Life

Longevity: Guide to healthy aging

Michael Wäger
from Michael Wäger, BSc, MSc
on 01.10.2024
Longevity

Thanks to modern medicine, longevity and eternal youth are no longer just a matter of genetics or pure luck. They are art and science at the same time, which each of us can learn and implement in our daily lives in order to live in the best health possible for as long as possible. This development is synonymous with the term longevity and describes a world where the wisdom of age goes hand in hand with the vitality of youth. Here’s a holistic view of what it really means to live a long and healthy life and discover how small changes in daily life can help.

Definition: What is longevity?

Longevity means long life. It refers to the concept of a long, healthy and active life. While longevity is often simply understood to be a longer life compared to average life expectancy, longevity in a broader sense includes quality of life, health, vitality and well-being, which should also be maintained in later years of life. So it’s not just about maximising the number of years in your life, it’s about keeping your mental and physical fitness at a high level through to your old age.

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9 health tips for aging: stay fit and healthy as you age

The secret of a long and fulfilled life lies not only in extending our lifespan, but also in the quality of this additional time. Taking care of your health is the ideal way to ensure a fit life in old age. The following nine strategies for healthy and fit aging will help you lay a good foundation:

  1. Healthy eating: You are what you eat. In keeping with this logical credo, a balanced, nutritious diet forms the basis for physical and mental fitness well into old age. Vegetables (especially cabbage), fruit (especially berries), legumes, nuts, whole grain products, high-quality fish and valuable vegetable oils should be on your plate particularly often. Oils with monounsaturated fatty acids (e.g. linseed oil) and green tea with an extra portion of antioxidants should not be missing from the menu of longevity fans.
  2. Reduce calorie intake: Less is often more, even when it comes to food – because regardless of your motives, voluntarily reducing your food intake has an astonishingly positive effect on our body. Fasting or interval fasting can also have health benefits: systematic abstinence not only helps you lose weight, but also triggers a regenerative “cell cleansing” process at the cellular level.
  3. Daily exercise and sports: Exercise is a true anti-aging weapon! 3-5 hours of sporting activity per week offer a plus for body and mind. Endurance sports not only strengthen the heart, circulation, immune system and muscles, they are also said to protect against cancer and Alzheimer's disease to a certain extent. According to one study, men who jog live on average 6.2 years longer than their inactive peers, while women who jog gain 5.6 years (Schnohr P. et al. 2013). In addition to endurance sports, strength training should also be done from time to time. This helps to maintain muscle mass well into old age, which counteracts many age-related ailments.
  4. De-stressing: constant stress not only damages your health, it also accelerates the aging process. You should therefore regularly de-stress your life by regularly escaping your daily hamster wheel and using these time-outs to relax. Even people who don't like to sit still should take care to offer their body real deceleration and rest in order to give the body time for much-needed regeneration processes.
  5. Learning: a new language, a new musical instrument, a new skill – it's never too late to learn something new! Daily variety keeps our brain active and helps prevent dementia.
  6. Optimal weight: A healthy weight is the right weight at any age. Being overweight for years or decades, on the other hand, can increase the risk of certain diseases (e.g. diabetes, cardiovascular diseases) that often only strike in the last stages of life and cost the person affected quality of life and lifetime.
  7. Sleep: Sleep is more than just a nightly necessity; it is a crucial component of our health and longevity. A long-term study by Harvard University in the United States showed that good sleep habits can increase life expectancy by almost five years for men and around 2.5 years for women (Li H et al. 2024).
  8. Less alcohol, no cigarettes: Alcohol and cigarettes can make you ill and cost you years of life. That is no big secret. While smoking should be avoided altogether, if you do not want to give up alcohol, you should limit your alcohol consumption to a maximum of 100 grams of alcohol per week. This amount corresponds to about five glasses of wine.
  9. Socializing: We are social beings from birth. Friends and family are not only important for our well-being, social contact also activates our brain and thus counteracts dementia.

Micronutrients & plant extracts as targeted longevity tools

Our “9 Longevity Tips” are just the beginning of what you can do to boost your longevity account with valuable plant extracts and selected micronutrients. Scientists have now identified 12 core physiological processes of aging. These multi-layered and complex processes include chronic inflammation, increasing disruptions to our cell power plants (mitochondria) and the accumulation of DNA damage.

In recent years, intensive research has been conducted into which natural active ingredients can have a positive influence on these aging processes. For example, plant substances such as quercetin, berberine or betaine have anti-inflammatory effects, while coenzyme Q10, NADH, alpha-ketoglutarate and ginseng extract have a potential to protect the mitochondria.

Counteract skin aging with beauty nutrients

Many people naturally also want to turn back the clock optically. Although there is no miracle cure for skin aging, it can still be positively influenced to a certain degree. Substances such as hyaluronic acid and collagen, among other things, help to counteract premature skin aging and reflect the youthful feeling inside out.

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Frequently asked questions about longevity

The term “anti-aging” includes measures that aim at reducing or slowing down the aging processes and the negative accompanying symptoms of growing older (such as chronic diseases) through prevention, early diagnosis and therapies. This should not only extend your lifespan but also ensure that your later years are still full of vigour and energy.

Biological aging refers to the process by which the human body loses functionality and structure over time. The natural aging process involves a number of biological mechanisms that cause the gradual decline in physical performance. These mechanisms include cell degradation, DNA damage, hormonal changes and tissue degradation. These changes lead to a reduction in the physiological capacity of the body, which increases the susceptibility to diseases and health problems.

Longevity research aims to deepen the understanding of these aging processes and develop strategies to improve quality of life with age and minimise the occurrence of age-related diseases.

Genes play an important role, but do not solely determine our life expectancy. Genetic factors are estimated to contribute approximately 25% to the lifespan of an individual. While some people have a higher genetic probability of getting older, research shows that lifestyle and environmental factors account for most of the variation in lifespan.

It is believed that lifestyles have a greater impact on health and lifespan than genetics in the first eight decades of life. Only in people over the age of 80 do genetics appear to play a more important role in keeping them healthy and viable. In the case of centenarians this is up to 33% in women and 48% in men. However, it must be taken into account that the development of individual differences in health and thus in longevity can be traced back to the dynamic interaction between genetic and environmental variations.

With advances in medicine, healthcare and an increasing awareness of healthy lifestyles, it is likely that the average life expectancy will continue to rise in the future. Innovations in the treatment of chronic diseases as well as the development of personalised medicine and better prevention strategies can contribute to prolonging life and improving quality of life in old age. However, the potential for longer lives also depends on socioeconomic factors, access to healthcare and global challenges such as pollution and climate change.

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