- Research from the past 12 months has pinpointed some of the lifestyle factors that are linked to living healthier, longer lives.
- One clear factor is diet: Eating less red meat, skipping salt, and following a Mediterranean-style diet consistently have all been linked to longevity.
- Then, there is exercise: As little as taking a walk on a daily basis could help prolong life span, and several studies are now shedding light on the mechanisms through which physical activity slows down aging processes.
- Finally, tending after your social life is also important to longevity: People who feel chronically lonely and those who are socially isolated face a higher risk of early death, mounting evidence suggests.
Most us are probably hoping we will be able to live long lives — and that we may be able to stay as healthy as possible for as long as possible.
So, what are the main factors that could help boost longevity, including our health spans?
Research published in the past 12 months points to three clear factors: diet, exercise, and social life.
Making healthy choices around these three factors may be key to living the long, fulfilling lives we strive for, and since it is never too late to start making positive changes, now is as good a time as any to make health a top priority.
Numerous recent studies have emphasized the importance of diet to all aspects of health, and evidence that healthy dietary choices could boost longevity is ever accumulating.
Among these studies, many have linked red meat consumption to the development of several chronic conditions, including colorectal and other types of cancer, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and dementia.
So it may not be very surprising that research published in BMJ Global Health in April 2024 found that swapping red meat, like beef, for forage fish, could prevent between 500,000 and 750,000 deaths by 2050.
Sophie Lauver, MS, RD, a registered dietitian and owner of Plant-Based Perspective, who was not involved in this study, explained to Medical News Today that compared to red meat, fish contain lower levels of dietary advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which have been linked to oxidative stress and chronic inflammation.
Another important consideration for a healthy diet is the amount of added salt in our food. Another study from April 2024, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, emphasized that using salt substitutes rather than regular table salt can help reduce the risk of death from cardiovascular disease as well as death from all causes.
If these are some of the things to avoid for a Healthy diet, what diet types should we gravitate towards if we want to live a long and Healthy life?
A review of evidence published in Nutrients in August 2024 indicates that intermittent fasting, the Mediterranean diet, and the ketogenic (keto) diet all have benefits in terms of slowing down aging processes.
According to the experts, these diets appear to positively influence bodily mechanisms related to cellular repair, inflammation, and metabolism.
More recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) also published a
Speaking to MNT about some of the changes people can make to ensure their diets are healthy, Molly Rapozo, MS, RDN, CD, a registered dietitian nutritionist and senior nutrition and health educator at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, advised:
“[We want to be] including vegetables, fruit, starches — such as whole grains, legumes, and potatoes — as well as lean protein, fatty fish, and plant fats such as nuts, seeds, avocado, olives, and olive oil. Eat less [of] highly processed snack foods, fatty meats including bacon and sausage, sugar, and other refined carbohydrates.”
Another crucial habit for longevity, as research has shown time and again, is exercise.
A modelling study conducted using United States data — published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in November 2024 — found that, if individuals over 40 walked as much each day as the most physically active of their peers, they could be adding around five years to their lives.
Ryan Glatt, CPT, NBC-HWC, a senior brain Health coach and director of the FitBrain Program at Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, who was not involved in the study, told MNT that “the benefits are most significant for individuals who are inactive, as even small increases in physical activity substantially reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases and premature death.”
Christopher Schneble, MD, Yale Medicine sports medicine physician and assistant professor of orthopedics and rehabilitation at Yale School of Medicine, who was also not involved in the study, explained that:
“Engaging in physical activity can result in improved preservation of bone density, improved strength, reduced body fat, and better cardiovascular health. It can also lead to improvements in both mood and cognitive function. Improving things like heart rate, blood pressure, or the amount of excess body fat can all help decrease how hard the heart must work to pump blood throughout the body, which in return is protective.”
Other recent studies looked at the likely mechanisms through which different forms of exercise could help boost longevity and slow down aging processes.
According to research in animal models presented at the American Physiology Summit in Long Beach, CA, between April 4–7, 2024, participating in more exercise is linked to less DNA damage in the cells that line blood vessels.
This, the study suggested, could be how aerobic exercise helps protect cardiovascular health.
Exercise may also help reverse aging by reducing fat buildup in muscle tissue, found a study conducted both in mouse models and in humans, whose results appeared in
Study authors Georges E. Janssens, Frédéric M. Vaz, and Riekelt H. Houtkooper, from Amsterdam UMC in The Netherlands, explained to MNT that “BMPs [bis(monoacylglycero)phosphates] — the lipids we found to accumulate with age — have previously emerged in literature as markers of disease or stress.”
“BMPs accumulate in various diseases, including chronic kidney disease, diseases related to cholesterol accumulation and vascular diseases, and certain genetic metabolic disorders,” they noted.
However, prolonged health and lifespan depend on more than food and exercise. Research continues to show that the quality of our social lives is also a factor in longevity.
There is already plenty of evidence linking loneliness to a higher risk of chronic diseases and early death, and recent studies have added to this evidence.
A study published in
More specifically, study participants who reported feeling lonely were as much as 25% more likely to have a stroke compared to peers who felt more socially connected.
Jayne Morgan, MD, a cardiologist and the executive director of health and community education at the Piedmont Healthcare Corporation in Atlanta, GA, who was not involved in this study, hypothesized that “self-abusive behaviors such as decreased physical activity, overeating, high consumption of ultra-processed foods, increased alcohol intake, increased use of cigarettes and/or drugs, decreased compliance with prescribed medications, and poor sleep hygiene may all be factors” contributing to the heightened risk of stroke in people who feel chronically lonely.
This seems to align with the findings of a previous study, published in
The support and care of our peers and the ability to share quality moments with people we love may ultimately be one of the most important factors tipping the balance of longevity, not least because sharing in a sense of community could help us naturally lean into healthier life choices.
Sharing meals with family, going for a walk with a friend, and simply making an extra effort to keep in touch with the people we care about may be the positive change we all need in the year ahead.
