Healthy Longevity As A Lifestyle Choice

7 Keys To Healthy Longevity

This is Dr. Luigi Fontana. He’s a research professor of Geriatrics & Nutritional Science, and co-director of the Longevity Research Program at Washington University in St. Louis.

What does he want us to know?

He has a many-fold approach to healthy longevity, most of which may not be news to you, but you might want to prioritize some things:

Consider caloric restriction with optimal nutrition (CRON)

This is about reducing the metabolic load on your body, which frees up bodily resources for keeping yourself young.

Keeping your body young and healthy is your body’s favorite thing to do, but it can’t do that if it never gets a chance because of all the urgent metabolic tasks you’re giving it.

If CRON isn’t your thing (isn’t practicable for you, causes undue suffering, etc) then intermittent fasting is a great CR mimetic, and he recommends that too. See also:

• Is Cutting Calories The Key To Healthy Long Life?
• Fasting Without Crashing? We Sort The Science From The Hype

Keep your waistline small

Whichever approach you prefer to use to look after your metabolic health, keeping your waistline down is much more important for health than BMI.

Specifically, he recommends keeping it:

• under 31.5” for women
• under 37” for men

The disparity here is because of hormonal differences that influence both metabolism and fat distribution.

Exercise as part of your lifestyle

For Dr. Fontana, he loves mountain-biking (this writer could never!) and weight-lifting (also not my thing). But what’s key is not the specifics, but what’s going on:

• Some kind of frequent movement
• Some kind of high-intensity interval training
• Some kind of resistance training

Frequent movement because our bodies are evolved to be moving more often than not:

The Doctor Who Wants Us To Exercise Less, & Move More

High-Intensity Interval Training because unlike most forms of exercise (which slow metabolism afterwards to compensate), it boosts metabolism for up to 2 hours after training:

How To Do HIIT (Without Wrecking Your Body)

Resistance training because strength (of muscles and bones) matters too:

Resistance Is Useful! (Especially As We Get Older)

Writer’s examples:

So while I don’t care for mountain-biking or weight-lifting, what I do is:

1) movement: walk (briskly!) everywhere and also use a standing desk
2) HIIT: 2-minute bursts of hindu squats and/or exercise bike sprints
3) resistance: pilates and other calisthenics

Moderation is not key

Dr. Fontana advises that we do not smoke, and that we do not drink alcohol, for example. He also notes that just as the only healthy amount of alcohol is zero, less ultra-processed food is always better than more.

Maybe you don’t want to abstain completely, but mindful wilful consumption of something unhealthy is preferable to believing “moderate consumption is good for the health” and an unhealthy habit develops!

Greens and beans

Shocking absolutely nobody, Dr. Fontana advocates for (what has been the most evidence-based gold standard of healthy-aging diets for quite some years now) the Mediterranean diet.

See also: Four Ways To Upgrade The Mediterranean Diet ← this is about tweaking the Mediterranean diet per personal area of focus, e.g. anti-inflammatory bonus, best for gut, heart healthiest, and most neuroprotective.

Take it easy

Dr. Fontana advises us (again, with a wealth of evidence) Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, and to get good sleep.

Not shocked?

To quote the good doctor,

❝There are no shortcuts. No magic pills or expensive procedures can replace the beneficial effects of a healthy diet, exercise, mindfulness, or a regenerating night’s sleep.❞

Always a good reminder!

Want to know more?

You might enjoy his book “The Path to Longevity: How to Reach 100 with the Health and Stamina of a 40-Year-Old”, which we reviewed previously

You might also like this video of his, about changing the conversation from “chronic disease” to “chronic health”:

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Want to watch it, but not right now? Bookmark it for later

Take care!