illness (and almost all of us go through bereavement). There are many therapies and interventions that help including psychiatric medications and talking therapies that are, literally, lifesaving. Aim to be in control of the things we need to be in control of (ie. agency) and aim to let go of what we don't need to be in control of- we can do this most easily by finding someone to listen to us. We all feel an internal chaos, if only occasionally, we all look around for the adults in charge, at times we all feel guilt and insecurity. Work at understanding where you unconciously come from and how to increase gratitude. This is hard work but is always possible, all difficult things can be worked through and addressed, all traumas healed- this is not anecdotal experience, it is medical fact as evidenced by centuries of knowedge. Forgive the child you used to be- that was then but this is now. Allow yourself to be happy. Allow yourself to be happy. Allow yourself to be happy.
