A recent study . . . discovered having a sense of purpose, direction and goals may add years to our lives. It doesn’t matter when you discover your purpose (i.e., young, middle-aged, or older) but the sooner the better. The study looked at 6,100 Americans aged 20 through 75 over a 14 year period. During that time, about 9% of the subjects died. All the participants who died scored lower than those who survived on measures of “purposefulness.” Even when other variables, such as a having a positive outlook, were controlled for, the data stood up.
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longevity
Longevity Tip
Don’t Smoke
Smoking is strongly linked to disease and early death.
Overall, men and women who smoke may lose up to 10 years of their lives and be three times more likely to die prematurely than those who never pick up a cigarette.
Fortunately, it’s never too late to quit.
One study reports that individuals who quit smoking by 35 years of age may prolong their lives by up to 8.5 years.
Furthermore, quitting smoking in your ’60s may add up to 3.7 years to your life. In fact, quitting in your ’80s may still even provide benefits.
Longevity Tip
What physical activity is best for healthy longevity?
The one you enjoy most, but also the one you can easily incorporate into your daily schedule and the one you can keep doing up to your hundredth birthday and beyond. . . . What’s important is working all your body parts with rigor — meaning to the point of breathing rapidly or sweating — for five to ten hours a week . . . It’s important to exercise, but not to overexercise, because knees, hips, and joints will eventually get damaged — particularly if you continue to exercise when you feel pain.
Longevity Tip
When she died at age 116 in 2015 Gertrude Weaver of Camden, Arkansas was the world’s oldest woman. When asked, she attributed her longevity to kindness: “Treat people right and be nice to other people the way you want them to be nice to you.” Her advice to those aspiring to a long life was a bit more specific: “Use a lot of skin moisturizer, treat everyone nice, love your neighbor and eat your own cooking. Don’t eat at fast food places.”
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Longevity Tip
Choose Longevity Behaviors
The world’s longest lived people chose–or were born into–social circles that supported healthy behaviors, Okinawans created ”moais”–groups of five friends that committed to each other for life. Research from the Framingham Studies shows that smoking, obesity, happiness, and even loneliness are contagious. So the social networks of long-lived people have favorably shaped their health behaviors.
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Longevity Tip
Looking for the fountain of youth? Increasingly, experts are telling us that it’s all about lifestyle, the choices you make, and, especially, staying active by engaging in regular physical exercise in your sixties, seventies, eighties, and beyond. . . . Regular exercise may prevent or delay serious health problems . . . It can boost energy and mood, reduce arthritis pain, and help you get a good night’s sleep. And . . . exercise can help you maintain the physical health to continue living independently. ~ Carol Weeg
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Longevity Tip
Regardless of whether you are otherwise healthy or have cardiovascular risk factors, being more fit means you’re more likely to live longer than someone who is less fit,” Seamus P. Whelton, M.D., an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins and the study’s lead author, said in a media release. This finding emphasizes the importance of being fit even when you’re older. . . . the researchers found higher fitness was associated with significantly increased rates of survival. The most-fit individuals were more than twice as likely as the least fit to be alive 10 years after the tests.
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Longevity Tip
Coffee is a daily ritual in blue zones areas, as well. Sardinians, Ikarians, and Nicoyans start their days with a cup, lightly sweetened without cream. In addition to a daily cup of coffee, blue zones centenarians drink water, tea and wine.
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Longevity Tip
Develop good social ties with a healthy community. The first tip is most important because it helps with the others. Are you close with an extended healthy family, or with a volunteer social group or prosocial religious community? Do you have a worthwhile career or positive educational endeavor? Great. ~ Howard S. Friedman
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Longevity Tip
Rafaella Monne, a 107-year-old from Sardinia said it best: “Life is short. Don’t run so fast you miss it.” Slowing life’s pace may help keep inflammation in check, and apart from its health benefits, it adds richness to life.
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