[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]You’ve probably heard the term ‘lifespan’ many times, but the word ‘healthspan’ might be less familiar. A relatively recent concept without a clinically agreed upon definition, healthspan broadly refers to the period one lives without disease. While
longevity is something many strive for, the length of one’s life isn’t the whole story.
Advances in medicine in the twentieth century helped significantly
extend life expectancy in developed countries like the United States, where it rose from just 47 in 1900 to 68 by 1950. By 2019, life expectancy in the United States had climbed to 79. Though medical innovations have meant that on average people live longer, lifestyle changes during those same decades have also led to skyrocketing rates of chronic disease linked to inactivity and poor diet.
While the
average lifespan in the U.S. currently stands at 77.5 years according to the CDC, the World Health Organization’s
healthy life expectancy statistics estimates that an American’s average healthspan is 63.9. That gap of nearly 14 years could represent almost 20% of one’s life!
Living decades with chronic conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular disease and age-related cognitive disorders means the quality of life we experience in those extra years we’re living may be drastically reduced.
Health experts focused on aging have begun asking people to think more carefully about extending not just the length of one’s life, but one’s healthspan as well, so those last years can be spent enjoying good health rather than dealing with debilitating disease.
Prolonging your healthspan
It probably won’t come as a surprise that your odds of
living healthy longer go up with those tried-and-true lifestyle choices we hear about every day. Kelvin Yen, an associate professor at University of Southern California’s Longevity Institute, explains: “Most of the things that you can do to extend healthspan are things that people already know they should do: exercise, don’t eat too much, get enough sleep and be a lifelong learner.”
Additionally, a varied, balanced diet emphasizing whole foods, not smoking, and drinking in moderation have all been linked to lowered disease risk.
Managing stress and social connection matter as well.
Yen says people should focus on these basics rather than seek out novel and untested treatments. He cautions that “Most products or programs that say that they can extend healthspan or lifespan should be looked at with a high degree of skepticism. Sure, this product or that program can increase healthspan or lifespan in mice or other organisms, but the translation of these findings to humans is a whole different matter.”
To lengthen your healthspan, Yen advises, prioritize making those fundamentals of healthy living part of your daily life. Below are the top things to focus on if you’d like to live healthier longer.
Move more
While modern life generally has made it easier to use our bodies less and less, our
inactivity comes at a great cost. Metabolic diseases (and the resulting nosedive in healthspan) have increased rapidly in recent decades.
Regular exercise, even if it’s just
moderate-paced walking, can lengthen your healthspan by greatly reducing your risk of developing cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and many other chronic conditions. Physical activity also has a positive impact on
brain health.
Exercising regularly has been linked with longer, better quality
telomeres, the caps at the ends of our chromosomes that researchers have found offer telling information about how well we age.
Commit to
moving every day by incorporating some of the following into your daily routine:
If you’re new to an exercise program, there are
steps you can follow to get started and stay on track. If you’re over 50, check out
these fitness tips for exercise over the age of 50.
Eat to support healthspan
A diet emphasizing whole rather than
highly processed foods is a critical piece of the healthy aging puzzle. While
ultraprocessed food consumption has been linked to many chronic diseases, diets emphasizing vegetables, whole grains, legumes and healthy fats reduce disease risk considerably.
Fresh fruits and vegetables contain polyphenols, compounds that help reduce inflammation and
promote healthy aging. Their fiber promotes
gut health, which in turn has a cascade of health-promoting effects including brain function, the immune system and hormonal balance.
Yet
fewer than 1 in 10 Americans eat the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables each day, while sales of inflammatory processed foods have exploded. If you’re not a huge fan of vegetables, try adding
greens powder to your favorite soups and smoothies to make your meals and snacks richer in these important nutrients.
Many
herbs and spices you likely already have in your spice cabinet are exceptionally rich in anti-inflammatory compounds, including
cinnamon,
black pepper,
basil,
oregano,
turmeric and
rosemary. Use them liberally to increase the amount of polyphenols you’re getting on a daily basis.
Another issue to consider is how what you put on your plate may affect
inflammation, a key factor in healthy aging and lowered disease risk.
Inflammatory foods to avoid include transfats, gluten, alcohol and sugar.
Most Americans consume far more than the recommended amounts of sugar, causing some significant
impacts on their health. Over time, repeated spikes in
blood sugar take a toll on your body and increase the risk of developing heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Most people without diagnosed diabetes don’t think much about regulating blood sugar, but
studies suggest they should. Research on
blood sugar spikes caused by consuming carbohydrates without fiber, protein or fat to buffer them suggests that eating simple carbohydrates after (or at least with) these other macronutrients may help prevent prematurely aging our systems.
Yen also calls attention to studies showing the benefits of
calorie restriction, a practice involving significantly reducing caloric intake a few days per month. He notes, ”Time restricted eating or alternate day fasting has been shown to have many of the benefits of long-term caloric restriction.” Research has shown that
intermittent fasting, or restricting one’s eating window to 12 hours or fewer, may reduce the risk of several chronic diseases.
Prioritize sleep
Sufficient sleep is a key part of enhancing your quality of life, both in the short term and the longer term. Besides making you irritable and sluggish, over time
insufficient sleep may affect your gut health and contribute to your risk of
dementia,
diabetes and
heart disease.
Make sure you
get enough sleep by adhering to
sleep hygiene guidelines like keeping to a regular sleep schedule, avoiding blue light after dark and limiting
caffeine.
Protect brain health
Many of these lifestyle choices, including what we eat,
how much we exercise, and
how much sleep we get greatly
affect the health of our brains. To prevent neurogenerative disorders increasingly common in older adults, take
proactive steps to promote brain health:
Cultivate social connections
One of the best predictors of a long and healthy life is
strong social connections. A
lack of social connectedness has been
correlated with poorer health, including a weakened immune system, cognitive decline, heart disease and many other debilitating conditions.
Make time to get together with friends, volunteer in your community or join a book group or other interest club. Time spent connecting with others is not only enjoyable, it’s one of the best things you can do for your health.
Making these healthy lifestyle choices now can profoundly affect how well you age and how well you feel in later life. Commit to taking these steps to protect your healthspan with the knowledge that you’ll likely not only add years to your life but also life to your years.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_text_separator title="Featured Products" border_width="2"][vc_row_inner equal_height="yes" content_placement="middle" gap="35"][vc_column_inner width="1/3"][vc_single_image image="179073" img_size="full" alignment="center" onclick="custom_link" img_link_target="_blank" css=".vc_custom_1729786520141{padding-right: 7% !important;padding-left: 7% !important;}" link="https://www.vitacost.com/life-extension-healthy-aging-powder"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width="1/3"][vc_single_image image="179074" img_size="full" alignment="center" onclick="custom_link" img_link_target="_blank" css=".vc_custom_1729786537109{padding-right: 7% !important;padding-left: 7% !important;}" link="https://www.vitacost.com/pure-essence-labs-longevity-women"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width="1/3"][vc_single_image image="179072" img_size="full" alignment="center" onclick="custom_link" img_link_target="_blank" css=".vc_custom_1729786557148{padding-right: 7% !important;padding-left: 7% !important;}" link="https://www.vitacost.com/life-extension-geroprotect-ageless-cell"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]
