Living as long and healthy as possible – almost everyone wants that. Researchers reveal how much we have in hand when it comes to age. A study even mentions eight concrete longevity factors with which life expectancy is to be increased significantly.
Even if the keyword “Longevity” has only recently become a trend term: the desire for a long and healthy life should be as old as humanity itself. But there have never been as many tips for it: special diets, superfoods, fasting tips, fitness exercises, food supplements.
But how much influence do we have on our age? And what life habits really have an effect on our life expectancy? Researchers classify.
There are two types of age
Hannah Scheistlich from the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Aging in Cologne distinguishes two forms of aging. On the one hand, there is chronological age, the number of years that have passed since our birth. On the other hand, there is biological age, i.e. health and vitality.
“If we behave accordingly, our biological age can be below our chronological age or the other way around,” says Scheistlich, who heads a research group at the institute. So it is true: through our own actions we can turn the clock and extend our lives.
However, not only our behaviors determine the length of our life. The genes also play a role. “So far we assume that 10 to 15 percent of our longevity is determined by the genes. But there are not many durability studies yet, ”says Hannah Scheistlich.
On the other hand, Prof. Karl Lenhard Rudolph, research group leader at the Leibniz Institute for Aging Research in Jena, is based on a genetic influence of up to 30 percent. “The rest is basically lifestyle,” he says.
Longevity: These eight factors can make the difference
But what does it look like, the lifestyle that can give us a longer life? A US study from 2024 mentions eight lifestyle factors that are intended to significantly increase life expectancy.
Data from the Veteran Affairs Million Veteran Program was evaluated for the study, a large cohort study with extensive health data from hundreds of thousands of US veteran: inside aged 40 to 99. Around 280,000 men and 19,000 women were examined. Men had a 24 -year life expectancy if they met all eight instead of zero lifestyle factors at the age of 40, and women were 20.5 years.
The factors include “especially healthy food and optimally a Mediterranean diet” (1), says Hannah Scheislich. So a diet that relies on a lot of fruit and vegetables, legumes, whole grains, olive oil and regular fish consumption.
Also important to create good conditions for a long life: reduce stress (2), sleep enough, move enough (4) – points that many should not surprise.
However, according to the study results, also soothing contact with other people (5) can deposit the longevity. “It is important that you pay attention to positive social relationships throughout your life,” explains Hannah Scheistlich. “Especially in the older phases of life, you lose many social contacts. Maintaining relationships is particularly important in this phase of life. “”
The other factors are the absence of smoking (6), alcohol (7) and opium -containing pain relievers (8).
Especially with sleep and movement, something is usually relatively easy to change. Expert recommends about seven to eight hours of sleep a night, depending on the age of the person. However, this recommendation should be taken as a rough guideline and not as a strict requirement. Some people also get along with less sleep, others need more.
As for the movement, every additional activity has a positive effect. “To live really healthy, you should do a certain part of highly intensive exercises, but that varies individually. You don’t have to be a high -performance athlete, ”says Hannah Scheistlich.
Age healthier with less food?
Karl Lenhard Rudolph Forschen in particular on the subject of nutrition. According to him, research in the past 90 years shows that a measure that can extend life is a “mild reduction in food intake”.
Whether at the worm, fly or the apes -the research results are clear: “If the animals eat 20 to 30 percent less than they would eat if they had unlimited access to food -like today’s person in rich countries -extends their lives and also their health range,” says Rudolph.
“If the research results on diet restriction are transferable to humans, this would be a way to live healthier and longer.” Studies on mice have shown a lifetime extension of up to 30 percent.
Do not overdo
But how can it be explained that a reduction in foods has a reduction in life expectancy? As Rudolph explains, this puts the body cells into a mild stress, which means that they work more effectively.
If you want to rely on this strategy, you should do this balanced. If you exaggerate it, you run the risk of getting into a malnutrition, so not supplying the body with all important nutrients. And that in turn has a bad effect on health and life expectancy. In doubt, it is therefore always advisable to ask a doctor for advice.
Experts Rudolph advises against extreme diets or fasting cures: “Then you prefer to have a continuous easy reduction in food intake than, for example, eat in one day and not the next day.”
However, there is also indications that diet restriction can also have negative influences. For example on the body’s immune functions. “This can increase the risk of serious courses of infectious diseases,” says Karl Lenhard Rudolph.
Hannah Scheistlich also finds the self -awakening of medication or nutritional supplements. In the worst case, high -dose variants in particular can lead to poisoning or organ failure, so only make sense in medical consultation.
Where “Longevity” has its limits
But the measures also have their limits: if you start to adapt your lifestyle early on, you can hope for strong effects. Even at older age, life can be extended, but not quite as effective.
There is no guarantee of longevity. “Nevertheless, there can be an illness that interacts life expectancy,” says Hannah Scheistlich. She works in dementia research and knows that sometimes a short and healthy life is more desirable than a particularly long, sick life. Shit: “It is important to replace the Longevity hype with a hype that is about staying healthy and fit and not just growing life expectancy.”
Read more on utopia.de:
- Mental health: 6 tips for more well -being
- Live healthier: we can learn these eight things from other countries
- What social inequality does with genes and health
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