Are you on a journey to discover how to slow down aging and boost your life expectancy? With only 10% of longevity being determined by genetics and the remainder by lifestyle and environment, the key to a longer, healthier life lies in the choices we make every day (R). With numerous factors contributing to the aging process, it’s essential to be mindful of our habits in areas like diet, exercise, sleep, and more. To help you navigate this journey, we’ve compiled an extensive list of 60 doctor-approved tips on how to increase life expectancy and improve your longevity. These strategies, backed by scientific research, cover various aspects such as diet, supplements, exercise, sleep, bio tracking, lifestyle, and mindset. So, whether you’re looking to reinforce your current practices or introduce new ones, this comprehensive guide on slowing aging is your go-to resource for a vibrant and extended life.
DIET
- Reduce your intake of animal protein, especially processed red meat such as sausages, salami, bacon, ham, hot dogs, pâtés, etc.
- Replace red meat (e.g., beef, pork, mutton, veal) with white meat (poultry), fatty fish (e.g., salmon, herring, mackerel), and meat substitutes (based on tofu, pea, or mushroom protein).
- Consume lots of vegetables, legumes, mushrooms, fruits, nuts, and seeds. Vegetables should be the basis of your diet (not potatoes, pasta, rice and bread).
- Reduce your intake of starchy, empty-calorie foods like bread, pasta, rice, and potatoes. Replace them with more vegetables, legumes, mushrooms or quinoa.
- Avoid sugary foods and drinks as much as possible, like sodas, fruit juices, candy, cookies, sweets, cake, pastries, doughnuts, candy bars, chocolates and so on.
- Avoid trans fats, which can be found in fried foods, fast-food, bakery products (e.g., crackers, cookies, and cakes), and vegetable shortenings.
- Reduce your intake of omega-6-fat-rich foods, like corn oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, margarine, sesame oil, mayonnaise, and most salad dressings.
- Consume more healthy fats, especially omega-3 fats, by consuming more fatty fish, oysters, roe / caviar, walnuts, flax seeds, chia seeds, and so on.
- Consume foods that have come straight from nature and are minimally processed. For instance, what foods would your ancestors recognize?
- Consume a daily, freshly made smoothie with vegetables and low-glycemic-index fruits, like blueberries, blackberries and strawberries.
- Eat specific foods that can slow down aging, including green leafy vegetables (broccoli, spinach, kale), blueberries, dark chocolate (containing at least 70% cacao), salmon, walnuts, pomegranate, etc.
- Don’t drink milk – milk accelerates aging.
- Don’t drink too much alcohol: that means a maximum of one glass per day, ideally with alcohol-free days.
- Avoid all sugary drinks, like soda, commercial fruit juices, and even high sugar natural juices.
- Hydrate a lot. Drink at least 1.5 liters per day, or eight full glasses. If you exercise, drink an additional glass for every 20 minutes of exercise and make sure to add electrolytes post-workout, which you can do with sea salt or a sodium potassium Lite Salt. Add spices (e.g., mint), citron or NOVOS Core to add taste to your water.
- When you’re not drinking water, drink green, white, ginger, or chamomile teas, or coffee (yes, coffee can reduce the risk of various aging-related diseases).
- Don’t take testosterone (TRT) or growth hormone (HGH). They all accelerate aging in the long term.
- Consider replacing whey protein with a low-methionine protein powder like a vegan blend.
- Don’t follow unhealthy diets, which most diets unfortunately are, from the perspective of longevity.
- For example, don’t follow a paleo diet or a high-protein diet: these diets accelerate aging in the long term, despite having beneficial effects in the short term (like weight loss). Opt for a mediterranean-style diet instead.
- Don’t follow a keto diet (ketogenic) or a high-fat diet for prolonged periods of time. These diets can accelerate aging in the long term, despite having beneficial effects in the short term (like weight loss and glucose control).
- Learn about the NOVOS Longevity Diet.
- Eat fewer calories, and less often. Try to eat two to three meals a day, with breakfast being the most important meal of the day.
- Fast regularly. Eat within an 8- to 12-hour period, so your body can fast and repair for at least 12 hours. Fast for ideally three days a few times per year, like at the start of every new season.
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SUPPLEMENTS
- Take health supplements, like vitamin D3, vitamin K2, iodine, selenium, magnesium, B vitamins, and minimally oxidized (low TOTOX) omega-3 fatty acids. You can find the most important general health supplements here.
- Take longevity supplements like NOVOS Core that contain substances that have been scientifically shown to slow down aging or increase lifespan, like alpha-ketoglutarate, fisetin, pterostilbene, microdosed lithium, etc.
- Don’t take antioxidants beyond what you find in a healthy diet. Most antioxidants don’t extend lifespan and some can even shorten lifespan and increase the risk of cancer (learn more here).
- Ask your doctor about drugs that may help slow down aging, like metformin, low-dose rapamycin, low-dose (baby) aspirin, and selegiline. Always discuss with a physician experienced in this matter.
EXERCISE
- Engage in anaerobic exercise (like weightlifting) at least two days per week. Emphasize the lower body to build a stable foundation that is less prone to falls, which is a common cause of accidental death.
- Do aerobic exercise like running or swimming at least twice per week. On days that you don’t have an aerobic exercise planned, make sure you walk for at least 21 minutes per day at a brisk enough pace that would be difficult to maintain while talking.
- If you are in a condition to do so, engage in high-intensity interval training (HIIT) for 10 minutes once per week.
- Commit to stretching and posture exercises, like pilates.
SLEEP
- Take care of your sleep. Ideally, you get enough sleep to be able to wake up without your alarm clock. You can entrain this by going to bed around the same time every night and getting bright sunlight or a SAD lamp’s light in your eyes within 30 minutes of waking. Learn about more than 50 tips to improve your sleep.
- Consider investing in sleep tracking devices, like an Oura ring or the Dreem headband.
- Download sleep and relaxation apps, like Calm, Buddhify, Headspace or Insight Timer (the latter being free).
- If you are older than 50, use 300 mcg (0.3 mg) to max 1,000 mcg (1 mg) of extended-release melatonin before going to sleep. Melatonin may also extend lifespan and slow down aging (R).
TRACKING
- Reduce your blood sugar levels. Consider using a continuous glucose sensor to track how your body processes sugars based on foods, sleep, etc. If that’s out of your budget, consider a regular blood glucose monitor, available at your local drugstore.
- Measure your heart rate variability (HRV) with devices like Apple Watch, Oura Ring and Whoop, which can be predictive of health and mortality. Improve your HRV via HRV biofeedback devices, like HeartMath and Sweetwater HRV.
- Get regular health checkups. Prevention is key!
- Track your facial age over the long term.
- Track your overall health and your epigenetic biological pace of aging, the most scientifically accurate way to track your aging.
LIFESTYLE
- Reduce skin aging by protecting your skin against the sun: always wear a strong facial sunscreen and consider a hat when going outside in the sun.
- Use high-concentration retinol creams or the prescription Retin-A (tretinoin) for your face.
- Take supplements that slow skin aging and reduce wrinkles.
- Brush and floss your teeth at least twice per day to reduce the risk of cardiovascular and neurological diseases of aging.
- Avoid mouthwash, which can damage your microbial flora and contribute to dysbiosis.
- Always wear your seatbelt.
- Don’t smoke.
- Consider doing yoga.
- Don’t be overweight, and make sure you don’t have too much abdominal fat (a beer belly). Measure your waist circumference here and calculate your BMI (body mass index) here.
MINDSET
- Try to be positive and always see the silver lining in things. Most centenarians have a very optimistic disposition. Pessimists are found to have shorter lifespans.
- Learn how to be happy.
- Reduce stress.
- Practice meditation. Download meditation apps such as Waking Up, Calm, or Headspace.
- Have a purpose and goals in life, or at least feel useful and like a contributor.
- Be social. Have at least three close friends.
- Challenge your mind every day.
- Use medication sparingly: most drugs have significant side effects.
- Use blue-light blocking glasses or dim red light bulbs 30 minutes before going to sleep.
- Keep a gratitude journal.
- Be an empowered health advocate for your own body: don’t just rely on the health care system to keep you healthy.
Learning how to slow aging and increase life expectancy doesn’t have to be a daunting task. By incorporating these 60 expert-backed tips into your daily routine, you’ll be well on your way to achieving a longer, healthier life. Remember, the journey to slowing down aging begins with understanding the crucial role of diet, supplements, exercise, sleep, bio tracking, lifestyle, and mindset. Embrace these changes one step at a time, and before you know it, you’ll notice the positive impact on your overall well-being. So, start today and pave the way to a more vibrant, youthful, and fulfilling life. Your future self will thank you.
We go more into detail on how to slow down aging and live longer here.
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