Search results
- Cryonics: Freezing yourself to life. Cryonics—freezing your body just after death in the hopes that in the future, someone will be able to thaw you out and bring you back to life—has been practiced since 1967, when TV repairman Bob Nelson and physician Dr. Dante Brunol packed James Bedford into a liquid nitrogen tank right after he died.
- Bore yourself to eternal life. In James Heller’s novel Catch-22, the hero Yossarian’s friend Dunbar attempts to prolong his life by making it as dull as possible, so time will seem to slow down.
- Become a cyborg. The 2045 Initiative is a community of researchers working on uploading minds to computers and creating advanced robots for those minds to live in, thus “extending life, including to the point of immortality.”
- Go to heaven, become a ghost, get reincarnated, etc. When faced with the certainty of death, most people react by convincing themselves there’s an “out.”
Sep 29, 2021 · The web page explores the possibility of human immortality from biological and technological perspectives. It discusses the limitations of the human body, the potential of nanotechnology and the challenges of surviving the universe's end.
- Patrick Pester
Apr 21, 2014 · He identified among the many factors associated with long life: a moderate diet that was rich in vegetables and short on meat and sweetened pastries; an active lifestyle; good care of your teeth ...
- Overview
- Blue Zones: What are they?
- What is the best diet for longevity?
- How to change dietary habits to improve quality of life
- Can positive thinking promote longevity?
- How can being socially active promote longevity?
- Do exercise and weight impact longevity?
- GeneratedCaptionsTabForHeroSec
The question of how to live a long, healthy life is increasingly at the forefront of medical research. While centuries ago some may have turned to finding mythical immortality-granting items like the Holy Grail, scientists now say that achieving longevity may rely on eating the right foods, adopting healthy habits, and remaining socially active.
Reaching your hundredth birthday means you become a member of a “special club” of centenarians. While researchers believe the number of centenarians was very low before 1900, today many more people are able to reach this ripe old age.
As of 2021, there were an estimated 573,000 centenarians globally. The United Nations expects that number to jump rapidly, with a reported estimate of 3.7 million by 2050.
What do centenarians do to help them reach triple-digit birthdays — what is their secret? Medical News Today spoke with six experts to find out what the “secret sauce” behind longevity is.
In 2016, National Geographic Fellow Dan Buettner and his team published a study on what they found to be the secrets to longevity.
Dubbed the Blue Zones, Buettner identified five specific areas of the world where people consistently live over 100 years of age. These areas are:
•Sardinia, Italy
•Ikaria, Greece
•Nicoya, Costa Rica
•Loma Linda, California
As diet makes up a few of the Power 9 learned from Blue Zones, Buettner has also launched the Blue Zone Food Guidelines that feature 11 recommendations reflecting how the world’s longest-living people ate for most of their lives.
“If you want to know what a centenarian [did to live] to be 100, you have to know what they ate during their whole [life],” he said. “Working with Harvard for my book The Blue Zones Kitchen, we collected 155 dietary studies done in all Blue Zones over the past 80 years and averaged them.”
“It was clear that over 90% of their traditional dietary intake came from whole food, plant-based sources [and] was about 65% complex carbs,” noted Buettner. “The pillars of every longevity diet in the world are whole grains, nuts, greens, and other garden vegetables, tubers, and beans.”
Dr. Valter Longo, Edna M. Jones Chair in Gerontology and professor of gerontology and biological sciences at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, developed the Longevity Diet after years of research into aging, nutrition, and disease.
“The Longevity Diet, based on [the] five pillars of longevity, entails all of the everyday and periodic dietary habits that are associated with increased longevity and healthspan,” he explained to MNT.
The main facets of the Longevity Diet include:
When looking to make diet changes to increase longevity, Richard said it is not just about extending life, but also about increasing its quality.
She suggested:
•take inventory of what food you have on hand and what should be added or subtracted
•reassess your sugary beverage intake
•examine how much animal-derived meats and other foods you are eating and consider alternatives
•cook more at home
The “power of positive thinking” is known to be beneficial to a person’s overall mental health. However, previous research shows that a positive attitude may even help a person live longer.
A study published in August 2019 found that being optimistic was associated with a person living 11-15% longer and having a stronger likelihood of living to age 85 or older.
Research published in October 2022 suggested that positive-thinking women in an ethnically diverse United States population lived an average of 4.4 years more than those who did not think positively.
“Having a positive, optimistic outlook reduces our risk for developing chronic diseases and gives us a greater chance of living past 85,” Dr. Karen D. Sullivan, a board-certified neuropsychologist and owner of I CARE FOR YOUR BRAIN in Pinehurst, NC explained to MNT.
“The mechanism behind these benefits is thought to be related to the protection optimism offers against the inflammatory damage of stress. Studies on negative emotions show a weakening effect on the immune system.”
– Dr. Karen D. Sullivan
In addition to staying positive and participating in activities that help lower stress, remaining socially active and connected to other humans has also been associated with living a long life.
A study published in September 2019 found women who had strong social relationships had a 10% longer life span and 41% better chance of living to age 85.
And research published in May 2023 showed that frequent participation in social activity was significantly associated with prolonged overall survival in older adults.
“We are social beings with a social brain — we are wired to be part of a group with needs for both contributing value and being valued,” Dr. Sullivan explained.
“People who identify as lonely have a […] greater risk of dying early than those who feel satisfied with their social life. The chronic stress of loneliness weakens our immune systems, making us more susceptible to infectious diseases and chronic diseases, especially cardiovascular disease and cancer.”
– Dr. Karen D. Sullivan
While experts agree a healthy diet, limiting stress, thinking positively, and staying socially active can potentially lead to a longer life, there are some other healthy habits that are also important.
For example, smoking can take years off your life. A study published in June 2020 found that not smoking and being socially engaged throughout older age were common in centenarians free from common chronic diseases.
Keeping a healthy weight is also important for longevity. Research published in 2017 concluded that a high body mass index (BMI) was associated with substantially shorter healthy and chronic disease-free life expectancy.
Regular exercise can also help you live longer. A study published in August 2022 found that light or moderate to vigorous physical activity were both associated with a lower risk of mortality in older women, while higher sedentary time increased their mortality risk.
“Several studies have shown that physical activity is associated with lower risk of mortality in older adults,” Dr. Aladdin Shadyab, associate professor of epidemiology at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health & Human Longevity Science at UC San Diego, and senior author of the study told MNT.
“We were the first to show that higher levels of physical activity and lower time spent sedentary are associated with reduced risk of mortality, irrespective of having genes that predispose to a long life. These findings overall highlight the importance of maintaining a physically active lifestyle in old age to achieve longevity,” said Dr. Shadyab.
Learn how to live longer and healthier from the Blue Zones, the Longevity Diet, and the Mediterranean diet. Discover the common practices and foods that may slow down aging and prevent chronic disease.
The podcast explores the unbelievable ways some tech billionaires and scientists are pursuing immortality, from blood transfusions to digital uploads. Learn about the challenges, controversies and ethical implications of their quest to beat death.
May 14, 2024 · Nobel laureate Venki Ramakrishnan discusses his book on the new science of aging and the quest for immortality. He explores the current directions of aging research, the challenges and limitations, and the philosophical questions of living forever.
People also ask
How can I increase my chances of living forever?
What is a dream of living forever?
How to live a long healthy life?
What are the secrets to longevity?
Will a 100 year old live a long life?
Can a healthy lifestyle lead to a longer life?
Dec 6, 2011 · Learn how science and genetics can help you live longer and healthier, from removing old cells to eating less. Discover the factors that influence longevity, such as diet, exercise, family history and lifestyle.
