How long do you want to live? When you envision your later years, do you like what you see?
The standard definition of longevity equates to a longer life, and today, the term can feel like a buzzword. But to your Priority Physicians, longevity isn’t just about living longer.
It’s about living healthier.
We all want to perform at our maximum function and potential until we leave this world. So, we must optimize our lifespan (how long we’re here) plus our health span (how long we’re healthy).
You’re Not Your Parents
Until recently, most people looked to their family history to predict their lifespan. They considered how their predecessors aged and declined: If Mom and Dad made it to 80, their offspring were happy to live another year or two longer.
But today, with many options available to promote and prolong our health, people aren’t content with their familial version of longevity. They want to live longer, with more choices, options, and activities, and the least possible health decline before passing. In his best-selling book Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, Peter Attia, M.D., characterizes that state as aliveness.
Post-pandemic, people are less reactive and more proactive about their aliveness. They realize many factors are beyond their control, but they can control their lifestyle habits.
To encourage happy, fruitful extended aging, we must manage our health earlier in life. It’s like putting away retirement dollars or funds for your kids’ education. The changes you make now pay dividends later.
Unfortunately, traditional healthcare systems are still largely reactive, focused on treating symptoms and illness. But we’re not satisfied with a reactive approach in concierge medicine and direct primary care (DPC). We believe the clunky traditional care system inhibits individuals from living their longest, healthiest lives.
It’s no longer good enough to treat people only when they’re sick or to help add a year or two of mobility to their lifespan. Priority Physicians proactively supports aliveness.
The Four Core Pillars of Life and Health
To maximize both health span and lifespan, people must manage these four core lifestyle pillars:
- Diet and nutrition
- Exercise and activity
- Sleep
- Emotional health (psychological, social, and stress)
Diet and Nutrition
When we discuss good diet and nutrition, we don’t mean jumping into occasional abstinence to keep weight in line. We mean eating responsibly every day.
Of course, holidays, vacations, and birthdays happen. They may temporarily disrupt your efforts. And as with managing alcohol or tobacco use, it can be hard to get back on track.
But to reap dividends for your health, resume the hard work of eating, drinking, and supplementing properly. Focus not just on what you eat but also the quantity and quality.
Look for healthy diversity in what you consume. For example, you can’t get all your protein from red meat. Include pork, poultry, and fish.
Exercise and Activity
Exercise can’t be an afterthought or hobby like diet and nutrition. To train for your ultimate goal — a long health span — make a regular commitment to movement.
It’s great to push yourself regularly in cardio, but you need to focus on a broad, balanced spectrum of exercise — fat burning, muscle mass, core, stability, and equilibrium. Each of these efforts addresses elements we need for excellent longevity and health.
Sleep
Data from your sleep-tracking device may tell you you’re getting terrible sleep; however, a more valid indicator is how your sleep hygiene impacts your sleep quality.
For example:
- Don’t cut back on your sleep during the week and try to catch up on the weekend. Your Priority Physicians doctor considers whether you maintain a consistent sleep routine and how refreshed you feel daily.
- We also look for sleep apnea, restless leg symptoms, or frequent nighttime visits to the bathroom. They may tell us more than the numbers on your tracker.
Emotional (Psychological, Social, Stress)
Emotional health may be the most foundational pillar of all four in encouraging longevity and health. It’s the glue that binds your nutrition, exercise, and sleep pillars.
If you’re not happy and content, the other three pillars don’t matter: People under constant stress don’t rest well. They can’t get optimal benefits from exercise or make proper dietary choices to promote longevity.
The Quest to Outlive Life Expectancy
Increasingly, scientists and medical professionals believe lifestyle is a leading determinant of lifespan and health span.
In Outlive, Dr. Attia brings a unique perspective to exceeding life expectancies.
Objectively and methodically, he tests a variety of behaviors, medications, or products short-term, then analyzes his findings and delivers a speedy verdict on their effectiveness. For example, he’s expressed the pros and cons of rapamycin, a medication studied for its potential anti-aging properties.
Dr. Attia’s book breaks down the primary causes of death — his take on The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse — as vascular disease, cancer, orthopedic degeneration, and dementia. To extend our health span, he advises special attention to these areas.
Acknowledging there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to sustained good health, he also encourages us to devise our centenarian decathlon, a list of 10 tasks we want to still be capable of at age 100.
A guest on the doctor’s podcast also introduced the concept of backcasting:
- Envision your last decade of life
- Figure out what you need to do to make it your best
- “Work backward” to the present day to determine how you’ll achieve it
Although Outlive may inspire you to self-experiment, Dr. Attia is the first to admit it can take a toll on the experimenter. Take his advice with a grain of salt (for example, his high estimate of our daily protein needs would be impractical for most individuals). While Dr. Attia is a trusted source, he’s not the only source.
Find Reliable Advice
So, how do you separate legitimate advice from hype when it comes to longevity and health span?
- Your doctor plays a vital role as your trusted advisor, particularly when you’re unsure where to start. DPC and concierge medicine shine here. My close relationship with each patient gives me time to research their interests, clearly explain findings, and deliver my professional opinion.
- If or when you explore online, consult trusted websites. You can generally be confident about the information you find on sites with .edu or .org domain extensions. If you’re unsure of a site’s validity, consult your doctor.
Ensuring your longevity and health span can be complex. The four “horsemen” easily impact the four pillars of life and health. And planning for your final decades isn’t as simple as doing a lot of cardio or taking a miracle supplement.
But finding the path that’s right for you is worth it.
Look for our complete blog series on longevity. Subsequent blogs will dive deeper into each core pillar of a long, healthy life. Or reach out to your Priority Physicians doctor and extend your health span now!
