Humans have long searched for the key to eternal youth but scientists might have cracked it with these three measures that could slow ageing by up to six years.
When the Greek historian Herodotus wasn’t writing detailed accounts of the Greco-Prussian Wars, he turned his attention to the restorative waters of Ethiopia, likely inspiring modern myths about the Fountain of Youth. This was around 500BC.
Since then, the possibility of extending life and cheating death has consumed human culture, from the tales of Bimini, told by the indigenous people of the Bahamas in the 1500s to Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Grey in 1890.
More recently, the search for longer life has been the preserve of the wealthy.
The Guardian recently reported on the billionaire “longevity superstars” who are going to extreme lengths to hold back the tide. Measures adopted by 46-year-old Bryan Johnson include infusing his teenage son’s plasma into his own bloodstream every month. He also forks out around $2 million a year on a research team, who are investigating how we can live longer.
Thankfully, scientists might have come up with some simple ways we can all stay younger for longer, and they don’t involve harvesting the blood of the young.
3 simple ways to slow the ageing process and live longer
US scientists recently named several health measures that they say can slow the body’s ageing process by up to six years.
The findings, based on a study with more than 6,500 participants with an average age of 47, found that you should try to do the following:
1. Eat a healthy diet
Eating healthily doesn’t need to mean going on a diet or eating foods you don’t like. Like any lifestyle change or habit you try to form, you’ll need to enjoy what you’re doing (and in this case eating) if the new regime is ever going to stick.
Here are some key principles to think about:
- Eat a predominantly plant-based diet like the Mediterranean diet, with its focus on vegetables, fruits, and legumes and healthy, unsaturated fats like olive oil, nuts, seeds, and fish.
- Switch out saturated fats like butter, cheese, and fatty meat. Men should eat no more than 30g of saturated fat each day, while for women, the figure is 20g.
- Swap starchy potato products for vegetables like cauliflower that can be roasted, mashed, or even made into cauliflower rice.
- Cut out processed meat and limit the red meat you eat. Opt instead for pulses like beans, lentils, or chickpeas.
- And if you can’t bring yourself to cut red meat out entirely, opt for high-quality beef or lamb.
- Lower your intake of sugar and salt by cutting out fizzy drinks, and either do not add salt to your dinner or use a less processed variety like Himalayan salt.
2. Be more active
Exercising for just 22 minutes a day, by going on a brisk walk, say, could be enough to offset the detrimental effects of a sedentary job or lifestyle.
People who sit down too much are more likely to die earlier, but physical activity eliminates this risk. Consider adding a brisk walk, jog, or cycle to your daily routine.
Exercising in the fresh air, particularly in nature or green space, can be especially beneficial, helping your mental and emotional wellbeing too.
Set yourself an exercise target each day and then reward yourself for meeting that target.
Regular exercise combined with a balanced diet should help you maintain a healthy weight. You’ll also need to keep an eye on your cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure.
3. Get healthy sleep
In the short term, poor quality or insufficient sleep can cause irritability, anxiety, and mental health problems. But it can also increase the risk of dementia, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and even some types of cancer.
A sleep routine, then, is vitally important.
Start with a regular routine, going to bed and waking up at the same time.
In the morning, try an early morning walk to get natural light and exercise early and then enjoy a healthy breakfast.
Your evening routine, meanwhile, should be built around relaxing and doing the things that you enjoy, and that evoke feelings of calm. This might be having a bath, reading a book or listening to music.
Avoid phones, laptops, and tablets close to bedtime as the blue light they emit can confuse your body’s natural circadian rhythms.
Also, make sure your bedroom is conducive to sleep by regulating those things you can control, like temperature and light and noise levels.
Be sure to relax in the lead-up to bedtime, and don’t smoke, drink alcohol, or exercise too close to the time you intend to sleep.
