The first in a series on longevity.
Week 1: Longevity, Lifespan, and Healthspan
The field of longevity isn’t exactly new, but there have been some interesting developments in the last few years. One concept that’s emerged relatively recently is the idea of healthspan. We all know what lifespan is, of course! It’s the total length of our lives from birth to death.
Healthspan, on the other hand, is a subset of lifespan. It’s the length of time we’re alive and able to function at the level that make life enjoyable. Simply put, the quantity of life is your lifespan, and the quality of life is your healthspan. The hope is that if we cultivate good lifestyle habits, we’ll improve both!
Over the next month or so we’ll take a look at the strategies that have been proven to increase both lifespan and healthspan. Each week we’ll cover one essential aspect of living a long and healthy life. Hopefully you’ll pick up some tools for your longevity toolbox along the way!
Longevity expert Dr. Peter Attia, author of Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity, reveals a simple lesson learned from studying centenarians. If you want to improve your odds of living to 100, you’ll need to avoid chronic disease.
Although our bureaucratic healthcare system pays lip service to “preventative care” with cancer and blood pressure screenings, it really is only designed to help you live longer after you develop chronic disease. Show up to the doctor at age 50 with no discernable problems and the first thing you’ll get is a puzzled glance, as if to say, “Why are you here?”
In truth, none of the so-called “preventative” measures offered by our current system actually prevent disease. It’s really more of an early detection and lifelong medications racket. If you remove smoking from the equation (admittedly a pretty big ask), 80% of the remaining chronic diseases fall into 4 categories. Dr. Attia calls these the Four Horsemen of chronic disease. Horseman number one is atherosclerotic disease, which includes coronary artery disease and cerebrovascular disease. Horseman number two is the dreaded C word: cancer. Horseman numero tres is neurodegenerative disease, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and the like, and Horseman number 4 is metabolic disease, which includes Type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Quite a rogue’s gallery!
Dr. Attia’s point is that if we want to increase lifespan, we’ll need to dodge the Four Horsemen of chronic disease. The challenge, as we’re all too aware, is that the modern American lifestyle seems to invite these bad boys into our lives.
What about healthspan? The whole point of this is that we want to have a great quality of life well into our later years. Well, the trick is this: we not only need to avoid the apocalyptic chronic diseases so we can arrive relatively healthy in those later years, we also need to avoid declining in three key aspects: cognition, physical ability, and emotional fulfillment.
When we experience declines in our brain function, such as executive function, processing speed, and memory, it affects our ability to care for ourselves, interact with the world, and may lead to dementia or other neurodegenerative diseases.
Up next is physical ability. Most of us can readily intuit how important physical health is for our healthspan. Loss of stability, mobility and strength can lead to falls, potential injuries, and increased pain.
Finally, as we age, we often find our friend group shrinks and our social support structure becomes a little more tenuous. As we lose relationships, we can lose a sense of purpose and fulfillment.
Although death is inevitable, loss of these three key elements of healthspan is not. We can actively work to keep our brains, bodies, and relationships healthy. I can recall when I was younger, in school, and it seemed wherever I turned there was an opportunity for social interaction. As we age, we have to consciously seek it out, and start building lives that will sustain and nurture relationships as we age.
I’m sure a lot of this makes sense to you. We already know a lot of these things intuitively. Hey, that’s one of the benefits of aging, right? We’re supposed to get a little wisdom in exchange for our time. What are some things we can do about it? What are some tools we can tuck away in our longevity toolboxes?
First off: it’s never too late to change habits. Even if you’re already in your golden years but it doesn’t feel like you arrived there with the golden ticket, you can make changes to your life that can dramatically improve the time you have left.
Nutrition might be one of the most important tools in your longevity toolbox. In my profession, we look up to a certain Florence Nightingale. She knew that nutrition was a cornerstone of health and wellness. Food provides the essential nutrients for muscle growth and gives our body the energy it needs to function. It’s essential we get the right balance of macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates and fat).
Some believe that all calories are the same, like pennies, and we are a kind of piggy bank. As long as you keep the deposits and withdrawals roughly equal, you’ll stay the same weight. Make more withdrawals, and you’ll lose weight. And while that may be true in a rough sense, the issue is that your body is incredibly adaptive! That’s why you might lose weight on a diet right off the bat and then plateau. Your body is designed to protect you in the event of a famine, and will start dialing down your metabolism. Hey, it’s just trying to keep you alive!
Jason Fung, MD, has explored the fundamentals of metabolism in his work. He notes that if you starve yourself for too long, you end up in a state of catabolism, where your body is burning muscle for energy, and not using fat! If you do this long enough you may end up with what healthcare professionals call sarcopenic adiposity. Yes, that’s right, the dreaded “skinny fat”! The antidote to catabolism is… drum roll… protein!
So instead of counting calories, or trying a fad diet, I invite you to set aside your worries about carbohydrates and fats, and shift to a muscle-centric view of health. This approach prioritizes muscle accumulation and preservation over all else. To lose weight and avoid catabolism, you’ll need to keep protein front-and-center in your diet. Adequate nutrition, coupled with a healthy amount of muscle, goes a long way in preventing chronic disease.
What kinds of protein are best for preserving cognitive and physical health? I’ll go into that in a future article. For now, start exploring the various types of protein – and there are a lot! – and maybe think about how to get more protein in your diet. One neat trick: if you manage to get more protein in your breakfast and lunch, you’ll help preserve and build muscle and feel fuller! If you’re actively trying to lose weight, this could be a game-changer. Your muscles are your best friends when you’re trying to lose weight as they burn a lot of energy, and that makes it a whole lot easier to shed those pounds!
Until next time,
Alicia xoxo