Boost Longevity Naturally: Lifespan may not be at the top of your priority list. Still, habits that will profoundly impact longevity are easy to incorporate into daily life and benefit your mental and physical health in the short term. By sprinkling in some of these simple lifestyle habits, you will help encourage a healthy, long life.

This article has been medically reviewed by Dr. Charles Penick, MD

Boost Longevity Naturally: 8 Techniques:

1. Eating A Nutrient-Dense, Anti-Inflammatory Diet

The “right” diet for you requires a bio-individual approach because no two people thrive on precisely the same foods. To fine-tune your diet, you must address intolerances, allergies, and energy expenditure, but overarching diets have been associated with longevity worldwide.

The world’s “Blue Zones” are the areas with some of the highest longevity rates, including various diets. For example, the Mediterranean diet is loaded with healthy fats (like olive oil) and anti-inflammatory foods like vegetables, fruits, and good quality meat and dairy. The Japanese Okinawa diet is also loaded with vegetables, some meat, and fish. Both diets tend to limit grains, and the Japanese also tend to limit their dairy intake.

The Blue Zones tend to focus on minimally processed, whole foods. The animal protein and dairy come from high-quality animals, typically in the community (not from factory farms). Cooking is also highly valued, a habit that has been shown to profoundly affect health and longevity ^1.

Apart from what you do eat, it’s also about what you don’t eat. You should avoid regularly eating pro-inflammatory foods if you want to live a long, healthy life. Some of the worst offenders when it comes to inflammation include: ²

• Vegetable oil (like canola, cottonseed, sunflower, and soybean oil)
• Refined sugar and grains
• Processed meat (that have preservatives and added sugars)

2. Fasting

What you eat is essential, but so is when you eat. Fasting has many therapeutic benefits, including promoting longevity ^3. There are many ways to fast, so finding a method that works for your current state of health and lifestyle is critical. An excellent place to start is intermittent fasting, a daily fasting window within the 24-hour circadian clock.

Intermittent fasting provides many of the health and longevity benefits of longer fasts but is more gentle on the body. You can start with daily 12-hour fasting and a 12-hour feeding window if you are new to fasting. Then, in time, you can increase the fasting window.

A prolonged 5-day fast has also been shown to improve various bio-markers of longevity, including insulin levels, blood pressure, waist circumference, and BMI ^4. The benefits have lasted for over six months.

As a form of stress, fasting has benefits but also burdens the body. For someone already dealing with chronic illness or lots of stress, a more gentle approach to start may be better suited.

3. Community

Human connection and a sense of community play a significant role in generating happiness and longevity. An 80-year study by Harvard highlights the joy and the community’s role in promoting longevity ^5. Conversely, loneliness is associated with a higher risk of mortality. Although there are benefits to spending time with people in person, you can also cultivate a sense of community online through social networks.

Other ways to promote a sense of community and connection include volunteering, joining a group environment like a gym or social club, and religious groups like visiting a church once a week.

4. Spending More Time in Nature

A study highlights the profound benefits of spending time amidst the greenery of nature reduces the risk of death by 12 percent ^6. There are many reasons why spending time in nature supports longevity, including fresh air, social engagement, physical activity, and exposure to the sun and daylight. For even more health benefits, try spending some time barefoot in nature!

If you cannot regularly get out of the city or spend a lot of time indoors, you can reap longevity benefits by bringing greenery indoors. Indoor plants and flowers can bring some benefits, even without stepping a foot outside. Studies also show that viewing the outdoor greenery is beneficial ^7.

5. Movement

For many, it won’t come as a surprise that exercise promotes longevity. A study of over 80,000 people highlights that swimming, aerobics, cycling, or playing a racquet sport reduces all-cause mortality by up to 56 percent ^8! Another study highlights that weightlifting also promotes longevity by reducing all-cause mortality by 46 percent⁹.

Regarding running, slow-paced promotes longevity, but ironically, speedrunners have a similar lifespan to non-runners ^10.

Daily exercise, however, is often not enough to reap the longevity benefits of movement. Many people don’t realize that even with an hour of daily exercise, they may still live a technically sedentary lifestyle. One hour is about 4% of the day, so if you go hard in the gym for an hour but spend the rest of your day sitting, that qualifies as sedentary.

It’s time to scrap the idea that you’re done moving for the day once you’ve exercised. Instead of ticking exercise as a box, try incorporating movement into your lifestyle. Some ways to move more throughout the day include:

• Walk to the grocery store instead of driving
• Park further away from the destination when you do drive
• Take a break every hour or two to stretch your legs and go for a short walk
• Stretching first thing in the morning and before bed
• Walk around the block after every meal

6. Watch Less TV

Individuals who watch over three hours per day increase their risk of early death by 200%, compared to those who watch an hour or less ^11. Staring at a TV screen affects eye health and can interrupt deep sleep if you watch it too close to bedtime. Various factors related to TV watching don’t have much to do with the TV itself. Too much television time leads to mindlessly overeating, more isolation, and a sedentary lifestyle.

As we have explored throughout this article, you can improve longevity markers with movement, community, and a healthy relationship with the right foods. Conversely, lots of screen time condenses various habits that deter longevity!

7. Learn New Things

The study between intelligence and longevity is complex. Although there appears to be a connection between the two, much evidence suggests they are both the result of genetics. For example, the same gene that promotes a love for learning also promotes longevity ^12. With that said, a lot of science also encourages learning to build new neural pathways and maintain and even enhance cognitive health as you age.

Whether or not learning new things has a bi-directional relationship with longevity, or if they are both a result of the same genetic trait—learning new skills will help preserve your concentration, attention to detail, memory recall, and problem-solving reduce the chance of developing dementia ^13.

8. Spicy Food

The last way to support longevity isn’t well understood by scientists, but indeed: studies suggest that eating certain spicy foods (like hot peppers) can support a longer life ^14. Speculations as to why hot peppers may promote longevity include the antimicrobial properties of capsaicin, which can help fight bacteria.

Summary

Although many people don’t think about longevity in their youth, many simple ways to improve your lifespan can be integrated into everyday life. Some of the top ways to naturally boost longevity include eating a nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory diet, fasting, cultivating a sense of community, spending more time in nature, moving more, watching less TV, learning new things, and eating spicy food.

Medical Disclaimer: This article is based on the opinions of the author. The information on this website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended to share knowledge and information from the research and experience of Cell Health News and its associates. This article has been medically reviewed by Dr. Charles Penick, MD, for the accuracy of the information provided, but Cell Health News encourages you to make your own healthcare decisions based on your research and in partnership with a qualified healthcare professional.

References

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