Just Expecting Longevity ≠ Longevity
Quality and Quantity – two integral parts of each decision we make. Do I want a small, medium, or large? Well, that depends, if we’re talking frozen yogurt on a hot summer day I think we’ll all agree to roll the dice with the large, that is, only after a thorough taste analysis of the top five flavors. And after channeling your inner artist for the ever-so-important topping ceremony, and propelling that first spoon-full into your mouth “here comes the Choo-Choo style” you… Spit it out!
Sour Milk huh?…. All of a sudden your perspective on quantity has shifted and quality has stolen the show. There are probably a million (or so) more examples of this very quantity and quality dynamic, and there’s no arguing they have a special place in each other’s lives. We (or humans) expect a certain standard, not just with frozen yogurt (don’t get me wrong, it’s important) but in Life. This, quite possibly, may be one of our biggest flaws….. Yes, our expectations will most definitely vary, seeing influence from a number of different variables (society, upbringing, environment, religion, etc…) but in some way, shape, or form they’re consciously (or unconsciously) there. We don’t come out of the womb with these expectations… I think. They’re simply a product of the system we find ourselves growing-up in. And one of the most overlooked expectations we have is… Our Life.
We’re in the Survival Business
Way before the prosperous times of today, our ancestors (and early organisms for that matter) main innate objective was survival. Present day, I’d say this objective remains atop the greater populations to-do list, unless those shoes are literally “To Die” for. The difference is the fact that we’ve packaged this “Long Prosperous Life” into an expectation. And filed it away right smack in the middle of the “taken for granted” section of our brains. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, visualizing longevity can be beneficial, but just expecting it (or anything) to manifest upon itself without action is ludicrous. What we’re really trying to do here is reap the benefits of a High-Quality life over a Long Quantity of years. When put in perspective, there simply hasn’t been a more opportunistic time to have a Long Lifespan (quantity of life) with an Equally Long Healthspan (quality of life). Generally, we seem to be living –on average – to the same age, but the number of truly healthy years begin dwindling from the forty-year mark. Not exactly ideal….
Forty is a big stat number, If you’ve made it there healthy, technically you’ve navigated the statically dangerous portions of your life. Now your mortality risk really turns to what’s happening on the inside. From forty on, there is an 80% chance your grim reaper will be one of the following:
- Cardio Vascular(Heart Disease)
- Cancer
- Neurodegenerative Disease
- Cerebrovascular (stroke)
To throw another wrinkle into this dim equation, -around 40 – if you are not actively maintaining muscle, then you are actively losing it. Sarcopenia is our natural muscle-loss with age, physically inactive people can lose as much as 3% to 5% of their muscle mass each decade after age 30. Biology doesn’t care about your expectations, we are organisms, in an ecosystem. One of which we’ve made ourselves rather comfortable in, one too many people are expecting health without the actual “doing”.
The Three Kings (…or Queens)
Enter the three keys that can make – or break – our longevity ambitions:
- Sleep
- Diet
- Exercises
Hope you weren’t holding your breath for a map to the fountain of youth. These three over-communicated poorly understood pillars make up the foundation for that long prosperous life. Each one complements the other ever so nicely, and if you establish all three with some consistency you’ll be stacking the odds ever in your favor.
A few billion years of evolution and sleep is still around, must be pretty important huh. Studies have linked it to a handful of benefits, from brain detoxification, lower risk of disease, better concentration, Increased athletic performance, regulating blood glucose and who can forget the dream bonuses! No wonder its stood the test of time. So Sleep! And best do it at night to align with our natural circadian rhythms.
Our ancestors ate whatever they could get their hands on because survival was the number one objective. Compared to today, where dessert is number one (except during pumpkin spice latte season). We’re seeing this is probably NOT the best for our biological self, the onset of chronic western disease is a tall tell sign of that. So, looking at diet from a high level, it breaks down into two aspects:
- What Ya Eat
- When Ya Eat
Today we rely on guidelines from our governing bodies to point us in the right direction, the problem is, we’re all different and most tend to completely ignore them. The abundance of processed “lab derived” food is rapidly adding fuel to the morbidity fire. Understanding what’s going into your body is literally one of the most important investments you can make. Regarding the “when“, I’ll tell you this: many of the leading scientists in the field of longevity are practicing fasting in their personal lives. Some argue that we have not evolved biologically for today’s society, the abundance of food (processed food) and the lack of movement is a very different life than that of our ancestors. Speaking of movement.
Sweat it Out! Exercise is the clean-up hitter to clear the bases and your body. All It takes is a 30 minute or 2% investment of your daily time (or every other day). It plays a crucial role in healthy aging by promoting muscle maintenance and growth (key to battling sarcopenia), eliminating toxins from your system via sweat, promoting our cellular recycling process – call Autophagy (along with mitophagy)- and releases a whole bunch of feel-good chemicals that are responsible for your workout high.
Everybody is metabolically different, there’s no all-in-one pill that can make you live to 100, perfectly healthy to the very last second. The variables at play cannot be plugged into a simple equation either. Genetics, Lifestyle, Environment, Activity, Sleep, and Diet are all key components. I’ve seen the health of too many dwindle long before it’s had to. Yes, some may have hit the average lifespan but the years they could truly enjoy – or their healthspan – were cut short. Taking your preconceived expectations for granted and not actively living the lifestyle that will bring those expectations to fruition is not a strategy I’d put my money on. Some things you just Can’t control, BUT some you CAN.
And there’s never been a better time than now…