100 Ways to Live to 100: A Definitive Guide to Longevity Fitness – InsideHook

At this point, were all familiar with the trope. A local news station visits a retirement home to celebrate Muriels 106th birthday. Shes deaf or blind or both or neither, sitting in a wheelchair in the good spot next to the TV set, and a reporter asks her her secret. Youve lived through both World Wars?! Howd you do it? Then Muriel gets to flash a mischievous grin and tells us she smoked a pack a day for 50 years.

Interacting with centenarians in this way has long made them seem like circus oddities. It trivializes the concept of lifespan and longevity, reducing the science to a throw-your-hands-in-the-hair Who the hell knows! It reinforces the idea that our time on this planet isnt necessarily under our control. If my dad had a stroke and his dad had a stroke then ones probably coming for me too, right? If I make it to 80, or god forbid 90, Ive just beaten the odds. Right?

Not exactly. Since the mid-1990s, in fact, following the infamous Danish twins study, researchers have understood longevity to be only moderately heritable. For a while, this spawned estimates that genetics accounted for somewhere between 20 and 30% of ones longevity. More recently, scientists have concluded that the true heritability of human longevity at birth is closer to just 7%.

Where does that other 93% come from? Your lifestyle. Your decisions. Your everyday habits, big and small. Its possible to put years on your life, to surge past both average life expectancy and your own expectations, by resolving to live a certain way. The crazy part? This doesnt involve some complex Ponce de Lenian quest. You dont even have to search far and wide for the answers.

Thanks to the efforts of vanguard sociologists, geneticists and historians, we know where the worlds largest concentration of centenarians live and how they spend their days. (Theyre called Blue Zones, and the way people cook, move and even happy hour in them is truly revelatory.) We also know, courtesy of a renowned doctor with whom we spoke last year, that certain behaviors can decelerate cellular aging and push the human lifespan into hitherto uncharted territories, and also that we should probably stop eating hot dogs.

You might wonder: Why would I want to live longer? Doesnt the end of life look drawn out, expensive and horrible? Why would I sign up for decades of suffering? Well, the latest wave of longevity research isnt focused on living years for the sake of years. Its concerned with quality years.

Think about it. More years to travel, to exercise, to spend time with your family and whatever new family comes along. An entire life of creativity and challenges to enjoy after retirement. And consider this: those who make it to 100 are no more likely to die at 108 years old than 103. Genetics do start to factor in a bit more once you get way up there in age (hence how the Muriels of the world make it to 106), but overall, your risk of dying from any of the usual diseases plateaus. Longevity wizards only really suffer in the last couple years of their lives.

Take note this movement is going to happen, with or without you. With an assist from modern medical care, scientists project there will be 25 million centenarians scattered across the world by 2100. (There are currently just 573,000.) But you dont need to wait for Benjamin Button patents from the big pharmaceuticals. You can start living in the name of longevity today.

Below, 100 ways to live to 100, broken down by how you optimize your lifespan through diet, fitness, good choices and some truly wild wild cards. Before diving in, understand that you cant do all of them; some of them are likely even incompatible. But the idea is to cherrypick those that work for your life. Ultimately, if nothing else, know this: making the call right now to act in the name of longevity whether your right now is 35 or 65 wont just add life to your ledger. Itll enrich and lighten every year along the way.

Illustration by Santiago Usano

The planets longest-living communities all have access to food from farms and orchards down the road thats to say, within a 10-mile radius of their homes. These ingredients arent treated with pesticides or pumped with preservatives; theyre their original nutrient-dense, fiber-rich selves. Sound expensive? So are late-life medical bills.

So youll eat carrots, beets and cucumbers and thats it. Okay. But if you want to unlock your true longevity potential and lower your risk of everything from cardiovascular disease to macular degeneration you need to regularly cycle through the whole menu: cruciferous veggies, dark leafy greens, edible plant stems, roots and marrows.

Hara hachi bu is a Japanese saying that translates to Eat until youre 80% full. Its an alien concept in America, where portion sizes are the biggest in the world and somehow getting larger. But finding your slightly full will directly reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease or stroke while giving your body more energy and less bloating in the short term.

As the godfather of nouvelle cuisine, Chef Fernard Point, once famously said: Butter! Give me butter! Always butter! Restaurants want customers to leave happy, so they use lots of flavor salt, sugar and fat. It all adds up. According to one study, eating out twice a day increases your chance of an early death by 95%. Cooking is your best bet.

The bread aisle is a starting point for understanding the difference between foods rich in simple carbohydrates (Wonder Bread) and those rich in complex carbohydrates (100% whole-wheat breads). The latter, for instance, rocks a ton of fiber and fuels the body in a sustainable way. Seek out more complex carbs like brown rice, oats and barley.

You dont have to give up meat. But you should know that societies full of centenarians dont eat very much of it. While meat dominates most American meals, it only appears in Blue Zone diets at a rate of five times a month, two ounces per serving. And when it does, it comes sourced from free-range animals that werent treated with hormones or antibiotics.

Keeping fish in the rotation not only takes pressure off your veggie cooking skills its also a huge life-expectancy boon. One study found that pesco-vegetarians (who eat up to three ounces of fish daily) live longest, aided by omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. If you can, aim for non-farmed, mid-chain fish like trout, snapper and sardines.

Your last meal of the day should be your smallest, and shouldnt be eaten within three hours of heading to sleep. If youre constantly pining for a huge dinner or bedtime snack, youre probably not fueling properly throughout the day. Its stress-eating dressed up as a reward, which leads to indigestion in the near term and weight gain over time.

Dont get bogged down with YouTube videos on the right way to intermittently fast. As renowned Harvard geneticist Dr. David Sinclair told us: We dont know the best method. We do know that if yourenever hungry, if youre eating three meals a day and snacking in between, thats the worst thing you can do. It switches off your bodys defenses.

Most people have heard this one. Dark chocolate is no elixir on its own, but cacao tree seeds are part of a family of environmentally stressed plants that activate longevity pathways in other organisms when consumed. Replace your cookies and cupcakes with a little square from time to time to reap the rewards of flavanols and resveratrol.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are having a moment. A few years ago, ESPN devoted a profile to the NBAs secret addiction. Tom Brady revealed not long after that the PB&J is his pregame meal of choice. And this year, a study concluded that the sandwich can add 33 minutes to your life. Remember to use whole-wheat bread and all-natural jelly.

The backbone of the centenarian diet. Beans are high in fiber, protein, iron, magnesium, potassium and B-vitamins, and low in fat and calories. They fill you up as well as meat and cook easy (serve them on their own with olive oil and a bit of sea salt, or put them in a burrito or salad). David Buettner calls beans the worlds greatest longevity food.

Sure, youve heard it forever. That doesnt make it any less true. One massive study that assessed nut consumption in approximately 119,000 Americans over 30 years found that regular nut-eaters (think a handful or two of almonds a day) reduced their risk of dying from cancer, heart disease and respiratory disease by 20%.

Olive oil giveth, butter taketh away. While butter increases bad cholesterol levels in the blood (low-density lipoproteins), olive oil is a longevity rockstar in one study, people in the highest quintile for ingesting olive oils polyphenols lived an average of 9.5 years longer after the age of 65. Just make sure youre buying extra virgin olive oil.

You dont have to ban salty and sugary treats from your life forever, but recognize that in order to avoid empty calories and reduce your risk of heart disease they cant happen every time you have a tough day at work. Thats a self-defeating choice. Save them for the right time and place, like special celebrations, when youll appreciate them the most.

For one, choking to death would really hamper your longevity goal (about one in 2,500 people die each year from choking). But slowing down while eating is also a great way to avoid overeating. Remember it takes up to 20 minutes for the stomach to process what youve eaten. Take deliberate bites. Honor the meal and the effort it took to make it.

Heres the rule: your optimal H20 per diem is one-half ounce to one ounce of water per pound of body weight. A 180-pound male, then, should aim for a little over 11 cups of water over the course of his day. Theres no need to exceed that (youll just piss it out), but reach it with regularity and your bodys command centers will repay you in kind.

Like dark chocolate, red wine comes from a plant source that is rich in cholesterol-lowering flavanols. Some are wary of linking longevity to alcohol, but learning to moderately drink red wine can also recalibrate your relationship to the drug. Having a glass (keep it under three) at the end of the day, preferably with friends, is a stress-relieving behavior.

Green tea pops up everywhere in lifespan research. One famous study found that drinking the stuff three times a week pushes back your risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality. If youre a fan, take up to two cups a day. It makes sure those cardioprotective polyphenols stay in your body long-term.

A stimulant with side effects like jitters and trouble sleeping can help us live longer? Indeed. The chemical compounds in coffee aside from caffeine a wealth of antixodiants have a positive impact on mortality, especially when consumed in copious amounts. Drinking multiple cups of coffee each day can help stem chronic diseases from Type 2 diabetes to Parkinsons.

If you pick up some of the dietary habits above eat locally, sub fish, use olive oil youre already well on your way. Nutritionists are rightfully skeptical on todays litany of fad diets, but the Mediterranean diet remains well-respected for its capability to alter microbiomes, improve cognitive function, limit risk of heart disease and promote longevity.

We want food that fits our wacky preferences (separating yolks to make egg whites), has a lot of flavor (peanut butter with added sugar) or would look good on TikTok (deep-fried macaroni and cheese casseroles). But these concepts dont square away with the traditions of long-living communities, who treat and cook whole foods as theyre naturally cultivated.

Why cant 68% of the global population digest cows milk? Were not supposed to drink it. Milk and dairy, at large is too high in fat and sugar to justify its long-time anointment as the best place to turn for protein and calcium. At the very least, cows milk has no impact on longevity, so feel free to sub it for a more environmentally friendly alternative.

One month of healthy eating will confer immediate results in the realms of cell regeneration, decreased inflammation and improved digestion. Starting young is great, but it doesnt matter how old you are. Meet with your doctor beforehand to get your bloodwork done. Then come back after and note the changes, specifically in vascular health.

Your body will rebel once you ditch your unhealthy ways for a few days. It will undoubtedly feel easier to go back to butter, processed foods and the two vegetables that you actually like. But note all the positive little changes from your trips up the stairs to your trips to the bathroom. Eating healthy will change your life, then let you live more of it.

Illustration by Santiago Usano

Quality sleep is non-negotiable if you want to live a long, healthy life. Entertain a pattern of undersleeping, and exhaustion will seep into everything you do: exercise, diet, interpersonal relationships. Sleeping five hours a night doubles your risk of death. Try to log seven, and keep it right there. Too much sleep isnt great for longevity, either.

No surprises here. Yoga slows down the effects of stress on cellular aging. Multiple studies (see here and here) have sung the praises of just three months of dedicated yoga. The combination of physical effort, breathwork and meditation slows the tide of inflammation while balancing hormones (like cortisol) that cause chronic stress.

Even if you cant commit to an intensive yoga practice, finding time each day to quiet your brain is likely a life-extending habit. When we stage personal interventions to decrease brain activity, the brain increases activity of RE1-Silencing Transcription factor, a protein that allows the brain to function at a higher capacity with less strain.

Physician-dodging is a disturbing status quo for men between the ages of 35 and 54. Only 43% of that middle-aged cohort reported seeing their doctors for annual physicals.Blame it on busy-ness (or more likely, a mix of toxic masculinity and unacknowledged vulnerability), but too often men are late to diagnoses and die earlier because of it.

Functional fitness takes on an entirely new meaning by age 70, at which point most of us have a lost a quarter of the strength we had at 30 and struggle to perform basic tasks. In fact, people with low muscle strength are 50% more likely to die earlier. Start strength training early and focus particularly on grip strength, which will aid you best in old age.

Walking for just 11 minutes each day can tangibly protect the body from the mortality risks of hours spent sitting in front of a computer. Leaving the house for a walk each day like drinking tea and eating beans is something all Blue Zone communities share. Find a time of day that works for you and pencil in a daily constitutional, rain or shine.

A dose of reality on all the longevity chat: most of us arent herding goats on a bluff over the Aegean. We spend most of the day answering emails. Within that less-than-ideal situation, make sure your screen is raised to eye level, your back is set against an ergonomic chair and your feet are planted against the floor. Spinal health is critical as you age.

Or at the least, an active orgasm life, especially as you age. One Welsh study of men between the ages of 45 and 59 discovered that a high orgasmic frequency can lower mortality risk by as much as 50%. Regular sex with a partner, meanwhile, reduces stress and risk of prostate cancer, while lowering blood pressure and improving mood.

In the text neck era,a daily dead hangwill bring mobility back to your shoulders. The practice decompresses the spine and builds strength in the upper back. One minute at a time is really hard, so feel free to break the challenge into multiple increments. Oh, and dont be surprised when the move improves your grip strength, too.

Damage done to the ossicles is irreversible. Train yourself to listen to AirPods and the like on low volume. Pumping 90-decibel noise (80% of an iPhones allotted volume)into your ears for just 10 minuteswill put you on the path to tinnitus. The effect this has on quality of life is likely why people with extensive hearing loss die earlier.

When we breathe through the nose,the nasal passageway humidifies and pressurizes the air. It produces nitric oxide, a molecule that screens air particles before they make it to the lungs. Once there, the lungs have an easier, more efficient time circulating oxygen throughout the body. This isnt an easy switch (more than half of Americans breathe through their mouths), but its worth it the practice can increase lung capacity, which improves cardio-respiratory function.

Bruxism, also known as teeth grinding or jaw clenching, is a natural response in an age of constant anxiety, but it leads to terrible sleep and even tooth fractures. When youre stressing, take extra care to put space between your teeth and focus on your breathing. And while sleeping, consider a nighttime mouth guard.

Cold-temperature exposure turns white fat (the inflammatory fat linked to heart disease) into brown fat (the naturally occurring fat that produces heat) though a process called thermogenesis. Basically, your body has to burn more energy to stay warm, which jumpstarts your metabolism. Norwegian research suggests 120 minutes outside a week in winter.

According to the hydromechanics of defecation, it takes the average person only 12 seconds to do his or her business. But men often linger in the bathroom, to the point that its played for laughs in sitcoms. The habit is less than ideal: stretching across the seat inflames the veins of the anal canal and over time can lead to hemorrhoids.

When melanoma metastasizes, the five-year survival ratenose-dives from 99% down to 25%. Heres an even crazier statistic: between 1995 and 2014, 60% of those who died from head or neck melanoma were men between the ages of 15 and 39. The sun is no joke; it can snatch life away early if you arent using sunscreen and scheduling regular screenings.

Careful napping for more than an hour in the middle of the day has been linked to all-cause mortality. But a 15- to 30-minute power nap actually increases cognitive ability and alertness. It solidifies memories in the brain, relieves stress during an exhausting day and energizes afternoons for exercise or social interaction.

One of the beauties of modern exercise? It can be quick. Like, really quick. In the past decade, studies have extolled the benefits of exercising for 15 minutes, four minutes even four seconds. The rationale remains the same throughout: high-intensity, all out bursts of physical effort foster muscle growth, clean up arteries and put years on your life.

The only thing thats inherently childish about playing is that children are more likely to do it. Playing, in whatever form it may take tennis, pick-up hoops, chasing your kids with a super soaker is essential for mental health at all ages, and a crucial deviation from exercise measured solely in pain and progress.

Wait, shouldnt we make weight loss a priority? The issues a bit more nuanced. Studies indicate that overly stressing about weight loss often leads to weight cycling, defined as a process of losing weight only to regain it all over again. This strains the body. Focus on building sustainable practices instead of aiming to shed fat from your frame.

This one piggybacks on both the issue of physician-dodging and the need for sunscreen. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, with lung, colon and liver cancer accounting for the most deaths. Its imperative that you take it seriously. Start screening regularly at age 45.

Theres a reason dental hygienists get so terse when you admit to only flossing once in a while. Flossing doesnt just prevents gum disease. It can stop heart disease. When bacteria gets into the bloodstream through the mouth, arteries narrow in an immune response. This taxes vascular health. Flossing for two minutes directly influences life expectancy.

That doesnt refer to washing your sheets once a week. Sleep hygiene is an upkeep of behaviors that help you sleep. Essentially: treating the process around sleeping as sacred. Learn to keep a calm, cool, uncluttered, sleep-only bedroom and follow methods (from shutting down caffeine intake to getting blackout curtains), that shorten your sleep latency.

Running helps people live longer. That much is clear. But researchers concluded recently that the pace and distance of your run doesnt necessarily matter. Any sort of running routine (up to four-and-a-half hours total per week) will lead to a 30% reduced risk in all-cause mortality. FYI: going over that amount wont cause any harm. Just be wary of injuries.

In the battle of cardio routines, though, swimming might take the cake. The activity is perfect for aging: its low-impact, burns a ton of calories, works the whole body and encourages flexibility. No wonder that over one 32-year study, swimmers were an amazing 50% less likely to die than regular walkers and runners. Time to fish out the goggles.

Listen: chasing a six-pack is a waste of time that has no bearing on how long youll live on this planet. Overworking show muscles too often comes at the expense of a functional, full-body routine.Double down on a diverse workout scheme and a diet without non-processed ingredients and youll naturally arrive at a tighter core, anyway.

Recruiting a family member or friend for advice on your fitness journey or hiring a personal trainer or scheduling a consultation with an exercise physiologist is not a sign of weakness. Its the ultimate sign that youre ready for change, committed to turning your life around and determined to get more life out of it in the process.

Illustration by Santiago Usano

Motorcycles look great, but their mortality numbers dont. According to the NHTSA, motorcyclists are 35 times more likely to have a fatal accident than car drivers. Even survival comes with a cost: 96% of motorcycle accidents result in injury.

One of the bleakest databases youll ever see? The BASE fatality list. BASE jumping carries a risk up to eight times greater than skydiving. Its even more dangerous cousin, meanwhile wingsuit flying has a rate of one death per 500 jumps. Unsurprisingly, virtually everyone involved with the sport has a friend who died young.

Foodstuffs with added sugar, sodium and fat are killing us all. Processed food isnt supposed to be easy to give up (it comprises over half the dietary energy consumed in the United States and United Kingdom). But its critical that you cut back. Frozen pizzas, mayonnaise, Oreos and the like drastically increase your risk of cardiovascular disease.

Aside from the obvious in-moment risk of overdose (deaths from opioids and psychostimulants have been going up since 1990), chronic and high-dose drug use decelerate dopaminergic function. In simpler terms: most of the things you rely on for healthy living motor control, motivation, arousal, etc. become seriously compromised over time.

Not to sound like an elementary school health teacher, but it really is this simple. Right behind diet, tobacco use is the leading cause of premature, preventable death in the United States. And while we normally associate cigarettes with lung cancer, nicotine use can also cause cancer in the throat, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, kidney, bladder and cervix.

The majority of e-cigarettes have nicotine in them, but all of them have chemicals that will irritate your lungs. Consider: they contain propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin (which are toxic to cells), acetaldehyde, formaldehyde (which can cause lung or heart disease) and acrolein (a herbicide thats usually used to kill weeds).

The CDC: A a pattern of drinking that brings a persons blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 g/dl or above. Think seven drinks or so per binge, with several binges a month. Health experts unilaterally agree that this is a bad idea. One study even determined that drinking 25 drinks per week at age 40 can shorten life expectancy by up to five years.

Twitter had a lot of fun with this one, but its actually true according to a recent University of Michigan study, eating a hot dog takes 36 minutes off your life. That doesnt exactly compare to a single hit of heroin (24 hours off your life!), but it could put you in a bad cycle of salty, highly processed meat. Avoid them, or save solely for the odd ballgame.

While STIs are most definitely not more fatal than traveling in a car (as one group of volunteers misestimated in a study), they can cause infertility, urinary tract problems and half a dozen different cancers. Not to mention: unprotected sex can bring overwhelming mental stress to an activity that otherwise helps us stay healthy and happy.

Every hour, someone dies from a drunk-driving incident in America. Thats over 30% of annual road deaths in the country. Even if youre a responsible driver, remember to prepare for those who arent (always wear a seat belt!) and assess other ways you engage in distracted driving. Sending one text takes your eyes off the road for five seconds.

Living close to nature decreases your risk of depression and obesity, indirectly adding years to your life. But theres such a thing as too much solitude. Rural living can also mean a repressed social life, too much time in the car, relying on Walmart for food, fending for yourself during natural disasters and traveling over an hour for emergency medical care.

Were so accustomed to taking corner-store drugs like Tylenol and Advil that we can forget theyre, well, drugs. Always follow capsule instructions to a tee. The former contains Acetaminophen (which can cause liver issues in high doses), while the latter is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (which can cause gastrointestinal bleeding when taken improperly).

Calorie restriction can play a small part in adding years to your life, but unchecked calorie intake plays a very loud role in taking them away. The average American eats 3,600 calories a day (up nearly 25% from the 1960s), and the national obesity rate sits at 42.4%. Obesity coincides with common comorbidities like Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cancer.

The scientific research on this is pretty clear, as much as it may shock the biggest guy at your gym. A reduced protein intake plays a critical role in longevity and metabolic health. Most American men currently average twice the amount of protein they actually need in a day. That comes with too much IGF-1, a growth factor that accelerates aging.

A study published in 2015 found that sticking with a tough job with an unreasonable boss, little social support or looming layoffs can literally take two years off your life. A paycheck is a paycheck, but when a job starts exerting massive mental stress over you, the body cant tell if the initial trigger is mental or physical. Itll fall apart either way.

Happy people live longer. Improve your happiness by practicing epistemic humility, an intellectual virtue predicated on the idea that one can ever know something for sure. Its meant to help us admit our imperfections and forgive others. Sounds too good to be true in the 2020s? All the more reason to give it a try.

When just 25% of your genetics are accountable for your personal longevity, it doesnt make much sense to deterministically pin your fate (or blame your behaviors) on what happened to your parents or grandparents. Learn your familial risks, yes, but approach your daily actions and decisions with confidence and hope.

Online publications really ran with the sitting is the new smoking tagline. Not quite, but sitting should be taken seriously as a public health issue. American adults sit seven hours a day, which disrupts the bodys ability to break down body fat, slows metabolism and elevates blood pressure. Get moving, even if its just for 10 minutes.

New phrase for you? Doomscrolling is excessively scrolling through news or social media feeds looking for negative updates. Its at the intersection of smartphone addictions, a terrible news cycle and our primordial need to anticipate danger. But this sort of behavior wreaks havoc on your mental health and (unsurprisingly) never solves anything.

A full eight years ago, 61% of Netflix users admitted to binge-watching content on the platform. Weve added five major streaming services since then; each has a revolving door of content and most employ hyped full-season releases. While cranking through episodes feels like a reward, it causes eye strain, backaches, weight gain and sleep deprivation.

American adults spend up to six hours on their phones each day. Some of those hours are spent doomscrolling, others pushing back sleep (66% of adults bring their phones to bed), and far too much of it involves poring over the airbrushed life updates of others. Little wonder Instagram has been likened to addictive painkillers by reputable researchers.

The Should you let your kids play football? became a culture war topic in the early 2010s on the heels of unprecedented CTE research. Honest answer: probably not. At least, avoid the full-contact version of the game, which has the highest concussion rate outside of rugby and can cause irreversible damage to the brain.

Or state parks. Or the woods behind your house. Or any public lands where you can hike, swim and camp without a professional ranger on hand to help at a moments notice. People die constantly from drowning, falls, exposure, animal encounters selfie sticks. The issue is more relevant than ever, as novice hikers flock to nature in the pandemic era.

There are 120.5 guns for every 100 people in America. An insane 73% of homicides involve a gun.The disturbing truth is you can easily find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time in this country. Still, the least you can do is keep guns out of your home: 27,000 people go to the hospital for accidental firearm injuries each year.

Dirty air kills more people than all transportation accidents and shootings combined, accounting for the premature deaths of one in every 25 Americans. Train yourself to check the Air Quality Index (AQI) in the weather app on your iPhone. Anything over 100 means the air is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups. Your run can wait until tomorrow.

Illustration by Santiago Usano

We knew we hated shampoo. Chemicals called phthalates are found in shampoos, fragrances, cleansers and plastics. When they get into the body, they reduce the bodys stress hormone cortisol, meddle with metabolism, negatively affect the reproductive system, and can lead to extremely preventable premature deaths.

The Okinawans say ikigai, the Nicoyans in Costa Rica say plan de vida. Each phrase translates to why I wake up in the morning. Finding that why can feel random and frustrating, but it often brings people to pursuits and causes outside of themselves. And science backs this up once you believe your life matters, you get to live more of it.

Negative thought loops trick us into thinking were being productive (we psychoanalyze uncomfortable memories, prepare for imaginary dangers, relitigate life decisions), but in reality were just willingly drowning ourselves in a puddle of anxiety, activating a hormone-fueled fight or flight response that cant be addressed in the given moment.

Not necessarily a financial plan, though thats also a good idea. One surprising study displayed that working longer can help people live longer. Remember, jobs can be real-world lifelines for many they offer social engagement, days out of the house, challenging projects. Its important to have goals and communities for filling your time after retiring, too.

In Japan, shinrin-yoku refers to forest bathing, or the act of taking in nature using all of your senses. Recent studies show adults spend 93% of their time indoors, which takes a toll on mental health (stir crazy is scientific). But the exact opposite is true for spending time outdoors. A single forest bath decreases scores for depression, fatigue, anxiety.

Take a look at a map of the worlds Blue Zones. Each is concentrated along a coastline. Settling down by the sea in a so-called blue space has been linked to a 17% reduction in mortality rate. One study suggested that living within 250 meters of a seaside environment helps reduce stress levels, with the smell and sounds offering a wonderful tonic.

People who regularly play non-digital games are more likely to score well on memory and thinking tests in their 70s, a study determined in 2019. Games like cards, chess and crosswords arent just stress-relievers; they aid in cognitive function and slow down cognitive decline. Fortunately, that holds true if you come to them later in life, too.

Team sports are a longevity motherlode. They combine consistent social interaction, vigorous exercise and play, all of which convey dynamite benefits for your physical and mental health. One study even discovered that making an adult soccer league your primary mode of exercise (over solo activities like jogging) could add five years to your life.

Another reason not to get into politics lying takes years off your life. The emotional stress that comes from telling mistruths often manifests as physical stress. Whatever the momentary reward, lying increases your risk of anxiety and depression, can sabotage relationships over time and shatters your self-esteem.

Take the fortnight frequency with a grain of salt (it comes from a study commissioned by British entertainment operator O2), but we do know that live concerts are mindful, socially rich experiences. Assuming you dont need to binge drink or trip on acid every time you attend one, plugging concerts into the calendar each month is a great idea.

Make like Ian Flemings James Bond and finish your showers with an ice-cold Scottish rinse. Up to a minute (after a morning workout) is best, if you can handle it. The ritual will lower blood pressure, stimulate your immune system and can even hack your mood, releasing happy neurotransmitters like dopamine, adrenaline, norepinephrine and serotonin.

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100 Ways to Live to 100: A Definitive Guide to Longevity Fitness - InsideHook