Longevity has become a bit of a buzz word, and has become increasingly aligned with the tech industry. But while it remains unclear whether the billions of US dollars being invested in life-extending bioscience is something any of us can access, a timely report from Harvard Medical School reminds us what we can do on our own – and it's backed by a huge body of evidence.
The new report, Pathways to Longevity: Science and strategies in pursuit of a longer, healthier life, focuses on the crux of longevity: living healthier for longer. And it outlines five areas that a comprehensive body of research has identified as giving us the best chance of achieving our own longevity.
Of course, we haver personal limitations – genetics, socioeconomic and physical challenges, to name a few – that won't make this a "one size fits all" guide. And some things are fairly obvious. But even a couple of changes could potentially make a difference.
"This report won’t try to sell you on miracle cures or anti-aging gimmicks," the team notes. "Pathways to Longevity focuses on what science actually tells us about living better and longer. Some of the most powerful changes are simple and already within reach."
So, the team behind this 50-page report – including the editors of Harvard Health Publishing in consultation with medical editor David Barzilai – outline it as "five pillars" that are key to giving you the best shot at living healthier longer.
“How much each pillar matters depends heavily on where a given person is starting from,” Barzilai says. “For someone sedentary, adding movement is transformative. For someone running on five ragged hours of sleep, fixing sleep will do more than another workout. For someone isolated, rebuilding connection may be the highest-yield change of all.”
1. Diet
This one might be the most contentious, but the more we learn about how the gut microbiome has far-reaching health impacts that encompass inflammation and chronic disease, looking after your microbial ecosystem is critical.
"All healthy dietary patterns have certain features in common: more plants and plant proteins (vegetables, fruits, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, whole grains) and less animal foods (especially red and processed meats) and refined carbohydrates than the typical American diet," the report notes. "This pattern automatically increases intake of beneficial nutrients (fiber, vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and unsaturated fatty acids), while decreasing those that have proved detrimental to health (sodium, added sugars, and saturated fats)."
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School have developed the Healthy Eating Plate – a guide that recommends the following for each meal if possible:
Vegetables and fruits: Half of your plate (with a slightly greater proportion taken by vegetables). Aim for a colorful variety, but don’t include potatoes in this category.
Whole grains: A quarter of your plate. This includes whole grains like brown rice, oats, corn, and whole-grain foods made with them, such as pasta and bread. As an alternative to a grain-based choice, starchy vegetables (like potatoes and sweet potatoes) could be included in this section.
Healthy proteins: A quarter of your plate. Choose fish, poultry, and plant-based proteins such as beans, lentils, and tofu. Limit red meat and avoid processed meats.
Healthy plant oils: Enjoy in moderation, avoiding hydrogenated oils and other sources of saturated fat.
Water (and coffee or tea): Make these your main beverages. Skip sweetened drinks and limit fruit juices to a small daily glass.
“The principles that have held up across decades of research are unglamorous and durable: build meals around whole foods,” Barzilai explains. “Get enough protein, which becomes more important, not less, as you age. And avoid the large blood glucose spikes you get from refined carbohydrate eaten on its own, which in practice means anchoring meals with protein, healthy fats, and fiber.”
2. Movement
“It improves nearly every system at once, from insulin sensitivity to brain health to bone density," says Barzilai. "And cardiorespiratory fitness is one of the strongest predictors of mortality we have ever measured.”
While the report recommends two resistance training sessions of some kind, and 150 minutes of "moderate" activity or 75 minutes of more intense workouts, in a week, it's important to remember that everything counts.
“Breaking up long stretches of sitting with two to three minutes of light activity measurably improves glucose and blood-pressure responses," Barzilai adds.
Previous studies have found that people are more likely to stick with movement activities they enjoy, and remember something is always better than nothing.
3. Sleep
We know by now what sleep does for us, from brain health to metabolic regulation, but it's often not treated as important as diet and exercise.
While scientists recommend that adults across the board aim for seven to eight hours of shut-eye a night, that's unrealistic for many people. But much like with movement, the report highlights the evidence that suggests consistency matters as much as time asleep.
“That is encouraging,” Barzilai says, “because a steady wake time, weekends included, is something most people can actually manage.”
4. Stress reduction
Like sleep, this is easier said than done for many people. Myself included. But being aware of sustained stress and its impact – including inflammation – and working on ways to manage it may be more important for our long-term health than it seems.
“The trouble comes when it never switches off," Barzilai says. “Chronic stress holds the body in a low-grade alarm state that, over years, wears on the cardiovascular and immune systems, disrupts sleep and metabolism, and appears to accelerate several of the underlying processes of aging.”
Some people are more predisposed to being in a state of sustained levels of stress, such as individuals with neurodivergent brains – who also often also have sleep disorders.
And reducing stress isn't an isolated practice, as Barzilai notes.
"People reach for a relaxation app and overlook that movement, sufficient sleep, exposure to daylight, and time with people they trust are often the more powerful levers," he says. "Regular exercise in particular is one of the best-validated stress and mood interventions we have.”
5. Social connection
We've covered this extensively over the past few years, as studies have linked social activity in older age with better brain health.
“People will track their macros and their step count to the decimal and never think to protect their friendships with the same intentionality, even though the survival data on relationships rival the data on much of what they are measuring,” says Barzilai.
The report stresses that social connection is not what we exchange on Facebook. In-person, or on an audio or video call, contact with someone at least once a week is a low-stakes commitment if you're unable to connect with others in person.
“Begin with one recurring, low-pressure point of contact: a standing weekly call with one person, a class or volunteer commitment that puts you in the same room with the same faces again and again, a daily walk somewhere you will see neighbors,"
Barzilai suggests. "Pick one recurring contact and protect it like an appointment, and treat a few real relationships with the same seriousness you would give your blood pressure or your exercise.”
If you're someone who doesn't enjoy spending time on the phone – or time with your neighbors – social activities come in many forms. But staying curious and having that sense of adventure seems to be something linked to the people we know as "super-agers".
“What I can say with confidence is that the most underrated pillar is social connection, and the most foundational day-to-day are sleep, physical activity, and nutrition, since they are the ground the others stand on,” Barzilai adds. “But the useful question is not which pillar wins in the abstract. It is which one you are personally weakest in right now, because that is where your next improvement will pay off most.
“Good health is surprisingly unglamorous,” he concludes. “What matters most are the basics people already know about but rarely execute consistently over decades. There is no magic to it.”
And he makes an important point – doing what you can, consistently, and identifying your weakest pillar (or in my case, pillars) to work on, may not offer instant rewards but the report's point is that small changes could impact your health more than you realize.
Source: Harvard Medical School
