• When Dr. Darshan Shah was expecting his first child, he was stressed and overweight.
• He feared he wouldn't see his son grow up if he didn't make lifestyle changes.
• He lost 50 pounds and came off medications after making lifestyle changes including improving his diet.

At 42, Dr. Darshan Shah was used to being stressed. As a successful surgeon based in Los Angeles, he had spent 20 years regularly working 12-hour days, starting at 6 a.m.

But when his wife got pregnant with their first child in 2016, he realized he needed to make a change to be healthier.

"I found myself in a state of poor health. I had developed an autoimmune disease, I was 50 pounds overweight, I had high blood pressure that could not be controlled with medication, I had high cholesterol, and lots of risk factors for an early death," Shah, 52, told Business Insider. "But my son had a long life ahead of him, and I wanted to be around for it."

Shah took a year off from being a surgeon and began researching the science behind long-term health.

"I was able to completely turn my health around and completely come off 10 different prescription medications within a year. I lost 50 pounds, and my autoimmune disease completely disappeared," he said.

His focus improved at work, too, and he found that he was no longer tired. Instead, he "wanted to wake up every morning and jump out of bed to attack the day."

Shah's transformation made him realize this was the type of medicine he wanted to practice — helping people get and stay healthy rather than just addressing medical issues as they arise. In 2016, he founded Next Health, a health optimization and longevity clinic with locations across the US and in Dubai.

Now, Shah does experimental longevity treatments at his clinics, but he still thinks that getting the basics right, as he did, is key for a long, healthy life. He told BI the lifestyle changes he made.

Cutting out ultra-processed foods

"My nutrition was horrible. I was eating a lot of ultra-processed food, especially highly processed carbohydrates," Shah said, so he eliminated them from his diet.

Evidence suggests that UPFs are associated with a range of health problems. In a 2024 metareview of 45 studies involving over 9.8 million people published in the journal The BMJ, UPFs were linked to cardiovascular disease, depression, and type 2 diabetes.

Researchers don't agree on whether all UPFs are equally harmful, so nutritionists advise eating fewer without stressing about quitting them.

Getting 7 hours of sleep a night

Before his son was born, Shah said he "barely slept four hours a night."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that adults between the ages of 18 and 60 get seven or more hours of sleep a night.

Not getting enough sleep can be harmful. A 2022 study conducted on over 10,000 British civil service workers found that participants who reported getting less than five hours of sleep a night at the age of 50 had a higher risk of developing chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and cancer, and dying from long-term health conditions.

Getting enough sleep is also associated with eating fewer calories.

Now, Shah sleeps for seven hours a night and says he feels amazing.

Moving more

Shah sees exercise as an essential part of a "good health routine," and doing a mixture of strength training and cardio has been linked to living longer. He goes to the gym every other day to do a routine that is 70% strength training using free weights, and 30% cardio, for which he runs on a treadmill — plus some stretching to warm up.

Shah also tries to get up and move every 45 minutes when he's at work to break up periods of sitting.

"They say that sitting is the new smoking, and I think that's true," Shah said. "As a surgeon, you spend a lot of time either standing or sitting in one position, and that sedentary non-movement leads to a high risk of disease."

While research shows that sitting for longer than 10 hours a day is associated with a higher risk of dying early, a 2023 study of about 12,000 people over the age of 50, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, suggests a solution. It found that 22 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise a day — such as doing housework, brisk walking, or cycling — appeared to offset the negative effects of being sedentary all day.

Bringing his testosterone levels to a normal range

"I had no idea that my hormones were in the toilet. But when I measured my testosterone level, it was very low for a 42-year-old male," Shah said.

Low testosterone can cause symptoms such as a reduced sex drive, erectile dysfunction, low moods, and increased body fat, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Shah used hormone replacement therapy and increased his testosterone levels to a range considered normal.

The lifestyle changes he made may also have helped. According to Cleveland Clinic, eating a healthy diet, exercising, maintaining a healthy weight, and avoiding excessive alcohol and drug use can help to keep testosterone levels normal.

As BI previously reported, once considered taboo, growing numbers of men are doing testosterone replacement therapy without an official diagnosis of "low testosterone," to help them build muscle, get erections, and have more energy. However, it's unclear whether it is beneficial for young, healthy men, and side effects can include acne, hair loss, and infertility.

• Bill and Jackie Friedewald met while working at the National Institutes of Health in 1965.
• They've been married for 57 years and have stayed happy and healthy into their 80s.
• They shared their healthy aging tips with Business Insider, including eating the Mediterranean diet.

When two employees of the National Institutes of Health met at a work party in 1965, it was love at first sight.

"We talked about cars. I told him I drove a Mustang and I didn't care what kind of car he had, I just hoped it wasn't a Corvette," Jackie Friedewald, 83, who was a lab technician at the NIH at the time, told Business Insider.

Bill Friedewald, 86, was a doctor and researcher in epidemiology and designed clinical trials at NIH — and did, in fact, drive a Corvette. But this didn't stop the two from marrying in 1967, one and a half years after they started dating.

Three kids, eight grandkids, a move to New York City, and 57 years later, the couple is still having fun together. They moved to Sunrise at East 56th, a senior living community in Manhattan, NYC, in September 2024.

Bill Friedewald said their marriage has lasted so long because of their common interests. Spending time with each other is always "fun" and "easy," his wife said. They go to Rome every summer and Paris every fall.

"We don't really do anything special, but every day is a special day," he said.

The couple shared their tips for living long, healthy lives.

Eat a Mediterranean diet

Bill Friedewald said the couple "learned the value of a Mediterranean diet" at the NIH — although they enjoyed "cheat meals" such as fried chicken every now and then.

The diet has been named the best for the eighth year in a row by the US News and World Report. Based on the traditional ways people eat on the Mediterranean coast, the diet prioritizes whole foods, fruits and vegetables, and legumes, while limiting processed foods, added sugars, and red meat.

The wider Mediterranean lifestyle is also associated with longevity. A 2023 study published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings found that UK adults who lived a Mediterranean lifestyle — which involves getting enough rest, having strong social connections, exercising regularly, and eating with friends and family — had a 29% lower risk of dying from any cause than those whose lifestyles aligned less with this approach.

Stay active

Bill Friedwald ran the NYC marathon twice and has biked all his life, while his wife kept fit by walking and stretching throughout the day.

The couple's drive to keep moving hasn't faded now that they are in their eighties.

They do Pilates with an instructor three times a week at their senior living community because they enjoy the simple movements. Jackie Friedewald also tries to incorporate as much movement into her day as she can, starting with stretches at the side of her bed the moment she wakes up.

Exercise is great for longevity and health in older age. Regular strength training can help preserve muscle mass, allowing older people to carry out everyday movements that might seem like second nature when we're younger, such as getting in and out of chairs or bending to pick things up from the floor, Lauren Hurst, a personal trainer who works with older people, previously told BI.

Pilates is good for older adults because it is low-impact and adaptable for different ages and fitness levels, according to UCLA Health.

Friends and family are important

Bill and Jackie Friedewald think relationships with friends and family are important for living a long, happy life.

Jackie Friedewald was a stay-at-home mom throughout her children's childhood, which she "absolutely adored."

The couple have regular phone and FaceTime calls with their family, and love getting together in person during the holidays — especially as their family grows.

They are also still very close with lots of friends. On the third Wednesday of each month, Jackie Friedewald has dinner with one group of her friends.

They don't think their relationships with friends have changed much over the years, because they've been "diligent" about keeping in touch with them via consistent meetups and phone calls.

Research suggests having strong social bonds can help you live longer. A 2021 meta-review of research published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology found that the link between social support and longevity is equivalent to the strength of the link between not smoking and longevity.

The researchers suggested that this could be because social support acts as a "stress buffer," reducing cortisol production and inflammation in the nervous system, the neuroendocrine system, and the immune system — which increase the risk of disease and death in the long term.

• Ginny MacColl, 73, got fit in her 60s and now competes in American Ninja Warrior.
• She started by aiming to do one pull-up, which took her a year of strength training to achieve.
• MacColl set herself an achievable goal and was consistent with her workouts.

At 73, Ginny MacColl, an actor and former dancer in North Carolina, is stronger and fitter than ever.

Since achieving her first pull-up at 63, she has been a regular participant in American Ninja Warrior competitions, and in 2022 she bagged the Guinness World Record for being the oldest female Ninja Warrior competitor in the world.

For the uninitiated, the sport, which originated as a Japanese gameshow, involves completing extreme obstacle courses that include hurdles such as running up a warped wall, crossing a body of water using moving steps, and swinging on a spinning rope from one platform to another.

To prepare herself for competitions, MacColl works out six days a week, doing a combination of strength training at the gym, obstacle course practice, and swimming. She also prioritizes mobility and balance.

Although she retired from her day job at 62, MacColl is still a working actor, and her fitness has seeped into the roles she's landed in recent years. She was a stunt actor in Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrel's new movie "You're Cordially Invited," played tennis as a supporting actor on the "Sex And The City" sequel "And Just Like That," and did the splits in "Poms," a 2017 movie about a senior cheer squad starring Diane Keaton.

MacColl told Business Insider that she wants people to know it's never too late to get fit.

"If I'm doing this at 73, you can too," she said.

She shared the three things that helped her get so strong.

Have an attainable goal

MacColl's daughter, Jessie Graff, is also an American Ninja Warrior, and seeing how strong she is inspired MacColl to build some muscle herself. MacColl first saw Graff, who has been a Ninja Warrior since 2013, compete live in a televised Las Vegas competition in 2015.

When MacColl was growing up, the conversation around women lifting weights was non-existent, she said, but seeing Graff "flying across the stage" changed her perspective.

"I saw her muscles, I was like, 'wow, she's beautiful and curvy and strong.' I love that. And so I asked her how could I get stronger?" she said.

MacColl had never stepped into a gym at this point, so she set herself a goal of doing one pull-up. "I've always felt that you need to have an attainable goal," she said. And achieving it, motivated her to set a harder goal of five pull-ups.

"I think every time you reach a goal, you just set it a little bit farther, and so you keep trying to get stronger and stronger," she said. "I enjoy the satisfaction of getting through an obstacle and the learning process as I keep at it."

Be consistent (and patient)

After you've set yourself a goal, you have to be consistent if you want to achieve it, MacColl said, and don't expect to reach it overnight. It took her a year to do her first pull-up at 63: "that's a long time to stay committed," she said.

You want to form a habit, which might look like working out every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, she said, even when you don't feel like it.

But you can start out slowly, for example, by committing to walking for 30 minutes a day, or doing some exercise with resistance bands.

"Then just keep getting better and better and better and get stronger and stronger," she said.

Find a class or personal trainer

MacColl recommends signing up to a class, or finding a personal trainer, particularly when you're first starting out because it'll keep you accountable.

"When you're paying for it, you tend to go," she said. "I'm not sure I have the discipline to make myself do the things if I didn't have the personal trainer and the appointment to go to."

Plus, if you're lifting weights, it's important to learn the correct posture otherwise, you can injure yourself.

• Professor James White researches whether restricting our calories could help us live longer.
• He practices caloric restriction in his own life — in a safe and sustainable way.
• White shared how he does this, plus his other habits for a long, healthy life.

A scientist who studies whether restricting calories in a safe way could help us live longer shared how he eats, exercises, and de-stresses for longevity.

Restricting the number of calories we eat causes low-level stress in the body, which triggers certain processes that remove markers of aging from our DNA, James White, an assistant professor in medicine at Duke University, told Business Insider. This is thought to help our cells function efficiently as we age.

In one study, he and his team found that mice who ate 30 to 40% fewer calories than others lived 40% longer. That's the equivalent of a human living another 30 years, he said. But humans aren't mice, so such studies can provide a proof of concept for further research, rather results that can be applied to us.

A separate two-year study that White also worked on saw 220 healthy participants who didn't have obesity eat around 100 to 200 fewer calories per day than they typically would. Their cardiometabolic health improved, as did their pace of biological aging. This was measured using markers in the blood, such as the proportion of white blood cells and changes to genes.

However, there isn't sufficient evidence to prove that calorie restriction can help us live longer.

While the jury is out, instead of obsessing over how many calories he eats, White applies his research to his life by eating nutritious foods, which tend to be lower in calories. He also tries to focus on maintaining his exercise routine, because he tends to eat healthier when he feels like he's "eating for a purpose."

White shared the other lifestyle choices he's made in the hope of living longer.

Eating enough calories to maintain a 'healthy' weight

White doesn't think people need to reduce their calories by much to get the potential life-lengthening benefits, particularly older people who should prioritize maintaining muscle mass. Instead, he tries to keep what he considers a "healthy" weight, where he has optimal body composition, by not overeating.

"You have to find a baseline safe calorie consumption for your body, where you're not gaining weight. Then every once in a while, if you want to cut a couple hundred calories, that's fine," he said, citing a 2019 study published in the journal Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. It found that healthy, non-obese participants aged 21 to 50 who restricted their caloric intake by an average of 11.9% for two years were less likely to develop cardiometabolic conditions and had better blood pressure levels and insulin sensitivity.

"But you don't have to calorically restrict all the time for years," he said. "Even if you restrict by a small percent for just a few days a week, we still see health benefits in our research."

It's important to note that calorie-restricted diets are not safe for anyone who is under 18, pregnant, breastfeeding, or has a history of disordered eating, Katherine Gomez, a registered dietitian, previously told BI.

Cardio and strength training

Similarly, slightly increasing the amount of physical activity you do can have "huge benefits on health and longevity," White said.

He exercises five or six days a week, doing both cardiovascular and resistance exercises to maintain lean muscle, muscle function, and endurance. He lifts weights and goes on walks, jogs, or cycles for 45 minutes to an hour each session.

But "there's a lot of literature that says that exercising three times a week is very effective," he said. A 2023 meta-analysis of over 30 million people without pre-existing health conditions published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that just 11 minutes of exercise a day appeared to reduce participants' risks of dying from chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease.

Eating lean protein and lots of vegetables

White generally focuses on the number of calories he eats, using calorie tracking apps on his phone, rather than what he's eating, but he prioritizes lean proteins, vegetables, and healthy fats.

He also tries to limit carbohydrates, especially processed ones, because they're easier to overeat.

The Mediterranean diet, which follows similar principles, was voted the healthiest way to eat for the eighth year in a row by the US News & World Report. It's high in vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and legumes, and low in processed foods and added sugars.

Reducing stress by sleeping more

"It's very easy to get roped into a schedule of working all the time, getting little sleep, and just feeling overall stressed," White said.

So he tries to prioritize getting eight hours of sleep, which helps him destress, he said.

"Stress is inevitable, but sleep is a great way to reset," he said. "Sleep and stress are a constant work in progress that you just have to be mindful about and listen to your body."

BI previously reported on how a doctor who specializes in anti-aging reduces his stress levels every morning.

• Dr. Eric Verdin, 63, studies the biology of aging and how to get and stay healthy.
• He believes lifestyle factors such as diet play the biggest role in how long we live.
• He follows a Mediterranean-style diet and rarely drinks alcohol.

A healthy aging doctor and researcher who claims to have reversed his biological age by up to 15 years said he follows a Mediterranean-style diet — but avoids things like alcohol.

Dr. Eric Verdin, the CEO and president of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, studies how we can extend our "healthspan," or quality of life, by maintaining faculties that tend to decline with age, such as cognition, and preventing chronic diseases like cancer and type 2 diabetes.

For the last decade, Verdin has used wearable devices, such as smartwatches, as well as quarterly blood tests, to track his own health and makes tweaks according to the results. Currently, he's working on eating an earlier dinner to extend his intermittent fasting window.

According to tests that measure biomarkers such as inflammation, blood pressure, and cholesterol, while his chronological age is 68, Verdin's biological age is between 48 and 53. There is no consensus on the definition of biological age or how to measure it, so it differs according to the tests he refers to.

In general, Verdin believes lifestyle factors, including diet, exercise, sleep, stress management, and social connections, play a larger role in determining how long we will live in good health than genes.

Verdin shared the diet he swears by for longevity, and the three foods he limits as much as possible.

Swears by: eating a Mediterranean-style diet

Verdin said that there's strong evidence to suggest eating a good balance of complex carbohydrates — such as sweet potatoes — fats, and proteins is essential for health.

He follows the principles of the Mediterranean diet, which is based on the traditional eating habits of people in countries such as Greece, Italy, and Turkey, and has been ranked the healthiest way to eat by the US News & World Report for eight years running.

"When you look at populations that are on this type of diet, they really are the healthy ones," Verdin said.

The eating plan emphasizes fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, and lean sources of protein such as fish.

Avoids: ultra-processed foods

Verdin follows the food writer Michael Pollan's advice of never eating anything you could order from a window or your grandmother wouldn't recognize as food — or what would be considered ultra-professed foods.

There isn't an agreed definition of ultra-processed foods, but they're typically considered to be made using ingredients and processes that you wouldn't have in a home kitchen. They tend to be highly marketed, low in fiber, and contain large amounts of fat, sugar, and salt: a combination which makes them "hyper-palatable," which studies suggest leads to overeating.

Scientists are still trying to understand how they affect our health, but eating a diet high in UPFs was linked to 32 health problems, including obesity, cancer, and depression in a recent study.

Avoids: fruit juice

While Verdin advocates eating plenty of fruit, he doesn't recommend drinking it, as juice tends to be high in sugar.

Juicing removes the fiber from fruit. So you can drink several pieces of fruit in seconds, which you wouldn't be able to do if you ate them.

When we consume sugary foods or beverages, our blood sugar spikes and the pancreas needs to release more insulin to balance it. With repeated spikes, after a period of time the pancreas may not be able to keep up with production needed, which can lead to insulin resistance, prediabetes, and type 2 diabetes.

Fiber, which is great for gut health, also delays the absorption of the sugar therefore preventing blood sugar spikes, he said.

"When you eat an orange, the sugar comes in at a much slower rate. So your body is actually able to cope with it," Verdin said.

Avoids: alcohol

Verdin used to have a glass of wine with his wife most evenings, but after trying Dry January during the COVID pandemic, he realized that he had more energy and slept better without it. "So I never went back," he said.

He'll still have the odd glass of wine on a special occasion but he rarely drinks these days.

In January 2023, the World Health Organization said that "no level of alcohol consumption is safe when it comes to human health," and the US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy published an advisory bringing awareness to alcohol's links to cancer in January.

The advisory said alcohol consumption was the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the US, after tobacco and obesity and recommended advocated for warning labels on alcoholic drinks.

• John Tregoning, 47, tried 15 longevity hacks to see which ones were worth buying.
• The research scientist tried things like cold water swimming, gene sequencing, and blood analysis.
• Calorie restriction helped him lose weight, but he missed out on social activities.

As he entered his mid-40s, it finally hit John Tregoning that he was going to die one day.

Faced with his mortality, the vaccine immunologist based at Imperial College London, wondered if there was anything he could do to extend his lifespan (unlikely, he thought), or at least live healthier for longer.

He researched buzzy longevity treatments that he hoped would prevent conditions such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, which are leading causes of death.

He landed on trying: gene sequencing, whole-body blood analysis, an ECG, more exercise, cold water swimming, eating beetroot, eating less salt, Dry January and alcohol replacement, eating less red meat and more vegetables, brain training apps, sleeping more, a calorie restriction diet, eating more fiber, microbiome sequencing, and drinking more water. He documented his experience in his book "Live Forever? A Curious Scientist's Guide to Wellness, Ageing and Death."

Tregoning shared the three longevity hacks he thought were a waste of money.

Microbiome testing

The gut microbiome is the name given to the trillions of microbes that live in the colon lining. A gut microbiome with a diverse range of microbes is linked to better overall health — from the immune system to the brain.

Understanding how it works and impacts the body is a large area of research, however, there is still much scientists don't know, Tregoning said. But this hasn't stopped businesses from cashing in on the hype and selling products claiming to support gut health, he said.

Microbiome sampling, which involves sending your poop off to a lab to be tested, has become a readily available, albeit pricey, service. Most tests go for between $200 and $300.

Tregoning sampled his gut microbiome after making dietary changes on three separate occasions, to see if the results might help him make some gut-friendly changes to his diet.

The first sample was taken when he followed his typical diet, the second after he ate a curry and drank two bottles of beer, and the third after he ate 30 grams of fiber and three portions of fermented foods for a week, based on advice from a GI surgeon and researcher colleague.

The results showed that his microbiome had changed after the high-fiber week, but it had also unexpectedly become less diverse. A new type of bacteria had entered his microbiome, but the test couldn't tell him what that might mean for his health.

Tregoning said that the results were not useful because they weren't actionable, and only reflected the state of his gut at very specific times.

"Saying that this one bacteria in a sea of bacteria changes anything, we are nowhere close to that," Tregoning said. "It's a single snapshot. It's a bit like saying, 'How do you feel this second?' It changes all the time.

Calorie restriction diet

Calorie restriction, either through eating fewer calories or intermittent fasting, has been shown to extend the lifespan of mice. It can also help people who are overweight or obese reach a healthy weight, which can have beneficial knock-on effects for their health.

As part of his research, Tregoning tried a fast-mimicking diet for five days. He purchased a diet kit for £160 ($207), which came with packets of soup, nut bars, kale crackers, olives, and chicory root bars, which would provide him with 900 calories a day.

He lost more than six pounds in that week and kept it off for a month, but overall he didn't find the diet sustainable.

"It was effective in terms of I lost weight, but I was pretty listless and miserable for the whole week," Tregoning said. He wouldn't do it again mainly because it was too expensive and he largely had to stop socializing to follow it.

"It really pointed out to me how central food is in my life socially. In cooking with friends or cooking for family, having lunch at work with people, there's lots of social elements around food, which in that week I was missing out on," he said.

Social connection is crucial for longevity, and social isolation accelerates decline, healthspan, and lifespan, Trengoning said. This aligns with longevity research, which has found relationships to be as important for health as factors such as diet and exercise.

Gene sequencing

To assess his risk of developing certain health conditions, Tregoning did a genetic test.

He ordered a kit from 23andMe, which revealed that he doesn't have the gene variants for any of the 46 traits they measure or any of the 14 genes that make a person predisposed to a range of diseases, including breast cancer (BRCA2), Parkinson's disease, and age-related macular degeneration.

It also told him more trivial things like how likely he was to have back hair, and that his genes were likely 2% Neanderthal.

Overall, Tregoning did not find it a useful exercise. "It's fun, but it didn't really change anything in my understanding of what my personal risks are," he said. Our genes predicts likelihood rather than actual outcome, he said, and they are influenced by environmental factors and lifestyle.

"Environment is as important as our genes. The phrase I like is 'genes loads the gun, the environment pulls the trigger," he said.

• A scientist tested out 15 buzzy longevity hacks to see if they made him feel healthier.
• John Tregoning tried things including calorie restriction, microbiome testing, and exercising more.
• He kept up with exercising more, drinking less, and eating more vegetarian meals instead of red meat.

As he neared his 47th birthday, John Tregoning could no longer ignore the signs that he wasn't a spring chicken anymore.

He had to hold his phone further and further away from his face to read it, and the pile of hair he left behind at the hairdresser was markedly more gray than blond.

"The period of denial was finally over," Tregoning, a professor of vaccine immunology at Imperial College London who has been a clinical researcher for 25 years, told Business Insider.

Entering middle age, he began to wrestle with the idea of his own mortality, and whether there was anything he could do to delay it, or at least make his journey more pleasant.

So he did what comes naturally to him when faced with a problem — a series of experiments.

Tregoning researched the latest buzzy longevity hacks. Although it would be almost impossible to pinpoint whether they were extending his life, he wanted to see which were the most sustainable and made him feel healthier.

He ruled out anything that didn't have at least a large clinical trial supporting its efficacy, and focused on interventions that would prevent diseases such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. These conditions are responsible for 74% of all deaths worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

He landed on a list of around 15 lifestyle changes, medical tests, and treatments that are said to boost longevity.

They were: gene sequencing, whole-body blood analysis, an ECG, more exercise, cold water swimming, eating beetroot, eating less salt, dry January and alcohol replacement, eating less red meat and more vegetables, brain training apps, sleeping more, a calorie restriction diet, eating more fiber, microbiome sequencing, and drinking more water.

He documented his experience in his book "Live Forever? A Curious Scientist's Guide to Wellness, Ageing and Death."

He said his approach of experimenting on himself "is definitely more illustrative than scientific" because his findings are anecdotal. But he deemed anything that he continued to do after the experiment was over long-term a success.

Tregoning shared the three longevity treatments he stuck with.

Exercising more

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As the heart is a muscle, working it through exercise makes it stronger and better able to pump blood around the body more efficiently, Tregoning wrote. So he decided to be more active in the name of heart health.

Tregoning said that a year after setting himself the goal of exercising more, he still's at it. He likes to fit exercise into his commute, so he'll often get off the train a stop or two early and run the rest of the way. He also goes on runs with his daughter.

Exercise also provides many health benefits that indirectly help the heart, he wrote, such as lowering body weight, reducing cortisol levels, and burning glucose. It also reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes, stroke, and cancer.

Drinking less alcohol

Alcohol can damage the body in many ways, including causing certain types of cancer, contributing to heart failure and strokes by increasing blood pressure, and liver disease, Tregoning wrote.

Tregoning attempted Dry January but didn't make it to the end. He has, however, continued to be more conscious of how much he drinks and records "no drink days" on an app, which he finds motivating.

Eating more vegetarian meals (and less red meat)

Eating a diet high in red and processed meat has been linked to a higher risk of colon cancer while piling your plate up with high-fiber foods such as leafy greens and seeds appears to lower the risk.

Eating meat can, in part, be counterbalanced with fiber, Tregoning wrote, by promoting smooth digestion and regular poops, which means the meat is in contact with the colon for less time.

Instead of cutting red meat out altogether, which didn't feel realistic, Tregoning decided to add more vegetarian meals to his weekly repertoire. His favorites are three-bean chili, vegetable curry, and tomato pasta.

He said that he still eats two vegetarian meals a week a year after ending the experiment.

• Dr. Shai Efrati, 55, says he is healthier than he was 20 years ago.
• His biggest tip to patients who want to live longer is to not retire.
• Other experts agree that retiring can be detrimental to longevity.

A longevity doctor shared his biggest tip for extending your life — don't retire.

Dr. Shai Efrati, a physician and a professor in medicine and neuroscience at Tel Aviv University, has been documenting his health for the last 20 years, including MRI scanning his brain and testing his cognition and physical performance. He told Business Insider his health markers are better now than they were when he was in his 30s.

As the founder of a hyperbaric oxygen therapy clinic in Florida, Efrati partially attributes his health to the treatment where patients breathe in pure oxygen in a pressurized chamber. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been linked to reversing some of the biomarkers of aging, but isn't approved for this use by the Food and Drug Administration.

However, in his work with patients who want to age healthily, Efrati's biggest tip is to keep working for as long as possible.

Work can give us a sense of purpose

"The most important thing is to have a future," Efrati said. He said being needed by others can be one way to find purpose.

"Of course, if you are working in construction or something physically challenging, then stop. But if not, then don't ever retire," he said. "If you are quitting one type of work, find another one. Fight for a purpose, be need-able for something."

Efrati gave the example of a 90-something patient who was still working in real estate and thinking about how to build on Mars. Efrati believes the man's attitude and sense of purpose made him a better candidate for longevity-boosting medical care than a 40-year-old who had retired with the sole intention of relaxing.

A 2019 study found that of the 6,985 participants aged between 51 and 61, those who had a stronger purpose in life were less likely to die in the 16 to 18-year follow-up period. The authors said it's possible that a sense of purpose contributes to our wellbeing, which has been associated with lower levels of inflammation.

Staying occupied is linked to living longer

Karen Glaser, a professor of gerontology at Kings College London and lead researcher on the WHERL study into work, health, and life expectancy, previously told BI that staying in a job that isn't too stressful or physically demanding could protect our cognitive abilities.

Whereas retiring can deprive us of social connections, which are linked to longevity, she said. A 2023 study published in BMC Medicine found that people aged between 37 and 73 who were socially isolated had a 77% higher risk of dying of any cause.

Ben Meyers and Fabrizio Villatoro, researchers at LongeviQuest, an organization that validates the ages of the world's oldest people, previously told BI that working hard for as long as possible was a common trait among the over 1,000 supercentenarians that they had met.

And Heidi Tissenbaum, a professor in biology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School who researches healthy lifespans, said that keeping both the body and brain busy is essential for living a long, healthy life.

The same benefits can be gotten from volunteering or taking up hobbies, Glaser said — staying occupied is the key, rather than employment itself.

• A researcher of aging said we shouldn't listen to centenarians' longevity advice.
• Richard Faragher said that centenarians live to 100 because of luck and genetics.
• His tips for living longer include eating fruits and vegetables and exercising.

Centenarians may have plenty of wisdom to share, but an expert on aging said you shouldn't take their advice on how to live past 100.

Richard Faragher, a professor of biogerontology at the University of Brighton, UK, told Business Insider that 100-plus-year-olds don't have the key to long lives — "they're just incredibly lucky."

He explained why and shared four lifestyle choices people should follow instead for healthier lives.

Centenarians' lifestyles don't tell us why they live so long

There are two reasons a centenarian may have lived so long, Faragher said: luck or genetics.

This can be explained by the concept of survivorship bias, he said. Centenarians were the outliers who weren't affected by the diseases, stresses, or bad luck that other people in their generation died from.

So to find out how to live longer, we're better off studying why people who didn't live to 100, and trying to combat those causes, not looking at the people who have been lucky in life or genetics.

He gave the example of the 100-plus-year-olds from Blue Zones, areas of the world where people live longer on average and tend to eat traditional Mediterranean diets.

People assume that they live longer because of their diets, "but if you look at Irish centenarians, their 'recipe for success' is pints of Guinness and Irish stew," he said. "So why are we ascribing meaning to the Mediterranean diet and not the Irish one?"

Essentially, he said, eating a Mediterranean diet doesn't guarantee that you'll live as long as the centenarians in Sardinia, or Ikaria — they live longer because of their genes or luck, not because of their diets. Their diet is correlated with their longevity, not necessarily the cause of it.

But that doesn't mean eating nutritious food isn't beneficial to our health or help us live longer. Faragher's point is that people with unusually long lives are "substantially genetically different."

And although the longevity of Blue Zones residents is likely down to the combination Faragher described, growing evidence suggests a person's lifestyle could offset the influence of their genes — by 62%, according to one 2024 study.

Exercise, eat your greens, drink in moderation, and don't smoke to live longer

Faragher said research suggests four things could help you live longer (even if they don't guarantee you'll live to 100).

• Not smoking
• Doing enough exercise (the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week)
• Eating five fruits and vegetables a day

• Drinking moderately (which the CDC defines as two drinks or fewer for men and one drink or fewer for women per day).

  Drinking any amount of alcohol can increase cancer risks, according to a recent advisory by the former US Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy. But if you want to drink, do so in moderation, an expert in alcohol risk previously told BI.

"The difference between someone who does all four of these things, and somebody who does none of them is about 14 years in terms of life expectancy," he said, referring to a 2008 study published in PLOS Medicine. It tracked the health of over 20,000 people aged 45 to 79 for an average of 11 years.

He added: "the best kind of exercise is the exercise that you can actually do."

This chimes with what Nathan K. LeBrasseur, a physiologist, previously told BI: pick an exercise you enjoy because you will be more likely to do it regularly, he said. If you can, he recommended doing a mixture of cardio and strength training.

Faragher added: "The thing that really matters is to do the best you can."

• Kayla Barnes-Lentz is 33 but says biohacking has helped her reverse her biological age by 11 years.
• She views sleeping and red light therapy as biohacks and says they're her favorite.
• Many of Barnes-Lentz's longevity treatments are experimental.

Kayla Barnes-Lentz wants to live to 150.

And, according to her calculations of her "biological age," she's making good progress. The 33-year-old longevity clinic owner and podcaster, based in Los Angeles, told Business Insider that biohacking had helped her reverse her biological age by 11 years.

In contrast to chronological age, biological age is a measure of how healthy cells, tissues, and organs appear to be. The idea is contested, however, because we don't know how bodies "should" look at any given age.

Barnes-Lentz has a lengthy list of experimental treatments she does to optimize her health and try to live longer — including taking cold plunges, standing on vibration plates, and breathing in hydrated air — which means she's essentially biohacking most of the day.

But of all her biohacks, she has two favorites.

Sleep

"Sleep is the foundation of health," Barnes-Lentz said. "Going to bed early and getting high-quality sleep is a game changer for energy levels, focus, motivation, and overall feeling."

She and her husband, Warren Lentz, wind down for the night by watching TV and cuddling. They go to bed at 8:30 p.m. most nights.

Research suggests that getting less than seven to eight hours of sleep a night is associated with a higher risk of chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and depression, as well as issues with focusing and reacting. In a 2022 survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 36.8% of Americans reported getting less than seven hours of sleep a night.

Some biohackers spend thousands on sleep hygiene products and tech that isn't proven. Barnes-Lentz uses an Oura ring to track her sleep quality, but otherwise, she keeps things simple: She gets eight hours a night and never uses her phone in bed.

Business Insider previously reported on how to get the best sleep possible.

Red light therapy

Barnes-Lentz's favorite tech-based biohack is red light therapy. Her at-home sauna has an inbuilt red light, so she can do both at the same time.

She said red light therapy improves the functioning of the mitochondria, or the parts of cells that produce energy, which she hopes will increase her energy levels. In a 2024 study published in the Journal of Biophotonics, researchers found that red light appeared to improve the performance of mitochondria in the body — but there's no proof this leads to overall better energy levels.

Barnes-Lentz has also posted on Instagram about how she uses red light therapy to reduce skin aging and inflammation.

It has shown some potential for improving the appearance of skin, such as reducing scars, acne, and wrinkles, but more research is needed to guarantee that it's effective, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Some people buy $150,000 red light therapy beds or do red light therapy treatments at spas or medical centers. Barnes-Lentz combines red light therapy with time in her sauna, which she does every morning.

• Noelle McKenzie is a personal trainer who says she reversed her biological age from 39 to 35.
• She helps her clients exercise to live long, healthy lives.
• McKenzie focuses on mobility, cardio, and strength training.

A personal trainer who says she reversed her biological age from 39 to 35 shared how she trains her clients to help them live long, healthy lives.

Noelle McKenzie, cofounder of Leading Edge Personal Trainers based in New York City, has incorporated into her training tests that measure how well a person is aging, or their "biological age."

Biological age is an estimate of the health of cells, tissues, and organs, but there isn't an agreed definition or way to measure it, partly because we don't know what "normal" is for different ages.

But McKenzie finds it a helpful guide for understanding what she and her clients need to work on.

According to data from her Fitdays smart scale, her bone density, body fat, water weight, and muscle mass distribution are similar to that of a 35-year-old.

To test her clients' biological age, she often combines smart scale results with data on aspects of fitness linked to living longer, such as muscle strength, cardiovascular health, and functional fitness.

She notes how long clients can stand on one leg, stay in a low squat position, and hang from a bar, as well as how many push-ups they can do in one minute and how far they can run in 12 minutes.

Research suggests worse muscle strength, for example, is linked to a higher risks of older adults dying, while grip strength is linked to better health.

"Biological age essentially tells you how fast your body is aging," she said. "A lower biological age tells me your training and lifestyle habits are well-rounded."

These are the three areas of fitness she works on with clients to lower their biological ages and improve their longevity.

1) Improve mobility and range of motion

If a client is mostly sedentary, McKenzie starts off "slow and steady," and works on helping them do day-to-day movements as easily as possible, including grabbing things from overhead, getting up from a chair, and walking.

She also looks at clients' form to ensure they aren't putting extra stress on their joints when exercising.

"I want to get people to a place where it's hard for them to practice bad form because their bodies have become so accustomed to moving the way they're supposed to," she said.

2) Do progressively harder strength training

One 2022 review of research, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found that for healthy adults, 30 to 60 minutes a week of muscle-strengthening activity was associated with a 10-17% lower risk of dying from chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes.

McKenzie does whole-body strength training with her clients, focusing on functional movements, which mimic those we perform in regular life, like carrying groceries or picking things up off the ground. For example, she might include a farmer's carry or a hang from a pull-up bar to improve a client's grip strength, so they can carry heavy things day to day.

She also follows a progressive model, meaning her clients improve in some way each week, whether that's by increasing the weight they lift, adding more sets, or reducing recovery time between exercises.

Building muscle is great for longevity. Among other benefits, it can help prevent sarcopenia, or the loss of muscle mass in older age, which can make it harder to do everyday tasks.

3) Do two types of cardio

McKenzie encourages her clients to build two types of cardio into their routines: zone two cardio and interval work.

Zone two cardio is exercising at a low intensity so your heart rate stays low, or maintaining a pace where you can have a conversation without feeling out of breath.

McKenzie recommends her clients walk for 30 to 40 minutes at a brisk pace every day as a simple way to achieve this.

She also tries to improve her clients' VO2 max, which is a measure of how well the heart performs during exercise. A higher VO2 max means you have better endurance and has been linked to living longer.

McKenzie has clients do interval training, which involves alternating periods of high-intensity exercise and rests, to improve their VO2 max and overall stamina.

• Business Insider has spoken to lots of centenarians about what they think has helped them live past 100.
• Many have kept fit without going to the gym.
• Building movement into daily life is one of their top tips.

If you hate working out but want the life-lengthening benefits of exercise, you may find it reassuring that many centenarians Business Insider has spoken to have never set foot in a gym.

To some degree, the type of exercise you do seems to matter less than how often you do it. Nathan K. LeBrasseur, a physiologist who studies healthy aging, previously told BI that people should do an exercise they enjoy because then they're more likely to keep it up.

102-year-old Deborah Szekely, who runs a ranch in Baja California, Mexico, agrees. "What matters is that you're pushing yourself enough to feel it, getting your heart rate up, and breaking a sweat. If you get really huffy puffy, you're doing a good job," she told BI.

And it's never too late to get active. A 2023 study by researchers at Duke Kunshan University, China, found that participants over the age of 80 who were physically active were more likely to live longer than those who were inactive — even if they started later in life.

Here's how centenarians who spoke to BI said they stayed fit.

1) Walking

As people get older, it can get harder to do some types of exercise — but some centenarians can keep walking. 112-year-old Louise Jean Signore, New York's second oldest person, stopped swimming, biking, line dancing, and playing bowls when her health deteriorated, but she still tries to get her steps in, whether that's outside or in her hallway.

Szekely also walks at least a mile each day in local parks, while Pearl Taylor, who lives in Ohio and is 104 years old, walks around her local Walmart for two hours every weekend.

Walking is a low-intensity exercise but still has plenty of health benefits. A 2023 review of studies published in the journal GeroScience found that walking appeared to decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cognitive impairment, and dementia, while also improving mental well-being, sleep, and longevity.

2) Cycle instead of driving

Martin McEvilly, who was Ireland's oldest man when he died aged 108 last October, never owned a car. Instead his bicycle was his primary form of transport until he was 99. Even once he stopped cycling everywhere, he continued to use a stationary exercise bike until he was 105.

A 2023 review of studies published in the journal Frontiers in Sports and Active Living found a link between cycling regularly and better mental well-being, a lower risk of dying from any cause, and a lower risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes.

3) Make exercise social

107-year-old Katie MacRae, who lives in Queensland, Australia, regularly plays bowls with her fellow care home residents. Meanwhile, 103-year-old Janet Gibbs played golf until she was 86.

As well as physical benefits, the social aspect of exercising could also help us live longer. Professor Rose Anne Kenny, the chair of medical gerontology at Trinity College Dublin and head of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, argues that socializing is more important for longevity than exercise or a healthy diet.

4) Build exercise into your job or hobbies

Many centenarians did hard physical jobs, such as McEvilly who worked on his family farm. His days were spent cutting up turf for fuel, trimming plants, collecting water, and gathering moss to use for animal bedding.

The average US worker is likely to spend half of their day sitting down, according to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, but even if you have a mostly sedentary job you can build movement into your day.

Just doing 20 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise a day can offset the impacts of sitting down all day, a 2023 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found. This includes doing chores, walking briskly, and gardening — which MacRae credits her longevity to.

BI previously reported on how some of the world's oldest people eat to live to 100.

• Ruth Goldberg Jaskow is 101 and does fitness classes every day.
• She shared her tips for staying happy and healthy into your 100s with Business Insider.
• These include staying active and eating what you like.

101-year-old Ruth Goldberg Jaskow has an unusual fitness goal: she wants to live to 103 to "beat" her husband.

Goldberg Jaskow, who lives in New York City and worked as a teacher, has always been determined — when she was younger, her family gave her the nickname "Wouldn't Budge."

She was married to Lou Jaskow, a sailor who served in World War II, from 1943 until he died in 2023.

Although she believes that "age is just a number," Goldberg Jaskow now wants to stay fit to live longer than her husband.

Centenarians' longevity is partly determined by genetics and luck, but lifestyle factors also play a role. Goldberg Jaskow shared the things she does that she thinks are helping her stay active at 101.

Keep moving

Goldberg Jaskow has always been active. She studied under Martha Graham, an influential modern dancer and choreographer, and played tennis when she was younger.

Now, at 101, she still does a workout class every day. She has tried every class available at the upscale New York senior living community where she lives, Atria Rye Brook. Options there include yoga, Zumba, and tai chi.

Her advice to younger people is: "you just need to keep moving."

Exercising is great for longevity — one 2022 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that of the 99,713 participants aged between 55 to 74, those who did regular aerobic exercise and strength training were 41% less likely to die from any cause in the 7-10 years after.

Eat what you want

Goldberg Jaskow has no special diet and eats everything she wants because she loves food.

While this approach works for her, dietitians recommend the "80/20" method for people wanting to start eating healthily. This involves eating nutritious food 80% of the time and allow yourself to eat what you like the other 20%.

Nichola Ludlam-Raine previously told Business Insider that the 80/20 rule can make it easier to stick to a healthy diet because it doesn't involve any restrictions.

Jennifer Aniston uses it, as well as Tom Brady.

Enjoy your life

Goldberg Jaskow also recommended that people try to enjoy life if they want to prolong it. She sees her family every week and makes jewelry, which makes her happy.

According to a small 2023 study of 19 people aged between 100 and 107 published in the Journal of Happiness Studies, common traits among centenarians included looking for silver linings, nurturing relationships, and being grateful for the positives in their lives.

106-year-old Katie MacRae previously told BI that her biggest advice for longevity is "just smile, be happy, and enjoy life."

• Cherie Rohn, 79, took up fencing at 75. She also works out and does ballroom dancing.
• She shared some of her secrets to staying so active at almost 80.
• These include finding an exercise you love and not trying to be perfect all the time.

Cherie Rohn, 79, has a very structured week when it comes to workouts.

On Sundays, she does a fencing lesson. On Tuesdays, she works out "strenuously." On Wednesday, she does a three-hour fencing session. She takes Thursday for stretching, and on Friday has a ballroom dancing lesson.

The freelance writer and editor based in Fort Myers, Florida, started fencing when she was 75. She stumbled across online fencing lessons during a lockdown in November 2020, and has been doing it ever since.

Rohn has been active all her life and had done ballroom dancing for a decade before she took up the blade. But fencing is "the most strenuous thing I've ever done," she said. "I have to work out constantly just to be able to do the sport."

Factors including genetics, luck, and our environment are thought to play a role in how long we live, as well as lifestyle choices such as regularly exercising.

Here how Rohn stays fit as she approaches 80.

Find an exercise you love

From whitewater rafting and scuba diving to skydiving and ballroom dancing, Rohn has tried lots of different activities.

"Whatever pulls your chain, do that," she said, because if you're not motivated to do something, you won't do it.

Nathan K. LeBrasseur, a physiologist who researches healthy aging, previously told BI that a mixture of cardiovascular exercise and resistance training is best for protecting our health. But the best exercise is one you can do consistently, so pick an activity you enjoy and will do regularly.

A 2018 study on 70 people over six weeks, published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, found that those in their 80s who exercised regularly for most of their lives had similar levels of skeletal muscle and enzyme activity to those around 30 years younger than them.

Don't give up

"Don't quit too soon," Rohn said. Instead, think about what you're getting out of exercise.

For Rohn, fencing gives her "immense physical strength" and the ability to "meet the challenges of the day." Plus, the intense concentration it requires provides an escape from worries, she said.

A 2023 study by researchers at Duke Kunshan University, China, using data on 22,463 people found that physically active people over 80 tended to live longer than their inactive peers, even if they took up exercising later in life.

Don't try to be perfect all the time

"You can't be Wonder Woman all of the time," Rohn said. "Sometimes I eat really crappily. I'm not perfect. I screw up."

Lots of dietitians advocate for the 80/20 diet, where you eat healthily 80% of the time and allow yourself to eat what you want for the other 20%. This is because the healthiest way to eat, like exercise, is one you can maintain in the long term.

Making resting part of your workout routine

She also takes multiple rest days a week to help her body recover.

Working out too much and not taking adequate rest can lead to issues such as tiredness, lack of motivation, and increased risk of injuries, Danielle Gray, a personal trainer, previously told BI.

• Ágnes Keleti, an Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast, has died at the age of 103.
• She entered her first Olympic games at 31, after injury and the Holocaust stalled her career.
• Keleti attributed her longevity to loving life and her success to always going the extra mile.

When she died on Thursday, Ágnes Keleti was the oldest living Olympic gold medallist, at 103 years old.

These days, Olympic gymnasts in their mid-20s are seen as old. But Keleti competed in her first Olympic games at 31.

She had hoped to compete in the 1940 Olympics in Tokyo, but they were canceled because of the Second World War. Then, in 1941, she was thrown out of her gymnastics club in Hungary because she was Jewish, and fled to a rural village. There, she worked as a maid using false papers she bought from a Christian girl who was a similar age.

When the war ended, she qualified for the 1948 London Olympics, but tore a ligament in her ankle and couldn't compete.

So, her first Olympic appearance was at the 1952 Helsinki games, where she won four medals, including one gold. And in the 1956 Melbourne games, she won four gold and two silver medals at the age of 35.

In an 2018 interview, Keleti said, "I love to live, I love to do gymnastics."

Longevity is mainly determined by luck and genetics, but aspects of Keleti's lifestyle may have also contributed to her reaching 103.

Having a passion

After she stopped being a competitive gymnast, she moved to Israel in 1957 and set up its national gymnastics team. She could still do the splits into her 90s.

Of her gymnastics career, she told the International Society of Olympic Historians: "I always gave it my best, always went the extra mile, and never gave up. That may be the secret of my success."

One 2019 study by researchers at the University of Michigan found that for its almost 7,000 participants, who were all over 50 years old, having a strong life purpose was associated with a lower chance of dying from any cause.

Music and friendship

Keleti played the cello all her life, and was a professional musician while training for the 1948 Olympics.

While gymnastics would have helped her physical health, playing the cello may have helped her cognitive health in older age. A 2024 study published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry on 1,107 adults with an average age of 67.82 found that older people who played an instrument had better memory and cognitive skills than those who didn't.

Plus, she told the International Society of Olympic Historians that she spent her 100th birthday "in the circle of loved ones and by being surrounded and respected by so many."

Research shows that having an active social life is beneficial for longevity, with one 2023 study published in the journal BMC Medicine finding that among 458,146 British adults aged between 37 and 73, participants were 77% more likely to die from any cause if they were socially isolated.

• Dr. Michael Roizen is a longevity expert who says he's reversed his age by 20 years.
• There are a few bare-minimum things you can do to live longer, he said.
• These include getting vaccinated, playing brain-training games, and eating salmon.

It can be tough to find the time to take care of our health. But a doctor who says he's reversed his age by 20 years believes focusing on six basics could help us stay healthy for longer.

Dr. Michael Roizen, 78, the chief wellness officer at Cleveland Clinic, told Business Insider his "biological age" was 57.6, based on the health of his organs and his risk of chronic disease. (There's no agreed definition of biological age or how it can be measured.)

Roizen is all about finding lifestyle changes that can help people live healthily for as long as possible. But he said that "there are small things and easy things to do that make a big difference" to longevity, even if people can't overhaul their lifestyles.

Below are the six things he thinks everyone should do to live longer.

Walk more

Roizen tries to do 10,000 steps a day as part of his weekly workout routine and said everyone should "try to walk a little more."

To add movement to his commute, for instance, he parks his car as far away from his work as possible and walks the rest of the way.

Walking fewer than 10,000 steps — a somewhat arbitrary number with its origins in marketing — still has benefits. One 2023 study by researchers at the University of Cambridge in the UK found that people who briskly walked for 75 minutes a week had a lower risk of dying from any cause or developing cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

Eat avocado, salmon, and olive oil

BI previously reported on the seven foods Roizen eats for longevity. But he said that eating just three of these — avocado, salmon, and olive oil — would still merit health benefits. Studies have linked all three to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

Have strong relationships

Nurturing friendships is a "fun" way to boost health and longevity, Roizen said. Plus, "it's always better to do things with other people," he added.

Rose Anne Kenny, a professor of aging who's the lead researcher on The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing at Trinity College Dublin, said having strong social connections is just as important for longevity as a healthy diet and getting enough exercise, BI previously reported.

Play speed-of-processing games

Roizen recommended playing speed-of-processing games, which are brain-training games that research suggests may help improve how quickly your brain works. Roizen recommended two: "Double Decision" and "Freeze Frame."

Referencing a 2017 study published in Alzheimer's & Dementia, Roizen said practicing these games could reduce the risk of dementia. The study found that older adults who played 10 sessions of these games over an initial six-week period and then did top-up sessions 11 and 35 months later had a 29% lower risk of dementia after 10 years.

Roizen recommended playing these games for two hours a week for five weeks to try to replicate the study results.

Take a multivitamin

Research is mixed on whether taking multivitamins is beneficial for longevity.

Roizen cited studies that found the risks of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and dementia were reduced in people who took multivitamins for years.

But recent research has suggested these findings don't necessarily indicate that multivitamins are as effective outside study conditions. For example, a large study on more than 390,000 people published in JAMA Network Open earlier this year concluded that taking a multivitamin wasn't linked to longevity. And the US Preventive Services Task Force doesn't recommend the general public take multivitamins because there's not enough evidence to show it has any benefit.

Roizen said he takes a multivitamin anyway to keep the overall levels of vitamins in his body stable.

Get your flu shot

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone age six months and above should get a flu vaccine every season.

But Roizen also takes it for the potential healthy-aging benefits. A 2022 review of studies published in Ageing Research Reviews suggested that vaccinating older people against the flu could also help prevent dementia, possibly because it decreases inflammation in the brain.

• Business Insider has spoken to many centenarians about their tips for living to 100.
• Many believe that eating well has helped them to live longer.
• Their tips include eating whole foods and having the occasional treat.

Living to 100 is relatively rare: only 0.03% of the US population are centenarians, according to an analysis by Pew Research Center.

But Pew predicts that the number of centenarians in the US will quadruple by 2054, as life expectancy increases. Genes, environmental factors, and luck play big roles in how long someone might live, but lifestyle choices matter, too.

Here's how eight centenarians who have spoken to Business Insider eat, which may have contributed to their health and longevity.

Eat fresh, whole foods

Many of the centenarians BI has reported on eat lots of fresh, whole foods — and not much meat.

102-year-old Deborah Szekely has been a pescatarian all her life, and grows a lot of her own vegetables on the ranch in Baja California, Mexico, where she still works.

Pearl Taylor, also 102, based in Dayton, Ohio, said she eats a mostly vegetarian diet, and meat on occasion. She also swears by her homemade green juice, which contains aloe root, celery, parsley, ginger, and water sweetened with Splenda.

Meanwhile, Lousie Jean Signore, the second oldest person in New York at 112 years old, follows the Mediterranean diet, which is high in whole foods such as fruit, vegetables, beans, and olive oil.

Signore eats salad, fruit, and vegetables every night, and adds tomato sauce, garlic, or olive oil to all her main meals, as BI previously reported.

The Mediterranean diet is widely considered to be the healthiest way to eat, and research has linked it to improved heart health, weight loss, and preventing cognitive decline.

Cook at home

Taylor prepares all of her meals and hasn't eaten a pre-packaged meal in "years," she said.

This is common among centenarians, many of whom grew up before fast food and microwaveable meals became widely available.

For example, 101-year-old William, from Toronto, cooks all his meals, featuring lots of sardines, which he thinks are his longevity secret.

Jack Van Nordheim, 101, known as Uncle Jack on social media, never developed a taste for fast food, instead preferring simple homemade meals such as boiled chicken.

Eating more home cooking can mean people eat fewer ultra-processed foods, which have been linked to major health problems, including depression, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

A 2017 study published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity found that participants who cooked at home five times a week were more likely to follow healthy ways of eating such as the Mediterranean diet; eat more fruit and vegetables; and be a healthy weight.

Eat moderately…

Many Japanese centenarians follow the principle of "hara hachi bu," which means they eat until they are 80% full, Yumi Yamamoto, who works for LongeviQuest, an organization that verifies the ages of supercentenarians, told BI.

Yamamoto's great-grandma, Shigeyo Nakachi, was the second-oldest living person in Japan when she died in 2021. Yamamoto said that Nakachi never ate to excess and wouldn't finish a whole chocolate bar in one sitting.

Similarly, the mantra of Ireland's oldest man, 108-year-old Martin McEvilly, who cycled regularly until he was 99, is "everything in moderation."

For McEvilly, this means only drinking alcohol on Sunday evenings, when he enjoys three pints of Guinness.

… but treat yourself

Although Japanese supercentenarians tend to eat in moderation, Yamamoto said they still treat themselves.

Kane Tanaka, the second oldest person in recorded history, who lived to 119, enjoyed a bottle of Coca-Cola every day, she said.

Likewise, Szekely enjoys the occasional serving of coffee ice cream, and Uncle Jack attributes his longevity to eating dark chocolate and honey daily.

Experts agree that incorporating treats into your diet can make healthy eating more sustainable. Dietitian Nicole Ludlam-Raine promotes the 80/20 diet, where you eat healthily 80% of the time and allow yourself to eat what you like the other 20%.

• Looking after our musculoskeletal health can help us stay strong and active as we age.
• Dr. Vonda Wright is an orthopedic surgeon specializing in healthy aging.
• She lifts heavy weights and does a weekly jumping practice to age well.

A muscle and bone doctor who specializes in healthy aging shared her weekly workout routine, which helps her maintains strength and mobility as she ages.

Dr. Vonda Wright, 57, is a Florida-based, double-board-certified orthopedic surgeon, who helps elite athletes, including Olympians and World Rugby Sevens players, optimize their performance.

In our 30s and 40s, we naturally start to lose muscle mass, which is crucial for continuing to do everyday movements, such as standing up from a chair. The process picks up between the ages of 65 and 80.

It's important to stay active to prevent our bones and muscles from weakening, and those who lead a sedentary life with eventually lose strength and balance and start to topple over or shuffle when they walk, Wright told Business Insider.

Around 12% of US adults older than 50 have osteoporosis, and 43% have low bone mass, a precursor to osteoporosis, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. But exercising greatly decreases the risk, Wright said

"Musculoskeletal aging and healthy aging is a lifelong pursuit," she said. "Just show up every day for yourself."

The "critical decade" for people to start developing habits that will allow them to live healthy, active lives into old age is between the ages of 35 and 45, said Wright, the author of "Fitness After 40,"

"70 to 80% of how we age is due to the lifestyle choices," Wright said.

With that in mind, she exercises five to six days a week, including cardio and strength training.

Powerlifting

Wright recommends that everyone learns to lift weights to build and maintain muscle mass.

She is a fan of powerlifting, which consists of deadlifts, bench presses, and squats. She does four sets of four reps of each and ensures she challenges herself with heavy weights.

"I can do four with good form. I'm exhausted. I may be able to do five, but I cannot do six. If I can do that, it's too light, and I need to go up," she said.

Alongside these, she does some accessory lifts, which are targeted at individual or smaller muscle groups, typically focusing on her biceps, triceps, lats, and deltoids. She does four sets of eight reps.

Running with the 80/20 rule

When it comes to aerobic exercise, Wright follows the 80/20 rule, meaning she does low-intensity training, also known as zone 2 training, 80% of the time and high-intensity training the remaining 20%.

Research suggests this approach builds endurance and improves cardiovascular health.

"For everyone, the very beginner runner to the most elite athlete, longer runs where you're maintaining a low heart rate are really beneficial for building aerobic endurance," Dr. Morgan Busko, a sports medicine physician at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, previously told BI. "By running slower for longer periods, you're setting yourself up to be able to run faster."

Wright typically runs on a treadmill for 45 minutes at about 60% of her maximum heart rate, and twice a week, she ends with some speed training. She sprints as fast as she can for 30 seconds four times.

"When you sprint like that and you really push yourself, no matter what age you are, you kind of feel like a badass," she said.

Jumping practice

To maintain bone density, everyone needs a jumping practice, Wright said, particularly if you sit at a desk all day. This can be jumping off a box, jumping rope, or even running up the stairs hard, she said.

She does box jumps between lifts twice a week and gets up from her desk and jumps up and down 20 times during the day. "My patients are used to seeing me jump around," she said.

In a 2009 study published in the journal Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach, Wright and her colleagues measured the bone density of 560 senior athletes with an average age of 65.9. They found that those who did high-impact sports, such as volleyball, basketball, and running, had the highest bone density.

When a person has low bone density their risk of breaks and fractures, as well as osteoporosis, increases.

• D'yan Forest is a working comedian at 90, doing gigs in two languages.
• She shared some of her tips for staying fit and funny into her 90s.
• These include having a positive outlook and spending time with younger friends.

It's never too late for a career change — even if you're almost 70.

After a 40-year-long career as a cabaret singer, D'yan Forest, who lives in New York City, became a comedian in 2001. Now 90, she holds the Guinness World Record for Oldest Female Comedian and still performs solo shows in English and French.

"I never thought I'd be a comedian at 90," she told Business Insider. "I make fun of myself and older ladies, and I sing parodies. I'm a little risqué, and the people love it because they can't believe that an older woman still has verve and fun and can say such risqué things."

Forest shared her longevity secrets for maintaining that verve into her 90s.

Keep your mind active

"Being funny keeps my mind working. I change my material every six months, so I'm always learning new things as the culture changes in France or America. What is amazing is that I'm getting better and better every time I perform," she said.

Doing comedy has also helped her look at life with a "fun slant," she said. "It's a mental outlook that keeps me going.

This chimes with what experts have previously told BI: Heidi Tissenbaum, a cancer biology professor who researches healthy lifespans, said that keeping the mind busy is one of the basics of longevity. The authors of a 2023 study on common traits of healthy centenarians recommended staying intellectually active and focusing on the good in life.

Exercise

Forest goes swimming every other day and plays golf three times a week.

"I go out for long weekends, and boy, after the third day, I'm exhausted," she said. "But that keeps me physically active. Not many women my age can walk the golf course like that."

A 2019 study by researchers at the National Cancer Institute found that adults who exercised consistently into later life had up to a 36% lower risk of dying from any cause over the 20-year follow-up period. The study also found that even starting to exercise in later life is beneficial for longevity.

Eat fresh whole foods

"I just eat pure food, raw vegetables and fruits. I don't like it when food is all artificial. My mother always said during the war, "Eat the fresh fish. Eat the fresh fruit." She wouldn't even cook 'em, just ate them," Forest said.

A 2023 study published in the journal Nutrients on 2,454 participants from China found that eating more fruit and vegetables lowered the risks of cognitive impairment in older age. A 2020 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that US women over 60 who ate more fruit and vegetables were less likely to experience fatigue, poor strength, and illnesses.

Have (lots of) younger friends

Forest goes out for dinner with a different friend every day of the week.

Having a strong community is important for longevity. It may be more important than a healthy diet and regular exercise, said Professor Rose Anne Kenny, chair of medical gerontology at Trinity College Dublin.

"The problem is, when you're 90, that a lot of your friends and family die," Forest said. "And that's why the comedy is good because through that I've met a lot of younger friends who have the same interests that I do."

She's not alone — 102-year-old Janet Gibbs also credits her longevity to having younger friends as well.