How to live a long life​

July 2022

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“What do I have to do in order to age healthy?”

 

Like so many of you, I have been pondering this question for many years. In developed countries people are living longer but not necessarily healthier. With ageing populations, the disease burden shifts from surviving birth and early childhood to almost certain progression to degenerative brain diseases. The bad news is that to date there is no cure for Alzheimer’s and dementia. Evidence show that disease onset can be detected as early as the third decade. Good news: there are quite several things that you can do to delay or prevent dementia onset.

 

Longevity researchers have identified many areas of risk reduction including diet, sleep, exercise, and stress management. In the field of ageing, there are animal studies supporting a reduced caloric intake to increase lifespan. Observational studies of Blue-zone areas appear to support this. What is less clear, is whether eating 10-20% less will lead to a healthier and longer life by itself. This sparks many questions.  When should you start – in your 30s? For how long – indefinitely? Being constantly hungry does not sound like fun. On the other hand, the typical population in Blue-zones have many other characteristics that play causative roles in their longevity, including musculoskeletal and aerobic fitness, high quality nutrition, sleep, and lower stress.

 

Modern life does not appear to create an environment that sets us up for ageing well. We sleep poorly, our diet is high in calories yet nutritionally deficient, we make no time for exercise or over-exercise and stress levels are unmanaged.

 

What has become clear to me is that diet is not the only answer. In many cases it is the last lever that I address for my clients. If you do not sleep well, it is extremely difficult to eat well. If your stress management is sub-optimal, your sleep suffers. If your exercise is non-existent, your stress levels, physically and emotionally, are more difficult to bring down. A combined approach is required for optimum health and performance.

 

I am constantly immersed in researching this question. If your goal is to live better and age well, you have come to the right place.

 

To me the four aspects of complete health and ageing well are

• Sleep

• Nutrition

• Exercise

• Stress management

 

Estelle focuses on sleep physiology, nutritional interventions, exercise physiology and stress management to increase lifespan and improve the quality of your life.

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