We all want to live long, healthy lives. But achieving longevity and wellness is not just about luck or genetics—it requires conscious effort and a holistic approach. I recently read four books about longevity, and here is a review of the first two and what matters when it comes to your health span.
First, it is unsurprising that a nutrient-rich plant-based diet, regular physical activity, and sleep are foundations for optimizing your body’s ability to thrive. Along with the importance of stress management, having a purpose and avoiding risky substances are all factors that directly impact your longevity.
Second, easily incorporating healthy habits into your lifestyle is the key to success. Regardless of your age, you can make changes to improve your health.
Finally, social determinants of health impact all of us. Social determinants of health are non-medical factors that influence health outcomes. They include the conditions in which people work, live, and age, as well as the systems shaping the conditions of daily life, including economic policies and systems, development agendas, social norms, social policies, and political systems.
The Importance of a Healthy Lifestyle
Living a healthy lifestyle is the foundation for achieving a long health span. It involves making conscious choices, prioritizing your well-being, and supporting your body’s natural ability to thrive. A healthy lifestyle encompasses various aspects, including nutrition, exercise, mental health, sleep, stress management, social connections, and medical advancements, like regular check-ups and vaccinations.
Nutrition and Longevity
Good nutrition is vital to our overall health and well-being. A nutrient-rich and balanced diet can significantly contribute to our health span. With the focus on consuming whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. While avoiding high-fat and ultra-processed foods. Whole, unprocessed plant-based foods provide essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that support cellular health and reduce the risk of chronic diseases.
These foods are rich in fibre, which aids digestion and promotes heart health. Additionally, reducing the intake of processed and sugary foods can help maintain a healthy weight and lower the risk of obesity-related conditions.
Exercise and Physical Activity for Longevity
Regular physical activity is crucial for maintaining optimal health and extending one’s lifespan. Aerobic exercise is critical for heart and metabolic health while incorporating strength training exercises is equally important. These activities help build and maintain muscle mass, essential for healthy aging.
This brings me to my first book review, which has some interesting tips about exercise and nutrition.
Outlive, by Dr. Peter Attia ⭐️
If you google reviews about this book, people love it, or they don’t. You can count me in the “don’t bother with this one.” First, it is excessively long. In fact, the word tedious comes to mind. It could have been a blog post, and maybe it started that way, and someone convinced him to write a book. Second, the information is told with stories that seem to have no connection to the topic’s relevance. He starts the exercise section with a lengthy diversion into wearing seatbelts.
His advice on fasting is counterintuitive, especially if you exercise regularly, as he recommends. The exercise section was interesting but not necessarily helpful (don’t get me started about rucking.) I won’t go into the medical advice reviewed here and here.
Let’s begin with the good advice. Dr. Attia firmly believes that more muscle will improve your longevity. This is true. He is an excellent advocate for exercise and describes his exercise program in great detail, which apparently takes hours a day. If you have hours to exercise daily, I suggest hiking, cycling, cross-country skiing, or something that you consider fun. Your exercise program should not be a punishment, and his program does not sound fun or sustainable.
Although Dr. Attia is not an exercise specialist, some of his recommendations are good—squats are great—but most examples are filler. If you want a good exercise program, ignore most of his recommendations and hire a professional. It will be safer and more beneficial.
Regarding nutrition, Dr. Attia recommends three times the protein needed daily. There is no proven benefit to more protein. Enough protein is good, and the longest-living people living in the Blue Zones consume a diet of 95% fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes with a low to moderate protein intake, mostly from plant sources.
He was also a proponent of lengthy fasts. Fasting is currently cool, but it has no apparent benefits that you can’t get from a whole-food, plant-based diet. Also, fasting is not conducive to maintaining muscle mass, and muscle is life. He seems to have changed his mind about fasting and now states that it can be detrimental to your health and is not for everyone.
He also doesn’t promote supplements, which is unusual and great. He warns people about the harms of alcohol, which is also a good way to speed up the aging process, but his avoidance of berries because they contain fructose is nonsensical. Berries are really nutritional powerhouses. Sure, avoid fructose in processed foods, but don’t avoid fruit.
His medical recommendations are also unsupported. Having a whole-body MRI, as a precaution, can do more harm than good. The stress, anxiety, and extra testing that come with their own risks, as well as the expense, are a privileged look at prevention. Also, the suggestion that taking an immunosuppressant drug, rapamycin, to prevent aging comes with its own substantial risks. This review of myths by medical experts, including Professor Timothy Caulfield, is informative.
Setting the Record Straight: Medical experts debunk the biggest myths in their field.
The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science, by Dr. Peter Hotez ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dr. Peter Hotez is a doctor and professor of pediatrics, molecular virology and microbiology. He writes about the rise of anti-science and anti-vaxers that are causing thousands of premature deaths.
This is a book about how anti-science has become a major force. Dr. Hotez is realistic and optimistic about combating science denial to save lives. The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science takes us through his experience with the anti-vax movement.
How anti-science threatens everyone’s longevity.
The rejection of scientific evidence has far-reaching consequences for public health. The anti-vaccine movement is one example. Despite the evidence supporting the safety and efficacy of vaccines, misinformation and fear have led to a decrease in vaccination rates. Resulting in the reemergence of preventable diseases such as measles and whooping cough, putting vulnerable populations at risk.
Anti-science beliefs also interfere with developing and implementing effective public health policies. When decision-makers prioritize personal beliefs over scientific evidence, addressing public health issues effectively becomes challenging. For example, in the face of a global pandemic, the denial of scientific advice and the refusal to follow evidence-based guidelines can lead to increased transmission rates and unnecessary loss of life. Since the COVID-19 pandemic started there has been the greatest decline in life expectancy in the last 50 years.
In conclusion, stick to the basics to improve your odds of living a longer, healthier life. Eat whole food, mostly plants. Exercise regularly with a combination of aerobic exercise and strength training that you enjoy. Stay up to date on your regular medical appointments and check-ups. Do your best to avoid diseases that reduce your health span and lifespan, such as COVID-19; since this disease is so new, we really don’t know how repeated infections will affect us.
Change your mind, change your health,
Shayla
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