The longevity files: A strong grip? Push-ups? What actually can help you live to a ripe old age.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
“Frailty is a really bad thing starting in middle age, and even worse as you get older,” says Michael Joyner, a physician and human physiology researcher at the Mayo Clinic.
One way to think of longevity is “not as some magic property of a body, but as the lucky state of not having a fatal disease,” says Steve Cole, professor of medicine and psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the UCLA School of Medicine. “By and large, people don’t die of being old; they die of disease.” Therefore, the study of longevity is a way of looking at disease risk or the rate of disease development, he says.
Over the years, various drugs and nutritional supplements have been studied for their potential to help us live longer, but nothing has been shown to work in humans to the extent that would be required for the Food and Drug Administration’s approval, says Gordon Lithgow, chief academic officer at the California-based Buck Institute for Research on Aging.
While researchers continue searching for a pill to extend life, you’ll have to try these verified methods.
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Exercise is key
The most powerful way to promote longevity and improve your long-term health is also simple and, depending on how you do it, free.
“There’s no question that exercise is the biggest anti-aging medicine there’s ever going to be — it’s really huge,” Lithgow says.
“Hands down, nothing compares to exercise,” says Laura L. Carstensen, founding director of the Stanford Center on Longevity. “The great thing is that most people can do it, and you don’t need 10,000 steps per day to get the benefits.” It takes remarkably little exercise to get longevity benefits.
Manage stress
In today’s world, it’s easy to live in a state of chronic stress, and the problem isn’t just that stress feels lousy. It also makes you more susceptible to diseases that could shorten your life.
Researchers are now learning that many conditions associated with older age — such as cancer, heart attacks and Alzheimer’s disease — share a common ingredient: inflammation.
Under normal conditions, inflammation is simply the body’s response to injury — it’s how the body heals cuts and wounds and other insults, Cole says. “Inflammation by itself is not inherently evil.” But when we’re feeling chronically threatened or under siege, our bodies amp up their inflammatory machinery to ready our biological response to injury, and that inadvertently fuels the development of an array of age-related diseases, where inflammation is a common fertilizer, Cole says.
Research has identified chronic stresses that can provoke harmful biological changes, including living in poverty, caregiving for a dying spouse, losing a loved one, suffering post-traumatic stress disorder, and experiencing prejudice.
Who wants to live forever?
Someone was either watching "Highlander" or listening to Queen.
Personally, now at 59, I would like to extend my life. Those 59 years passed too quickly and I have so much more I want to do. 150 years seems more reasonable as a life span. Forever would get kind of boring I would think.
There can ONLY B ONE
I've done everything I set out to do. If I go tomorrow, c'est la vie
Not me! There is a whole world to see and I want to see it and not as some gray haired old bag.
Stop that ! You'll be a fabulous, mature, wise woman.
But not in parts of the Southern Hemisphere.
Shouldn't be a problem-- you can get any hair colour you want out of a bottle!
I think the important thing is
Not how long you make it...but how you make it long.
A lot of discussion related to this seems to turn to prolonging ones lifespan. But what good is it if you can live to 90-- or 100 or longer-- if while you're alive you're miserably sick-- and/or in constant pain?
Also, I think if a person is able to achieve a wonderful life (whatever that means to them) they will probably live longer....research does show the power of the mind in influencing health.
I just realized that that's a reference to an old commercial that ran frequently for a long time, but probably most people here aren't familiar with it.
Yes-- there was a time when cigarette advertising on TV was permitted!
Actually I believe this Wonston commercial was much more widely distributed and/or ran for a longer time-- the famous jingle "Winston Tastes Good Like a Cigarette Should":
Anyone remember that one?
(Where is Buzz when you need him?)
Squeeze half of a lemon into 6 or so ounces of hot water. Drink that every morning and you will have the kidneys and colon of a teenager (a healthy one).
I have heard of that (actually I tried it for a while). BTW is also supposed to be excellent for cleansing the Liver of toxins.
I have studied Naturopathic healing, other approaches to health-- especially nutrition-- for years. I've even tried various types of fasting, colonics, etc. And have received soooo many types of bodywork. (I myself can administer Second Degree Reiki-- I am thinking of getting 3rd Degree certification soon....and eventually, if I can find a teacher, 4th Degree)
Squeeze half of a lemon
Not a bad idea but I actually like WallyW's suggestion-- in reverse! (A daily squeezing of some of those women
The longevity files: A strong grip? Push-ups? What actually can help you live to a ripe old age.
Just having FUN !
When you "Die", you have no clue how old you were when you died anyway ! Only the outsiders do.